Dayton
I think I've finally recovered from the craziness that was last week: Dayton, followed by a whirlwind jaunt to Seattle (which I'll elaborate on later).
Nationals was, as always, a blast. I cannot conceive of ever missing one. I don't care if it's in Dayton, Dallas, Duluth or Des Moines. It's the freaking Nationals, and it's still the only tournament on the OWL schedule that offers a 5-figure top prize.
18th is my second best NSC D1 finish, so in relative terms, I had a good result. Not what I was aspiring to, obviously, but there's plenty of room for improvement over the board. Many very close games, catching some bad breaks in too many of them, though some were my own fault. I thought I played quite well overall, but the spurts of awful play at other times were certainly enough to make me not deserve to finish in the money.
I come away targeting two primary items for improved future NSC results:
1. Study
2. Sleep
Ok, I'll elaborate:
Study - The 2008-09 "season" was my best ever in terms of results & cashes. Somewhat at odds is the fact that I've studied very little during that time. I do believe that periodic study breaks are healthy. But make those breaks too long, and you eventually pay the price in rustiness. And in general terms, I just need a deeper arsenal. My word knowledge is pretty decent, but uncertainty over the board really comes back to bite. I'm getting back in the cardbox routine this week, and need a plan for regular 4&5 review. I've traditionally been disinterested in theme lists, but some of them do have utility, like -INGS words, which reared its head at several junctures. Time to fix that.
Sleep - I'm a night owl. It's pretty common for me to be up until 2 or 3 AM on a weeknight. In general health terms, I shouldn't do that, I know. But when it comes to tournaments, I seem unable to break the habit, even though I'm keenly aware that I'll be dog tired in the morning. And it's not like I was up partying. Quite the opposite. Just sitting up in bed on the laptop, watching TV, Quackling, etc... anything but sleeping. I actually made a conscious decision to not overengage socially in Dayton. (Part of this was to avoid expensive group dinners, but also intending to be better rested.)
Lately I've taken to downing energy shots at the start of each session. I do think they provide a helpful boost in alertness and concentration, but as a consistent substitute for adequate sleep (not to mention breakfast)... major failure. I played dreadfully poorly at times, making the types of errors and oversights that I couldn't imagine making when fully rested. It's silly to put myself in that position. Scrabble may not be an athletic competition, but you still need your mind and body to be operating optimally... at least you do if you have designs on winning the damned thing. Hopefully putting this in writing will make it stick.
I'm almost done Quackling my games. I don't usually look at all of them, but felt compelled to do so this time. I'll share some of the more interesting ones.
Though I was never really in contention, it was great fun to root for my buddy Scott McDougall in D3 all week. I've known Scott since the 6th grade. We got into competitive Scrabble together, but these days I only get see him once or twice a year. Anyway, he ended up in the money at 8th place, but seemed a heartbeat away from 2nd... and lept into the 1500s for the first time ever. He's lived in some Scrabble dead zones in recent years (southern VA for a while), works most weekends, so doesn't get frequent tournament action. As a result, he's stayed underrated for years. Thrilled for him.
Lastly, I'm proud of how cheezchick rallied to a winning record after such a disappointing start. She's got some killer game, nasty word knowledge, and is learning to get less angry at bad racks. I smell a big win coming soon for her!
That's all for now.
EDIT: Forgot to add further mad cheezchick props for dominating the NSC ScrabbleCubes tournament! $500 Amazon gift certificate was first prize... sweet!
Nationals was, as always, a blast. I cannot conceive of ever missing one. I don't care if it's in Dayton, Dallas, Duluth or Des Moines. It's the freaking Nationals, and it's still the only tournament on the OWL schedule that offers a 5-figure top prize.
18th is my second best NSC D1 finish, so in relative terms, I had a good result. Not what I was aspiring to, obviously, but there's plenty of room for improvement over the board. Many very close games, catching some bad breaks in too many of them, though some were my own fault. I thought I played quite well overall, but the spurts of awful play at other times were certainly enough to make me not deserve to finish in the money.
I come away targeting two primary items for improved future NSC results:
1. Study
2. Sleep
Ok, I'll elaborate:
Study - The 2008-09 "season" was my best ever in terms of results & cashes. Somewhat at odds is the fact that I've studied very little during that time. I do believe that periodic study breaks are healthy. But make those breaks too long, and you eventually pay the price in rustiness. And in general terms, I just need a deeper arsenal. My word knowledge is pretty decent, but uncertainty over the board really comes back to bite. I'm getting back in the cardbox routine this week, and need a plan for regular 4&5 review. I've traditionally been disinterested in theme lists, but some of them do have utility, like -INGS words, which reared its head at several junctures. Time to fix that.
Sleep - I'm a night owl. It's pretty common for me to be up until 2 or 3 AM on a weeknight. In general health terms, I shouldn't do that, I know. But when it comes to tournaments, I seem unable to break the habit, even though I'm keenly aware that I'll be dog tired in the morning. And it's not like I was up partying. Quite the opposite. Just sitting up in bed on the laptop, watching TV, Quackling, etc... anything but sleeping. I actually made a conscious decision to not overengage socially in Dayton. (Part of this was to avoid expensive group dinners, but also intending to be better rested.)
Lately I've taken to downing energy shots at the start of each session. I do think they provide a helpful boost in alertness and concentration, but as a consistent substitute for adequate sleep (not to mention breakfast)... major failure. I played dreadfully poorly at times, making the types of errors and oversights that I couldn't imagine making when fully rested. It's silly to put myself in that position. Scrabble may not be an athletic competition, but you still need your mind and body to be operating optimally... at least you do if you have designs on winning the damned thing. Hopefully putting this in writing will make it stick.
I'm almost done Quackling my games. I don't usually look at all of them, but felt compelled to do so this time. I'll share some of the more interesting ones.
Though I was never really in contention, it was great fun to root for my buddy Scott McDougall in D3 all week. I've known Scott since the 6th grade. We got into competitive Scrabble together, but these days I only get see him once or twice a year. Anyway, he ended up in the money at 8th place, but seemed a heartbeat away from 2nd... and lept into the 1500s for the first time ever. He's lived in some Scrabble dead zones in recent years (southern VA for a while), works most weekends, so doesn't get frequent tournament action. As a result, he's stayed underrated for years. Thrilled for him.
Lastly, I'm proud of how cheezchick rallied to a winning record after such a disappointing start. She's got some killer game, nasty word knowledge, and is learning to get less angry at bad racks. I smell a big win coming soon for her!
That's all for now.
EDIT: Forgot to add further mad cheezchick props for dominating the NSC ScrabbleCubes tournament! $500 Amazon gift certificate was first prize... sweet!