Only because I should be doing something else...
I haven't posted anything here in AGES. But, being the star procrastinator that I am, I must find something to occupy myself with before I actually start on the gigantic homework assignment that is due on Wednesday. Thank god this Scrabble meme is going around.
GENERAL
How did you get into the game? I used to play with my mom & siblings when I was a kid. Then, when my husband and I were first together, we played all the time. I was competitive enough to go through the entire dictionary to find all the 2-letter words. I started playing a CD-ROM version when my kids were babies and I had time to kill during naptime. When I read Word Freak (of course) I knew I had to seek out a club, and I was lucky enough to meet Bob Denn, who encouraged me to play my first tournament in 2003.
Why do you play? I can't NOT play. I'm hopelessly addicted.
TOURNAMENTS
First tournament: 2003 Arden Cup (2nd place, bottom division - $275!!)
Last tournament: 2/23/08 Indianapolis, IN (My first ever last-place finish. At least it was in div. 1.)
Next tournament: 2008 Arden Cup
Favorite tournament ever: 2005 Arden Cup. (1st place, division 3 - $800 and, of even more value to me, an Arden Cup!!)
GAMES
Favorite game ever: Tough one. In my second tournament ever, I triple-tripled with OUTSIZES for 212, and scored 573 for the game. I've scored higher since then, but that one was just so exciting at the time.
I'll always treasure the last game I played against Bob Denn before he passed away. He won, and it was so good to see him forgetting his pain for a moment.
Most excruciating game ever: During the 2006 USSO, I was up by 198 points in a game with Jeremy Cahnmann, and I completely blew it. I played a phoney that he challenged off, I challenged a good word, and then I lost all momentum. I lost by 71 pts.
Highest Scoring Game: 581, against Bob Nellis during the 2004 NSC in New Orleans.
OPPONENTS
First tourney opponent: Some elderly woman named Mary. It was her first tournament, too. I won, but that's all I remember.
Most common opponent: Lisa Slankard.
Most feared opponent: Anyone under age 15.
Your Scrabble "daddy" (someone you've played many times in tourneys and never beaten):
Connie Breitbell. I've only played her 3 times, but I've lost the most ratings points to her.
Whose daddy are you? Daiva Markelis. (She is also the first person I ever played in a club setting - that time she won by a lot.)
Five opponents you like to play:
1. Lisa Slankard
2. Richard Lauder
3. Lila Crotty
4. Andy Bohnsack
5. Joe Gaspard
Five opponents you don't like to play:
1. The woman who reeks of smoke and acts like a 3-year-old when she is behind.
2. The woman who bitches about her tiles right before throwing down a bingo.
3. The guy who sighs heavily before every play, breathing his foul breath across the board.
4. The guy who stops the clock (during club games) to ask me advice on how to get girls to like him.
5. The woman who sticks her hand in the bag and swirls the tiles around loudly for what seems like hours before picking hers.
Five opponents you'd like to play but haven't yet:
All the women rated higher than me. I know, that's WAY more than 5....
You are in the finals in D1 for the 2016 National Scrabble Championship. Who is sitting across from you? Lisa Slankard. (Just going with the odds. We ALWAYS have to play each other in tournaments, and we take turns being the top-rated female in Illinois.)
WORDS
Five words you hope you get to play someday:
AIMLESS
SEISMAL
SAMIELS
MELISMA
NARCISSIST
GENERAL
How did you get into the game? I used to play with my mom & siblings when I was a kid. Then, when my husband and I were first together, we played all the time. I was competitive enough to go through the entire dictionary to find all the 2-letter words. I started playing a CD-ROM version when my kids were babies and I had time to kill during naptime. When I read Word Freak (of course) I knew I had to seek out a club, and I was lucky enough to meet Bob Denn, who encouraged me to play my first tournament in 2003.
Why do you play? I can't NOT play. I'm hopelessly addicted.
TOURNAMENTS
First tournament: 2003 Arden Cup (2nd place, bottom division - $275!!)
Last tournament: 2/23/08 Indianapolis, IN (My first ever last-place finish. At least it was in div. 1.)
Next tournament: 2008 Arden Cup
Favorite tournament ever: 2005 Arden Cup. (1st place, division 3 - $800 and, of even more value to me, an Arden Cup!!)
GAMES
Favorite game ever: Tough one. In my second tournament ever, I triple-tripled with OUTSIZES for 212, and scored 573 for the game. I've scored higher since then, but that one was just so exciting at the time.
I'll always treasure the last game I played against Bob Denn before he passed away. He won, and it was so good to see him forgetting his pain for a moment.
Most excruciating game ever: During the 2006 USSO, I was up by 198 points in a game with Jeremy Cahnmann, and I completely blew it. I played a phoney that he challenged off, I challenged a good word, and then I lost all momentum. I lost by 71 pts.
Highest Scoring Game: 581, against Bob Nellis during the 2004 NSC in New Orleans.
OPPONENTS
First tourney opponent: Some elderly woman named Mary. It was her first tournament, too. I won, but that's all I remember.
Most common opponent: Lisa Slankard.
Most feared opponent: Anyone under age 15.
Your Scrabble "daddy" (someone you've played many times in tourneys and never beaten):
Connie Breitbell. I've only played her 3 times, but I've lost the most ratings points to her.
Whose daddy are you? Daiva Markelis. (She is also the first person I ever played in a club setting - that time she won by a lot.)
Five opponents you like to play:
1. Lisa Slankard
2. Richard Lauder
3. Lila Crotty
4. Andy Bohnsack
5. Joe Gaspard
Five opponents you don't like to play:
1. The woman who reeks of smoke and acts like a 3-year-old when she is behind.
2. The woman who bitches about her tiles right before throwing down a bingo.
3. The guy who sighs heavily before every play, breathing his foul breath across the board.
4. The guy who stops the clock (during club games) to ask me advice on how to get girls to like him.
5. The woman who sticks her hand in the bag and swirls the tiles around loudly for what seems like hours before picking hers.
Five opponents you'd like to play but haven't yet:
All the women rated higher than me. I know, that's WAY more than 5....
You are in the finals in D1 for the 2016 National Scrabble Championship. Who is sitting across from you? Lisa Slankard. (Just going with the odds. We ALWAYS have to play each other in tournaments, and we take turns being the top-rated female in Illinois.)
WORDS
Five words you hope you get to play someday:
AIMLESS
SEISMAL
SAMIELS
MELISMA
NARCISSIST