sponge made me do it
as per request of bbstenniz, its time for the always humourous, fast & furious, rapid-fire tournament report, sure to be full of omissions, misspellings and possibly some shameless dancing. we regret the errors …
so i am B2 in Berkeley on Sunday and i am trying to view scrabble as recreation right now, much like i am trying to view writing as a full-time job. viewing scrabble as recreation, as a break from the norm, is a SEISMIC shift for me, as its always instead been something of a distraction from stuff that sucks, so when it doesnt go well, it ends up just magnifying everything else that doesnt go well. instead, the point is to enjoy playing the game for what it is and to have fun damn it, as sophonax said to each other repeatedly during our lumbering BART ride.
so i am paired against John Karris to start and we all know what sort of fits he has given me in the past, but the fact is that i like John and enjoy playing him and pretty much got over the fact that for about 3 years, i couldnt hit him with a telephone pole. that was the past and its old news. so i get AMULETS top 2nd, and then the X, he comes back with vICIOUS but you just know its gonna be OK when you can play ROSINED for 87 with like 5 overlaps. so i’m up 262-197 but i have this godawful rack of BDHQVYY and i’m thinking i need to exchange, but Karris fishes of one of his many E’s, extending JO to JOE, and now i have got BY/JOEY for 35 and a block, and he has to fish off another pesky vowel and i dump some more shit, so he gets a RETILES bingo but by then i’ve got vowels and after a Q discard i play ORAlITY and he challenges in desperation, on top of that i’ve got BUMF for 54 and wow this game got way out of hand in a hurry. xp 545:360 JK (1-0) … and Alan Whitman had a dreadful day today but he started strong with me, i had some airball bingos early but he rallied and he had a slight lead but then he ran into all sorts of drek (he said he probably shouldve fished for OOGONIA, blech), so then i play Re(J)OICES to get a 58-pt. lead and i get the other blank and he has to open late in desperation and i have TINWaRE late to make it a lot more lopsided than it shouldve been. xp 449:348 AW (2-0) … about all i had to do against John Wiley in order to win was wait for him to draw a tile. he drew terrible. all i did is play what fell my way, which was pretty much no-brainer stuff. xp 495:342 JW (3-0) … so finally, in my 4th game, i have to actually deal with some problems, as Robin Levin opens with AERAtES and i have crap, i have 3 i’s the next turn and can at least play (Z)ITI for 13, but then she plays ADJOIN and i’m down by 97 points, 124:27, in the bottom of the 3rd … and then comes the HUGE break, as i play LENTIGO/ADJOINT for 89 and she challenges ADJOINT. then i bango with TRAMPLE and now i’m up by 71, and i’ve got QI for 46 and DECAF for 37 and now i’m up by 82, so she plays CRY to open space and of course i’ve got PINTOES/SCRY for 89, then NOHOW for 40 and i pick INERTIA out of the bag, and after i plunk that down i’ve gone from 97 down to up by 209 and i cant recall ever seeing a 306 pt. swing in any of my games before. basically, the bad challenge killed her, because i was just one turn ahead of her the whole game and just jumped on every opening, beat her to every spot. this tournament is going so well that its starting to feel surreal. xp 526:389 RL (4-0) … but esdscrabble is B1 and he’s always a tough out, and he jumps ahead after a crafty BRULZIE play, but i counter that with NOTEPAD, counter his 40-pt. J with LIMIESt/JETONS for 87, then i pick the other blank after i play HOGAN for 37, but there arent a whole lot of bingo spots other than starting with a G, so i just have so stay patient with it and try to balance until i finally land EILRRS? and then Chef Jakcass makes an appearance as (G)RIlLERS goes down FTW. Ed played a very good game to keep it close when i had the much better tiles. xp 437:369 Ed (5-0) … so at this point, this tournament has officially become ridiculous. i am 5-0 +644 and averaging 490. i pretty much cant do anything wrong. and the sweetsweet is having a great run as well, 4-1 and she is averaging around 450. KC has to beat me by 193 to win the tournament, which sounds nuts but given that Jerry Lerman lives here, we all know its possible. but i am feeling pretty good here early in this game, as i have SCRiBED and then ZERO for 64 to get a 176:63 lead, and now i am thinking she cant possibly catch me on spread so YAY ME I AM GOING TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT! but i really want that 6-0, and even with that big lead, i dont feel comfortable, since KC likes to play offense and play the run & gun game and she still had some chances here. so KC pulls one back with OVATIoN to get close and then the game … slows … to a crawl … because the last half of the game is littered with terrible racks and a clumsy tilepool. at one point she has 3 U’s while i’ve got EEEHHNN. she has to exchange the U’s and i can make a mess of the last good spot with my many haitches. she has an unplayable SURGERY at the end and i outlast her. it wasnt a thing of beauty. but when you win to go 6-0, you are not allowed to complain. xp 404:369 KC (6-0)
6-0 +679
1st place, Div. 2
476 average
so that the 26th time i’ve come first in my div. at a 1-day, but the first since Dec. 2010. gads, i was terrible in the 1-days last year. the biggest thing for me about being relaxed is that i just dont make as many mistakes. obviously, a lot of pitches were in my wheelhouse today, but i also didnt do anything stupid.
nonetheless, i was kinda baffled by all of this, because the numbers were HUGE but i actually feel like i have played better before. timing is everything. there wasnt a single thing that went wrong today. how often does that happen? i guess it was just my turn today. these things happen and you should enjoy them, because they dont happen that often.
so i am B2 in Berkeley on Sunday and i am trying to view scrabble as recreation right now, much like i am trying to view writing as a full-time job. viewing scrabble as recreation, as a break from the norm, is a SEISMIC shift for me, as its always instead been something of a distraction from stuff that sucks, so when it doesnt go well, it ends up just magnifying everything else that doesnt go well. instead, the point is to enjoy playing the game for what it is and to have fun damn it, as sophonax said to each other repeatedly during our lumbering BART ride.
so i am paired against John Karris to start and we all know what sort of fits he has given me in the past, but the fact is that i like John and enjoy playing him and pretty much got over the fact that for about 3 years, i couldnt hit him with a telephone pole. that was the past and its old news. so i get AMULETS top 2nd, and then the X, he comes back with vICIOUS but you just know its gonna be OK when you can play ROSINED for 87 with like 5 overlaps. so i’m up 262-197 but i have this godawful rack of BDHQVYY and i’m thinking i need to exchange, but Karris fishes of one of his many E’s, extending JO to JOE, and now i have got BY/JOEY for 35 and a block, and he has to fish off another pesky vowel and i dump some more shit, so he gets a RETILES bingo but by then i’ve got vowels and after a Q discard i play ORAlITY and he challenges in desperation, on top of that i’ve got BUMF for 54 and wow this game got way out of hand in a hurry. xp 545:360 JK (1-0) … and Alan Whitman had a dreadful day today but he started strong with me, i had some airball bingos early but he rallied and he had a slight lead but then he ran into all sorts of drek (he said he probably shouldve fished for OOGONIA, blech), so then i play Re(J)OICES to get a 58-pt. lead and i get the other blank and he has to open late in desperation and i have TINWaRE late to make it a lot more lopsided than it shouldve been. xp 449:348 AW (2-0) … about all i had to do against John Wiley in order to win was wait for him to draw a tile. he drew terrible. all i did is play what fell my way, which was pretty much no-brainer stuff. xp 495:342 JW (3-0) … so finally, in my 4th game, i have to actually deal with some problems, as Robin Levin opens with AERAtES and i have crap, i have 3 i’s the next turn and can at least play (Z)ITI for 13, but then she plays ADJOIN and i’m down by 97 points, 124:27, in the bottom of the 3rd … and then comes the HUGE break, as i play LENTIGO/ADJOINT for 89 and she challenges ADJOINT. then i bango with TRAMPLE and now i’m up by 71, and i’ve got QI for 46 and DECAF for 37 and now i’m up by 82, so she plays CRY to open space and of course i’ve got PINTOES/SCRY for 89, then NOHOW for 40 and i pick INERTIA out of the bag, and after i plunk that down i’ve gone from 97 down to up by 209 and i cant recall ever seeing a 306 pt. swing in any of my games before. basically, the bad challenge killed her, because i was just one turn ahead of her the whole game and just jumped on every opening, beat her to every spot. this tournament is going so well that its starting to feel surreal. xp 526:389 RL (4-0) … but esdscrabble is B1 and he’s always a tough out, and he jumps ahead after a crafty BRULZIE play, but i counter that with NOTEPAD, counter his 40-pt. J with LIMIESt/JETONS for 87, then i pick the other blank after i play HOGAN for 37, but there arent a whole lot of bingo spots other than starting with a G, so i just have so stay patient with it and try to balance until i finally land EILRRS? and then Chef Jakcass makes an appearance as (G)RIlLERS goes down FTW. Ed played a very good game to keep it close when i had the much better tiles. xp 437:369 Ed (5-0) … so at this point, this tournament has officially become ridiculous. i am 5-0 +644 and averaging 490. i pretty much cant do anything wrong. and the sweetsweet is having a great run as well, 4-1 and she is averaging around 450. KC has to beat me by 193 to win the tournament, which sounds nuts but given that Jerry Lerman lives here, we all know its possible. but i am feeling pretty good here early in this game, as i have SCRiBED and then ZERO for 64 to get a 176:63 lead, and now i am thinking she cant possibly catch me on spread so YAY ME I AM GOING TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT! but i really want that 6-0, and even with that big lead, i dont feel comfortable, since KC likes to play offense and play the run & gun game and she still had some chances here. so KC pulls one back with OVATIoN to get close and then the game … slows … to a crawl … because the last half of the game is littered with terrible racks and a clumsy tilepool. at one point she has 3 U’s while i’ve got EEEHHNN. she has to exchange the U’s and i can make a mess of the last good spot with my many haitches. she has an unplayable SURGERY at the end and i outlast her. it wasnt a thing of beauty. but when you win to go 6-0, you are not allowed to complain. xp 404:369 KC (6-0)
6-0 +679
1st place, Div. 2
476 average
so that the 26th time i’ve come first in my div. at a 1-day, but the first since Dec. 2010. gads, i was terrible in the 1-days last year. the biggest thing for me about being relaxed is that i just dont make as many mistakes. obviously, a lot of pitches were in my wheelhouse today, but i also didnt do anything stupid.
nonetheless, i was kinda baffled by all of this, because the numbers were HUGE but i actually feel like i have played better before. timing is everything. there wasnt a single thing that went wrong today. how often does that happen? i guess it was just my turn today. these things happen and you should enjoy them, because they dont happen that often.