Comments | redessence: On Jujitsu and Scrabble Culture

redessence

On Jujitsu and Scrabble Culture

Feb 28, 2012 19:19

Last Tuesday I went with Jordan, my friend in Simi Valley in California, to watch him at jujitsu. He is training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and various MMA (mixed martial arts) for a tournament in Las Vegas occurring in mid-March. The experience got me thinking about some important differences between this culture and Scrabble culture.

There are several ( Read more... )

Comments 15

quinquennia February 29 2012, 05:10:52 UTC

At club, while I'm filling out people's tally slips with club ratings as they come through the door, Chris usually sets up his board and starts an open game where everybody gets to chip in and he takes suggestions for both sides. Players from all skill ratings from 500 newbies to 2100 (Adam) make suggestions that really help people to learn how to play, if they are interested. A lot more people dissect endgames at our club now that Adam is around. It's great.

As for getting our games on the internet, I'd really like to figure out how to get Google plus to broadcast live games during a G+ "hangout". It'd require 3 webcams, and some software to set up PIP (picture in picture), and a lot of people could watch live, and even discuss. Up to 16 I think. Something like this could be big for our game, especially if John Chew could get that kind of thing running reliably, and with enough resolution, at Nationals. It'd be cool to figure something out soon, and start broadcasting some club games.

redessence February 29 2012, 09:02:42 UTC

I like that open game idea beforehand. I also think you're in to something with the hangout/PIP idea. Don't lose that one!

gijoel666 March 1 2012, 05:00:18 UTC

A lot of different points to weigh in on in Jesse's post, so I'm going to make separate comments for each. For starters ( ... )

xpmorgan February 29 2012, 07:12:40 UTC

anyone who has been to SF95 knows that we make no effort whatsoever to tell people to be quiet. we are noisy and make no apologies about it. scrabble is supposed to be fun, and we try to maintain a teaching ethos at the club - and a part of that ethos is being able to LAUGH when you goof up, and do it out loud, and have fun with it. club should be fun ( ... )

redessence February 29 2012, 09:10:27 UTC

I'm really enjoying the live feed stuff you guys are doing. Don't stop!

I've had a few ideas for tweeting after the Vegas experience. I think it would be great for big tournaments like Nationals, and I'll write about it soon enough.

gijoel666 March 1 2012, 05:31:57 UTC

"and dont even get me started on the nonsense of not wanting to be annotated ( ... )

xpmorgan March 1 2012, 05:37:02 UTC

the fixed position videocams are what we have been experimenting with in the Match Play. Ed DeGuzman has done two of these matches so far, and i think we all like where this idea is going. i personally would like to have a setup like this for the C.O. in early november, but we do need to run a few more test matches before then.

xp

Thread 5

bbstenniz February 29 2012, 17:18:23 UTC

Ideas in progress for SDO. TBA. unfortunately, I won't be able to ban quietness, although I would like to run a multiday tournament with no noise requirements.

redessence February 29 2012, 19:59:13 UTC

I look forward to seeing what you implement for SDO. I wish I could actually be there, but I will be on my way to Bolivia at that point.

jmallick February 29 2012, 18:28:32 UTC

It will be hard to change people's opinions on loudness and quietness, especially in the tournament setting. We all have a "default" reaction to too much noise. I don't think I've ever shushed anybody. I used to do that in school, and a classmate would tease me by saying "it", making it a very disconnected version of a forbidden four.

The bigger problem is the tournament structure itself. Las Vegas is one of the very few tournaments that had a great turnout in both the TWL and Collins divisions. I know this doesn't pertain to the original subject matter, but it's become an incurable virus. Sorry if I'm contaminating this entry.

redessence February 29 2012, 19:57:35 UTC

I think it's partially a generational issue. I don't intend on running a huge tournament any time soon, but any tournament I run will have a strict "no-shushing" policy. I even plan on implementing a variation of the "friend of the director" fund, where anyone who shushes has to contribute $1 to the fund. The only way to quiet the room will be to make a civil director call. Even then, saying anything will be at my discretion, and it won't be for silence, it will be to more or less "turn the volume down".

I don't feel like you're contaminating at all. I've only addressed one particular element of Scrabble culture that doesn't get discussed often in a public setting. Are you referring to the dualism of dictionaries at tournaments as an incurable virus, the fact that both even exist, or something else?

jmallick March 1 2012, 03:09:09 UTC

The dualism of dictionaries, organizations and whatever else you can think of counts as an incurable virus, since change is hard to both promote and actually follow through with. This stuff used to bother me more, but my mind has been more off of Scrabble recently so it bothers me less now. Having a resolution would still help a lot, though.

sr_orangepants February 29 2012, 23:08:09 UTC

Club culture depends on the club. The clubs I regularly attend meet at a diner and a Panera. It's pretty hard to shush people at other tables or the machines at the Panera bakery, and there are rarely any calls for quiet. Things can be a little bit chatty, and I have had discussions about games, words, and moves with people who want to talk about them. I agree with what Joey says about loudness and quietness. I shush mostly when the noise starts to give me a headache ( ... )