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NSC 2002 Commentary: Round 3

Congratulations to our new National Champion, Joel Sherman!

See also: video clip 1 (2 MB), video clip 2 (2 MB). (video courtesy Roger Cullman)

Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 3

Word Judge Josh Silber took a challenge that made him cringe this round. It reminded him of the "challenge the whole play" maxim. A player put down REGALAS*, hooking the S to create RALLYINGS. The opponent challenged the S-hook on RALLYING only and not the bingo itself. So, Josh had to rule the play acceptable!

Daniel Goodwin (Seattle, WA) walked up to our table all dejected. He silently handed me his scorecard showing that he'd lost his game to Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), 258-614. Dave got down PATINES, FACTIONS, SCUTAgE, and his outplay was RELENTER. Dan points out that in his first 5 plays, he turned over 19 tiles, including seven Es!

In division 2, Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) just lost to Travis Chaney (Van Buren, AR), 319-404. The highlight of her morning so far was CLaMBAKE through the B. She wanted to play MILLCAKE (MALLICK*+E), but it wouldn't fit! He got down ARRIVED for 77 and BASTIoN for 89.

In division 1, Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) defeated Randall Thomas (Calgary AB), 446-378. Joel got down SITUATE for 85 and UNSEXED for 99. Randall played DREArIER through the first R, creating SITUATED for 77.

In a division 3 game between Linda Bredel (Sierra Vista, AZ) and Paula Catanese (Mountain View, CA), Linda got down ESTRONE for 70 and HoLLERS for 68. Paul played MAIDENs, creating YOREs, for 82. Linda challenged YORES, but it was ruled acceptable. Paula won this one, 390-340.

Esther Kisich (Long Beach, CA) defeated Evelyn R Davis (Anaheim Hills, CA), 382-311. Looking over their board, my favorite play was SENaRII for 86 played by Esther. Evelyn got down ENROLEE for 67.

Today's giant SCRABBLE^® board reads: DAY ONE: STOP BY FOR A SPELL.

A close one between division 1's Marty Gabriel (Berwyn, IL) and David Weisberg (Hollywood, FL). David got down the double-double DEAIRING through the I for 90, DOGEARS for 67, WeIGELIA through the G for 61, and ScRAPIE for 88. And he still lost the game, 496-499. Marty's better plays were BONACIS for 72, JOINTER for 87, and TRANSUDE through the D for 80. They both chime in about the game's pivitol point: David convinced himself that LACQUERY* was good, so he played it. Marty challenged it off. At one point, Marty had a 198-point lead in this game and David almost caught up! Yet another example of how it's never over until it's over!

We were lucky enough to be visited today by John and Jean Nason. John was the VP of Marketing for Selchow & Richter in Bay Shore, NY, back in the days when that company held the SCRABBLE^® copyright. John was at the 1983 NSC the 1985 Boston Area Tournament. He commented on how happy he was to see how much the game has grown since those days!

Onell Soto, a journalist with the San Diego Union Tribune, stopped by the Internet table to talk about the championship. His article will appear in tomorrow's paper and it will also appear on their web site for those who can't get a copy of the paper.

There have been a few complaints about the temperature in the room, the players finding it too cold. In the time it has taken the room to warm up a bit, the NSA Word Gear table has been working up a stiff business in selling sweatshirts! Division 5's Jay Wright (Jasper, GA) even modeled one for me! Jane Williams, NSA Director of Operations, jokingly said, "Yeah, we are going to turn the heat way up in the afternoon and sell some athletic shirts!"

Perhaps one of the game's best sports, NSA Proofreader Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) (Division 1) stopped by. He'd played Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) in game 2 and was so impressed with Craig's level of play, he had to tell me! Craig's second play in the game was DIAPIRS for 72 and his third play was ZEMsTVO for 99! Later in the game, he got down SCAUPER for 78 and defeated Jim, 426-408. When I asked Jim to mention his better plays, he said he didn't have any worth mentioning (this from someone who scored more than 400 points in the game!).

Taking an aside to discuss fashion, Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) is a big hit in his division. He bleached his goatee white and then dyed it blue so that he could be "the only blue hair" in the top division. For those not in the know, this is a reference to Word Freak, a book by Stefan Fatsis (Brooklyn, NY) which refers to some players as "blue hairs." For further elucidation, read the book!

John Chew, the NSA webmaster, finally has a count of the players. We had some no shows and some late shows due to a marathon holding up traffic in San Diego. The number is 696 players, including 163 from California, 64 from New York, 37 from Florida, 35 from Texas, and 30 from Ontario.