Go to: Commentary Games Players Photos Profiles Standings Press Merchandise

Back to NSC 2002 Live Coverage

NSC 2002 Commentary: Round 20

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.

Vivien V. Mallick tells me that in division 6 at table 15, a player put down SOIGNEE and LARDIEST in the same game. Both words were challenged and both were ruled acceptable.

Teresa Schaeffer (Falls Church, VA) from division 4 drops off a note, "I had a nine-letter-word in round 12: bALLISTIc played through the IS as a triple-triple."

John Chew tells me that we had 250,000 hits on the first day of the NSC, the most hits coming for a New Zealand isp (we think checking out ol' Nigel Richards (Malaysia)). The second day, we reached 494,551!

Ran into Jeremiah Mead (Chelmsford, MA) as he was handing in his results slip. He said, "In my last game I played MIN* and this game I played RA* and both plays stayed on the board. I think we are all getting a bit tired!"

I notice that Ron Tiekert (Alpharetta, GA) has made his way into the top three tables. At 13-6 +515, he's earned his way up.

In division 1, Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) had a tough loss to Nigel Richards (Malaysia). I spot seven bingos on their board. Nigel got down STYMIeD for 89, EARLOBES for 62, WINKERS for 85, and RELENTED for 72. Jim got down PEMOLINE for 74, QuASI for 39 (he joked how he likes to use his blanks for the little plays and make his bingos without them), SINCERE for 79, and AVOIDERS for 63. Nigel won, 501-413, which makes him 16-4 +1367, 2nd place in the division. Jim said, "It was fun to ger to play Nigel and with any luck, I'll get to do it again."

Robert Felt (Atlanta, GA) lost a close one to Peter Armstrong (Milwaukee, WI) in division 1. On their board I spot DENARII, REJOINED, DURATION, and FInALES.

At a nearby table, Matt Graham (New York, NY) defeats Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD), 391-354. I spot OUTLANd and AIRLInE on their board.

At board 1 in division 1, Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) won big against Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), 467-350. I see Joel's UNROOTS for 66, LOADSTAR through the D for 70, EVECTIoN from the E for 78, and the cute JOHNNY to the triple for 69. Dave played EDITABLE for 72.

Andrea Michaels (San Francisco, CA) in division 3 tells me of her loss to Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA), 419-507. She was 125 points ahead when he comes up with COQUETTe through the Q for a triple-triple worth 228 points! Great find! Now Doug and Andrea are both 14-6, but his spread is a few hundred higher.

Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) tells me that he lost a game with a 462 to James Dodds (White Oak, PA). My notes say that Sam made the out bingo of LARRUPED. In his previous game, he also bingoed out with TEaSPOON to the N, but he won that one!