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NSSC 2008 Commentary: Before the Tournament

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Final Round 1.

Pre-event

The National SCRABBLE Association arrived in Providence on Wednesday to hit the ground running on Thursday to begin the setup for this year's NSSC. On a perfect Spring day with blossoms blowing around in the sunny wind, they got the Providence Convention Center's 5th floor playing room ready for the event. Each table had a brand new Hasbro deluxe SCRABBLE game (still in shrink wrap!), a game timer, and paperwork for the event (scoresheets, challenge slips, result slips, blank slips, blank writing paper, etc.). The best part of the set-up, however, was the surprise for each contestant and coach once they arrived. Upon every chair was a snazzy gear duffle bag, provided by Franklin Electronic Publishers, In each player's bag was a Franklin Electronic Dictionary, a tan-colored 2008 NSSC cap with the event logo on the front (provided by Electronic Arts, Hasbro's new digital partner), an event medal, and two pens (one from Franklin and another from the NSA). The coach's also had a bag placed at the end of each table with a Franklin Electronic Dictionary, the cap, a Hasbro Travel SCRABBLE set, a pad of School SCRABBLE note paper, a medal, and the pens. We knew this gift bag was going to be a huge hit, but more than 300 of the very same bag in one room was a nightmare waiting to happen, so sticky name badges were put at every chair so that the students and coaches could write a name on the label and put in on their bag (one way to differentiate!).

Players began arriving as early as Thursday and some met up in the Skittles Room on the mezzanine level of the host hotel, the Providence Biltmore. Teams from Tennessee played teams from Texas and students even played their partners in one-on-one games. Event volunteers joined in the game play and SCRABBLE play has begun half a day before the event began!

On Friday, registration was set up in the atrium foyer of the Convention Center's fifth floor. Reachable by elevator and escaltors, the open floor plan created a giant romper room with round tables scattered around the expansive open area. Teams began arriving at 9:30 am, waiting patiently for the 10:00 am opening. Students, parents, siblings and coaches made their way to the registration tables to receive event T-shirts that said ESPN SCRABBLE in interlocking graphical tiles. Each team swung by the team photo station for the requisite official photo. The NSA had set up a giant SCRABBLE rug by the front door of the playing room where teams and coaches could pose for group photos. The rug was in hot demand, some wanting to play on it, but most just wanting to roll around and absorb the Everything SCRABBLE feeling.

The NSSC director, Ben Greenwood, met with the event staff 30 minutes prior to the event start. The NSSC webmaster and tsh pairing program creator/implenter, maintained amazing equilibrium as he fielded calls from teams at the airport "on their way there" and managed to create pairings for 104 participating teams.

Ben Greenwood took to the microphone on time, welcomed the players, and then introduced John D. Williams, Jr., the executive director of the National SCRABBLE Association, who was responsible for coordiating and running the NSSC. As always, John made brief remarks, which is greeted with relief from the students who just want to start playing! He thanked all 104 teams for arriving on time (we had no last-minute dropouts or cancellations this year!) and he reminded the students as he does at every NSSC that "SCRABBLE is fun and that win or lose, you can still have a good time." He encouraged them to enjoy this "experience of a lifetime."

Some students are here for the third and fourth time, having played at other NSSCs (students can qualify from 5th through 8th grades), and they were the ones more revving to begin. They were delighted to tear into the new games and arrange the Protiles into 25-tile quads in all four corners of the board. Only one or two teams were a tile off. We quickly replaced their sets and after a few rules and reminders, they were off. The room, flanked on either side by two very long rows of chairs for coaches and families, are pretty full. As the games began, a hush fell upon the room and the only heard was that of rattling tile bags, once described as sounding like an earthquake at a Chiclet's factory!