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NSSC 2008 Commentary: Round 4

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

After-hours commentary

At 7:30 pm tonight, the NSA hosted an Ice Cream Social at the Providence Biltmore hotel, about a block from the Rhode Island Convention Center. Two ice cream stations were set up with hot fudge, caramel, strawberries, cherries, jimmies of every hue, and vats of fresh whipped cream! The students were in heaven. One even had about a dozen bright red cherries on his sundae! The surprise, though, was that a new playing room had been opened off the beautiful gilded ceiling foyer where the ice cream was served. In this room, on tables and on the floor were a bevy of Hasbro games set out for the students to play! The room was decorated in sparkling green tissue paper with confetti and random wooden SCRABBLE tiles sprinkled all over. The games set out were Twister (with groups of students in various back-bending positions as they played), Connect Four, Boggle, Taboo for kids, Pictionary, Simon, Pictureka, Racko, Catch Phrase, Jenga, Perfection, Hyper Slide, etc.

The thing is, it wasn't just the students playing. Their coaches and parents were into it as well! Games were being played on virtually every surface!

Across the gorgeous, golden foyer, past the art deco glass elevator (that goes to the topmost floor of the Biltmore on the outside of the building (scary YIKES!), up a half flight of stairs was the Skittles after-hours room. This room was totally packed with students playing SCRABBLE on virtually every flat surface. In some instances, additional tables seem to have been brought it; round ones that barely held a rotating board, set aside the scoresheets or racks. One team played with their rack stop the board itself, since there was no other place to put it! Kids are so flexible!

Intermingled among the casual games were dead serious games that the students were undertaking, sometimes in pairs, sometimes solo against the elite NSA SCRABBLE players who are working at this event. Former World SCRABBLE and National SCRABBLE Champion, Joel Sherman, was stationed on the right side of the room, in the furthermost left corner table. The only three-time National SCRABBLE Champion and co-author of Everything SCRABBLE (and about 15 other SCRABBLE-related publications), Joe Edley, was one table away from Joel in the furthermost right corner of the room. One table shy of each of them sat Jason Katz-Brown (in the top 15-rated players in North America, along with Joel and Joe) and Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak, Wall Street Journal reporter, NPR commentator, and co-host of the upcoming ESPN show about this event. The students stood in lines, waiting to play one of these superstars. The games were competitive (I'm not sure if any of the elite players were beat, but they played game after game after game, as quick as they could, to play with as many students as they could) and rapid fire. At one point, a full half-hour after the ice cream had been put away, Joel Sherman emerged from the Skittles room in desperate search for some sort of snack. A kind member of the catering team helped set him up with a melting hot fudge sundae for which he was so thankful. He admitted, between gulps, that he was seeking the energy boost, because he'd been playing nonstop for quite a bit. Sinking into the settee upon which he'd sunk for a moment of respite, he wasn't quite invisible enough, because one of the Girl Scout players sought him out and sweetly asked if he was intending upon returning. She and her partner had been standing and waiting to play him (GI Joel has a following, what can I tell you?) for about 90 minutes. And she was so hoping he'd return to play them. I'm not sure how he could have said no and I'm pretty sure he didn't. Speaking for Joel, which is a dangerous thing, but i think all of us share this same joy in the enthusiasm the younger players have for this game that we, as adults, have loved for years.

On a Stefan Fatsis vs. Quincy Cerabino-Hess (one half of Windham Nesmith Library (NH)) board, I spotted BUDdIES. I asked how the game was going and got a "he is winning" with a sharp finger pointed at Stefan. Guess he hasn't lost his touch!

On a Joel Sherman vs. Stephen Sneed (one half of Texas State Champions - Trinity Bend Christian School (TX)) game, I spot TOADIsH, OLEATES, MILIEUS, and BEARING.

I had a chance to speak to a couple moms/coaches of one of the Arizona Girl Scout teams. They spoke about how excited they were to attend the event and how much their team had been helped by the Scottdale, AZ, SCRABBLE club run by Michael Wier. They had called Mike, asking if their students would be welcome at the club. He encouraged them to come and many members of the club played the girls as a team and one club member in particular, Jane Burns, spent half a day with the students, coaching them. Clearly it has made a difference. The girls are 2-1, losing only one game to the Hopkinton Middle School Team 1 (MA) team, arguably one of best teams here this year.

As I make my way across the room to see what is going on with the bright lights and camera, I spot NATIviTY on a game Joe Edley is playing with students. I was going to ask who played it, but I guess I already had a hunch!

The bright lights were from an ESPN camera. In the middle of this slightly narrow and full room, Stefan Fatsis and an ESPN camera operator were filming students saying scripted sentences into the camera. Stefan saw his job slipping away when Quincy Cerebino-Hess (who happens to be the son of a close friend of his) got in front of the camera. This young man's eyes could melt snow; he is so enigmatic. A SCRABBLE star was born! His line was to encourage the audience to learn the two-letter words. He said with vivacity and panache, "Learn all your two-letter words! There are 101 of them from AA to ZA!" Well, a portion of his delivery was an ad lib on the part of Quincy and it was really good. Some of the students clapped when he was done.

Another celebrity was in the room, too, Ben Lyons. In the good old days, Ben was an NSA intern, doing all the glamorous jobs like stapling and posting standings. Now he is an E Entertainment reporter and will cohost the ESPN show about this event with Stefan to be televised this fall. At one point a student from Lexington Montessori School Team 3 (MA) handed him a SCRABBLE folder and asked him to autograph it!

Games were ongoing after 10 pm and it was fun to see Randolph Middle School (NC) squaring off against John Chew in yet another game of Bananagrams!

***** ***** *****

Round 4

The students and coaches were fed breakfast one salon over before games began this morning and they'll be fed lunch in the same room.

Table 7's game opens with a bingo: RuDDIER for 68, played by Hopkinton Middle School Team 2 (MA) vs. Walter C. Young Middle School Team 2 (FL). Later in the game, they played CORN, hooking to the front of the bingo, making CRUDDIER. Their opponents had some nice plays, too, including JOHNNY to the triple fr 57.

Nearby, at table 9, Walter C. Young Middle School Team 1 (FL) challenged their opponent's opening play: WIELdED for 78, played by Arizona Cactus-Pine Council Inc. Team 1 (AZ). The play was acceptable.

Hopkinton Middle School Team 1 (MA) had JAWLESS on their rack. They were playing Our Lady of Victory (MD) Team 3 (MD). A perfect opening was created that permitted JAWLESS/AS to come down for 81.

Joey Krafchick of Atlanta Tucker Community Center (GA) is looking sharp today in his Abercrombie & Fitch striped button down shirt. It stands out distinctly in the sea of T-shirts and actually makes him look older than his years!

At table 15, Clarke Middle School (MA) overdrew and had 8 on their rack. Their opponents, Emerson Middle School Team 1 (CA), pointed to three tiles, which were turned face up, VTS, and the S was put back into the tile bag. Big shock!

At table 1, Evangelical Christian School Team 1 (TN) has a big lead, having played RETAXed, in their game against Ruth Keeler Library Team 1 (NY). The teams at the topmost boards are all undefeated to this point, and they all are playing excellently and so want to win. It was hard to see the look of disappointment in the faces of the Ruth Keeler Library Team 1 (NY) players. Their run of good tiles and good synergy was coming to an end.

At table 3, Texas State Champions - Trinity Bend Christian School (TX) are playing Atlanta Tucker Community Center (GA). WANTERS is on the rack of the team from Texas. I see Atlanta's EnDITES for 70 on the board. I later learn that it was the team from Atlanta's win, 432-301. They also got down INDOLES for 76 and their opponents played ENSURINg to the blank G for 74, which was an outbingo. Nice play for the Texas Champs!

At table 25, Eastern Greene Middle School Team 1 (IN) is playing Ridgefield Library Team 3 (CT). The latter team has FASTING on their rack and no place to put it. Frustrated, they just passed their turn, hoping their opponents might open the board.

At table 20, on an in-progress game betwen Dalton School (NY) and Evangelical Christian School Team 2 (TN), I see GARGLER go down. The opponents challenge and only when they step away from the board do I notice the bingo hooked to make HIR*. The play came up.

Joe Edley says he is asked often for what he considers the "best plays" that he sees each round. One unusual play, a nonbingo, caught his eye this round. The third play in the game between Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (MA) and Janney Elementary School (DC) was LEONE, which hooked to create HO/WEN/HAE. He liked that plays 1 and 2 had already overlapped, making two-letter words, but the Advanced Math team took it one step further, making a third overlap. According to Joe, knowing LEONE is terrific word knowledge in itself and the nicely nestled nature of the play made it over the top!

A 9-letter word has been played at table 33. North Clay Jr. High Team Red (IL) has played UNEQUALER* to the last two letters, ER. Lexington Montessori School Team 1 (MA), smartly decided to challenge. Words of 9 letters and longer at this event, are adjudicated only with the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition. Ben Greenwood, the event director, brought over the big book and made the lookup: Unacceptable. We have been very lucky this year to have both John M. Morse, president and publisher, and Jim Lowe, senior editor, at Merriam-Webster, Inc., at the event. They have been watching the games and handing out literature on the various Merriam-Webster products, which is a great fit for this crowd: they love words! Merriam Webster provided today's giveaway, a paperback Offical SCRABBLE Players Dictionary, Fourth Edition was placed on every chair. The students were excited!

At table 1, the outbingo, SIGNALED was played through the E by Evangelical Christian School Team 1 (TN).

Evangelical Christian School Team 3 (TN) had a big win at table 27 this round against Seneca Middle School (SC), winning with a 406-187. I see OUTsALE* for 68 and CESSING for 72, both played by the winning team.

Arizona Cactus-Pine Council Inc. Team 1 (AZ) players are excitedly talking to their mom/coaches/Girl Scout leaders from across the velvet rope, where the non-players are stationed. The girls played at table 9, and had the earlier mentioned opening play of WIELdED for 78. They went on to win that game and were so happy!