Scrabble Tournament in San Antonio, Texas 12/2000

Pre-tourney
I don't cram the week before. I know there are holes 
in my word knowledge, but now is not the time to fix 
them. I only review some of the stuff
I've studied in the past. Like the basic stems,
AEIO words, AEEI words, some 3-to-make-4 hooks, and
high scoring fives. I don't get in as much playing 
practice as I want. I play a few blitz games on
mplayer.  The night before I met MJ after work
at the mall and we had dinner at Brick Oven.  I had
jalapeno pizza, but was disappointed that the jalapenos
were not fresh, but rather marinated.  We sat right near 
the kitchen and watched them cook calzones that were
so puffy they looked like bloated dead groundhogs.  I
mentioned that to MJ, but then realized I shouldn't
have since she ordered a spinach calzone.  Our waitress
almost lost my discover card. 

Morning
I play a game or two online before heading out.
The drive should only be 1.5 hours at the most.
I hear a Christmas-song turned into an election parody
on the local San Antonio news channel. The traffic is
not bad and I actually arrive early for a change and 
surprise the tournament organizer with my abnormal 
punctuality.

First game
went second had 3 bingoes sTANDEE, CAUSERIE, and 
GUESTED. Opp had one. I had SSJZ?. 13 turns, left
0:11 on clock. I won a challenge, offing swively*.

Game 2
went first, did not bingo; Opp binged twice. I had SJZQ?. 
16 turns, left 0:01 on clock. I won a game-saving challenge
(Opp had COI?TED). Only spot was thru an open L. He tried 
colisted*. I needed to challenge to have a chance. Off it went. 
Only valid bing was IDIOLECT, which neither of us knew.

Game 3, against a fellow club member
went second. opp plays ENEMY in the usual spot. 
I have EIIOVD?. I don't know the only 7. After a few
minutes of working I find an 8 thru the N. Next turn,
opp plays EQUID at 14E. I ignore the TWS's and rid
some crap with EFFECT at 13I. Next turn I plop BORAX
under EQUID for 54. Few turns later opp is hampered
with a blank and an ess on a somewhat tight board,
finally trying itemiser into the R in borax. I hold.
Sounds plausible, but from club experience I know
she often tries things out during games and has flaws
in word knowledge. I think it might be one of those
American-only -IZE words. I challenge and off it goes.
Turns out ITEMISE is good, ITEMIZER is good, but not
ITEMISER. I then further complicate the board with
BLINK hooking EX for 36. She then spends inordinate
amount of time searching for a bing, but never finds
one. Couple turns later I get her to play an ess off
for only 21. By this time her clock is way down and
I coast to an easy victory with her going 8 minutes 
over and my having 7 minutes to spare.

Game 4
I'm now 3-0 and have to play Scott Lucas, also from
my club. I think, if I can get by Scott with a win,
I'll be in real good shape. I start with WHITY which
is held and challenged. It's not the offensive
WHITEY, but a word meaning WHITISH. But you never
have a good enough lead on Scott. Next turn he
bingoes and he's up by 9. I do ZIT for 40; he follows
with EF for 36. I double-double QUININE thru an I for
64; he plays HEX for 52. I bingo with sTARDOM for 67;
he plays JETON for 61. Score is now 236-239 and stays
neck and neck until turn 11. Scott sets up an open
triple-triple with TOEA at 12A. I don't take it nor
either TWS. Instead I play IMPLY under it with 
TI, OM, PEP, and AAL for 47. I'm then in control
and win 431 to 378. We both had less than a minute
left on the clock.

Game 5
Against the lowest seed. Should be a win. I go
second but she exchanges so I play LEAFY to start.
Turn 3 I play a double-double bingo SERINGA for 93.
But she follows with IXORA for 60. I play JO for
36, she plays WEN for 32. I then have AEGLMU?. PODIA
is sitting at 8A with the POD open for 8s. I miss
the 8s starting with the P but find the one that hooks
thru the O. By turn 10 I have a comfortable 356-219 
lead, so I try a phoney that would really open up
the game, but it's challenged off. No matter; I win
464-342, even tho I'm stuck with the Q. She had to
burn her blank on the last turn for only 6 points.

Game 6
I'm on a roll. I play Mary Lee Couey, who is tough,
but beatable if you don't blow the game with mistakes.
I put a J at A12 early on and she burns a blank to
play JETe for only 30. I find out she doesn't like
to leave TWS's open. I make a mistake at turn 8,
playing ZING for only 16 but it sets up ZINGY with the
Y on a DLS. Sure enough she follows with KAY for 36.
She wastes two more esses blocking TWS and has crap
at the end. The score is way too close though and 
I'm hurting on time. We're using an analog clock,
because my board was being used. I figured I was
invincible after 5 wins, but now I wish we'd played
with a digital because I don't know exactly how much
time is left. The board is junk but I make use of
a blank and an ess in two separate turns for a total
of 33 points, while she scores only 9. I go out 
with 2 seconds under, lose the 10, gain 6 on tiles,
and win by about 17. Whew! I'm 6-0! 

San Antonio at night
I go downtown and daydream of going 11-0. Downtown
is packed with a Spurs game going on at the Alamodome
coupled with the touristy traffic trying to park
near the Riverwalk (myself included). I end up 
parking in a scary lot for $4 somewhat away from things,
consider I may never see my car again, but it's only
a Neon, and walk several blocks to the Riverwalk.
I'll need a nice meal eventually but I'm too mentally
spent to eat right away. After too much walking
I don't find any good places and end up at the mall
food court. Nothing there tempts but I'm now starving
so I grab a Schlotzky's salad to hold things over.
Guy at some barbecue chicken place tries to get me
to sample some; I walk past ignoring him and he's
worse than a car salesman. While downing the less
than mediocre salad I decide I want some fish; there's
a Landry's in town. I walk outside, look at the Alamo
and then find out Landry's is on one side of town,
my car's on the other. I give up and decide on a 
restaurant on the Riverwalk. I'm alone so splurging
on a nice place is somewhat of an option; I make a good
choice of Little Rhein Steak House, get seated outside
overlooking the Riverwalk (the temperature is ideal,
not cold at all with a jacket on) and have grilled
fresh Norwegian salmon. I avoid the wine list and
express desire for beer. What's on tap? Nothing,
only bottle. What do you have? Coors light, miller
light, bud light -- I want to say, skip the crap
please; if I actually ask you what kind of beer you
have, it means I'm not a diluted pilsner drinker.
He finally mentions Sam Adams. I'll take it. Can't
go wrong with Boston Lager. The food is superb.
I walk back and am relieved my car still exists. 

Sunday morning.

Round 7
I'm not quite awake yet for Scrabble.
I play a phoney 3 on the third turn. I don't
wake up until move 9 with a six stretched to
the TWS (NUTMEG) for 30. Same thing on next turn:
HERNIA for 30. Board is really bad though
and although I successfully set up a bingo,
it uses both blanks and an ess (STRanGE). I then 
pick up the Z and my opponent blocks my best spot.
I end up playing it off for 16, go over time
for -40 and lose. So much for going undefeated.

Game 8
The loss was enough to really wake me up.
I play HETH early and follow it which LOCA
and CHETH, which I wasn't 100% sure of. 
My opponent bingos with both blanks and an
ess at turn 7 for 86 (DRaWiNGS). I play 
GEEZ with the G and opp plays COZ at D12.
Dangerous. Both wyes are still out. I play
POX at 13C. Opp plays VILLA at M2. My rack
is now ADGIRNS. I should know this rack,
but I don't. I'm thinking there must be a seven
in here. There are no real spots for 8s,
other than thru the V in VILLA. The TLS at
N6 is beckoning me. All seven tiles fit there.
I miss the two real 7s and end up playing the 
uncertain sarding* at N6. It goes unchallenged. 
I need to study the GRAINS and DRAINS stems.
Two racks later I have one of the wyes and play 
WYE at 15C for 43. I go over time again but have 
enough points to hold on to this one. 7-1 now.

Game 9
Against the top seed. She destroyed me 
last January. I challenge her first word,
CENTILE. I should have known this was one
of the -TILES words. A stupid challenge. 
But by turn five I have AEEHNT?. I must have 
spent about four minutes on this rack. I easily 
find HEATHEN and BENEATH, but they don't fit.
Finally I find EArTHEN. There are many other
7s here. I'm going to have to study this
stem. Next turn I get to play AUXIN on a 
triple word. Two turns later I bingo with
DELaTION, putting the D in the top row at
1J. I let a phoney take the TWS for 30.
I was going to play QAID there. Instead
I play RAJ for 37 and then exchange the Q
away next turn. Even after my two bingos,
my opponent averages 24.5 for eight consecutive
turns and is within 30 points. The Q
is still out as are two esses. I have
one ess and play SLY at 14H for 27, blocking
QATS at 11G for 27. She settles for QAT for 20.
I then hop on the triple with POI for 23,
putting the game out of reach.

Game 10
I challenge REATA at turn one. Bad start.
I thought it was only RIATA. I have not
looked at low scoring fives; should have let
it go. I burn a blank with VoTARY for 38.
I lose another challenge (TRIGO -- another
low scoring five; why didn't I know the
anagram of GRIOT?). It's still close 
though, but my opponent makes good use of
her J in two turns and follows that with
a bingo and a 37-point X play. The bag
becomes empty and I'm holding a Q while
my opponent has three U's. Nice. I'm
definitely eating my Q, but I make sure
she eats some U too. I only lose 10 for
the tile, and manage to spare 2 seconds,
but suffer my second loss.

Game 11
The standings are pretty close. I have 8 wins
and I only know that after round 9 someone
has 7 wins with a much higher spread. I
guess that she won round 10 and now the
best I could do is 2nd or 3rd place. Then
I think, it doesn't matter what the standings
are, I'm still going to play to win the
last game, regardless. So I forget about
the standings and concentrate on the game.
It's against the second-to-last seed. We 
draw for first and I get it. Within two 
seconds of turning over the last tile of my 
opening rack, AABCERT, I immediately see a seven
(the common one, not BEARCAT or ABREACT).
Two turns later I'm spoiled with both blanks 
and an ess. I manage a double-double
PAUSinG for 94, my highest turn of the tourney.
I follow it with a somewhat uncertain
HAYER for 36 and I'm up by over 100.
Opponent eventually gets a bingo down,
but sets up my XI for 54. We both have to
pass at the end and again my clock spares
2 seconds. I win by plenty. Final record
is 9-2. I walk outside and notice from
the Round 10 results that I was the only one
with 8 wins. My win just clinched first!
My first ever first place!

Post-tourney
I was expected to win about 5.8 games so I 
should get some bonus rating points out of this.
It's December 10 and above 70 degrees. Awesome.
On the way home I stop at downtown Austin for
a 4.5 mile run to de-stress. The autumn leaves 
scent the trail nicely; the trees are just past
their peak. I listen to R.E.M.'s Adventures in Hi Fi.
I cross Congress Ave. around sunset and notice
there are still bats flying out of the bridge
this late in the year. There is a billboard
here from the Reagans congratulating President 
elect Bush. I pass Zilker Park's trail of lights 
just as I hear the "Christmas tree" lyric on the 
CD.