February 2010 - The Last Word Newsletter

More documents

Recommendations

Info

N E W F A C E SNew FacesSince our last issue, 20 new faces have competed at NASPA tournaments. Two of these playerswon their divisions at their first tournaments: Erica Stutzman, winner of Division 6 at the BrandonMS 1/15 Tournament, and our featured “new face,” Mark Bonta, who won Division 4 at the BrandonMS 1/16 Tournament (6-2 +709).______________________________________________________________________________Mark BontaMark Bonta, 40, lives in Cleveland, MS, with his lovely wife Luz (aHonduran professional artist) and their beloved teenaged daughter Eva, 13going on 30, who aspires to be a professional dancer. A geographyprofessor with research activities in Mexico and Honduras involvingcycads, birds, and environmental issues, Bonta teaches a full slate ofclasses at Delta State University in the Mississippi Delta, “where the Blueswere born, one of the most unique places in the world.” He is the author ofDeleuze and Geophilosophy: A Guide and Glossary and Seven Names forthe Bellbird: Conservation Geography in Honduras. Other thanSCRABBLE®, some of his hobbies include birdwatching, hiking, pianoplaying, traveling, reading philosophy, and watching horror movies.Bonta has been playing SCRABBLE® for as long as he can remember being able to read. “I wasraised in the woods with a lot of books and no TV, and my sole competitor was my older brother.When we were kids, my Dad, who was a reference librarian, had purchased the complete OxfordEnglish Dictionary for home use(!), so we used that as our SCRABBLE® dictionary. The OED hasjust about every word ever written in English in the last five centuries, so we managed to wrack uphuge scores--plus we allowed every possible 're-' and '-er' combination (reeaters, redrinkers),resulting in some pretty bizarre non-words.” After Bonta grew up and moved away, he only playedSCRABBLE® occasionally, but he never lost his love of the game. “When the first good electronicversions came out in the 1990s, I started playing a computer, and quickly became re-addicted. Ofcourse, I had to learn to use only the acceptable words.”Bonta’s New Year's resolution for 2010 was to actually get out and play human beings. “My brotherand I had been talking wistfully about tournament SCRABBLE® since the very beginning, so Ithought I should take the plunge--I'm not getting any younger, and all that.” Searching the Internet,Bonta found a SCRABBLE® club in Mississippi only a couple hours' drive away (Brandon MS Club#427)--and an upcoming tournament he could attend. He jumped right in!Like many “newbies,” Bonta was somewhat nervous about playing in a tournament. “But DannyGatlin and Sharon Hall [the tournament organizers] were very encouraging by email and over thephone, and anyway this is Mississippi, the most friendly and hospitable state in the Union! The foodwas excellent and abundant in Brandon and the atmosphere was competitive but somewhatrelaxed; I got to chat with several other players, and found them all to be intriguing folks. I wasamazed at how well organized everything was, and of course I loved everybody's professional,sportsmanlike behavior.”To prepare for the tournament, Bonta played 10-15 daily games against the computer (which hedoes most days), using Tournament mode in the Yahoo Games version. “I usually have the36
N E W F A C E Scomputer set at 1700 rating, but occasionally I set it at 2100, which is humbling! I memorized thetwo-letter words when I was a kid, and last year I memorized all the 3-letter words. My goal for thisyear is to learn all the 4-letter words, and we'll see after that. Also, I've read up a lot onSCRABBLE® strategy as written by the masters, and that has helped a lot--rack management,shepherding, and so forth.”Bonta found the tournament quite different from online play. “I'd never played under thoseconditions, so I initially struggled a bit with the clock, and even after 8 games I couldn't manage totrack tiles, which is crucial for my endgame strategy. I was slowed down by physically having todraw tiles, move them around on the rack, and announce cumulative scores, so I guess you couldsay I had gotten spoiled by playing only the computer. Nevertheless, the human element issomething I had been missing these past years.“I was happy to win the Division as well as its high word for the day [QUILTERS for 104 points as hisopening play in Game 3]--and have such a good spread [+709].”Bonta “definitely” plans to participate in the Brandon Club #427 meetings “as much as my gasolinebudget allows,” and he hopes to play in more tournaments, at least those nearby.Welcome to Mark Bonta, Erica Stutzman, and the following other newfaces:FENTON MI 1/9: Han Ei ChewFENTON MI 1/10: Ryan HershaRHINEBECK NY YOUTH (A.M.) 1/10: Noah BressmanRENO NV 1/16-18: Elaine DeFelice, Kate RussellSOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE 1/17-30: Rosalie WargaskiTWIN CITIES REDEYE MN LATE BIRD 1/18: Marie SwetallaFT. LAUDERDALE FL 1/23: Mary FontiSEATTLE WA 1/23: Whitney Golob, Patrick HolmWINNIPEG MB CANADA 1/23: Angela Kapoor-DozoisCALGARY AB CANADA 1/30-31: Dave ThaiLAGRANGE PARK FL 1/30: Wesley UnderwoodOSWEGO OR 1/31: Scott R. SmithSTANTON CA 1/31: Deborah Komatsu, Cooper Komatsu, Rasul Macasimbar, Lillian Salas 37
Page 1 and 2: W O R D G A M E N E W SThe Last Wor
Page 3 and 4: T A B L E O F C O N T E N T SLinda
Page 5 and 6: F R O M T H E E D I T O RWill Nedig
Page 7 and 8: E M A I L S T O T H E E D I T O RDe
Page 9 and 10: T O P 2 0 0 9 P L A Y E R S : I N A
Page 11 and 12: T O U R N A M E N T N E W STourname
Page 13 and 14: A L B A N Y N E W Y E A R ’ S T O
Page 15 and 16: A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A C O
Page 18 and 19: 18S E Q U O I A C L U B25. Who is t
Page 20 and 21: A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N
Page 22 and 23: A L B A N Y T E A M T R I V I A A N
Page 24 and 25: R E N O M L K T O U R N A M E N TRe
Page 26 and 27: R E N O M L K T O U R N A M E N TCa
Page 28 and 29: R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0Redeye 2010, a S
Page 30 and 31: R E D E Y E 2 0 1 0Main event winne
Page 32 and 33: 25th Summit Openby Dan Stock with p
Page 34 and 35: TournamentResults 1/1-31ALBANY (MAI
Page 38 and 39: P L A Y T H E G A M EPlay the Game:
Page 40 and 41: P L A Y T H E G A M E7 JS: EELTTTY
Page 42 and 43: K N O W T H E R U L E SKnow the Rul
Page 44 and 45: 44T H E W O R D S M I T HBut back t
Page 46 and 47: A N A G R A M T U N N E L S Q U I Z
Page 48 and 49: W I L L N E D I G E R : P U Z Z L E
Page 50 and 51: A N A G R A M C R O S S W O R D P U
Page 52 and 53: Badqoph Blog Talkby Ryan FischerB A
Page 54 and 55: H I S T O R I C M O M E N T SHistor
Page 56 and 57: Fiction:L I N D A ’ S L I B R A R
Page 58 and 59: S T E L L ’ S R A C K S O F M I R
Page 60 and 61: A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U S
Page 62 and 63: 62T H E A R T O F S T R A T E G YTh
Page 64 and 65: F I N D T H E B E S T P L A YANSWER
Page 66 and 67: P L A Y E R P R O F I L E : D E N I
Page 68 and 69: S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SSa
Page 70 and 71: S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SCh
Page 72 and 73: S C R A B B L E I N T H E N E W SSC
Page 74 and 75: B O O K R E V I E Wof 1879, and imm
Page 76 and 77: Club NewsLarry Sherman, EditorC L U
Page 78 and 79: C L U B N E W SSandee continues,
Page 80 and 81: C L U B N E W S"Please feel free to
Page 82 and 83: P A S S A G E SPassagesLarry Sherma
Page 84 and 85: E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B
Page 86 and 87:
E Q U I P M E N T R O U N D U P : B
Page 88 and 89:
S C R A B B L E R E S O U R C E SIS
Page 90 and 91:
Online SCRABBLE®Discussion GroupsC
Page 92 and 93:
T O U R N A M E N T C A L E N D A R
Page 94:
ArchivesA R C H I V E STo access pr
show all

February 2010 - The Last Word Newsletter

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?