N A S P NASPA Bulletin® The monthly news bulletin of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association A August 2011: Vol. 3, No. 8 NSC Wrap-Up by Chris Cree SPECIAL 2011 NSC EDITION The 2011 National SCRABBLE Champi- onship (NSC) is in the books. Congratulations to this year’s divisional winners: in Division 4, Randy Forrester (Santa Fe, NM); in Division 3, Suhas Rao (Apex, NC); and in Division 2, Richard Spence (Tucson, AZ). And hearty congratulations to the 2011 National SCRABBLE Champion, Nigel Richards. Nigel is the first player ever to have won back-to-back titles, and now joins Joe Edley as a three-time champion. This year’s event was a much more difficult path for Nigel. Three people ended up with 22–9 records. Kenji Matsumoto and Brian Bowman were mere spread points away from a title. Jim Kramer made it to the final game and came up a post-bingo draw short. It takes a great deal to put on this event. Inspecting playing space, negotiating the package, making sure all facets of the agree- ment are being adhered to (by both parties!), handling all problems, attending to those who require attention, scheduling all of the meetings, delivery, set-up, takedown and NASPA Copresidents Chris Cree (right) and John Chew (left) present the winner’s check to the storage of materials, and well, just the entire 2011 National SCRABBLE Champion, Nigel Richards (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) production. Thanks to all who helped make the 2011 NSC 2011 Highlights Annette Tedesco: NSC a reality: by Sherrie Saint John Person of the Year Check-in assistants: Carolyn Easter, Sa- This heavily condensed summary of the mantha Nelson, Joyce Stock, Bennett Jacob- highlights of Sherrie’s commentary and photos by Rod MacNeil stein, Amy Krafchick, Cheryl Melvin, Mary at the 2011 National SCRABBLE Champion- When asked what the secret is to the many Logullo, Becky Dyer, Lila Crotty, Judy Ne- ship has been prepared by the Bulletin Com- successful tournaments she organizes, An- whouse, Ken Kasney, Mariah Smith, Jean mittee. Please visit the event website to see the nette Tedesco replied simply “to have com- McArthur, Linda Villareal, Regenia Hidalgo, coverage in its entirety. passion, understanding and love of people.” Bryan Pepper. When I arrived yesterday, the daytime In those heartfelt words are also an appro- Data Entry: Chris Wiegand, Reese Daniel, temperature at DFW airport was a bit more priate reflection of the Scrabble community’s Tim Crotty. than 110 F (43 degrees Celsius, for you Ca- feelings towards her. It is in that spirit that Concierge: Robin Gates. nadians). Let’s just say, I was an egg frying on Annette has been honored as the 2010–11 Division Assistants: Amy Krafchick, John the sidewalk, waiting for a ride to the hotel! Michael R. Wise Memorial Person of the Merlau, Sue Grogan-Johnson, Lynn Sneed, But once I pulled up to the Intercontinental, Year Award, an annual honour bestowed Annette Nelson. all the hot weather was forgotten. The hotel, originally by the NSA Advisory Board, now Division Leaders: Dan Stock, Bennett Ja- under construction on the first floor dur- by the NASPA Advisory Board, to recognize cobstein, Dallas Johnson, John Robertson. ing last year’s event, is now wide open and individuals who have excelled in their con- Annotators: Dee Segrest, Kate Watson. gorgeously spacious. There are SCRABBLE- tributions to the competitive SCRABBLE Master of Ceremonies: Alan Stern. worthy tables everywhere. I can’t wait to see community. Color Commentary and Photography: the players descend and start using the pub- Annette began organizing Scrabble tour- Sherrie Saint John. lic spaces for games! naments in 1995 shortly after moving to Sponsors: Hasbro, Winning Moves, Mer- Two merchants are set up so far and more Stillwater, NY from her native Brooklyn, riam-Webster, Southwest Displays, City of are expected as the day progresses. Southwest where she began a job as a family care pro- Addison, TX, JP Morgan Investments — Displays & Events is a company owned by vider for individuals with developmental dis- Private Banking. Brian Cree, brother of NASPA copresident, abilities. Donors: Bob Schoenman, Michael Baron, Chris Cree (Dallas, TX). He and his team Missing her SCRABBLE friends from the Paul McCarthy, Bob Gillis. have done a bang-up job this year with sig- city, she contacted her longtime friend, the NSC THANKS continued on p. NSC HIGHLIGHTS continued on p. ABOUT ANNETTE continued on p. NASPA Bulletin, August 2011, Vol. 3, No. 8 NSC Thanks The Player Database, Collins SCRABBLE Play from NSC WRAP-UP, p. Privacy, Finding Players by Nick Ball Computer Central, Ratings, Standings, This article has been edited slightly from an Statistics, Charts and Coproducer: John by the Web Committee original version appearing on WESPA’s website, Chew. Earlier this month, we released revised ver- and is reprinted with permission. And, finally, a special thanks to the Direc- sions of three of our web tools to help give From just one or two tournaments per tor of her last National SCRABBLE Cham- members finer control over access to their year through the 2000s, to 16 in 2010, and pionship: Mary Rhoades. Mary is stepping contact information, and directors an easier now 12 as of mid June 2011, Collins (SOW- down from this awesome task and responsi- way to contact their players. If you go to PODS) play in North America is beginning bility. She will continue to direct her NASPA the Profile Editor in Member Services now, to take off. While the scene is still small, and Club #248 and the September Mid-Cities you’ll see that you can specify who can view many Collins tournaments remain single di- event as well as continue her duties as Chair the phone numbers, the email address and visions of just a few players, there is a definite of the Club/Director Committee and as one the mailing address stored in your profile. presence that has become established and is of NASPA’s Trustees. You can share each piece of information only unlikely to recede. As a personal aside, thanks so much for with certified NASPA directors; with direc- A major factor in the rise in tournaments is taking the leap of faith with me seven or so tors and other players; or with directors, oth- the decision by NASPA to rate Collins games years ago when the first DO was held and er players and SCRABBLE-related vendors. from 2010 onwards, under the NASPA continuing to do so with the Players Cham- If you haven’t done so recently, please check SOWPODS rating system. While WESPA pionship and these three National SCRAB- the Profile Editor to make sure that your has rated North American Collins games for BLE Championships. contact information is up-to-date and your several years, the NASPA decision helped to Your diligence has made me look good! I privacy settings the way you want them. encourage a small but critical mass of inter- cannot thank you enough. In Member Services, you’ll also find two est that made it worthwhile for directors to Sincerely and fondly, new versions of the Player Information tool, establish Collins divisions. For directors, the Chris Cree one for regular members and one for direc- extra work involved is minimal, the main re- NASPA looks forward to seeing you all next tors, which give you access to any contact in- quirement being that the division contains at August 11–15 for the 2012 National SCRAB- formation that another player has agreed to least 4 people, whether or not WESPA rat- BLE Championship at the Loews Royal Pacific share with you. ings will also be sought, and which challenge Resort at Universal Orlando in Orlando, FL. rule will be in effect (e.g., 10 points per word Mystery Words for unsuccessful challenge). About Annette by John Chew Many people have put in a lot of hard from ANNETTE TEDESCO, p. The June issue’s mystery word was work to help establish the scene. In par- late Steve Pfeiffer. The two teamed up to host RIDGEL (the same as a RIDGIL or RIDG- ticular, NASPA copresident John Chew the first of many annual events in Albany. LING): an animal afflicted with cryptorchi- works tirelessly on a huge number of dif- Annette recalls fondly, “favorite memories dism. ferent things to do with the game, and this are organizing with Steve and also meeting This month, I’m thinking of a pair of extends to Collins, for example, maintaining new players who come back to my tourna- words. They both appear in the same scene the NASPA SOWPODS rating system, and ments on a regular basis.” in the classic movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, assisting tournament directors interested in And indeed they do, in great numbers. they are both eight letters long, and they rating Collins. Sam Kantimathi likewise nev- Annette’s three annual events, two in Albany have five letters in common. er tires of promoting the game, attending a (New Year’s and Fourth of July weekends) MYSTERY WORDS continued on p. great deal of Collins divisions, and providing and one in Lake George, are all among the help and encouragement, such as ordering most popular and highest attended on the Newly Certified the Collins word list for players here, since it calendar. Each of them routinely attracts 100 Club and Tournament is not available in bookstores. players or more, drawing from all over the NASPA’s other copresident and founder, northeast United States, eastern Canada, and Directors Chris Cree, established and organized the beyond. by Mary Rhoades World Players Championship in Dallas, The centerpiece event is undoubtedly her The Club/Director Committee is pleased TX, in 2008 and 2010, and this event has annual Fourth of July tournament, which is to announce the following list of NASPA been well attended by many top interna- now running 17 years strong.