…with Gary Moss

Archive for July, 2010

You might consider acquiring a mouth-guard to put into your scrabble bag with all your other scrabble gear. No, you are unlikely to fall off the chair onto your face; no, you are unlikely to be punched by your scrabble opponent or be the victim of high sticking. But, it has been reported by the ADA that gnashing of teeth effects 11.2% of the most highly competitive scrabble players, leading to premature tooth loss and erosion.

For approximately 15 years, Mark Landsberg has owned the bragging rights for having played the highest sanctioned tournament game ever, a 770 point feat. In that game he wasn’t playing any slouch either. He did it against the honorable scrabble director, Alan Stern.

But now, at this week’s Reno Tournament, a new record has been established. Edward De Guzman scored 771 points in a sanctioned game. Records are made to be broken. The king is dead; long live the king.

Some competitions are more tense than others. One seldom know before hand, when they sign up to play in a tournament, where they will be ceded in their division. In my opinion, the toughest challenge is to be ceded #1. Being ceded #1 means that you have the highest rating among the players in your division. That also means that #1 is statistically expected to win a higher percentage of games than any other player in the division. One little slip up or ‘angry tile gods’ and a #1 ceded can lose hard earned rating points. That scenario makes me very tense.

The opposite scenario is being ceded as the bottom player in the division. Being ceded at the bottom usually means that you are not expected to win much at all. With a little good luck you can be a spoiler by beating one of the higher ranked players.

Every tournament provides an even playing field for any individual player to draw a luck combination of tile and play the High Word Score or the Highest Game Score.

I wish someone out there who has a little pull with Delta Dental Plan would petition their directors to establish a ‘Scrabble Players Special’.

The harshest rule regarding scrabble challenges occurs right here in North America, in concert with the rules of NASPA. Once a word is challenged, in competitive play, there is no going back. One of the two players will lose a turn as a result. If the challenger wins, the person being challenged also loses the points for the attempted phoney. That hurts big time. Since each player takes only about 17 turns, in the average game, that means a lost opportunity for about 6% of their final score. (In England there is only a 5 point penalty; the Brits were always more genteel.)

Some other kinds of challenges throughout history have been much more costly: building The Great Wall of China and The Egyptian Pyramids; Hannibal crossing the Alps; the colonies severing their ties from England; being in the same room with an opened can of tuna fish; playing at a scrabble club for the very first time.

I’m about to take on a personal challenge named Adrienne Sheinwald (or maybe I have it reverse and I am her challenge). Right now, like most relationships, the starting out is all giddy and fluff and dreamy. Being a second marriage for each of us, the odds in Vegas aren’t as good as for a first marriage. But, we are both wiser for having lived a good chunk of life. Wish us well.

In honor of Adrienne and Love I again offer the HEARTS STEM. CLICK NOW.

When women do it, it is often referred to as ‘women’s intuition.‘ When men do it, it is often seen as ‘male logic.’

Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. When things work out, he/she who takes the action is praised for their insight. When things flop there are a lot of ‘I told you so’ comments.

Maybe the impulse factor is an inborn gene.
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Maybe we are wired just like my eyes are brown.
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To what extend is behavior learned?
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Here are just a few of my impulsive actions over time.

Age 4: Washing a dirty car with the rags in a bucket (that turned out to be Mrs. Sonny’s curtains) BAD!
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Age 8: Playing with Jimmy Robert’s jackknife and slicing my finger; four stitches. BAD!
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Age 10: Helping dad with deliveries on his milk truck. Breakfast at the Lyndon Diner. PRICELESS!
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Age 13: Earning the Ner Tamid merit badge as a boy scout with Rabbi Irwin Groner. ZEHR GUT!
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Age 16-21: Doing poorly in school. BAD!
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Age 25: Owning a frozen pizza business in inner city Detroit (burned up in the 1968 riots) DUMB! DUMB!
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Age 26: Founding Bloomfield Nursery School AT MY BEST!
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Age 40: Divorced; lost my school business; lost myself. WHAT WAS, WAS.
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Age 46: Discovering competitive scrabble and many new friends. A BLESSING.
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Age 53: Moving to California (decision to move + moving in 30 days). GREAT CHOICE.
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Age 54-57: Lived in and traveled in a 32 foot RV. HIGHS AND LOWS.
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Age 57-67: Living at Laguna Woods Village. COMFORTABLE & CONVENIENT.
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July 1, 2010: Not blocking the bingo line against David Pearl. TOTALLY STUPID.
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Age 67 – : A new marriage; a new life. FEELS VERY RIGHT.

How often have you had a rack of letters, considered a certain combination as a word, but held back from playing it because you lacked total certainty? I have done that many times. Usually when I take the time to make notes and look it up after the game I find that I would have been correct.

What’s the worse that could happen? I’d be wrong. Maybe get challenged off the board and lose a turn. But the experience would plant that word deeper into my memory for future use.

How many opportunities in life have passed you by, because you didn’t go for it? Do you have a stack of ‘what ifs’ that you are lugging around?

As you may know, I live in southern California, a transplant form southern Michigan. Whenever I go back to visit, landmarks ignite memories. Last week, during a visit, when driving through the intersection of Inkster and 14 Mile Road, a lazy residential community, I gazed at the large 10 acre property on northeast corner and remembered when.

It was sometime in the late 1970s. I was headmaster of a growing private school and looking to expand. I already had purchased and converted two residential properties into preschools during a 10 year period. The corner of 14 Mile & Inkster would be an ideal location. The realtor picked me up, and we drove up the driveway to a rather small home to the rear of the 10 acre parcel. A deep ravine was at the North end of the property, falling to the Franklin River. Large, lush trees dotted the acreage. As we entered the home, my interest dampened. I was very familiar with the requirements for school use, which required 45 sq. Ft. per child, and I eyeballed this building as being way too small. The realtor sensed my concerned and said, “You’ve got to see this.” He opened a door at the end of a hallway, took two small steps down and we stood in an 8 car garage ( 80 Ft. x 20 Ft ). I quickly recalculated the area in my head. I hadn’t even finished when the realtor said, “And look here.” He opened another door in the garage and took two more steps down into a subterranean basement with a side ground-level exposure, with an area of 60 Ft. x 90 Ft. All I could think was ‘what a find’.

I came prepared to spend about $125K for a property. The asking price was $420K. I hesitated. I really wanted this but the gap was far too big. If I would have simply walked away I would have always wondered.

I stretched myself to my limit and offered $148K. And would you believe me when I tell you that my offer was accepted? It was. But I knew that this was only the first hurdle to putting a school on that location. My offer was contingent upon the approval of the zoning board. Although schools are a permitted use on such properties, politics play an important part in such decisions. My appeal to the zoning board was a whole other story with some of the attorneys of some of the wealthiest people in that community quashing my dream.

I have no regrets. I played it out to the end. I did my best.

And that’s how I play scrabble too.

To help you ‘Go For It’ in your scrabble game, I have created The Bookmark Series. These word lists, on Bookmarks include the hi-probability bingos that every competitive play needs to know. CLICK HERE