Archive for November, 2010
SCRABBLE: Thinking . . . . or not
The following scenario happens to me in various settings from time to time; the fact that it has occurred twice in just the last couple of weeks prompted this blog: Someone begins by telling me of their love for the game of scrabble; then that ask if we could play a game and if I could teach them a thing or two. Next they suggest that the reason that they want to learn the game is so they will be able to play it with their children. (Great, I think!). “How old are your children?”, I inquire. One is 6 and the other is 8.
There is never any harm in asking. But this illustrates that these folks do not have a clue about how the game of scrabble works and the skills and vocabulary required to play it well.
Maybe I’m this way because I am a teacher by profession. I think the proper question, from that parent, should have been, “Is scrabble an appropriate game for me to play and teach to my 6 and 8 year old children?”
My response would have been, “NO, but there are many other word games that you can be playing with your children to have fun, allow them to find success, and along the way they will learn important skills that apply to scrabble and learning in general.”
It is my observation that most people want immediate success and gratification without paying the price of their time and energy.
Have you ever wondered why the game of BINGO is popular? Just about anyone, age 4 and older, can play with little instruction.
Have you ever wondered why playing the LOTTO is so popular? Potential large payoffs for very little energy or money spent draw the multitudes.
Why in a country of 250,000,000+ people do only about 3,000 – 5,000 people play competitive scrabble at clubs and tournaments? People don’t want to show poorly. People don’t want to spend the necessary time to build their vocabularies and other skills.
Why does the average person on the street have only about a 5th Grade vocabulary and know less than 6% of the words in the dictionary? People don’t place a high value on language; they are willing to exist with the bare minimum.
Competitive scrabble is a game for thinkers. Every rack of seven tiles is likely to provide a hundred or more different possibilities for plays on the board. Players have to be able to identify the possible plays, find the best place to play on the board, consider the ramifications of playing related to the opponent’s comeback play, and foretell the new tiles that will be drawn from the tile bag. And there are actually people who call this process FUN.
While my player friends and I engage one another across scrabble boards, several times each week, others sit deeply in their lounge chairs, surfing channels, having others on the tube provide the evenings’ entertainment. To each their own.
SCRABBLE: Learn By Doing
Have you every spent any time watching a young, determined child? Whenever I have the opportunity, I love to watch a child in the process of learning how to ride a two-wheeler. The scene frequently begins with a bit of trepidation. There is an initial awkwardness. There is a lot of teetering and wobbling. There may be some falling down and crying. But then, in a blink of an eye, the newbie rider finds their sea-legs, like an eaglet falling from its aerie only to soar to great heights. The newbie rider is off in a flash, leaving his father/mother/coach far behind in the dust.
One of my other passions in the world of games, a far distant 2nd to scrabble, is Sudoku. I’ll admit here that when I first encountered Sudoku I had a poor attitude about it. I had one of those I CAN’T attitudes that get in the way of mastering anything. One day, for some unknown reason, I just decided to learn how to do a Sudoku puzzle. I struggled with that first (beginner level) puzzle for the better part of an hour until I had solved it. I clearly recall my sense of discovery as I unlocked the mysteries that had been stopping me from understanding up until that time. The ahas were exhilarating. I relished the feelings of achievement and satisfaction. After completing the first puzzle, I immediately dove into the next, just to prove to myself that solving the first one had not been some fluke.
There is always someone else who has more money.
There is always someone else who has a nicer car.
There is always someone else who has a bigger home.
There is always someone else who has a bigger yacht.
There is always someone else who has more talent.
We can always improve our own lot from where we are to some higher ranking.
~ Letter Man
One simple exercise that I do all the time, that you can easily incorporate into your fun things to do is playing a little game that I call WORDS IN WORDS. All it requires is a pencil and paper.
CLICK HERE and check out WORDS IN WORDS.
SCRABBLE: Secrets Leaked By Letter Man
When asked if he was the one responsible for having leaked secrets of the scrabble champions, Letter Man never hesitated. Just like George Washington, confronted by his father at a downed Cherry Tree, Letter Man spoke up in true Obama style, “I take full responsibility. Yes, I have been giving away scrabble secrets of the champs. I’m the one with the loose lips.”
Letter Man went further without defending his actions, rather, he praise those before him who had performed similar actions by writing books, teaching classes, and conducting workshops.
Knowledge is one of the few things on this planet that is free for the taking and having
~ Letter Man
“Knowing anything makes each of us more competent and complete. The people who say that they can’t learn word lists and strategies are simply ill-informed and misspeaking. What they really should be saying is ‘I don’t want to do that’. That would be more honest.”
Like me, Letter Man believes that each of us can learn almost anything we choose. In Episode #3, on Youtube, in Tips From Letter Man, he tells us that most learning is a function of spending time doing and reviewing. One of the tips that he believes is key to success in winning at scrabble, with high scores, is knowing about, and studying with, STEMS. CLICK HERE to watch Episode #3 and make sure to pay attention to the part in which Letter Man divulges the Top 10 Stems. Each one is related to many, many bingos that appear on our tile racks all the time.
Letter Man even shows us how the champions study words, using WHIZ CARDS and The BOOKMARK Series. How cool is that. He shows us how they are constructed so that we can create the tools for ourselves or if we choose, we can purchase them at: www.wordgifts.net
Share the links with your scrabble buddies, unless you want the information all for yourself. And then watch for more tips released on every Friday. If you have a question for Letter Man, he will respond to you in short order. Email: letter.man.moss@gmail.com
SCRABBLE: Letter Man’s 3rd Visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKHclOsSKyw
CLICK HERE
Nothing’s too heavy for Letter Man. Allow Letter Man the opportunity to heat up your game. Watch a new episode every Friday and pick up on one or more of Letter Man’s ‘Tips’. If you choose to meld those tips into your game, before long I promise, you will be moving on up in the ranks.
One very cool feature of the youtube presentations is that you are invited to interact with Letter Man, by sending him an email with your personal questions about your game. In Episode #3, Letter Man addresses a question from Dale Johnson of San Bernardino, California. Your query could be next.
SCRABBLE: Always Another Event
If you want to become a better scrabble player, you have to more than just play frequently; you have to learn the tricks of the champions. Attend a Scrabble Workshop offered by Letter Man.
Sign up at: WORKSHOP
Saturday, December 4th
10:00 AM coffee, 10:30 AM – Noon WORKSHOP
Noon – scrabble games
at LAGUNA WOODS VILLAGE, CLUBHOUSE #5 (Game Room)
24262 Punta Alta
Laguna Woods, California 92637
Preregistration is a MUST CLICK HERE
SCRABBLE: Some Marketing Pisses Me Off
money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money
screw the consumer, screw the consumer, screw the consumer
I hope the public is smart enough not to fall into the trap of the smooth writing, shiny web store that is selling scrabble products under the banner: Official Scrabble Dictionary – Standard and Electronic.
To see if you can catch all the MIS-INFORMATION . . . have a look
CLICK HERE,
and then come back to read the rest of my rant.
Looks good, doesn’t it? Looks ‘Official,’ doesn’t it?
In my opinion, “It is about as honest as a $3 bill, and the 3 phoney US Postal Money Orders that some jerk tried to pass on me last week.”
Did you notice the obsolete OSPD3 dictionary and the out-of-date Franklins that she is selling. As you know, the OSPD3 was superseded by the OSPD4 way back in March 2006. The older version, by today’s standards is missing thousands of legal words and includes some bad ones. Five of the important, acceptable, 2-Letter-Words are missing ( FE, KI, OI, QI, and ZA ).
What respectable competitive player would feature a picture of that ugly scrabble board that sits front and center on the web page. Yes, it is a Hasbro product. But in my opinion, it was designed by some non-scrabble-player during a creative nightmare. The change of colors on the ‘hot spots’ only confuses seasoned players and detracts from the game.
Did you read the ‘General Notes’ which suggest that winning the game is merely a function of LUCK? The writer obviously does not have a clue. She must be related to the same jerk who changed the colors on that scrabble board.
She suggests that the OSPD is now in its 5th Edition. Duh! When did that happen? Bogus!
We consumers are targets of the greedy bastards who scheme of ways to separate us from our money.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that entrepreneurs give away their wares. Sometimes I don’t even mind paying more than I know something is worth, as long as I am receiving a product with integrity.
But BEWARE, it is the season. People are shopping for gifts. Most people do not research the gifts before making the purchase. Most people put too much TRUST in the salesperson or the written advertisement.
I hate it when someone takes advantage of me and others.
I hate it when some jerk misrepresents the products associated with a game that is my passion.
www.officialscrabbledictionary.com
was registered 27AUG2010 to:
Chris Wechner
CW Health
1411 Laurel Valley Drive
Waterford MI 48327
248.622.6284
SHAME ON YOU!
For an honest slant on information and products watch Letter Man. CLICK HERE!
SCRABBLE: Reasons To Be Thankful
.
friends and caring
.
knowledge and sharing
.
colorful tiles and learning styles
.
rhyming mnemonics and reviewing phonics
.
joys of learning and inspirational teachers
.
do-it-yourselfers and self-righteous preachers
.
.
whiz cards, stems and the ‘Bookmark Series’
enuf info to make anyone weary
.
weekly clubs and pick up games
can too much scrabble drive one insane?
.
owl2 and lists galore
if only one could keep the correct score
.
strategies and perfect tracking
if I lose one more game will they send me packing?
.
can’t draw an ess or find the blanks
there’s not much reason to give much thanks
.
but showing up to hugs and smiles
makes all the showing up worthwhile.
.
just learning a stem to prove that ‘I CAN’
.
creating the likes of Letter Man
.
creating events, each one like a party
.
makes me fell good, like a real smartie
.
doing this work is barely a chore
.
so I’m thankful today. A true scrabble ‘bocher’
My next Scrabble Workshop will be on Saturday, December 4.
Learn how Zyzzyva can improve your game. CLICK HERE
.
Holiday Gifts for Word People ; CLICK HERE
SCRABBLE: Garbage In – Garbage Out
Ever use a calculator? Ever get a wrong answer? Whose fault was it?
Oh, you hit the wrong key.
Ever prepare a meal? Ever end up with a flop? What was the problem?
Oh, you used the wrong size measuring cup.
Ever get bad information from an instructor? Ever place your word in the wrong place on the board?
Oh, you didn’t ask a sanctioned director or Letter Man.
Somewhere along the way, we are trained to believe our teachers and the people in commercials and the clergy as if they are always right. Oh yeah, doctors and their staff are always suppose to be right too. Aren’t they?
My 90 year old mom just had an episode with low blood sugar that resulted in her being carted from her home to the emergency room by the EMS. Lucky for her, and those of us who love her, she was wearing a Life Alert, which she used to call for help when she knew that she was in trouble. Come to find out, in some part, the problem was exacerbated by advice from one of her own physicians who advised her to go on a specific diet, which conflicted with the meds that she took daily, prescribed by another of her doctors.
Ooops.
As a result of her trip to the ER she was advised to use a blood glucose monitor to check her blood-sugar count daily. Further, the company supplying her the monitor told her that she would have to buy the test strips because her medicare would not cover the costs for those items. That was false ! ! !
Ludicrous. Criminal!
We all have to be careful in all facets of our lives, protecting ourselves from garbage informations that so easily can pass for the TRUTH.
I see many newbies at clubs who have questions about playing scrabble. They turn to other newbies and some of the seasoned players who haven’t got a clue, but give bad information. The people being asked believe that they are being kind by offering up an answer. Some of the time they may be right.
But why take that chance? Ask the director, call the NSA and ask a guru, take the online scrabble class (‘SCRABBLE 101′), write a query in an email to Letter Man: Letter.Man.Moss@gmail.com
SCRABBLE: Letter Man, Take #2
Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to express your approval by welcoming Letter Man so kindly onto the scrabble scene.
Clicking on THIS LINK will take you to episode #2 on youtube.
I plan to continue to produce regular episodes.
If you have a question that you’d like Letter Man to address, send an email to:
Letter.Man.Moss@gmail.com
SCRABBLE: Networking
Whether you realize it or not, we all spend most of our days networking in one way or another. You most likely did one or more of these behaviors today: asked for directions to get to some location; told someone about a restaurant that you enjoyed; filled out a survey; attended a meeting; contributed to a charity; voted; searched the internet; used a coupon to purchase an item for less than retail.
In our ‘free enterprise’ economy, it behooves us to become good at networking in order to become more successful and prosperous.
It is usually more comfortable to network among like minded people. That is why multitudes flock to churches, synagogues, and mosques. When one is among others who trust and agree with the labels that we place upon ourselves, our like-minded friends are more apt to be open and listen.
The ones in our midst who face the most difficult challenges are the missionaries. These folks believe deeply in their causes and are out there attempting to bring outsiders into their camps. When I say missionary your thoughts may have turned strictly to religions. But missionaries take many other forms too: political missionaries; lobbyist missionaries; advertising missionaries; scrabble missionaries.
These days, when I look into the mirror in the morning I see a scrabble missionary. I wonder if Albert Butts would be pleased. I believe that Hasbro is more pleased than not. My local scrabble playing friends let me know that they appreciate me and my work by participating in my events and purchasing my products.
For me, it all began as a fun pastime. Then it (scrabble) became a habit; then a compulsion; now a passion. While I was single for 28 years, between marriages, I use to joke by saying that scrabble was my mistress. That was no joke. And maybe it has only shifted to the status of being ‘the other woman’.
From 1968-1988 when I was owner of Bloomfield Nursery School, and lived my job 24/7, many people called me Mr. Bloomfield.
I have now been doing the work of scrabble since 1988. Suddenly, last week, my alter ego (Letter Man) came out of the shadows to assist me openly, to proselytize uncommitted scrabble players to the ways of competitive, club and tournament communities.
Are you one of those wannabes? At first it is a little scary because we don’t want to look silly by misspelling something in front of others. It is the same thing that holds people back from speaking in front of groups. The only way to overcome the fear is by doing.
People who say that they’ll come play when they get better at the game, never come because they judge themselves too harshly. We all become better at the things we do when we do them and build our expertise.
Watch Letter Man by CLICKING HERE.
Tell your friends.
Then, go out and play at a local club this week.