…with Gary Moss

Archive for October, 2011

I like it when other people like me and approve of me. I probably learned that way back while growing up. And I experience a twang of pain or guilt when people strike out at me with their words or actions. Something as benign as “get real” can set me aback.

The truth is simply that 1) that person thinks differently, 2) that person lacks the basic knowledge on the subject, or 3) that person feels threatened using put downs to bolster themselves.

It happens all the time when playing scrabble.

Those opponents are usually newbies or are casual players online. They are well-spoken individuals who have mastered ‘every-day-speak’. Generally they don’t give a hoot about the OWL2 (Official Word List). If I play some word that is not used in common daily conversation, like ‘usufruct’, they immediately suspect that I am sitting with a dictionary at hand, and accuse me of being a cheater.

usufruct |ˈyoōzəˌfrəkt; -sə-|
noun Roman Law
the right to enjoy the use and advantages of another’s property short of the destruction or waste of its substance.

Let me tell you, it is not easy to learn and remember a word like like ‘usufruct’. It was played against me by Pat Yarnell in a club game, which I lost. But maybe that is why I remember it so well. And if and when I ever have the ability to play it against an opponent, I want some RESPECT, not some disgruntled person telling me to “Get Real”.

There are reasons that scrabble clubs are relatively small in size. Most people don’t want to tax their brains to remember words like ‘usufruct’. Instead, most players who love the game are satisfied playing off words like: happy, jump, and bitch.

That kind of play might be satisfying for some. It can wile away the hours. But my response to playing that way as a competition is “GET REAL”.

Most people go through this life like it’s ‘just a game’. But even the pastimes that we call ‘games’ have their rules and consequences.

A community of friends and strangers had been meeting weekly to play scrabble at a local bookstore. The leader of club had affiliated with a well known national association which provided the standards for uniformity via rules and word lists.

In all competitive arenas, one of the most important factors is a level playing field, for fairness and equal opportunity. Sometimes an errant official gets a call wrong and upsets fairness; sometimes a greedy participant does something sneaky to steal an advantage.

In a perfect world all players would play fairly; in a perfect world all officials would get the call ‘RIGHT’. Whose job is it to know all the rules?

It was June, the end of the school year and the end of an entire year’s play. The club director thought it would be fun to sponsor an official club tournament, crowning a club champion and awarding a championship trophy. (The trophy would pass each year from champion to champion with the names of all champs engraved.)

The field of players included all the players who had played in the club over the year. Some were seasoned players who had played in other tournaments in the past; some players were relatively new to the club scene and this would be their first tournament ever.

Tournament rules and word lists were made available to all the participants and the 8 game format was spelled out by the director.

(During play, every player has the option to neutralize the time clock and call “Director”, to clarify a rule or a challenge. Otherwise, a director MUST stand neutral and uninvolved until summonsed.)

Three of the seasoned players were in hot contention for the title and trophy throughout the tournament. By luck of the draw, one of those three players, who I’ll call player X, was assigned to play a newbie during round #7.

The newbie was playing very well. He had outdrawn player X throughout the game. Player X had very little time to make a comeback. The director stood nearby, close enough to watch yet far enough not to annoy the players. Player X found a playable bingo on his rack that would assure him of a win. He hurriedly placed the tiles onto the board, called his score, and hit the clock to end his turn. As the newbie turned the board player X yelled, “Oh expletive”! Player X turned the board back, picked up 3 tiles that he had played in the wrong order, replace the tiles, and turned the board back to the newbie. The director just stood there and watched in horror, waiting for the newbie to call for a ruling. The newbie simply sat in silence. Player X had just stolen a WIN and went on to win the tournament.

Player X was a seasoned player who new better . . . BUT. The newbie’s ignorance to the rules cost some other player a victory.

Sure, it is just a game. But it is so much more than that. It is about all of those misdeeds and unseen actions that people take advantage of when they think no one is looking or they can simply get away with things. And the real consequences do effect others.

MURDER CHILD ABUSE ADULTERY ARSON EMBEZZLEMENT

Are you your brother’s keeper? You betcha!

Or maybe my problem is that I get it all too well.

I began my working career as a teacher. Back in 1964, and still today, the degree of teaching (the imparting of information and knowledge) is, to a very high degree, related to the motivation of the student. This I know!
(An unmotivated me flunked out of Highland Park Junior College in 1960 before being motivated by a girl. Then VOILA! I earned all A’s at DIT (Detroit Institute of Technology, transferred to Wayne State University where I earned both a BS and and MA in Education.)

Motivation can be magical.

I find it sad when individual teachers and districts are held accountable for the test results of their students. Those students cannot achieve anything with motivation. It doesn’t matter one iota how good a teacher is at solving equations if he/she cannot motivate his/her students. How does any kid from a neighborhood with drive-by shootings find motivation to study? How does anyone who watches TV, seeing whoring politicians, thieving city managers, and drunk and high celebrities find the motivation to study?

Sometimes it feels like the majority are bankrupt and have given up.

What does this have to do with scrabble? Nothing and Everything.

The computer and its search engines have enabled people to play scrabble anonymously with others. The computer and its search engines have enabled people to give the impression to others and themselves that they are talented mavins. Those who win online with a Franklin by their side never come to sanctioned clubs where they would be exposed and lose.

The computer and its search engines have enabled people. Now many no longer see the value to studying and putting that knowledge in their own heads. (As long as I know how to manipulate the computer, that’s all I need to know.)

I was at a fast food store when the computer went down. Most of the employees could not do the basic math to make correct change.

And then I remember that there was a time when I was not motivated either.

THE ANSWER:

Stay MOTIVATED and motivate as many others as you are able.

Growing your vocabulary begins with a decision. It is completely your own choice. Sure, you’ll pick up a small number of new words by just being out there in the world. BUT, did you know that most people communicate with the same set of about 5,000 words. Use a word like verbosity in most circles and you will be dismissed as an egghead or a braggart. Use the word verbosity among scrabble players and you will be admired.

Remember back to your school days, when your teacher gave an assignment that wasn’t remotely connected to anything that interested you? Recall how difficult it was to learn that material? Remember that during that same period of growing up you may have known the lyrics to many a song? Remember how the jocks knew all players of every team?

We learn and remember things for our own reasons, not the reasons of others.

Remember those kids who had the goal to get into medical school? Their attitudes about study were different. Remember the kids who were into the drama club? They managed to commit line after line into their memories.

They were not smarter or more talented than the rest. They had simply made a decision and a commitment, in alignment with their passions.

The road to verbosity begins with a decision. After that, one step after another will get you there. You can also choose your path to getting there. If you choose to take the journey I can show you a number of shortcuts. If you are passionate about growing your vocabulary the entire journey will be so much fun that your won’t even mind the amount of time it will take. SCRABBLE 101

One way my friends, Amnon, learns words by compiling category lists. Have a look at one of his creations. CLICK HERE

If you want to play scrabble, you’ll find our sanctioned clubs waiting with open arms to embrace you into their fold. The regulars are always willing to strut their stuff and where better than in a game with some newbie who walks in claiming to be the best player in their family or the best on their block.

Newbies generally have no idea about the things that they DON’T KNOW. Newbies generally think that they are ‘hot stuff’ because they always win at the kitchen table. After a few turns, many Newbies have been heard to ask their opponents, “Are those real words?”

I remember the very first time when I observed a competitive scrabble game. I asked another observer if the players were using foreign words. The answer was: “Any word found in the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary is a legaL word.” That answer still holds true today.

Competitive players work hard to learn and memorize huge chunks of the OWL2 and the OSPD4.

Words alone however will not make you a Winner. Club players know that there are more than 10 skills needed, in order to put your word knowledge to good use.

Some of the smartest and brightest people I know are not particularly good scrabble players.

Some ‘fresh meat’, after being humbled, decide to learn how to really play the game. Others sort of drift away and continue to settle for beating up on the players at their kitchen table.

What is your greatest scrabble strength?

What is your greatest scrabble weakness?

If the Laws of Nature prevail in our universe then MAN is both foolish and delusional to believe that he can change his own design, in his totality, to create a ‘loving man’, a ‘caring man’, a ‘fair and just man’, as a part of ALL MEN.

Through all of recorded time, in nature, the BIG FISH have always eaten the little fish.

The nature of things is that we eat one another. Frogs eat insects then gators eat frogs. Lambs eat grasses then lions eat lambs. Man eats and fresses and when man is done the worms feast on man.

In Man’s World, man eats man too. The things that determine who eats and who is eaten include ‘might and strength’, ‘popularity and beauty’, and ‘wealth and influence’ (And of course there are the drive-by shootings.) Unfortunately, none of these determinants have any direct connection to justice, truth, or fairness. (ie. The Pharaohs and politicians, The Divas and agents, and The Bernie Madoff’s and bankers)

The BIG FISH generally win the trophies, earn the ‘big bucks’, and get the girl. Society teaches us that it is good to aspire to become a Big Fish (but some societies also followed the lead of Ivan The Terrible, Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones). The Biggest Fish are in the major leagues; the little fish are on the farm clubs. The Biggest Fish are in Congress; the little fish are on volunteer advisory committees in Podunk.

Scrabble has a hierarchy of its own. The Big Fish are the mavens who have achieved the word power and strategies to climb in the ranks to the elite ‘Top 100′. Little fish struggle upstream and are mainly the fodder for the Big Fish, who devour the little fishies game after game.

In scrabble it is possible for for some little fish to survive, while hiding under rocks, observing the ways of the BIG FISH and imitating ‘big-fish-behavior’, that is to say that they study word lists, learn high probability stems, and apply big-fish-strategies whenever playing scrabble. The little fish I’m talking about are a rare minority in their ranks. It takes a lot of hard work and devotion to stretch and grow.

The one day, just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, the little fish notices its reflection in the pond and sees the BIG FISH that it has become.

Transformation not happen as a result of wish or hoping or praying. It is built into a few, as in the case of the butterfly and the swan. There rest of us MUST apply ourselves strenuously, daily even to have a chance to transform. Then we must maintain the new regimen. If not, we return to our unaltered state, just like a stretched rubber band returns to its original state when the stretcher lets go.

I’ve designed the online class, SCRABBLE 101, to help players like you stretch their scrabble expertise. CLICK HERE You can become a BIG FISH too.