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DO 2008 Commentary: Before the Tournament

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, After the Tournament.

Pre-event

Thursday

At first, my early AM flight (6:40 AM departure) to Dallas seemed unnecessarily early. However, it turned out to be the best decision I made all day. I arrived on time to an overcast DFW and took a bus over to the International terminal to await the arrival of John Chew from Toronto. In time our ride, Bryan Pepper, arrived and the two of us waited for John's delayed plane. Turns out his half-hour delay was but a drop in the bucket of travel interruptions to come.

John's luggage came off the carousel covered in funny looking white stuff: snow, sleet, and slush. By the time we wended our way out to Bryan's car, John and I felt right at home in the winter wonderland. Bryan and the rest of the Dallas driving population found it less comforting!

Chris & Carla Cree kept to their word and had the outdoor pool at a balmy 82 degrees by the time we pulled into their driveway. The funny thing is, the air temperature was in the low 30s, which created a boiling cauldron effect, with soft pillows of billowing steam roiling up into the air around the pool and the sides of the house.

As promised, John Chew tried out the pool later in the evening!

Chris brought Bryan, John, and me to a planning lunch at El Fenix, a Tex-Mex winner of a restaurant and we had queso* on our queso*: wowza! The rest of the daylight had us at chez Cree doing the glamorous side of tournament coordinating, such as sticking labels on player cards (along with the ensuing panic of "player cards? what player cards, didn't you print them?" "No, I didn't, I thought you were or Mary was but not me." Bryan got the player announcement sheet printed, too. Then we got to stuff small red goodie bags with granola bars, dried fruit treats, and the ever-important packet of tic-tacs!

For dinner, those of us brave enough to ignore the dire weather and traffic reports to face the near empty roads met at the Bent Tree Country Club for our pre-event meal. Are you sensing the theme here? Chris keeps us well fed here in Texas! As the sun set over the 18th green outside the floor to ceiling wall of windows in the dining room, we discussed the day's complicating weather.

DFW airport had been closed for much of the day and 500 flights had been cancelled outright. Players from California started phoning us starting in the midday and the emails and IMs keep flooding in until the wee hours.

We'd posted calls to contact us about arrival status, both on this web site and on cgp, the SCRABBLE-related mailing list. Bryan Pepper literally burned out the battery on his cell phone taking the calls. Many of them came in while he was driving to and fro, so he had furious little slips of scatterered receipts and torn pieces of bags covered in player names, cell phone numbers, and contingency plans.

Chris communicated how important it was for the DO to carry on, best it could and for us to honor the 21-game committment. So, we decided to start on time and help delayed travelers make up games.

Friday

We arrived at the Addison Conference Center at 7:30 am. Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) was on the curb and we put him to work instantly, helping us carry in load after load. One of the youngest players, here, Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA) was here early with his Mom, Amy. Not only was she offering to help in any way possible, she came with homemade bread to boot! She cut up loaves of banana and pumpkin bread and put them out by the room's water stations. Sweet gesture and yummy, too!

Another youngster, Stephen Sneed (Ft. Worth, TX) was here with his Mom, Lynn. She attached herself firmly to Mary Rhoades hip and together they helped tackle the event registration. Lynn also helped Carla get player numbers on contestant scorecards. Where would events be without the kindness of family members who help us get these shows on the road! Stephen, at 13, is one half of the Texas School SCRABBLE Championship winning team (his partner is Peter Olson, who is not playing at the DO). He tells me that he and his partner plan on being in Providence, RI, at the National School SCRABBLE Championships the first weekend in May. If you want more information on that event, check out the School SCRABBLE link at http://scrabbbleassocation.com.

Denise Mahnken (Long Beach, NY) arrived at the Conference Center all full of smiles about her trip to Dallas. She ended up being stranded in Dallas with Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY). They spent much of the night waiting for a rescheduled flight to Dallas. I think is Joel had gotten a chance to cherry-pick a player in this room to spend the night with in on uncomfy airport furniture, I think she'd have made the short list, so I'm sure this wasn't exactly unenjoyable time for them! Rumors were swirling about him hand feeding her fresh strawberries at the loading gate!

Ian Weinstein (Coral Springs, FL) had his plane grounded way short of Dallas, in Atlanta, GA. The enterprising doctor overheard someone discussing renting a car to get to Dallas. And somehow, Ian wrangled a ride in that car with this non-player, and they drove 12 hours straight to get here! Talk about dedication to the game and to the event!

Annette Bailey (Town Withheld, CT) and Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) made it here on time, but their delays had added complications, such as lost luggage, no changes of clothes, and the necessity of borrowing clothes! The slender Annette actually was wearing a shirt she borrowed from Jim Hughes (Austin, TX). He is a much bigger person than her and when she took off her jacket, she could have almost fit the tall Diane in that T-shirt with her! Kudos to Jim for being a nice guy.

More arrivals, more hugs, and then announcements began. Bryan Pepper, the event director, welcomed the players. Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) took a break from being just a player at the event to discuss coordination issues, mainly being that 12% of the field had dropped out due to the cancelled flights and bad weather. He honestly explained that he could still honor the pre-announced prize fund, but that since the cancellations were costing the event an unexpected $1,500 in lost revenue, he asked how players would feel if he reduced the prize fund by a matching 12%. The response was overwhelming. The players applauded the suggestion, so much so that he seemed taken aback. He looked down and collected himself before he thanked everyone. And then he said the most amazing thing. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "If you win and you feel browbeaten to accept less of a prize, talk to me in private and I will honor the original amount." It is hard to sum up how emotional it was to bring it up and then have a shared understanding with 120 players.

Since all the players received an announcements sheet, Bryan made very few himself and the games began within a half hour of the stated start time. Pretty amazing with the two-day tango we'd been having with Mother Nature. Let the games begin!