Go to: Commentary Games Players Standings Photos tsh Prizes

Back to DO 2008 Live Coverage

DO 2008 Commentary: Round 8

[ ]

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.

Round 8

Rod MacNeil (Cambridge, MA) vs. Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY). Three bingos to start it off: Joel's LUNATELY for 67, Rod's COENURE for 72, and then Joel's response of FESTOONS for 65. Rod had a nice 42-point SHADE, but Joel's ZOA for 32 and XI for 42, contributed to Joel's win, 421-301.

So, Mary Pastore (Pearland, TX) walks by me this round, her game over. She tells me about a conversation she overheard at a nearby board about someone playing NOSEDOVE (pronounced NOSE, as in the nose on your face, and DOVE, as in the bird, the morning dove). Nearby folks were commenting that NOSEDOVE (the bird) was silly. Why would anyone even know that kind of word, what could it mean, etc. Mary says she overheard someone put the kybosh on the conversation by saying, "It's NOSEDOVE as in past tense of dive, as in to dive into the pool." The sounds of silence and dawning realization were palpable all around!

From the there is never late news if it is good news department: Though many of us were happy to see Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA) arrive here earlier today, perhaps there was no one quite as touched as Lila Crotty (Metairie, LA). Lila has "known" Brad for years as an online player. She was even influential in getting him to start attending clubs and tournaments and she has taken a secret joy and pleasure in watching him burn up the ranks. All this and she had still never yet met Brad in person. In round 6, not only did she get to meet him, they played! And the SCRABBLE mentor won! Lila defeated Brad, 387-379.

Frank Schin (Gatlinburg, TN) squared off against Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) this round. I noticed the fun compound word FOOTGEAR. Chris said, "Yeah, there were three Ts in the bag and a I fished for that word and got it!" Frank mentioned that he was worried about that opening on the board and that he was hoping Chris' fishing was for naught. And he said, "you can quote me on that." Chris won, 470-325.

When I last saw him, his jaw was still lying on the floor, so it took his opponent, Stefan Rau (Newington, CT) to explain the story to me. Toward the endgame of his matchup with Michael Willis (Midlothian, TX), Mike was ahead 369-343. Stefan held PNTILAT. Unseen to him: FNGSTOU on Mike's rack and QWCYXD from the bag. So, Stefan played off three tiles, drawing DCW from the bag. Mike takes his turn and empties the bag, leaving Stefan to play WILDCAT, hooking atop EDS to create WEDS for 84. Stefan then gets YXQNSOU from Mike's rack, or in other words, 52 extra points, and went on to win their game, 498-379.

Cecilia Le (Cambridge, MA) ends the day on a high note, defeating David Moersdorf (Gatlinburg, TN) , 496-370.

In big news, the mighty giant of undefeated first place fame has fallen this round. Mike Baron (Corrales, NM) defeated Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA), 369-349. This game can be viewed in the annotated game section of the web site for this round.

Eight more games tomorrow and the arrival of Lynn Gunn (Mission Viejo, CA), who we will work into the pairings for game 9. Thanks to Carla Cree (Dallas, TX) for being our float player, out when she isn't needed and in when she is. A real trooper is this mother to be! Thanks Carla for all your hard work preparing for the event and your willingness to sacrifice playing during!

John Chew would like to thank Seth Lipkin and Stewart Holden for their helpful suggestions for enhancing the webcast, and the players and staff here for ensuring that the tournament ran smoothly enough that he had time to implement the suggestions.