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DO 2009 Commentary: Round 1

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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.

Round 1

As I gaze over the room, I find that I love these early rounds of open tournament pairings. Wide eyed newcomers facing seasoned veterans, top dogs at bottom tables, the whole order of tournaments thrown in the air for these first few rounds of "configuring."

John Chew is maestroing over on the other end of our table, sitting as close as he can to his "creations" out in the hall. Bryan Pepper is walking around the room, tutting. He thinks we are too crowded and I see his architectural brain figuring out how to give us more room.

For the players, all seems well. Jim Geary (Phoenix, AZ) is wearing a yellow fishing hat pulled down low so that you can't read his "tells." This is what happens when you have a competitive poker player at a SCRABBLE board. His outfit is made complete with a set of lavendar-colored foam ear plugs.

Shelley Ubeika (Mississauga ON) is here and all smiles at getting south of that Canadian border. Denise Mahnken (Long Beach, NY) is "excited" to have drawn Rod MacNeil (Cambridge, MA) for game 1.

I walk over to board 1, the first game finished this round. And the under- awake Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) has just defeated Lindsay Crotty (Metairie, LA), 654-271. I hate to think what he would have done if he'd actually eaten breakfast and had a cup of coffee first. She was all smiles about the game, happy to have gotten a chance. I told her the last time I played Dave, I felt like a mote of air in the consequence I played in it, and she laughed and said she knew just what I meant! While she played through some less than pretty racks, Dave got down a replying opening play of WAGGOnER for 68, turn two RENDZInA for 104, and turn 3 UNMERGED* for 74. On turn four, he "rested," and then came back turn 5 with QUARTET for 101. His outplay was OXYTONES for 83. Just ouch. Great game, Dave.

In honor of fellow DOer, Jean McArthur (Austin, TX), Kevin Leeds (Austin, TX) has erected a scoresheet protector that looks a bit like a cobbled teepee balanced on a pencil. So far it is working in his game with Stephen Sneed (Fort Worth, TX). Lisa Odom (St Louis Park, MN) is playing School SCRABBLE player, Samantha Nelson (Houston, TX). I see TETrAGON and ANEAlED on their in-progress board. A word jumps out at me in a Michael Willis (Midlothian, TX) vs. Keil Shults (Corinth, TX) game: DOMINEErS for 62. I suspect it was played through the OM. I'm going to think a bit longer about why that word was so alluring. Robin Gates (Dallas, TX) is squaring off against a Grizzly Adams bearded Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX). She opened with LEX, he replied with a vertical vowel dump creating ILEX. She then replied with sTAGGER/sILEX for 77. Not one to let someone enjoy the glory, Mike then replied with HAYWIrE/STAGGERY on the triple for 107! I watch Betsey Wood (Concord, MA) confidently slap down SNAGGLE*, hooking to make SCOW for 72. Darrell Day (Richardson, TX) holds her and wonders if he is crazy. He just doens't like it. They take a field trip to the challenge machine and her word comes off. While they are gone, I check out his scoresheet. UPTReNDS for 83 and TEAHOUsE for 90. Mike Baron (Corrales, NM) had a book-endingly interesting round 1. The first tile he drew from the bag was a blank as was the last tile he drew. No idea who he played and who won. A man after my own heart: just give me an anecdotal detail! Nice to see Mike here and even nicer that he brought Pamina Deutsch (Corrales, NM) with him! I find the game finished and it was a 491-224 win for Lisa Odom (St Louis Park, MN) vs. Samantha Nelson (Houston, TX). Both players wandered off, I check out a scoresheet. Chris Lipe (Rome, NY) defeated Caesar Jaramillo (Austin, TX). I see Cesar's IMPOSEd for 75 and Chris' DEXTRAN for 84, UNFOLDS for 80, and ARGUFIES for 63. Not sure of score, but Chris won. Breakfast of champions for newcomer Case Mundy (Huffman, TX), who has an open giant pack of Twizzlers on the table. He is amidst a game with penmanship perfect Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA). I see Brad's MORTiCED for 68 and DUNiTER for 77. Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA) has just won his game. How do I know? He is standing, filling out paperwork with one knee on his chair. Having seen him at enough tournaments, this is "I'm on my way to turning this slip in" pose. He played Tracy Bowman (Chicago, IL) this round. My favorite word on the board: her REKINDLE for 76. I see Joey's DOURINES for 82 and MARLiNE for 70. His scoresheet had this second bingo written as MINERAL, which threw me off. But, you see Joey is anagramming every second of every day! His mom, Amy, is here today, too! Jim Geary (Phoenix, AZ) vs. Debbie Scholz (Houston, TX). I see Debbie's SHOwERED and JG's NONWORD, LUSTIEST, and RECITING. Paperwork was flying: this was Jim's win. Stan Miranda (Albuquerque, NM) and his partner, Russell, were doing a quiet, endgame discussion about his just-finished game iwth Mary Pastore (Pearland, TX). Stan played WINGIEST, EDIFICE, and the challenged ZINCAtES. Mary played GOITERs, DONATORS, and the 57-point BETHS. Her win, 475-424.

School SCRABBLE phenom, Stephen Sneed (Fort Worth, TX) defeated Kevin Leeds (Austin, TX) at board 4 this round, 409-408. Stephen had 9:17 left on his clock and Kevin was 47 seconds over. This may have been an overtime decided game. I see Kevin's GOnERAL and Stephen's DIETERS, INERTIA, and ANTLERs. He confessed that he was looking for a "better" play when he made this last bingo.

Carol Kaplan (San Diego, CA) vs. John Redding (Grand Prairie, TX). Both players are long gone and four bingos jump out at me: IDEATES, AILERONS, GARBLES, and SIRLOIN. Carol's win, 489-376.