Attendance Survey for Oct. 31 Club Session

Sorry, to be down to the wire on this one, folks; drove to Chicago yesterday and arrived here late. My laptop's phone modem port won't take a plug (dropped once too often, I guess!) so I couldn't connect to post and e-mail on it last night. Right now I am using my minilaptop at a Panera.

Anyhow, I won't be at club tomorrow or next week (tourney in Asheville), but if you will leave a comment below or e-mail me at JMSinKY@aol.com , I will transfer your responses about club tomorrow, Sunday, October 31, into the the listing set out below, current as of 11:26 a.m. EDT, on Sunday, October 31 --

• 1 WILL BE attending club on Sunday, October 31: Victoria
• 4 WILL NOT BE attending club on Sunday, October 31: Susie, John, Steve, Will
• 1 is UNSURE about attending club on Sunday, October 31: Janny (may come)

Remember our local club tournament in November will be on Sunday, November 14. Here is a link to the post on the November LCT.

John

Renewing as NASPA club

The club as a whole will want to discuss this issue. Formerly in the NSA, we did not have to pay to register as a club, because Hasbro subsidized the NSA, therefore there was no fee for the club to pay. Since the inception of NASPA, this has changed; we are required to pay $30 to register as a club.

This comes with good and bad sides. Good: We have some liability insurance coverage in case anyone is hurt at a NASPA event. Bad: we are required to have a registered director at all club events. Sometimes this just isn't possible for us.

And, who pays this fee? I don't want it to land on Steve and John, they already do so much for us all. It should be covered either by club dues (which we have also not discussed) or by adding to our Local Club Tournament fees.

NASPA has been expressing some dislike of other Scrabble organizations lately as well (read: WGPO) which may cause us some trouble in the future. Their policies on this are still in development.

So, let's spend some time talking this over.. unfortunately, I won't be at club for the next three weeks!

Oct. 24 LCT Results

Below are the results of yesterday's tournament. Report format is as follows:

Name, record, spread, old rating, (tentative) WGPO new rating*, prize (if applicable)

Division A
Marc Broering, 4-1, +395, 1720, 1720, 1st place, $25
Frank Lee, 3-2, +84, 1356, 1365, 2nd place, $13
Will Scott, 3-2, +2, 1358, 1367, 3rd place, $5
Connie Breitbeil, 2-3, -59, 1278, 1274
Raymond Slaughter, 2-3, -71, 1306, 1296
Margaret Yoder, 1-4, -351, 1075, 1068

High game: Connie Breitbeil, 413, $5

Division B
Betty King, 5-0, +423, 660, 740, 1st place, $25
Andrew Wade, 3-2, +200, 1054, 1037, 2nd place, $13
John Spangler, 3-2, +97, 3rd place, 892, 886, $5
Victoria Bledsoe, 2-3, -73, 544, 549
Andrea Carman, 2-3, -256, 519, 527
Adam Johnson, 0-5, -391, 0, 500

High game: Victoria Bledsoe, 392, $5

* Note that for players with no previous WGPO rating, their most recent NASPA rating, if existent, was used.

I hope everyone had a good time, regardless of performance. Thanks again for playing!

Steve

Nov. 14th Local Club Tournament Announcement

Our monthly local club tournament for November will be held on Sunday, November 14, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location, Perkins Family Restaurant, 2401 Richmond Road, Lexington. John Spangler will direct.

The November LCT is open to anyone who wishes to play, regardless of whether he or she is a member of the local club. It will be rated by the Word Game Players' Association (WGPO); no NASPA membership is required. The entry fee is $10. WGPO does not require individuals to be WGPO members in order to play at tournaments that it rates but encourages them to join; there are no membership dues for WGPO. You can join WGPO on its web site at http://www.wordgameplayers.org/join .

The tourney format will continue to be a five-round tournament, including a meal break at Perkins, with pairings and prize structure determined by the tournament director on the basis of the number of players participating.

WGPO fully rates local club tournaments. Seedings will be determined by players' WGPO ratings, with NASPA ratings used if the player has not yet established a WGPO rating.

Entry deadline is 5 p.m., Saturday, November 13. -- In order to ensure a timely start for the tournament, players must register for the LCT by no later than 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 13, the day before the tourney. To register either leave a comment to this blog entry OR send an e-mail to John at JMSinKY@aol.com

Here are the responses received about this tourney so far, as of Saturday, November 13, at 1:50 p.m. EST --

• 9 WILL BE ATTENDING the November 14 LCT: Andrea Carman, Andy Wade, Victoria Bledsoe, Connie Breitbeil, Steve Bush, Adam Johnson, Betty King, Frank Lee, John Spangler (directing)
• 6 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING the November 14 LCT: Marc Broering, Madeline Bush, Cheryl Coovert, Susie Pozgay, Janet Scheeline, Will Scott
• 0 ARE UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING the November 14 LCT:

We hope that you will be able to attend this month's local club tournament.

John Spangler
Tournament Director

Results from Sunday, Oct. 17 Club Session

Thanks to Andy Wade for providing the information about this past Sunday's club session.

There were six players present at club, and five rounds were played by some of them. Here are the results and bingos played:

• Adam, 3-2, -146 -- NOCULAR* 71, NEAREST 65, T(H)INNER 69
• Andrea, 2-3, -174 -- (F)LO(O)RED 79, UNI(T)IES 66
• Andy, 4-1, +447 --VIOLATI(O)(N) 90 a double-double, STAINED 86, AEDILES 68, ITCH(I)(E)R 62
• Betty, 3-2, +75 -- (E)N(G)RAIL 79, (R)EMOTES 84, STALKERS 63
• Cheryl, 0-3, -302
• Tameko, 0-1 (spread data incomplete)

This coming Sunday, October 24, we have our monthly local club tournament for October; here is a link to the blog post about it. This takes the place of a normal club session for that date.

Remember, if you want to play in this month's LCT, you need to leave a comment on that blog post OR e-mail Steve Bush, who is directing this month, at bush3262@yahoo.com, by 5 p.m., EDT, tomorrow, Saturday, October 23. This is necessary to avoid a delay in starting by having to do pairings; walk-in players will no longer be able to play at our LCT's.

To Our Club Members --

I have just now e-mailed the following message to Mary Rhoades, NASPA's Club Committee chair:

Mary,

Please consider this e-mail my official notice to you that I renounce my status as a club and tournament director of the North American Scrabble Players Association, effective immediately.

I became a director to assist my local club because of my love for the game and to assist my local club by volunteering my time and services, not because I desired to be an "independent businessman" or an agent of Hasbro or of Chris Cree's creation. It is my firm belief that Scrabble will best served by a true players' organization; NASPA is not this and never will be. I have no desire to continue to be associated with or to promote the type of organization that Cree's latest edict represents. Steve Pellinen has done a great job of setting out the concerns and misgivings that I share about the way that NASPA is structured and operating; I won't repeat all that here.

You should also remove my name as director for our club's listing in the NASPA Club Roster and from your Yahoo listserv for NASPA club and tournament directors.

John Spangler
Versailles, Kentucky

I will be sending an e-mail out to those of you regularly attend club about this.

John

10/10 Results and 10/17 Attendance Survey

There were nine of us at club this past Sunday, October 10. Two of the nine stayed for six rounds. Here are the results and bingos played:

• Adam (1-4) -- HONKIES 86, RELINING 70, RESONA(T)E 57
• Andrea (3-3) -- SPURNED 85, MUNITIO(N) 71, OMI(N)OUS 60
• Andy (1-2) -- AGONI(E)S 75, DEDUCING 69
• Betty (6-0) -- HEI(N)OUS 87, BROWNIE 80, ENTASIA 78, RANTERS 76, TOWERING 72, TOWNIES 70, LOAMIER 68, RELIANT 65
• Cheryl (0-3)
• Janny (1-2)
• John (3-1) -- SNO(W)ING 66, ENTA(S)IA(S) 64
• Tameka (1-2)
• Victoria (2-1) -- LE(A)DERS 70, ACETONE 67

Congratulations to Betty for going undefeated and for having the most bingos at 8, the highest-scoring bingo at 87, and the high win at 459. You had quite a day at Scrabble!

We were pleased to have Adam with us for the first time. He played well and used a timer for the first time with no problems at all. It was good to have Tameka with us again.

--------------------

Responses on attendance for our club session for this coming Sunday, October 17, are set out below. You may leave a comment to this blog entry with your response OR you may e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Sunday, October 17, at 12:45 p.m. EDT, the responses so far are as follows:

• 2 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Betty, Cheryl
• 6 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Eric, John, Margaret, Susie, Victoria, Will
• 1 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Adam

This month's local club tournament will be on Sunday, October 24, with Steve Bush directing. Click here for the blog entry about the October LCT.

Oct. 24th Local Club Tournament Announcement

Our monthly local club tournament for October will be held on Sunday, October 24, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location, Perkins Family Restaurant, 2401 Richmond Road, Lexington. Steve Bush will direct.

This month's LCT is open to anyone who wishes to play, regardless of whether he/she is a member of the local club.

Like last month's tourney, this LCT will be rated WGPO only; no NASPA membership is required. As such, the entry fee is now $10. WGPO does not require individuals to be WGPO members in order to play at tournaments that it rates but encourages them to join; there are no membership dues for WGPO. You can join WGPO at its website, http://www.wordgameplayers.org/join .

The format will continue to be a five-round tourney, including a meal break at Perkins, with pairings and prize structure determined by the tournament director in light of the number of players participating.

WGPO fully rates local club tournaments. Seedings will be determined by players' WGPO ratings, with NASPA ratings used if the player has no WGPO rating.

Entry Deadline - 5pm Saturday, Oct. 23
In order to ensure a timely start to the tournament, we are now imposing a deadline of 5pm the day before (Saturday Oct. 23 in this case) for players to notify the director of their entry. Unfortunately we can no longer accept walk-ins at the door. Players are asked to indicate whether or not they will plan on attending by leaving a comment to this blog entry or e-mailing Steve at bush3262@yahoo.com . Here are the responses received so far, as of Saturday, October 23, at 12:45 p.m. EDT --

13 will be able to attend: Steve Bush (directing), Betty King, Will Scott, John Spangler, Eric Yoder, Victoria Bledsoe, Marc Broering, Adam Johnson, Frank Lee, Connie Breitbiel, Andy Wade, Raymond Slaughter, Andrea Carman
2 will NOT be able to attend: Cheryl Coovert, Suzie Pozgay
1 is unsure about attending: Margaret Yoder

Hope to see you there!

Steve Bush
Club Director

WGPO Ratings from Our September LCT

The official WGPO results with ratings changes from our September 26 local club tournament are now posted on the WGPO web site. Here is the link to that web page.

These are the ratings changes from the September LCT:

(Format: Rank -- Name -- Old Rating -- New Rating -- Net Change)

Division A
1 -- Kelly McKenzie -- 1672 --1671 -- minus 1
2 -- David Moersdorf -- 1330 -- 1355 -- plus 25
3 -- Andrew Wade -- 1018 -- 1054 -- plus 36
4 -- Margaret Yoder -- 1068 -- 1075 -- plus 7
5 -- Will Scott -- 1399 -- 1358 -- minus 41
6 -- Frank Schin -- 1139 -- 1120 -- minus 19

Division B
1 -- Richard McHugh -- 821 -- 837 -- plus 16
2 -- Margaret Pozgay -- 856 -- 847 -- minus 9
3 -- Betty King -- 670 -- 660 -- minus 10
4 -- Janet Scheeline -- 456 -- 472 -- plus 16
5 -- Andrea Carman -- 496 -- 519 -- plus 23
6 -- Cheryl Coovert -- 448 -- 463 -- plus 15
7 -- Victoria Bledsoe -- 603 -- 544 -- minus 59

Our October local club tournament will be held on Sunday, October 24.

Attendance for Sunday, Oct. 10 Club Session

This blog entry summarizes member responses on attendance for our club session this coming Sunday (October 10).

You may leave a response as a comment to this post OR you may e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Saturday, October 9, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, the responses so far are as follows:

• 5 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Adam (new to club, welcome!), Andy, Cheryl. John, Victoria
• 5 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Eric, Margaret, Steve, Susie, Will
• 2 is UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Andrea, Janny

Last week six people were at club.

This month's local club tournament will be on Sunday, October 24. Steve will be directing the LCT, and he will be posting an entry about it soon.

John

Sunday 10/3 Club Results

Here are yesterday's club results:

Steve 3-0, +366. Bingoes: ORIENTED, CANOEIST, TENTAGE, OUTRATE, LASAGNA
Will 3-1, +198. Bingoes: TOSSING, SATIATED, GRODIER, CAVEMEN, HEMMING, ROASTER, AUSTERE, SALIENT
Eric 2-1, +43. Bingoes: SENARII, TUCKING
Margaret 1-2, -70. Bingoes: REGIONS, ISATINES, CREAMED
Andrea 0-3, -195. Bingo: SITTERS
Loren 0-2, -342

Thanks for everyone's participation!