Tilebag Confessional
Updated November 23, 2005 (Philadelphia)
My name is Winter, but in Scrabble circles they call me "Pimp Style", because of my keen sense of fashion, and how I ravage the board when I play. Okay, so maybe no one has actually called me that in so many words, but I know they are thinking it. Especially the ladies.
On December 1st, 2002, I traveled to College Station to sell a person some used MiniDiscs, with the hopes of also spending some time with a girl I had met during my previous trip to town (to visit the new Starbucks). The girl changed her plans, disappointing me, as girls often do, but while I killed time at the Barnes & Noble waiting for her I spotted a paperback edition of Word Freak and picked it up. I was immediately fascinated by the competitive Scrabble scene as described by author Stefan Fatsis, and a week later I attended my first club meeting at Club #359 in Houston.
I was anxious to play in a tournament, and had to wait a month for a club tournament in Houston, and then another week for my first major tournament in Lampasas. But after those first tournaments, I was totally hooked.
I played Salado in February. Then, beginning with the Lubbock tournament in March, which happened to coincide with the opening of the first Starbucks in Lubbock, I decide to chronicle my Scrabble travels along with my Starbucks travels.
TOURNAMENT RECORD
2003
Houston (club)
Lampasas, TX
Salado, TX
Lubbock
Lake Murray
Jonesboro
Chicago (Arden Cup)
Mid-Cities
Reno and the journey home
Houston
Jonesboro
Atlanta
Lafayette
Club #56, Bayside, NY Tournament, and Washington Square Park
Baltimore
Stamford
Cape Cod
Bayside
Philadelphia
Corona, NY
Oshawa, Ontario, CA
Shelton, CT
Philadelphia
Farmington, MI
Parsippany, NJ
2004
Rome, GA
Bayside
Melbourne, FL
Atlantic City
Newport Beach, CA
Salado, TX
Danbury, CT
Bayside
Philadelphia
Corona
Hudson, OH
Westford (Boston area)
Saratoga Springs, NY
Berlin, NJ
Stamford
Philadelphia
Odenton, MD
Piscataway
Indianapolis
Mid-Cities (Arlington)
National Scrabble Championship (incomplete)
Oakland
Farmington
Atlantic City
Parsippany Early Bird
Parsippany
Brownsville, TN
Lafayette, LA
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Bayside
Stamford
Farmington
Shelton
Philadelphia
Farmington
2005
Bayside
Bayside
Philadelphia
Danbury
Farmington
Wilmington
Charlotte
St. Louis
Philadelphia
Bayside
BAT Early Bird
BAT Main Event
New Hartford, NY
Hudson, OH
Farmington
Bayside
Stamford
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Toronto
Philadelphia
NSC
Parsippany
Dover
Bayside
Philadelphia
Bayside
Philadelphia
Lake George
Cape Cod
Twin Cities
Bayside
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
2006
Laguna Woods
Minneapolis Red Eye
Los Gatos
Salado
Dallas Open
Ardmore
New Orleans
Fort Worth
Albany (aborted)
Los Gatos
USSO
Berkley
Los Gatos
Portland EB
Portland
Portland LB
Los Gatos
Laguna Woods
Berkeley
Los Gatos
Berkeley
Los Gatos
Berkeley
Los Gatos
2007
Philadelphia
Hudson
Atlantic City
Bayside
Philadelphia
Saratoga Springs
Oshawa
North Salem
Bayside
Philadelphia
Berkeley
Farmington
Philadelphia
Port Jefferson
New Orleans
Atlantic City
New York City
The Great Streak
1 - Players Championship
2 - Bayside
3 - Philadelphia
4 - Farmington
5 - Philadelphia
6 - Wilmington
7 - Philadelphia
8 - North Salem
9 - Baltimore
10 - Bayside
11 - New York
12 - LakeGeorge
13 - Philadelphia
14 - Bayside
North Salem
15 - Asheville
16 - Manchester
Philadelphia
17 - Elmhurst
18 - Oshawa
19 - North Salem
Philadelphia
20 - Port Jefferson
21 - Farmington
22 - Albany
2008
23 - Bayside
24 - Philadelphia
25 - Minneapolis Redeye
26 - Atlantic City
27 - Bayside
Wilmington (club)
28 - Rocky River
29 - Charlotte
30 - Saratoga Springs
31 - Hyde Park
32 - Dallas Open
33 - North Salem
Philadelphia
34 - Farmingdale
35 - Princeton
36 - Charleston
37 - Poughkeepsie
38 - Philadelphia
39 - BAT
40 - Bayside
NAST Final
Minneapolis NAST
Reno
Reno Night
Reno Late
National Scrabble Championship
Rocky River NAST
Big Apple Showdown
Charlotte
Charlotte Late
Fenton
Fenton
Indianapolis
Battle Creek
New York City
Wisconsin Dells NAST
Wisconsin Dells
Elyria
Lexington
Lexington Late
Minneapolis NAST
Minneapolis
MOO
Elmhurst
Strongsville
Danbury
Albany
Albany Late Bird
2009
Redeye
Ortonville
Rocky River
Guelph
Warren
Plainfield
Guelph
Twin Cities NAST
Twin Cities
Fenton
Fenton Late Bird
Sioux Falls
Oregon Tile
Oregon Tile Late Bird
Mississauga
Guelph
Akron
Austin
Austin Late Bird
Dallas
Mid-Cities
Mountain View
Cambridge
Rhinebeck
Port Jefferson
Baton Rouge
Cape Cod
Bayside
Wilmington
Essex
Manchester
Elmhurst
Bayside
Philadelphia
Safety Harbor
Albany
2010
BY1 - Rhinebeck
BY2 - Redeye
BY3 - Hudson
BY4 - Atlantic City