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NSC 2009 Commentary: After 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, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Awards Ceremony

The majority of players packed up their gear and headed out for lunch before the awards ceremony. Due to the fact that seemingly everyone had a flight to catch, the cermony was moved up from 2:30pm to 2pm. The division leaders, Andy Saunders, Steve Pellinen, Mary Rhoades, and John Chew worked feverishly to get the results typed into the pairing program, tsh, so that the award sheets could be printed out. Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) didn't move from the chair he was in for a very long time, writing out check after check after check. Some checks were going to be mailed, but most were handed out by Chris after the cash winners went to the front. Mary Rhoades had ordered piles of takeout pizza so that the crew could work through lunch and the pies were devoured!

At a bit after 2:00pm, Alan Stern (Shadow Hills, CA) took to the stage and did a great job of handling the prize ceremony. He immediately asked Joe Edley (Port Jefferson, NY) to present the Rose Award (an annual award to be presented in honor of the late Rose Kreiswirth to the woman who exhibits the characteristics that Rose always demonstrated: unending kindness, toughmindedness over the board, etc.) This year's winner was Deborah Gaudier (Houston, TX). Despite having a tough tournament tilewise, Deborah was positive and determined to win her next game.

The second special award was a Sportmanship Prize that went to Evan Winston (North Salem, NY) for his ongoing positivism in division 5. As we all know, there is more to success at SCRABBLE than just winning every game. Evan received a certificate and a great new SCRABBLE T-shirt!

Alan started with division 5 and worked up through the divisions. At least a dozen SamBoards were handed out as were SamTimers and prizes from the grab table. Laminated copies of the Cheat Sheet by Mike Baron (Corrales, NM) were handed out, too.

Division leaders came up, one by one, Dan Stock, Allen Pengelly, Wendell Smith, John Robertson, and Bryan Pepper, and handed out the prizes that Alan called out. There were hugs of affection, handshakes and shoulder punches, picking up the wrong prize and being asked to bring it back for exchange, players taking 5 minutes to walk from the back of the room to the front, friends picking up prizes for friends who couldn't stay for the ceremony, etc.

The last prize went to our 2009 NSC Champion, Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), who received a standing ovation as he made his way to the front of the room. He smiled shyly and walked to the podium on the stage where Alan Stern (Shadow Hills, CA) read the recent Dan Stock creation to him. Dave thanked the organizers and workers for the NSC and he acknowledged Nigel Richards (MYS) for being a terrific opponent. He shook his head from side to side as he admitted the difficulty of having to beat the New Zealander four out of five times to win and he wondered if that had ever happened before. His speech was short as he had to make the only plane leaving Dayton for Oregon soon thereafter. Hearty congrats to our returning NSC Champion!

Anyone who was there and got a prize is featured in a the prize ceremony photos. Some will have their checks mailed.

Thanks to all who made this year's NSC such a rousing success.

John D. Williams, Jr., here doing PR for Hasbro, tells us that he's been in touch with NPR, AP, ABC, CBS, FOX, NPR, and NBC. He says that the Today Show, originally scheduled for Monday in the 4th hour, is now on hold. However, they now want a NSC kid competitor to do a back-to-school angle, which will feature participation in the NSC!