SCRABBLE in the News

by Erica Moore, Editor

See something about SCRABBLE or a SCRABBLE player in the news? Let us know! Send your stories to CorneliaSGuest@gmail.com.

National SCRABBLE Championships in the news:

This month’s biggest story was the 2009 National SCRABBLE Championship in Dayton, Ohio, August 1-5. Numerous news stories appeared about the event, winner Dave Wiegand, and many other players. Here are a few:

http://www.startribune.com/

http://www.oregonlive.com/

http://www.argusleader.com

The Onion Sends Up SCRABBLE

Even fake news is good news, as far as SCRABBLE is concerned in this amusing story in The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/

Joey Mallick gives the boys at ESPN’s Baseball Tonight some obscure stats and receives a SCRABBLE gem in return:

He reports:

A recent Saturday I decided to e-mail Tim Kurkjian, the analyst on Baseball Tonight who has a weekly segment known as Kurk-gems, which are extreme oddities that occur in any given game that week. I said in my e-mail that there were three players in the Red Sox vs. Braves game who had last names starting with the letters KOT - Mark Kotsay, George Kottaras, and Casey Kotchman. As it turns out, there were NO other players in history, past or present, who had such a last name.

Tim never responded to my e-mail, but when I watched that night's edition of Kurk-gems, the very first one mentioned was the one I had submitted. At first I thought someone else had beaten me to the punch, but he actually mentioned my name and that I played SCRABBLE! I've watched that segment numerous times in the past, and I don't ever remember anyone being mentioned by name, so I was more than flattered. He mentioned how reassuring it was that somebody else was as obsessed with these completely meaningless statistics as he was. As a bonus, he mentioned something about the value of KOTSAY on a triple-word score.

Unfortunately, I didn't get it recorded, but I'm working on getting a copy.

--Joey (who hopes to someday appear on ESPN in a SCRABBLE finals, not only because it means he's doing well, but because it would mean ESPN is willing to give SCRABBLE another shot!)

Scrabble progeny’s short film is selected for Montreal film festival:

Joel Wapnick stars in his daughter Emilie’s film “Beat the Champ,” which chronicles Joel’s simultaneous SCRABBLE games against gifted high school students in Missouri. The short film, directed by Emilie Wapnick and Luke Quin, has been selected for the YoungCuts Film Festival, a major international showcase for short films by young film makers. This year, the Festival takes place at Cinema du Parc in Montreal from September 25th to October 1st with screenings every day at 9PM and additional screenings Saturday and Sunday at 3PM. For more information or to buy tickets contact Michael Ryan, 514.285.4591, Mike@YoungCuts.com YoungCuts Film Festival.

Click "PLAY" to view the film.

Local Dayton band BJSR pays homage to SCRABBLE in “Play,” the first professional-quality music video to be shot entirely with an iPhone 3GS:

Word Freak author Stefan Fatsis has been busy promoting his new book, A Few Seconds of Panic:

And no, this book is not about finding a third blank in the bag at a National Championship; it’s a book about football. To find links to Stefan’s many interviews—and to learn more about the book, visit www.stefanfatsis.com.

Robin Pollock Daniel writes on SCRABBLE for ELLE Canada:

After being mentioned in the New Yorker, Robin was asked to write a personal article about SCRABBLE for ELLE Canada Magazine. The article appears on page 100 of the September issue, now available.

National School SCRABBLE Championship runner-up featured in New Jersey Star-Ledger

Paolo Federico-Omurchu, 12, defeats the Star-Ledger reporter in an amusing video. http://www.nj.com/

Erica Moore is a graphic designer in Chicago, IL. When she’s not working or playing SCRABBLE, she’s a knitting fiend!