Victor asked me to pass this message along to the group. He's been
looking for a job, and he found one!


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: victorwarrior2000 <victorwarrior2000@...>
Date: Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 12:03 AM
Subject: Re: Special contests for the 2nd half of 2009
To: Michael Thelen <mthelen@...>


Hi Mike,

Wow man, are you sure you want to keep track of all of these?  I'm
really glad because it looks like our club is alive and well, and
thanks for doing all these for the club.

Anyway, I have some good news for you.  I got hired as a contractor at
Supervalu (owner of Albertsons) last week!  You can forward this
message to the group if you want.

I still have a Java class until August 7 so I don't see myself coming
to club till then, but I sure can't wait to come again.

I miss you guys and have fun with all the games and contests.

- Victor

--- In utah-scrabble@yahoogroups.com, Michael Thelen <mthelen@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all, as if I didn't have enough to keep track of, I've been feeling
> like it would be fun to have a few more special contests that are
> awarded at the end of our 6-month club "season". Currently, the only
> contest that does so is the Alphabet Bingo Challenge. Here is a list
> of contests I would like to implement beginning July 8, with their
> associated prizes. For most of these contests, there is a U1500 prize
> for players whose club rating at the beginning of the contest is below
> 1500, and an O1500 prize for players whose club rating at the
> beginning of the contest is 1500 or above. For all of these contests,
> the prize money will be awarded at the end of the 6-month season, for
> the winning achievement throughout the entire season.
>
> Best overall club rating improvement*: $3
> Alphabet Bingo Challenge (U1500/O1500): $5 (1st), $3 (2nd)
> Best winning percentage, 25 games min. (U1500/O1500): $3
> High game** (U1500/O1500): $2
> High bingo (U1500/O1500): $2
> High loss (U1500/O1500): $1
> High non-bingo (U1500/O1500): $1
>
> * A newcomer's "base" rating is determined at the end of his/her 4th
> week of attendance, to allow some time for the initial rating to
> settle down a bit.
> ** The high game can't be scored against a newcomer within his/her
> first 4 weeks of attendance.
>
> Don't worry, none of this will require any extra work on your part;
> I'll be keeping track of it all. And it won't require any additional
> dues, either. By taking $2 out of the pot each week, which I've been
> doing since our club joined NASPA nine weeks ago, we can cover the
> $30/year NASPA club registration fee and have money left over for all
> these contests. Just sit back and enjoy.
>
> Also, I will be mixing up the Alphabet Bingo Challenge a bit in order
> to discourage players from sacrificing good Scrabble play in order to
> try to win that contest. Instead of having a single letter determined
> before each club session, I will be drawing three random letters out
> of a bag of 26 tiles at the end of each club session. For each letter
> drawn from the bag, you will score a point for every bingo in which
> that letter appears within the first N letters of your bingo, where N
> is the point value of the letter. So for example, the letters
> AEILNORSTU will only score a point toward the contest if they are the
> 1st letter of your bingo; DG if they are the 1st or 2nd letter; BCMP
> if they are in the first 3 letters; FHVWY if they are in the first 4
> letters; K if it is in the first 5 letters; and JQXZ if they are
> anywhere in your bingo. If this sounds a little complicated, that may
> just be because I couldn't think of a more concise way to explain it.
> It's really pretty straightforward.
>
> I hope you like these contests. I think they will add a bit more
> challenge and excitement to our club sessions. All of our contests are
> intended to be a little fun "on the side", but please don't go out of
> your way to try to win the contests at the expense of losing games. If
> you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
>
> --
> Michael W Thelen
> To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized
> man. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
>





--
Michael W Thelen
To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized
man. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes