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.


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
Players Championship
Bayside
Philadelphia
Farmington
Philadelphia
Wilmington
Philadelphia
North Salem
Baltimore
Bayside
New York
LakeGeorge
Philadelphia
Bayside
North Salem
Asheville
Manchester
Philadelphia
Elmhurst
Oshawa
North Salem
Philadelphia
Port Jefferson
Farmington
Albany


2008
Bayside
Philadelphia
Minneapolis Redeye
Atlantic City
Bayside
Wilmington (club)
Rocky River
Charlotte
Saratoga Springs
Hyde Park
Dallas Open
North Salem
Philadelphia