A total of 62 hearty souls travelled to the pictureqsue University of Wollongong on 5th January to participate in the inaugural Scrabble Janboree. The ASPA NSW committee stole the round robin format from Victoria's Aestival and the name idea from their Decathon, and decided to hold a holiday event that allowed a full round robin tournament for divisions of 10 players (hence 9 games). The divisions were given allowable botanical terms (thanks Rod Talbot) to create an acronym of Janboree: Juniper, Alyssum, Nemesia (not Nemesis as some people insisted upon), Boronia (and not Lantana as Richard Birch kept putting on his result sheets!), Oleander, Ruellia and Erigeron (which didn't fill due to last-minute cancellations). All the usual hiccoughs occurred prior to the event and a few extras. Most notably, there were several last-minute cancellations from people who were unwilling to venture out onto the smoke-ravaged highways around Wollongong. By all reports, the only group that had problems was the car chauffered by Jean Noonan who intended to travel via the Picton Rd which was closed, thereby necessitating a little back-tracking. They arrived somewhat breathless but still in time for the first round. Jean's success in her division vindicated their decision to persist in the face of adversity! Other hiccoughs included my detailed instructions being somewhat nonsensical because the uni decided to block the gate from which the instructions were given. A few mobile phone calls and strategically-placed Scrabblers saw all the competitors arrive at the venue. Then there was the $134 fine I received the day before for parking my car at the building doors while Rod & I unloaded all the equipment!
Despite these little glitches, the event was soon underway and the usual heartaches and joys followed. As I was kept fairly busy with TDing, entering scores, and running the Look computer, I'll have to leave it to players to describe their own memorable plays. One that did come to light early on in the tournament was Jean McGiffen's coincidence play. In an early game she played OLIVETS and scored 77, had her next turn and then played OLIVETS for 75 - no blank was involved in either play. Audrey Newman would have gained the $1000 prize for the highest non-bingo play with 95 points for a four-letter word (you'll have to ask her what it was as she omitted to tell me!) but sadly we didn't have that prize on offer. In the "Oh No!" department, Graeme Lock Lee has already reported on his brain-dead state - he omitted to mention that he must have created a new CASPA record when he gave away a total of 420 time penalty points in the 9 games including 140 points in his game against John Barker. I watched one of his plays when he pondered a rack of EINRST? for 6 minutes before attempting NERvIST* which was challenged off. The word needed to end in ST for those who'd like to make Graeme feel even worse! Graeme is still kicking himself and he'll probably kick me if I spend any more time on his bad day!
Most players enjoyed the round robin format, the venue, the free barbecue lunch, the low entry fee and the general ambience. We hope that next year's event will be even bigger and better. Special thanks to Kim Logan who, at the eleventh hour, gave up his day to travel down and barbecue, buy extra milk, fill in on Look, and generally keep me sane (not an easy job as those who know me will attest).
See you all there next year!
Results after game 9
ROUND ROBIN -- juniper
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Chris May 7 404
2 Jean McGiffen 7 301
3 Bob Jackman 6 442
4 John Barker 6 20
5 John Holgate 5 456
6 Rod Talbot 5 261
7 Carmel Dodd 3 -382
8 Graeme Lock Lee 3 -585
9 Joan Rosenthal 2 137
10 Rene Chelton 1 -1054
HIGH GAME: John Holgate 561
HIGH WORD: Bob Jackman 149
"BASIFIES"
Results after game 9
ROUND ROBIN -- alyssum
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 John Spaan 8 324
2 Susan MacGillivray 7 288
3 Kris Logan 7 188
4 Peter Shaw 5 354
5 Betty Foreman 5 -18
6 Jan Serisier 4 -23
7 Hanne Marks 4 -51
8 Raya Wilkinson 2 -370
9 Peter Sheehan 2 -459
10 Jeff Chelton 1 -233
HIGH GAME: Peter Shaw 491
HIGH WORD: Kris Logan 109
"RETAXES"
Results after game 9
ROUND ROBIN -- nemesia
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Jean Noonan 6 500
2 Audrey Newman 5 474
3 Jenny Templeton 5 281
4 Cheryl Michler 5 59
5 Tim Reddan 5 -37
6 Eileen Seaborn 5 -52
7 Judy Hay 5 -176
8 Tony Hunt 5 -321
9 Ros Gibbons 2 -226
10 Nanette Reynolds 2 -502
HIGH GAME: Audrey Newman 528
HIGH WORD: Tim Reddan 100
"TZARIST"
Results after game 9
ROUND ROBIN -- boronia
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Edith Lowbeer 6 408
2 Natalie Tadday 6 307
3 Pat Schuberg 6 300
4 Richard Birch 5.5 197
5 Liz Jackman 5 -130
6 Val Ryan 4 -41
7 Margaret Andrews 4 -135
8 Bev Purkis 4 -191
9 Gordon Meggs 3.5 -408
10 Jean Balmer 1 -307
HIGH GAME: Edith Lowbeer 509
HIGH WORD: Jean Balmer 100
"SEQUINS"
Results after game 9
ROUND ROBIN -- oleander
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Esther Rolfe 6.5 292
2 Ivana Duria 6 244
3 Lynn Parnell 6 147
4 Therese Newman 5 23
5 Rex Shakespeare 5 -145
6 Sunny Wright 4 -21
7 Vi Phillips 4 -87
8 Jann Pincott 3.5 -44
9 Ann Fiddler 3 7
10 Dolores Barbon 2 -416
HIGH GAME: Ann Fiddler 512
HIGH WORD: Ann Fiddler 95
"SITTERS"
Results after game 9
RUELLIA -- RUELLIA2
The player with the asterisk plays first
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 Tricia Shephard 8 445
2 Silvana Newman 7 323
3 Frank Hunt 6 741
4 Athena Sheehan 6 137
5 Jo Anne Deady 6 -222
6 Lila Tucker 5 222
7 Joy Morris 4 -217
8 Yvette Tito 3 -100
9 Margaret Ackman 3 -223
10 Diana Field 3 -303
11 Tony Kalayzich 3 -308
12 Kelly Leighton 0 -495
HIGH GAME: Lila Tucker 499
HIGH WORD: Tricia Shephard 84
"RECEDED"
Stats for Tournament : ROUND ROBIN
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *juniper + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Chris May | 29 18 | 9 7 | 4.0 7.0 | 1674 +70 1744 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 49 23 | 14 8 | 3.2 7.0 | 1611 +96 1707 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 3 3 | 1 1 | 6.8 6.0 | 1902 -12 1890 |
| NSW John Barker | 34 26 | 10 9 | 3.7 6.0 | 1652 +46 1698 |
| NSW John Holgate | 5 8 | 3 3 | 6.4 5.0 | 1859 -20 1839 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 9 9 | 4 4 | 5.8 5.0 | 1807 -10 1797 |
| SA Carmel Dodd | 23 29 | 2 3 | 4.5 3.0 | 1707 -27 1680 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 44 47 | 12 13 | 3.4 3.0 | 1625 -7 1618 |
| NSW Joan Rosenthal | 18 28 | 7 10 | 4.9 2.0 | 1739 -56 1683 |
| NSW Rene Chelton | 82 97 | 18 24 | 2.3 1.0 | 1538 -27 1511 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *alyssum + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW John Spaan :act | 94 61 | 23 15 | 5.1 8.0 | 1515 +68 1583 |
| NSW Susan MacGillivr:act | 136 93 | 39 22 | 4.2 7.0 | 1451 +64 1515 |
| NSW Kris Logan | 139 99 | 40 25 | 4.1 7.0 | 1444 +66 1510 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 92 92 | 22 21 | 5.2 5.0 | 1522 -1 1521 |
| NSW Betty Foreman | 119 114 | 33 30 | 4.5 5.0 | 1472 +12 1484 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 145 144 | 42 41 | 4.0 4.0 | 1438 1438 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 118 122 | 32 35 | 4.6 4.0 | 1477 -9 1468 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson | 153 173 | 44 47 | 3.7 2.0 | 1418 -34 1384 |
| NSW Peter Sheehan | 84 120 | 19 34 | 5.4 2.0 | 1537 -65 1472 |
| NSW Jeff Chelton | 129 167 | 37 46 | 4.3 1.0 | 1457 -63 1394 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *nemesia + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Jean Noonan | 199 183 | 52 49 | 5.1 6.0 | 1349 +17 1366 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 167 175 | 47 48 | 5.8 5.0 | 1400 -17 1383 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 268 256 | 65 63 | 3.6 5.0 | 1242 +27 1269 |
| NSW Tim Reddan :act | 255 246 | 62 60 | 4.0 5.0 | 1265 +21 1286 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler | 229 223 | 58 56 | 4.6 5.0 | 1311 +8 1319 |
| NSW Tony Hunt | 223 222 | 56 55 | 4.7 5.0 | 1320 +5 1325 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 222 216 | 55 53 | 4.8 5.0 | 1325 +4 1329 |
| SA Eileen Seaborn | 263 252 | 22 19 | 3.7 5.0 | 1248 +26 1274 |
| NSW Ros Gibbons | 215 253 | 53 61 | 4.9 2.0 | 1331 -58 1273 |
| NSW Nanette Reynolds | 264 283 | 64 70 | 3.7 2.0 | 1247 -34 1213 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *boronia + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 275 269 | 68 66 | 5.3 6.0 | 1224 +14 1238 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 351 327 | 88 83 | 3.9 6.0 | 1121 +43 1164 |
| NSW Natalie Tadday | 381 342 | 92 86 | 3.3 6.0 | 1081 +58 1139 |
| NSW Richard Birch | 286 279 | 72 68 | 5.1 5.5 | 1209 +8 1217 |
| NSW Liz Jackman | 315 309 | 79 77 | 4.7 5.0 | 1176 +8 1184 |
| NSW Bev Purkis | 394 381 | 95 93 | 3.1 4.0 | 1063 +18 1081 |
| NSW Val Ryan | 314 328 | 78 84 | 4.7 4.0 | 1177 -13 1164 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 288 307 | 73 75 | 5.1 4.0 | 1207 -21 1186 |
| NSW Gordon Meggs | 282 312 | 70 78 | 5.2 3.5 | 1215 -33 1182 |
| NSW Jean Balmer | 327 366 | 84 91 | 4.5 1.0 | 1165 -69 1096 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *oleander + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Esther Rolfe | 425 405 | 101 96 | 5.6 6.5 | 1033 +17 1050 |
| NSW Ivana Duria | 497 466 | 117 109 | 4.4 6.0 | 946 +31 977 |
| NSW Lynn Parnell | 552 498 | 133 118 | 3.8 6.0 | 901 +44 945 |
| NSW Therese Newman | 419 429 | 99 102 | 5.7 5.0 | 1040 -15 1025 |
| NSW Rex Shakespeare | 562 527 | 135 125 | 3.7 5.0 | 895 +25 920 |
| NSW Vi Phillips | 625 600 | 155 145 | 2.9 4.0 | 828 +23 851 |
| NSW Sunny Wright | 448 465 | 107 108 | 5.2 4.0 | 1001 -24 977 |
| NSW Jann Pincott | 540 548 | 131 133 | 4.0 3.5 | 913 -10 903 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler | 430 472 | 103 110 | 5.5 3.0 | 1024 -50 974 |
| NSW Dolores Barbon | 532 579 | 127 141 | 4.0 2.0 | 916 -41 875 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+
+Section: *RUELLIA2 + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW Tricia Shephard | 641 599 | 161 144 | 6.4 8.0 | 819 +32 851 |
| NSW Silvana Newman | 811 757 | 204 191 | 4.9 7.0 | 674 +42 716 |
| NSW Frank Hunt | 0 836 | 0 218 | 4.4 6.0 | 616 +32 648 |
| NSW Athena Sheehan | 602 624 | 145 154 | 7.1 6.0 | 849 -21 828 |
| NSW Jo Anne Deady | 793 767 | 198 193 | 5.0 6.0 | 687 +20 707 |
| NSW Lila Tucker | 908 879 | 236 231 | 3.8 5.0 | 589 +24 613 |
| NSW Joy Morris | 929 916 | 243 239 | 3.5 4.0 | 575 +9 584 |
| NSW Margaret Ackman | 649 731 | 164 186 | 6.8 3.0 | 810 -77 733 |
| NSW Diana Field | 1020 1021 | 275 277 | 2.9 3.0 | 501 +2 503 |
|*NSW Tony Kalayzich | 0 1144 | 0 313 | 3.1 3.0 | 500 -4 496 |
|*NSW Yvette Tito | 0 973 | 0 256 | 3.0 3.0 | 537 537 |
|*NSW Kelly Leighton | 0 1145 | 0 314 | 3.1 0.4 | 500 -160
340 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+