JGA SEPT-OCT 08 - The Jewish Georgian

September-October 2008 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 45
Schwartz on sports
THE NATIONAL SCRABBLE
CHAMPIONSHIP
f you’re a serious Scrabble player—
someone who owns a personalized Iboard;
plays with a clock; has memorized
all the two-, three-, and four-letter
words; and can solve the newspaper’s
Jumble in less than a minute—then playing in the National Scrabble Championship is a
must.
I had the opportunity to play in Orlando, July 27-30, along with 700 other players
from around the country. Twenty-eight games in four days is a lot of Scrabble, even for
someone who loves the game. There were other Jewish Georgians who competed in
Orlando. Dave Leifer, who is rated an expert and is the top player in Georgia, was there.
Joey Krafchick, one of the boy wonders of the Scrabble world, competed in Division 2.
Michael Krafchick, Joey’s father, was the highest rated player in Division 5, and I competed
in Division 4.
It was a hectic, brain-numbing four days, with lots of highs and lows. Unfortunately,
for me there were a lot more lows than highs. I started off fast and was actually ranked
number four out of 110 players at the end of the first day. That standing resulted in
achieving one of my Scrabble goals, having a rating of over 1,300 points. That’s the
sports equivalent of averaging 25 points in basketball or shooting in the high 80s in golf.
But that was short-lived. And in days three and four, my game rapidly deteriorated.
Dave Leifer, who was competing in Division 1 against the best players in the world,
had a tough tournament. Michael Krafchick played well and had a winning percentage,
as did his 13-year-old son, Joey, who started off slowly and then rallied to finish above
.500.
My wife, Nancy, who no longer plays Scrabble, visited the outlet malls during the
day—and when everything’s half price, it’s hard to resist not buying something. Amy,
Joey’s mother, spent a lot of her time chauffeuring, keeping up with the boys, and even
babysitting. She enjoyed being around the Scrabble environment, and we encouraged her
to start playing in tournaments.
On the way home, I tried to figure out what I was going to tell the Scrabble players
at the Saturday Tucker Club, the Roswell Monday Club, and the MJCCA Thursday Club.
They all sent me off with good luck and high expectations. “Scrabble is a humbling
game and I got a big piece of humble pie.” But the good part is that there’s always
another tournament right around the corner, and I plan to be there.
Jerry Schwartz, a Jewish Georgian at the National Scrabble Championship
CATCHING UP
BY Jerry
Schwartz
Another “Where Are They Now” guy has been found. Thanks to Howie Hyman, I
now know that Bob Buck is alive and well in Sandy Springs. In fact, Howie and his wife
were having dinner with Bob and his wife the next night. Howie reminded me that Bob
always wore a yellow/brown softball shirt with the name Murph and the number 3 on the
back. After Howie showed him the article in which he was mentioned, Bob e-mailed to
thank me for the recognition.
Bob told me that he’s lived in Sandy Springs for the past 30 years, has recently
retired, and is enjoying retirement and spending time with his children and grandchildren.
He also told me how much he enjoyed playing in the league for all those years. It
was great hearing from him.
—————
Nancy and I had the pleasure of attending Joey Krafchick’s bar mitzvah. I’ve known
Joey’s grandfather, Hal, since we moved to Atlanta in 1966. He was one of the first guys
I met at the Peachtree JCC, and we’ve been friends for over 40 years.
At the kiddush, I saw some old friends. It was great sitting around the table with
Stan Sobel, Willie Green, Joel Felner, Paul Weiner, Randy Feinberg, Steve Gruenhut, and
Hal, reliving the good old days, which included a lot of basketball games at the JCC. As
Stan Sobel said, and I wholeheartedly agree, we can vividly remember basketball games
played 40 years ago and who played in them but forget where we put the car keys and
what movie we saw last week.
—————
Last year, I gave an update on Toby Basner, the 24-year-old Jewish Georgian who is
on his way to becoming a Major League Baseball umpire.
The latest news about Toby, provided for me by proud grandparents Judy and
Richard Bracker, was that Toby was selected as one of four Class AA umpires for the
All-Star Futures Game, which featured baseball’s top prospects from the minors. He got
to work the game at Yankee Stadium prior to the Major League All-Star game.
Toby also was the right field umpire for the Home Run Derby and got to witness
Josh Hamilton’s tremendous display of power when he hit 28 home runs in the first
round of the contest. I watched it on TV, and, believe me, it wasn’t hard to call those
shots fair balls.
Toby’s on the fast track for an opportunity to become a Major League umpire.
—————
I recently learned that Eddie Harelik died earlier this year. Eddie was active in the
Men’s Basketball and Softball Leagues as a player and captain in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I
enjoyed playing on his team, the Harelik Hawks. One year, we won the league championship,
and Eddie, who had tickets to the Hawks games, invited Ben Tyber and me to a
game. A very nice gesture from a very nice guy.
—————
I hope you have enjoyed this edition’s journey. Until next time, drive for the bucket
and score.