That’s What I Like: Scrabble (or Making the Other Guy Cry for Mercy)
Scrabble. Is there anything more glorious than the beauty of a word? Yes, there is. It’s called winning. Don’t heed the naysayers that tell you “it’s just a game” or “it doesn’t matter who wins.” It does. To hear someone say they just play for “the love of the words” is just plain wrong. You have to play to win. C-O-N-Q-U-E-S-T (Add to the t, the q on triple letter score, use all seven letters, a fifty point bonus.)
Futhark is fine, a good word, whatever but if you don’t have a k (or blank, for that matter), you’ve got nothing. (And there is no need to look up the word in the dictionary to prove to one’s significant other that it is indeed a word because the argument is moot and one is simultaneously revealing letters to an opponent who only wants to take him down.) There is almost nothing better than a close match with an equal at the top of your respective games. Just one thing is better: Crushing and humiliating your opponent. This is what it’s all about.
Perhaps, when it comes to Scrabble, I can be a bit competitive. Have I ruined any personal relationships over the game? Not quite (but Scott, if you’re going to only make one word with an s, then you’re just asking for it.) But lo and behold, my prayers have been answered. For just $19.99 (you heard me right, folks, we’ll even throw in social isolation and paranoid delusions of grandeur at no extra cost), I can play Scrabble on my computer anytime I want. (Not to imply that this is cutting-edge technology, it most assuredly is not.) However, for someone who has burned a few bridges, this is as good as it gets. No more “go with the flow, let’s just play for fun” so-called opponents. The computer doesn’t care about you. It plays to win. And that is how it should be. Does screaming at a computer make me less human? I’d like to think not (although I’ll admit, it can border on the absurd.) Yet, there is one thing missing. The sweet, sweet nectar of victory. So, in the end, I guess even I need that human touch because “neener, neener, neener, I won” just isn’t the same without someone there to hear it. And my victory dance kind of freaks out the cat.
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5 Comment(s) so far
1. Letha Pena wrote on July 6th, 2007 at 6:15 am
Ah, I see my nurturing and careful upbringing has not failed. Playing Scrabble against a computer? Hmm. I would defintitely miss seeing the fear in my opponent’s eyes as I plop down a triple point, 7-letter word. Does the program at least give you a rousing “Huzzah!” after you’ve wiped it out, or is it a sore loser as are some of my offspring?
2. Kirk wrote on July 6th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I’m pretty sure that, somewhere, there must be Internet Scrabble. It would be the best of both worlds. The ability to play Scrabble anytime combined with a real-live human opponent to humiliate.
3. Keri wrote on July 6th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Tory, part of the problem is Scott doesn’t care about the game enough to cry for mercy!
Now, if you disconnected the power to the house, turned off all of the UPS backups, and brought out Scrabble and forced him to play, then he might start crying for mercy.
4. Kassia wrote on July 6th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I would like to point out that there are many fine Americans who are just fine playing Scrabble for the sheer joy of the game. I don’t believe that you have win to have a good time. Sometimes it’s just enough to destroy someone else’s game in the name of fun.
5. The Daily Square - Baba O'Reilly Edition | Booksquare wrote on July 10th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
[...] That?s What I Like: Scrabble (or Making the Other Guy Cry for Mercy)Some people have little sisters who advocate cruel and unusual punishment. Also, she really doesn’t get that sometimes people do play for the sheer joy of the game. [...]