2016 CNSC

Go to: Commentary Games Players Standings Photos TSH Reports Scoreboard Prizes

Back to CNSC 2016 Live Coverage

Commentary: Final Round 3

[ ]

Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3, After the Tournament.

Finals 3

Robin has arrived and she is working with Jesse Matthews (Kelowna BC).

Adam opens with HIND

James: get IMPORTED down, our first bingo!

Adam: CEEFNRT Robin asks: is UNIBROW good now? She hears yes. UNBOAT maybe? Maybe keep two vowels, like he does, says Joshua. WE had wrong rack, been corrected, he played ENFORCE, we like.

JAMES: ABNOSUW He tried BAWSOUND* on the tripled but it got challenged off.

Adam: ELLOTTT

LOTTE, good.

James: played BOW, we agree.

Adam: DLORTVY Can we get rid of the V? FLAVONE is what Jesse suggests. Robin thinks it may be dangerous..... Opens the board.... He did FAME, we like.

James: AAEENSU He has to get rid of EAU says Robin. UREA goes down. We like.

Adam EGLORVZ He played GROVEL, we like.

James: AEEINST none of his bingos fish. Robin asks us where he would play off an E. Zev shouts GROVELED. He did BE. It is okay we think. Right idea, but wrong spot. WE liked GROVELED

Adam: AEGIUVZ VAGUE, we like VAGUE/BEG.

James: AEINOST ATONIES/HINDS go down, we love!, so does Quackle!

Adam: CAILNOZ We see ZA for a bunch of points. Some say CALZONE. Joshua says, "I guess ZA is almost as good as a CALZONE." We all laugh. ZIN, we like, but it leaves an E hook.

James: ?AEKRSW REAWAKENS/ZINE we like. Will he play it?

Robin asks what is the bingo with these tiles through NO (not fitting on the board) SNOWMAKER. He played WAtERSKI, which we like, but it is 19 points less...

Adam: ACJLOST TAJ, we like

James: AHIMNOQ Any reason not to play QAT, Robin asks? down it goes.

Adam: CELORSY CRYOLITE, Jesse said and Zev seconded. (robin says good with C or K) HE found it!!

James: GHIMNOS We say he has to try MOSHING! He plays EMOS. we are sorry., we liked MOSHING.

Adam: ?BIIIIU 399-376, adam's lead. BI, we like, so does Quackle.

James: AGHILNP We like HIP over WATERSKIS....

Robin says, "I've been watching James all weekend, he makes so many beautiful plays."

Can we find any way for James to win? We suggest he needs to draw the blank to pull it out, which is an impossibility, since we know where it is.

He played GLOP. WE liked okay, he is in a tough spot.

Adam: IIINUX? IXIa, we like.

James: AHIIN All over but for the crying, unfortunately. HI, pretty good. :)

Adam: INU UNI?

Adam wins the CNSC for the fifth time! 461-437! Yeah Adam!

Final Awards Ceremony

I ran into the playing room and caught both games as they were wrapping up. James took his remaining new tiles and pretended to eat/choke on them as he put them down. He is such a fun-loving guy. Once the last play went down, Adam placed his remaining tile on the board and they both wrote this onto their scoresheets. Then Adam extended his hand to James and they shook heartily. They started talking about their board while the annotators pointed out stuff.

Very soon thereafter, the student players, a mere three or so feet away, were also wrapping up their game so I ran over to take some shots. Coach Vera Bigall came in and we all congratulated both student teams on a great couple of games. I pointed out how excited the viewing room was to see the girls' RETINAS bingo toward the end of the second game.

The playing room was swiftly emptied of supplies, boards, and people. We all made our way back to the viewing room where the viewers sat waiting. James came in first and got a very nice ovation for his efforts. Then John made his way to the front and started the ceremony.

John thanked everyone for coming and he pointed out the commentators for their work today. (Thanks Joshua Sokol (Montreal QC), Jesse Matthews (Kelowna BC), and Robin Pollock Daniel!) The student runner ups and the student CSSI champions were called up one team at a time. Holding their trophies, they posed for photographs with John Chew and Hasbro's Marisa Pedatella, Julia Minicucci, and Deborah Wainer.

John's next point of order was to congratulate James Leong on his finals game play. He then called the five-time CNSC champion up. They posed with the Hasbro team and presented him with the CNSC cup and giant check.

Adam then surprised us all by making a few comments. He thanked John and Mad for running the event and all the annotators by name, too. He acknowledged Hasbro Canada and the hotel for hosting the event. He then spoke about how he won his first CNSC in 1996 and that this was the 20th anniversary of his first win. And in that time he'd gone from being the youngest player in the room to one of the older players. He mentioned how nice it was to be at the event with all the student players, to see them improving and striving, maybe, as he had. He talked about continuing to try as hard as he could to keep playing well because he knew he would have to play these younger, better players. He said "We'll see how long I can hold on." It was honest and touching.