The Last Night - Clash of the Titans

Well, it is here. My last night in Cincinnati for awhile. And, in keeping with tradition, my brother Stephen and I are playing one of our epic battles of Scrabble to determine who will be the victor until our next meeting. As always, I take advantage of his long turns by doing laundry and making mental notes of everything I need to do for the voyage home. Now, his turn is lasting so long, that I have decided to blog. I think his strategy is to take so long that I will be too tired and impatient to do what it takes to win the game. As I've mentioned before, my brain powers significantly diminish after ten o'clock. By midnight, I'm toast.

So here we are: Stephen has 225 points. I have 200 points. The word of the game is "kiva" (mine) at 64 points. Stephen's "shingles" earned him 62 points, since he used all 7 letters. I'll keep you updated if anything really exciting happens.

We have been Scrabble rivals for probably 15 years now. Doesn't that make me seem old? I used to consider my dad as my biggest rival, but I didn't realize that Stephen was behind the scenes, taking everything in, the fires of competition blazing within him. He was a tough competitor from the start. Even when I was 15 and he was 10. Over the years, he has continued to push himself to be the reigning champion. He took up online Scrabble. He memorized all of the two letter words in the dictionary. He devised a scheme that guarantees that he draws the "x" every single time and subsequently manages to score at least 50 points when he uses that "x."

Our games are always close, competitive, and very drawn-out. Our most legendary face-off occurred almost three years ago. We played until almost two in the morning. A challenge was issued and won on a technicality. One of us drove all around town searching for a store that would be open and also selling a Scrabble Player's Dictionary. I will not name names here. All I will say, is that 2:30AM search for the dictionary was a success and provided that needed evidence to prove a point.

Alas! A true blog about scrabble would be fruitless if the ever so resiliant competitor didn't add a few words. Yes, it is I, Stephen. There is no coincidence that both my name and scrabble begin with S, and so does the word success, which is what this game will be for me.

So he says, and so he may be right . . . for now. After all, things are looking bright for him at this point. I've been holding on to the "Q" the entire game - not because I haven't had words, but because I have been unable to place the "Q" on a double or triple letter or word score. What is the joy of the "Q" without the added pointage?

Anyway, its after midnight, the game is still going strong (after almost 2 hours!) and the outlook is grim.

12:37 am and despite all odds, I did find a triple letter score for my "Q" - I did manage to pick the "X" (an unprecedented move)- and I did find a way use a triple word score and score 24 points on my final turn. These last three moves placed me in the lead - but now I am in the tiresome position of waiting for Stephen as he exhausts every single possibility on the board. He needs 20 points to win and the boy does not give up easily.

1:00 am VERDICT IN: The first tie in de Jong Scrabble Player's History - 315 points on both sides - what an earth-shattering, red-eye inducing, and somehow satisfying game.

A clasic clash of the titans, a battle of the ages with both opponents brutal to the last 'mo.' The highly anticipated showdown proved to be all this rivalry is cracked up to be. An epic struggle ended in an inconcievable tie, leaving Stephen with an 'arrow' in his heart and Katie sorely 'vex'(d). Leave nothing wanted. Hold nothing back. In the end these summertime brawls signify much more than pieces on a board. We are not playing against each other, but against time and aging. When the game comes out both past and present collide into one jumble. It's as if we've always been playing, sometimes one winning, sometimes another, yet the games string into one long game against time itself, and tonight, for the first time, we did not lose, we tied, and now it is late, and we must retire to our 'kiva'(s). Goodnight.