Mark and I stayed only for the first two games at the Club’s new location at the Mississauga Valley Community Centre. The South Common Community Centre, which also houses the library where I recently worked, will close this summer for a total rebuild.
473-226 against Vivina. I played CUTTIES (75), BIOGASeS (70) and ZEDA (75).
361-365 against Jonathan. I played InTINES (69) and AXONE (60) and Jonathan played STINGER (73). I played this game scared, forgoing a bingo (both NORITEs and ORIENTs would have fit when Jonathan played KA, to hook it as sKA). I realized that I should follow my own advice by playing the bingo, which would have brought me within the mid-350’s while Jonathan was still in the high 200’s. Instead I believed I could hold onto my minuscule lead without playing the bingo. Turns out I couldn’t. I was afraid of the Z which was still out and either bingo of mine would have exposed the top centre TWS and the DLS underneath it, giving Jonathan a mammoth comeback like DITZ or something else for 72 or thereabouts. We had a cramped game near the end. I had a nice setup by playing TIZ on the upper right corner, where the TWS square lay immediately to the right of the Z. I held the last blank, so I saw an easy 36 points for TIZz to seal the win. With his consonant-heavy rack and no open vowels, Jonathan played AG for 3 which ruined the TIZz spot. I don’t know if Jonathan even knew the word because he never said anything after the game like “I had to block your 36 points for TIZz.” In hindsight it all seems so much clearer and I realize that I should definitely have played my bingo when I had the chance, or played TIZz right away.
I was taping game six of the playoff game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins and since Mark and I wanted to watch it we decided to stay for only two games. When we got home we started the PVR, knowing the game was still in progress. We did not listen to the car radio on the drive home and no one at the Club was broadcasting updates so we were really in the dark about the score. We were ecstatic to see the Leafs win 2-1, forcing a game seven. The Bruins scored on Joseph Woll with only 0.1 second left in the third period. This must be the closest a goal has been scored near the end of a game, however there must have been some on-the-buzzer goals that were allowed in the past. Imagine thinking you’ve earned a shutout only to be denied it in the final tenth of a second! Good thing we were already ahead at 2-0 by that point, otherwise that squeaker of a goal would have forced overtime.