Dr. T’s 15 minutes

Dr. T placed 8th in the 2nd Division at the recent North American Scrabble Championship in Reno. This is remarkable for a couple of reasons – first, he started the tournament rather badly, losing game after game in the first two days, ending up 107th in a field of 108 at one point. So 8th place represents a significant comeback.
Secondly, he, personally, made the Wall Street Journal.
In one go, Andrew Golding, an IT professional from Verdun, Quebec, placed RE in front of it and IZE at the end to make REmATERIALIZE. The R landed on a triple-word-score square, and the word totaled 93 points.
Also, I now know what to say when people ask what he does. He’s “an IT professional.” Cool. That sounds a lot more formal than “he’s a computer guy.”
Mind you, I suspect that the next time some one asks, and I say “he’s an IT professional,” I’ll get a quizzical look and have to fall back on “y’know, a computer guy.”
Of course, his tournament triumph is somewhat tempered by the fact that I didn’t get to go to this tournament, which was disappointing, and that last year’s, to which I did go, at which I met Heather N., and at which we had such an amazing time, took place in New Orleans. New Orleans was an incredible city, unlike any other place I have ever been, and my short stay there provoked what I suspect will be a life-long romance with the Big Easy. Our intention was to return there someday; in fact, the Scrabble people had been in negotiations (I believe) to make NOLA the permanent home of the National tournament.
Obviously, given the extremtity of the disaster and the human cost, my personal sadness doesn’t mean much, nor does the fate of the National tournament. But I do hope that one day, I’ll be back on Bourbon Street. Laissez les bons temps rouler.