When it comes to board games, I’m a very low skill player and easy to embarass. I’d be putty in the hands of Scrabble players like Michael Cresta, a carpenter who scored 830 points in a game of Scrabble and his opponent, Wayne Yorra a supermarket deli counter worker scored 490 points. Cresta is a smart guy, knowing the word QUIXOTRY. I had to look that up to see that it means visionary schemes. Be honest now, did you?

Now that we’re impressed, let me share something far less impressive. How Stefan at Slate compares this Scrabble game historically:

In the community of competitive Scrabble, of which I am a tile-carrying member, the game has been heralded as the anagrammatic equivalent of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 or Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series: a remarkable, wildly aberrational event with potential staying power. Cresta’s 830 shattered a 13-year-old record, 770 points, which had been threatened only infrequently.

Two guys laying down tiles in a board game, a very non-physical non-contact sport, doesn’t come close to comparing to Wilt the Stilt’s 100-point game in 1962. Not even close. Anagrammatic equivalent or otherwise. Though I hesistate to use the word never, that’s a record that will likely never be broken — at least in my lifetime. You’d need a really bad opponent and a player about twice as good as Michael Jordan and a team feeding him the ball almost every possession and him making almost every shot. I’m sure we’ll see all three of these Scrabble records broken as long as it is possible to gain a higher score. Frankly, I’m surprised nobody has a perfect Scrabble score yet. There are perfect Pac-Man scores.

The other comparison to Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 is a little more believable but still incredulous. Perfect games in MLB are so rare that it’s only been done by 17 pitchers in over 100 years, 7 times in the last 20 years, however. Why Slate is making hyperbolic comparisons, why not throw out Cy Young’s record 511 wins. The closest active picture in baseball today is Roger Clemens with 348 wins and he is 44. If he pitches 3-5 more years maybe he’ll get to 400, but he has no realistic shot at 500+ wins. Well, maybe if he pitches until he is 60+.

Perhaps most impressive is that these two Scrabble players are regular working folks and not brainiacs. Don’t get me wrong, both these players could kick my ass up and down the Scrabble board, but let’s keep these records in perspective.

Any Scrabble pros in the house that could challenge these scores? I know Sterling is a Backgammon afficiando, maybe he toys with Scrabble in his spare time?

Did this post make you go hmm?

 Loading ...

• What will bail Bonds from alleged steroids scandal?
• Study shows people are hanging onto PCs longer
• Texas sets modern day record beating up the birds 30-3
• Guinness World Records Recognizes Cisco Router
• Three years = poor sales for DVD-audio and SACD
• MakeYouGoHmm Virtual Stock Exchange Week #6: 189 days left