This year I decided I would attend the entire event and play tournaments as much as possible, so I didn't get into as many pickup games as last year. I was also going to gm Attila and help Harold and John with Mexica and Puerto Rico respectively. Lastly, I was on a team, GCOM Caboose, with Harold, Rich, and Jamie. I had originally planned to play Puerto Rico as my team game, but Harold had played online much more than I, so that was his best choice. Harold said: "You win sometimes in El Grande. Do El Grande", which I did. I bumped into Jamie early the first day, and she says "You will win your team game" or something like that, and I'm thinking "oh boy, nothing like a little pressure."

I think I will remember this WBC as a week of blunders for me. It was a bonehead play in Taj Mahal that cost me that game, and my one game of Puerto Rico was the worst I have ever played. It was so bad that when someone on Spielfrieks complained about a bad player in his PR game, I thought "oh, god, please, let it not be me." It wasn't, but my heart skipped a beat. It was particularly galling because I thought the guy to my left was obnoxious, and I had this Ally McBeal fantasy of me sitting astride his chest with my hands at his throat with security guys pulling me off.

I enjoyed roaming the halls between events looking at setup games and meeting people. I saw Doug Hoyleman with his Facts in Five wood at the bottom of the escalator. My first instinct was to knock him down, grab the trophy, and run like hell in the opposite direction, but I think he read my posture because he suddenly clutched it to his chest and took two quick steps backwards.

My best fun was the El Grande tournament. It was my team game and I did well! I made it to the finals! I blundered in that game too (I think I'm paying up for past sins), so I finished 5th, but I was only 10 points out of first, and I lost 8 in my blunder. I was thrilled to add points to my team especially after Jamie had turned the screws, which she will deny vehemently I'm sure.

I won a game of Union Pacific, which I consider an absolute lightning strike fluke. I bypassed the next round to play Princes of Florence, which I won. I lost POF in the semi's to Arthur Fields, but I had a good score around 60 nonetheless.

A few other disconnected memories...
I remember a cop reaching through a doorway and yanking out some guy with words like "you're with me" or "step out here" or some such thing.

I remember relaxing a bit in the little garden area when some granny brought out some screaming kids to entertain me. Then these guys would come out this door in pairs and huddle off in corners in animated conversations. What the? It turns they were doing secret negotiations in some Diplomacy-like game, but it puzzled me for a moment.

When I wasn't playing tournaments, I'd go down to Cafe Jay to try out some new games he had there. I played or saw:

How Ruck
He will release this two-handed card game as Heave-Ho. I watched two guys play, and boy, this is a drinking game if there ever was one. You win these small whiskey barrels, but I see shot glasses that the loser must chug.

TransAmerica
A very light railroad game. A game you could play while eating a sandwich and watching the 11 o'clock news at the same time. It reminds me of bingo, of all things. You get five secret city cards, and you try to lay sticks that connect the cities while waiting for someone to jump up and yell bingo!, or I win, or something. I don't think I'll buy it.

Clash of the Gladiators
You pick plastic trays of gladiators, which you put on the board. You then womp on your neighbors by rolling dice. When you run out of players, you womp on animals, or they womp on you. I was the big womper -- I won my one game. I won't buy it.

Pueblo
A Kramer game and as abstract as Torres. You get these odd-shaped half blocks (you put two together to form a cube), which you position on the board building a single shared pueblo