I promised a recounting of the games, but before we get into that I wanted to introduce the men who play the game of Tiddlywinks ((the women were notably absent from the event).
Larry Kahn: Winker 1
From www.tiddlywinks.org:
Larry "Horsemeat" Kahn has been one of the most competitive winkers since he stumbled onto winks at MIT in the Fall of 1971 at Baker House. He holds, by far, the most number of world titles (singles, pairs, and teams), though does not exhibit the intensity sometimes found in others.
The tournament is being held at this guy's house, and most of us are crashing there. Let me tell you a bit about the Larry Kahn, the man, the myth, the winks machine.
First off, he looks EXACTLY like you'd expect a 'Larry' to look. Remember Perfect Strangers? He looks just like 'Cousin Larry,' with one notable difference; he has ptosis, an eyelid condition where his eyes only open as far as slits. So he can't open his eyes too wide, and he can't wink. There's a joke in there, but I'm not going to tell it, because I'm trying to be fucking classy.
When you're number 1 at something, your life sort of revolves around it. Here's what I mean:
I was turned on to the game and tournament by British MIT alum Matthew Fayers. He, his wife Jenny, and I are waiting for Larry to pick us up. When he does, I notice his license plate says Winker 1. Larry's e-mail address is madsquopper*@ (address omitted). His mantle is covered with dusty trophies of all the tournaments he's won, the Sports Illustrated article about him and winking, and he always wears his pink flamingos shirt he's had for years to matches. *author's note: To "squop" means to cover a wink with another wink, so it cannot be played or scored.
One thing I found very cool about Larry; in his basement he has a box of "things he used to throw." In it is his collection of boomerangs, a set of ultimate Frisbee discs (he's played for years), and the oldest set of Disc Golf Discs that may ever exist! They're just regular Frisbee brand discs, different sizes, with numbers so you know whose disc belongs to whom, like tennis balls. Larry played "frolf" before the sport really existed. If you know me, you know how cool I thought that was.
The Old Salts (editorial note: There was no salt in this house. None. Who the hell doesn't have salt?)
Matthew Fayers: The man who introduced me to the sport. He's in his mid-30s, holds a PhD in Mathematics from MIT, and is quintessentially British. Where another man would provide an outburst of emotion, Matt gives a small sigh and says something to the effect of, "Ah, well, could've been a better one, I'm afraid." He is currently ranked 5th in the world.
Ferdinand "Ferd" Wulkan: At 62 years old, Ferd was one of the 3 aforementioned wise men I met on "Day 0." He's well-traveled, soft-spoken, and ranked 12th in the world. Gray hair, tan skin, he kind of looked like a cross between Orville Redenbacher and an old warlord, which may be where his nickname "Ferdinand the Bold" came from.
Bob Henninnge: Wise man number 2. Also 62, he was Ferd's roommate when they went to MIT. They were, I believe, the founders of the MIT Tiddlywinks club. These guys are the oldest of friends, and it was delightful to see something like that endure all these years. Bob's current rank is 9th. He's got a short face and one of those long beards that sticks out in front of him.
Sunshine: Born David Shenison, Sunshine (or Sunsch, as he came to be called) no longer plays competitive winks (too hard-hitting, I guess), but still finds time to visit the gang. The 3rd wise man, Sunshine and Bob co-wrote one of winks "controversial" "new" "rules," the perimeter rule. (If you really want to know, e-mail me, I'll explain it). Sunshine has been known to play ambidextrously, and on rare occasions, with his feet. He published a book detailing all the crazy variations made for Tiddlywinks over the years, which reminds me of my game-designing friends. He's a great guy, a dyed-in-the-wool hippie, and while he longer holds a world rank, he's made his mark on the winking world.
Dave "The Dragon" Lockwood: At 50+ years old, Dave is to Larry like Mike Tyson is to Lennox Lewis. Larry is a tactician of the game, calm, almost aloof in his play. Dave, on the other hand, is an aggressive player, known to make strong, difficult shots, launch winks far and wide, and plays to win every time. My second match with him, he had a pounding headache and couldn't stand for much of it, and he still trounced me. Currently ranked 6th, and taking second place in the tournament, he's one of the 8 Americans who traveled to England in 1972 to play against the best winkers in the land where Tiddlywinks was invented. Since then, he's been back over 100 times. He has five children, and they all play the game, including:
Jon Lockwood: 17 years old, Jon was the closest person to my age, save Matthew, and definitely the closest spiritually, as I have always behaved younger than I really am (some call me immature, I like to think I'm just "chronologically displaced"). Jon was fun, if a bit rambunctious; his father was on hand constantly to tell him to quit screwing around. It was eerily familiar. As far as winking goes, he's a good player, currently ranked 26th; definitely better than me, but still years away from the rest of the folks at the game. Every sport has its brash young upstarts. Personally I think he'd make a better poker player, but apparently he needs to focus on his studies more.
Rick Tucker: I didn't get much of a chance to talk with Rick, which is a shame, because he was probably the coolest guy at the event. In addition to winking, he's a puzzle aficionado, a world-traveler, and a pretty good photographer. He has a heavy online presence, you'll find him if you Google him. He maintains the North American Tiddlywinks Association website, http://www.tiddlywinks.org/, where you can get information on the game, events, and bios of the people mentioned above. I do not yet have a bio there. Rick is ranked 14th. Later on I'll tell you how I almost beat him in a match.
All these guys are MIT alums (Little John aside), most of them played together at MIT, they are the backbone of North American Tiddlywinks. They're well-traveled, well-spoken, intelligent individuals with a penchant for gaming. They remind me of my group of friends at MIT. Sadly, they represent a dying breed. The sport of winks is waning rapidly in popularity and, except for the efforts of The Lockwood Foundation, no new blood is being introduced to the sport. It was kind of bittersweet, playing a tournament with these guys, like taking part in a slice of history. And while I enjoyed my time at the tournament, I found myself wondering if this would be a mirror of my potential future? But that is a musing for another post.
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