O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Last week at the Lion, Nate Cockerill suggested that we organize a holiday party for the Weasels. Josh Heffernan, always the voice of reason and still basking in his triumphant return to the table, pointed out that it was a little late in the season to throw a party together. So instead, we settled on another bar game.
That we could manage on short notice. Game No. 230 went down last night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. We weren’t the only ones in the mood for making merry. The place was packed. Demographics aside, the bar looked more like Guthrie’s at 9 p.m. on a Thursday than the quiet neighborhood tavern that we’ve so often turned into our near-private rec room. Undeterred, we played like we owned the place, the regular’s privilege.
The timing of this hastily assembled game was perfect for young Eamon Driscoll, who is back in the States for the holidays between English-teaching gigs in the Ukraine and Russia. He departs for Moscow on Jan. 9, and when he goes, he’ll take a shared board-top with him. The game ended by time limit after the Fall 1907 turn in the following center counts:
Austria (Eamon Driscoll): 9; 32.400 points.
England (Don Glass): 0; 0.000 points.
France (Matt Sundstrom): 9; 32.400 points.
Germany (Matt Kade): 6; 14.400 points.
Italy (Keith Ammann): 6; 14.400 points.
Russia (Nathan Cockerill): 0; 0.000 points.
Turkey (Kevin O’Kelly): 4; 6.400 points.
Check out the supply center chart here.
I was in the neighborhood for my Kevin’s school Christmas pageant, so afterward, I dropped by for dinner, a couple of drinks, and to check out the game. It looked like a fun, balanced contest. I left after the Fall 1905 adjudication. Hopefully the players will tell us more about it.
Next up for the Weasels is a game at Matt Sundstrom’s home in Glenview next Saturday. It’s currently full, but standbys are always welcome. We may schedule another game over the holidays to accommodate Driscoll and members of the Milwaukee Mafia. Stay tuned.
