The Weekly Weasel — Week of Feb. 16

We’re back after an unscheduled, work-induced hiatus. Read on for the latest news from the Weasels.

Statmageddon!
As mentioned in recent issues, one of Matt Sundstrom’s resolutions for the New Year was to develop a ratings system for the Weasels. His work is complete and very impressive. We’re still figuring out the best way to house and display his work, which begins with the adoption of the Sum of Square system for league play in Season Six (2010-11). In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of the ancillary analysis made possible by the project.

Let’s start with our top five board-toppers in terms of topping percentage, based on a minimum of seven games played. They are:

1. Kevin O’Kelley, 35.7 percent.
2. Peter Yeargin, 34.4 percent.
3. Chris Kelly, 34.4 percent.
4. Kyle Weiskircher, 28.6 percent.
5. Tony Prokes, 28.0 percent.

And now, check out the top five in elimination percentage.
 

1. Eric Brown, 0.0 percent.
2. Matt Sundstrom, 8.9 percent.
3. Kevin O’Kelly, 9.1 percent.
4. Christopher M. Davis, 9.1 percent.
5. Keith Ammann, 10.0 percent.

Yup, Eric Brown has not been eliminated since the beginning of Season Six.

So, pretty cool stuff, and there’s more coming. But when it comes to stats and ratings, keep in mind what my Kevin had to say on learning that he owns our best topping percentage: "Well, people went easy on me."

Thanks for all your hard work on this, Matt!

Last Week’s Game
We had a rare six-person game last week at the Red Lion, only the third one in 264 games. I haven’t seen the chart yet, so no game summary, but I’m told they played the Italian Roulette variant. That’s the one where each player submits moves for Italy in addition to their own moves, and then Italy’s moves are randomly selected from those offerings. It’s no substitute for a seventh player, but it sure beats placing Italy in civil disorder. On the bright side, I believe we had two more new players come out to join us. Hopefully more about the game next week.

Up Next
Our first Saturday house game of Season 10 is close to filling. We have six for the March 7 game at Dan Burgess’ home in Downers Grove. One more fills the board; two more frees Dan for hosting duties. Who’s in?

Red Wednesday at the Red Lion
Our next Red Wednesday at the Red Lion will be March 11. We already have three signed up for that game. Who else is in? As always, the game will start at 6:30 p.m. and end no later than 11.
 
Dues Are Due
Dues for 2015 are now due. We’ve kept our rates the same. A regular membership will cost you $25; the student rate is just $10. Dues will get you a discount on our tournament entry fees ($10 value!), eligibility for club awards and the Weasel Royale championship game, and, when we think of it, first crack at our house games. Dues pay for our club awards, the Meetup group, our website, and the Royale award and hosting subsidy. Please consider paying dues today. You may do so via PayPal at the website or by giving cash to a member of the Sneak. Thank you to the 13 Weasels who have paid up so far. We appreciate your support.

Our CODCon Tournament is Turning Nine!
We’re under two months out from our ninth CODCon Open Diplomacy Tournament. That’s hard to believe for a couple of reasons. First, doesn’t it seem like we just did CODCon 8? And second, holy shit, this one will be our ninth?!?

This year’s installment will be April 11-12 at the Student Resource Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, 425 W. Fawell Blvd. We’ll play two rounds on Saturday with a hard ending at midnight, and one on Sunday. The tournament will end no later than 4 p.m. on Sunday.

We’ll kick things off with open gaming Friday night in either Oak Brook or Downers Grove, and we’ll have an after-party Saturday night in one of those two spots. In previous years, Junta, Imperial, Civilization and Cards against Humanity all have hit the table after hours. For many of us, those gatherings are the best part of CODCon and sometimes the reason why the LARPers aren’t the only zombies in attendance.

Make your plans to join us!

Moot Update
Okay, honestly, we’re very close to wrapping up the details for Weasel Moot. It looks like we’re going to hold the event at the University of Illinois-Chicago. We’re just trying to hammer out the agreement and finalize the dates. We should be able to share the details with you in next week’s issue.

Upcoming Games

• March 7 at Dan Burgess’ home in Downers Grove, beginning at 11 a.m. Have six.
• March 11 at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square, beginning at 6:30 p.m. until no later than 11. Have three.

Sign up for games here, on Meetup, or by emailing me (jimthegrey1013@yahoo.com).

Important Dates

• Remember, the second Wednesday of every month is Red Wednesday at the Red Lion. These games are scheduled through December and will always start at 6:30 p.m. and go until no later than 11, so get ’em on your calendar. The next one is Wednesday (March 11)!
• April 11-12: The 2015 CODCon Open!

Up Next on the Tournament Circuit

• CODCon 9 (That’s us!): April 11-12 in Glen Ellyn. (http://windycityweasels.org/codcon9)
• 2015 WDC: May 1-3 in Milan. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1500292310187264/)

That’s all for this week.

Jim