"I can't. I just can't do it." "Yes you can! Don't you give up on me!" "I........can't..........I'm not going to make it I can't hold on I'm sorry...." "No! I won't let you quit! We're in this together. Reach for it, damn it!" Every muscle in my body screamed in agony. With one last gasp I lunged forward and...........didn't make it. As my right hand landed on the yellow circle I felt my left foot lift off of the blue circle that it had been firmly planted on. We lost the match and were out of the tournament. Twister - the game that ties you up in knots - was developed
in 1966 by Milton Bradley and every year since then, thousands have descended
upon Reykjavik, Iceland for the annual Tournament of Champions. Unlike
the countless other sanctioned tournaments, this one is by invitation only.
In 1981, three friends and I finally received an invitation after successfully
defending our title in the Baton Rouge Classic for the seventh consecutive
year. We were going to have the opportunity to test our game against the
best players in the world. You can imagine our excitement.
1) Too many people are under the impression that Twister
is merely a game of random luck and proceed to play under that misguided
notion. I can't count the number of times I've heard, "You never know what
the next move will be. The spinner can land anywhere at anytime." Nothing
could be further from the truth. It is a game of logic, timing and finesse.
I've sat down with many of the Grand Champions for literally days at a
time and listened to them explain how they honed their craft. They revealed
to me, "When you become one-with-the-game you can anticipate the next
move."
My friends and I were disappointed with the loss and hoped to return the following year to continue our quest toward Twister immortality. The Grand Champions that year were an experienced team from Czechoslovakia. They fought through 140 rounds of play spanning eighteen days and emerged victorious. We watched in awe as they stood proudly on the victory stand and received their medals from the Assistant Vice-President of Milton Bradley. There were 813 teams in the tournament and we did not come home empty handed. We left Reykjavik with a lot more experience, a few new friends, and a trophy for 692nd place. |