Mind Your P's And Q's: Scrabble Championship Is Coming

Shaq playing Scrabble on ESPN spot.July 29, 2009: An ESPN spot for its NBA coverage last season showed Shaquille O'Neal playing Scrabble against Stuart Scott and Mike Breen. Shaq had enough "Q's" to spell such words as "Shaqtastic," "Shaqattack," "Shaqesque," not always combing the Q with a U. "How'd you get so many Q's?" Scott asks. "Don't worry about it!" Shaq replies. The scene was reworked during his appearance on WWE's Monday Night Raw July 27.

O'Neal is not scheduled to make an appearance at the 2009 National Scrabble Championship in Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 1-5, but more than 500 players from 40 states and several international locations will be at the Convention Center seeking a grand prize of $10,000 and the honor be crowned Scrabble king or queen.

This is a major transition year for club and tournament Scrabble events, of which there are more than 200 per year. Hasbro, which owns the Scrabble name and trademark in the U.S. and Canada, has decided that as of Jan. 1, 2010, it would no longer provide regular funding to Scrabble clubs and tournaments. This year, the newly formed North American Scrabble Players Assn. is taking over from the National Scrabble Assn., which is funded by Hasbro. However, Hasbro has committed to a $15,000 sponsorship of the 2009 championship. Among other sponsors, Merriam-Webster will be providing tote bags, according to Cris Cree, a world-renowned Scrabble expert and head of the NASPA.

“There are 200 official Scrabble tournaments every year,” Cree, whose NASPA is driven by funds from players and supporters and is organizing the 2009 championship, said in a statement. "But this is the big one, the one everyone wants to attend, and everyone wants to win.”

ESPN has filmed segments of the championships for the past few years. Live coverage and commentary for the entire 2009 tournament is at www.Scrabbleplayers.org. Last year, there were more than 6 million hits at the Web site during the event in Orlando.

Earlier this year, Electronic Arts released a Scrabble game for the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation. In April, O'Neal awarded a jersey (he was with the Phoenix Suns at the time) to the to the contestant who possessed the highest score with the letter Q at the 7th annual National School Scrabble Championship in Providence, R.I. He also sent a letter of encouragement to the 200 middle school students who participated. The event was nationally televised on ESPN for the third consecutive year. Back to Home Page