Re: Goodbye
--- In
c4countdown@yahoogroups.com, "Stewart Holden" <sholden@a...>
wrote:
> Dear Countdown friends,
>
> Today's news that the Champion of Champions series has been
postponed
> is a great disappointment. Michael Wylie told me that Richard is
> suffering from a lung infection; I wish him the very best for a
quick
> recovery.
>
> Unfortunately, the news that a Champions series will not be filmed
> until at least November has left me in a very difficult and unhappy
> position with regard to Countdown. For the reasons explained below,
I
> have made the decision not to compete in any future Countdown
events.
> I wish to make it clear that the cancellation of next week's
> recordings is not the cause of my departure; I had already made the
> decision several weeks ago that Countdown and I would be parting
ways
> after May 2005. The fact that I will never take part in a Champions
> series is unsatisfactory, but I hope you will understand my reasons
> for retiring at this point.
>
> The main reason that I am closing the book on Countdown is simply
> because of the constant effort required to distinguish which words
> from the
Scrabble word list are allowed by the ODE and which are
not.
> Dozens of competitive
Scrabble players have appeared on the show
over
> the years and nearly all have tripped up by having words disallowed
> for this reason. I spent a lot of time during Series 51 studying
the
> ODE in order not to make these mistakes and I enjoyed this
studying.
> It made a nice break from
Scrabble and I feel fortunate that the
hard
> work paid off when I went back for the finals of my series.
>
> It probably sounds conceited but I am a very competitive person and
I
> feel very frustrated if I can't give something 100% of my energy.
> People have said not to study for a future Champion of Champions
> series and to just 'go along and have fun', but I simply don't work
> like that and would feel very unsatisfied if I took that route. I
> went in for Countdown in the first place with the sole intention of
> winning the series and I would be unhappy if I couldn't treat a
> Champion of Champions series with the same respect and committment.
>
> For this Champion of Champions I have found it very difficult to
> reinvoke the enthusiasm for doing the same level of study again,
> feeling somewhat 'been there, done that' towards Countdown but at
the
> same time being angry with myself for not feeling that competitive
> edge towards it. Having revised the ODE again and brushed up on my
> number skills, I was intending to go along next week, give it my
best
> shot and then, regardless of the results I would be happy to have
> Countdown out of my life so that I could get back to focusing on
>
Scrabble. I've spent too long trying to remember which word is in
> which book rather than doing what I really want to do, which is
> simply learn words. The prospect of being in this state of
> 'dictionary limbo' for at least another six months could not be any
> less attractive to me.
>
> I qualified for the 2003 World
Scrabble Championship in Kuala
Lumpur,
> Malaysia; playing in that event was one of greatest experiences of
my
> life. Winning Countdown was an even more enjoyable experience, but
> the effort I put into doing so is the main reason that I failed to
> qualify for the 2005 WSC (qualification being based on performance
at
>
Scrabble tournaments throughout 2004). That event will take place
on
> 16th-20th November 2005 in London and could very well clash with
the
> expected recording date of Champion of Champions; even though I am
> not playing in this WSC, I thoroughly intend to be there to root
for
> the England team and soak up the atmosphere of the first World
> Championships to be held in London since 1995.
>
> The other news which has confirmed my decision to retire is much
> happier than anything I've mentioned so far; some of you will know
> this already from chatting online, but I'm pleased to announce that
> my wife Julie is expecting our first baby in early December. If
> nothing else convinces you that a Countdown Champion of Champions
in
> November might be best avoided, perhaps that will!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
>
> I'm pleased that the c4countdown forum established by myself, Ben
and
> Gary has been such a success. With very few wobbles, "c4c" has
become
> the largest and most respected Countdown forum and I'm pleased to
> have been a part of that. Soo Reams has been offered my position as
a
> list moderator and has accepted. I will still be a reader but will
> probably only check in once in a while, just to vote for myself in
> polls re water sipping and so forth.
>
> So I hope you understand where I'm coming from. I'm sorry that when
> the Champions series does take place it won't have every recent
> series winner taking part, but with so many committments (and an
even
> bigger one around the corner!) something's got to give and I would
> rather make a firm decision than struggle on; trying to juggle too
> many projects and not doing any of them justice.
>
> I have met some fantastic people through Countdown over the past
two
> years - everyone at Yorkshire Television has been professional and
> friendly to the hilt. The people I met at the COLIN event were
superb
> and I'm sure the people who couldn't make it to that event are just
> as great. I've also had some excellent conversations and online
games
> with people via MSN Messenger, and I'll miss the banter and
> friendship that goes with it. I wave goodbye to all things
Countdown
> knowing that it is in good hands and that I'm leaving behind a
first
> class bunch of people.
>
> Take care,
>
> Stewart
All football fans have watched in disbelief this year as Liverpool
have played wretchedly in the league and yet turned into world
beaters in Europe. The ball is the same, it's still 11 vs 11, the
pitch is the same size but the mindset and the confidence in the same
team between the two formats has been amazing. I haven't heard Rafa
Benitez say to anyone "well, we seem to be struggling in the league
so we'll not bother playing in that any more and we'll just play in
the games where I think we can do well". Yet this is the logic we're
expected to swallow in this decision. It smacks of "it's my ball and
I'm taking it home with me".
We all hope to do well on Countdown and maybe some people prepare
more assiduously than others but at any time we've got to be prepared
to face up to the possibility of victory and defeat in any given
game. We all do everything we can to avoid defeat of course, but when
it comes (and it's only a select few who it won't come to) we have to
accept it with the same grace as we would a victory. That's true for
ALL of us, all the more so for someone with such an outstanding
pedigree at Countdown as you. If you can't face up to the possibility
of not performing to the best of your ability and you can't face up
to the possibility of defeat then I think the less of you for it.
The fact is that with your outstanding pedigree and natural
confidence that you must have a great chance of winning, whenever it
is filmed. The desire to win and a competitive nature are not bad
things in themselves (in fact the
reverse) but, taken to extremes,
they can lead to unattractive characteristics (ie: J P McEnroe in
his "pomp" - although I can't imagine "you cannot be serious" being
shouted at DC when a word is rejected).
Most of the words that most of the people come up with to win rounds
of Countdown most of the time are not words where
Scrabble-based
knowledge could ever be a stumbling block ie: they're words which
people use in common parlance. I can't believe that you would have
got tripped up to the extent it would have affected a result.
I think that you're depriving the immediate C4 community, and the
wider Countdown audience, of witnessing for one last time one of the
great Countdown players for reasons that are selfish and wrong. Of
course you're entitled to do whatever you want, just as we all are,
but I wanted to pass on my feelings on the matter. It would be a
shame if you were to think back in ten years time and regret your
decision - it's two days out of your life and leaves years ahead to
play
Scrabble to your heart's content.
Ross
ps - if you think that your
Scrabble tournament attendance is going
to increase from December then it's time to wake up and smell the
nappies! Good luck for that - it's a fantastic experience and a great
challenge.