THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #280

May 20, 2004

Produced by Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287

Accessible through Internet at burgess of world.std.com (all E-Mail addresses are reported in this format, replace the " of " with "@"; if you bounce try sending to me from another account or FAX to (401) 277-9904. For Faxing, most of the time you have to call me to tell me it's coming so I can set up the FAX.
Web Page Address: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html


"Tuez-les tous; Dieu reconnaitra les siens" (loosely, "kill them all; let God sort them out") - the Abbot of Citeaux, Papal Legate, 1209, in the crusade against the Albigenses sect
((Another quote thanks to Mike Barno.... let's lead off with a comment form the O'Donnells...))


Sean O'Donnell (Wed, 28 Apr 2004 01:28:33 -0400)
Jim, Uncle Jeffy Pooh thinks that the reason you don't have time to do the szine is because you really work for the CIA and the game is just a front to recruit new agents. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if you do since after all my other GM is military.
Sean, sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com
((Damn, you ruined my career, my cover is blown, and since I've lost that job, I guess I'm back to running a dipszine....))


I guess I am still alive, the szine I mean. I seriously thought about doing the big folderooo, but realized if I did I would be admitting that my life was permanently out of balance, so I'm back - for me, not for all of you, though I hope you're glad I'm back. Basically, the equation was a simple time relationship. My usual work schedule before was a 50 hours per week plus about 10 hours commuting, and then came the szine. In the last few months, we added 5-10 hours a week to that work schedule and guess what had to give? I'm not really above water yet, but if I don't make a break now, I probably would have had to fold the szine. I think I finally have all the orders, and I thought it was better to pop out with what I had and then set a reasonably short deadline of June 12th for the next issue, a date that I should be able to manage. And then I'll make some of those deadlines optional to mix up getting the games back on track. Check below for what is happening to your game! And I don't have all of my backlog of material in here yet either. I'll get caught up on that next issue as well. And, of course, ALL the subszines are in here in some semblance of order. I'm sure they're glad I'm back.
Next you might ask what was up with the work schedule increases. Well, it is combination simply of being beholden to the Bush Administration and its approach to pushing on the federal bureaucracy (so I've been given an increasing series of impossible deadlines with no choice but to meet them) and teaching a new course (which always takes longer than you think to manage). The first is still there and I only feel a little bit guilty out of having a clear preference for the fall election based on self-interest. And the second, of course, has ended. Some more on that in an exchange with Doug Kent below.
The postal sub price is still $1.50 per issue in the US and Canada, with double that for other foreign subbers(or $3.00 per issue sent airmail). Players in current games and standbys will continue to get the issues for free, and future game starts (except for Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy, which is free) cost $20.00 ($15.00 for a life of the game subscription and $5 for the NMR Insurance. Or you can play in subszines for free and just jack up the issue page count. See the revised game start announcements below!
Check out the connections in the Diplomatic Pouch with all of the information you need to play Diplomacy on the Internet at: /
I also have taken over the Postal portion of the Pouch: /Postal/
and TAP on the web is there at: /Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html
where the szine resides in html format. Presently, issues from #190 to the current issue are there, and I will be updating the back issues gradually someday. Also, check out Stephen Agar's more extensive efforts at: http://www.diplomacy-archive.com and http://www.diplomacy.co.uk
David Wang still has the HIGHLY prized name: www.szine.com!! BUT, the site has not been updated in recent times. If you want to follow me and others in John Caruso's Baseball League, THE place to follow the league now is DICKIE-P Martin's website: http://www.phantomempire.com where in the "files" section, "baseball" sub-section, you can see all of the individual and team level stats. Use the Telnet button in the upper left corner, that's the easiest way to do it these days. You need to sign up as a "member" to see all of the files. You, too, can chat with John Caruso there, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Really, you can. John's E-Mail address also is commishjohn of att.net if you want to send him E-Mail after all that. John still has openings, you can start RIGHT NOW to pick up one of the unclaimed teams and play it this year! You may recall that I got myself TORCHED in free agency and my team was pretty well decimated in hitting for average and power. And I predicted that I'd be lucky if I hit 100 homers and bat .240. But, as Goz will tell you, I'm a horrendous seer and so I'm almost playing .700 ball and I'm leading the league in both hitting and pitching. Go figure.... Contact John at commishjohn of att.net if you're interested in joining us or ask me for more details, this REALLY IS THE most fun thing I do in the hobby at the moment, find out why!!!
Peter Sullivan's subszine remains "in stasis", although all the back issues can be accessed via :
http://www.burdonvale.co.uk/octopus/index.html.
Peter was saying that he would be unlikely to be starting any new games in the Octopus until "at least the start of 2002." He is now hereby declared to be in official indeterminate stasis and that date is now a "whenever". In the meantime, Rip Gooch and Dave Partridge are picking up the choo-choo game slack in TAP. Contact Rip at xyropedes of canada.com or Dave at rebhuhn of rocketmail.com for more info.
By electronic mail, through the Internet, subs are free and can be obtained automatically by sending the message: subscribe tap
to majordomo of diplom.org and messages can be sent to the entire electronic mailing list by mailing them to tap of diplom.org which will forward your message to all of the people currently on the list. The message:
unsubscribe tap
sent to majordomo of diplom.org gets you off the list. Please make careful note of that as well since you generally can get yourself off the list a lot easier than I can, and NOBODY likes to see unsubscribe messages sent to the entire list. A big, big thank you for David Kovar for setting this all up!!


THE SEARCH FOR SYLVAIN LAROSE
LOTS of people have contacted Steve Heinowski, but he hasn't contacted ME yet.... so he goes into the twenty-five buck list. Sylvain played a LOT of FTF all up and down the East Coast back in the late 1990's and then disappeared, I think he lived in Montreal at that time. John Quarto in particular keeps bugging me about finding Sylvain, so I thought I'd toss him in here. He shouldn't be THAT hard to find, but I've looked and failed. Now it's up to you.
Feel free to spend the time looking for some of the backlog. Let's get Steve, Ed, Tom, Bill, Gregory, and ESPECIALLY Kevin found too!!! This is a regular continuing feature of the szine and I will be introducing a new "search for" every five issues. Moreover, you can win a $25 prize for finding some previous target who went unfound in the original $50 period. That means that if Steve Heinowski, Ed Henry or Tom Hurst or Bill Quinn or Gregory Stewart or Kevin Tighe is "found" from now on it is worth $25.
Winners will receive credit for Dip hobby activities that I will pay out as requested by the winner. Subscribe to szines here or abroad, run your own contests, publish a szine, finance a web page, GO TO A DIPLOMACY CONVENTION or whatever. Spend it all right away or use me as a bank to cover hobby activities for years. What must you do to win? Get me a letter to the editor for TAP from the person we're searching for.
This is very important, just finding them doesn't do it. They have to write me a letter. The final judge as to the winner of any contest will be the target himself and I reserve the right to investigate the winning entry. When you find someone I'm looking for, you should ask him to send me a letter for print that includes a verification of who "found" him.


INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE NEWS
The British representative is the editor of Mission From God, John Harrington. John may be contacted at 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW, UK.
E-Mail: fiendish of operamail.com, John.Harrington of tfeurope.com
Please include the full name and address of the foreign publisher with your order, if possible, as well as the szine title. Make your check in US dollars out to me personally or in GBP to John if you're doing things from that end. I will conduct business for Canadians as well, if I can, but prefer to deal in US dollars with them if possible, or Canadian dollars cash. To subscribe to American szines, the system works in reverse.
We have added a European continental representative, most of this traffic likely will occur between Ronald Camstra (in the Netherlands) and John Harrington, but if anyone here in the US wants to get money into Euros, we'll try to help you out. Ronald Camstra can be contacted at siedler of zonnet.nl and his home address is: Wielingenplein 48, 3522 PE Utrecht, the Netherlands. But in Holland it is most common not to send checks but to transfer money by bank. Dutch people can pay directly to Postbankaccount 4652247 of Ronald Camstra in Utrecht. Since he can see the name and address of the sender in his bankreceipt, people only have to mention the name of the zine and the editorial address along with their bank order. Ronald is obviously a huge Settlers of Catan fan. If you're interested in playing that game internationally by mail, I think Ronald can help you out.
We also have reopened a branch office of the International Subscription Exchange in Australia!! Brendan Whyte, the publisher of the excellent szine Damn the Consequences will be doing the honors, taking over in some sense from John Cain, who was the Australian rep for many years. You can contact Brendan to sub to Australian szines from the US or to sub to US szines from Australia, converting Australian dollars into American ones. We are now maneuvering deals to Europe from the other reps as well. You can find Brendan Whyte at bwhyte of unimelb.edu.au (note that this is a new E-Mail address for Brendan) or by mail to send checks at: Geography Dept., University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA. This should help out my Australian subbers!!


WORLDMASTERS02 SECTION
WorldMasters 2002 Email Diplomacy Tournament Semi-Finals are on-going. I'll try to slip in a report next time.
See http://www.cat23.com/wm02 for full details. Since I didn't get sufficient interest to get a team in, I am back on the WorldMasters Tournament Management Committee again.


DIPDOM NEWS SECTION (with letters)
Obscure and not-so-obscure ramblings on the state of the hobby and its publications, custodians, events, and individuals with no guarantee of relevance from the fertile keyboard of Jim-Bob, the E-Mail Dip world, and the rest of the postal hobby. My comments are in italics and ((double quotation marks)) like this. Bold face is used to set off each individual speaker. I should also make a note that I do edit for syntax and spelling on occasion.
The game Diplomacy is a copyrighted product owned by Hasbro and all reproductions or other use of that material in this szine is intended to be personal use and not infringe on those rights in any way. All reproductions are done at a heavy financial loss to the editor and thus are without the remotest possibility of commercial intent, except to promote THE game, the Game of Diplomacy, which you all should purchase from Hasbro or other duly licensed distributors.
Stephen Agar has matched the Hasbro rule lists and more with some of the even older rulebooks. Check these out if you like:
http://www.hasbro.com/default.asp?xcc_gameandtoyinstructions
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy.PDF
http://www.hasbro.com/instruct/Diplomacy(OlderVers).PDF
Nice of them to make BOTH of these available. And all seven different US rulebooks for Diplomacy can now be found here courtesy of Stephen Agar (relatively new address for this):
http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/diplomacy_rules.htm


Check out back issues of Diplomacy World - www.diplomacyworld.org
We are back, Tim Haffey has agreed to be the Production Editor that I needed. We always need more articles, either before the deadline for the next issue, which is June 1, 2004 for Issue #90; or afterward for Issue #91 or so on, we're going to try to achieve the quarterly operation that we haven't been able to do in recent years! If first impressions are anything, Tim Haffey is going to be an EXCELLENT nudge to keep things going! We WILL come out on time, we're all set for that. Help us out, write an article!
Also, I'd be interested in hearing any Hobby Award Nominations for:
The 2004 Don Miller Award for Meritorious Service;
The 2004 Rod Walker Award for Literature;
The 2004 John Koning Award for Player Performance;
The 2004 Fred Hyatt Award for GM Performance;
or
A 2004 Kathy Byrne Caruso Award for Lifetime Achievement (if warranted).
The award ballot for this year will be publicized first in Diplomacy World #90 in a few weeks.
Here's the announcement I've sent out and posted various places:


Return of Diplomacy World and Call for Hobby Awards Nominations
Diplomacy World is now officially resurrected and continuing with its four times a year publication schedule as a Web zine (www.diplomacyworld.org) and is available as a postal zine: cost $3 per issue in North America, $2 per issue in the UK and $3 per issue in the rest of the world.
Tim Haffey will join Jim Burgess as an editor. Stephen Agar will continue to do upkeep on the Web site. Note all E-Mails below are in the spam friendly format "person of site.com" where that translates into person@site.com.
North American postal subs should be sent to David Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA. Email: rebhuhn of rocketmail.com
Rest of World postal subs should be sent to Stephen Agar, 4 Cedars Gardens, Brighton, UNITED KINGDOM BN1 6YD Email: stephen of stephenagar.com
Contributions for the next issue should be sent to Tim Haffey by 1st March 2004: trhaffey of aol.com or Timothy R. Haffey, Sr., 810 53rd Ave., Oakland, CA 94601 USA.
Tim is going to be formatting the issues in the "Industry Standard" ebook format (for one example see www.openebook.org) and this is a major contribution that maintains Diplomacy World as a bridge between all of the Diplomacy Hobby mediums, since it will be easily available on the web and by post.
I (Jim Burgess) will continue to co-edit and contribute the popular Diplomacy World Interviews (I've already interviewed such luminaries as Richard Sharp, Edi Birsan, and Brandon Clarke). I am currently seeking a "quick turnaround" interview candidate for the next issue, Number 89, who can get me a paragraph Diplomacy bio in the next week or so. Please ask me (burgess of world.std.com) if you have any questions or want to volunteer to be interviewed.
We also would like volunteers for the next Diplomacy World Demo Game. The last demo game (recount, using the Modern Diplomacy variant) never was properly written up here in DW. I hope we can get that in the Pouch Showcase section and a write-up here in good time. Rick Desper (previous DW Demo Game GM and recount GM, rick_desper of yahoo.com), Tim Haffey, and myself will consider those requests and make a Demo Game determination of GM, location, and Variant (if any) to be announced in Issue Number 89. Also, any of the participants in recount who would like to contribute to an article or articles on this game, should contact me or Rick. I have all of your E-Mailed endgame statements.
Other articles of all types are welcome (we already have four articles in hand, so we're in good shape for the return issue): historical articles, convention write-ups and descriptions, strategy or tactics articles, personality profiles, descriptions of gaming environments, or anything else you can think of. If you aren't sure if it works, ask one of us.
Upcoming Issue Deadlines:
Deadline Summer 2004, Issue #90: June 1, 2004
Deadline Fall 2004, Issue #91: September 1, 2004
Deadline Winter 2004, Issue #92: December 1, 2004
Final Hobby Awards Ballot for 2004, nominations now to: burgess of world.std.com
The qualifications for the Kathy Byrne Caruso Lifetime Achievement Award are that the awardee must have been: (1) Active in the Diplomacy Hobby in at least Three Separate Decades; (2) Multidimensional in their Contributions to the Hobby (e.g. writing, playing, publishing); (3) Taking Retirement or Semi-Retirement from the Diplomacy Hobby; and (4) One of the Hobby’s Unique Personalities Worthy of Being Remembered as Long as THE Game Continues to be Played. This award need not be awarded each year, but only as worthy candidates are identified. The only past honoree is the late Richard Sharp.
The other award categories are self-explanatory:
Nominees for the 2004 Don Miller Award for Meritorious Service
Nominees for the 2004 Rod Walker Award for Literary Achievement
Nominees for the 2004 John Koning Award for Player Performance
Nominees for the 2004 Fred Hyatt Award for GM Performance
The Hobby Awards Committee is Jim Burgess (Chair and Treasurer), Fred Davis, Jr., Melinda Holley, Gary Behnen, Jamie Dreier, Paul Kenny, Mark Stretch, and Robert Lesco.
- - - - - - -
Editorial Board for Diplomacy World:
Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, USA; burgess of world.std.com - Co-Editor
Tim Haffey, 810 53rd Ave., Oakland, CA 94601 USA; trhaffey of aol.com - Co-Editor, Demo Game GM, and ebook Publisher
Stephen Agar, 4 Cedars Gardens, Brighton, UNITED KINGDOM BN1 6YD; stephen of stephenagar.com - Webmaster and Non-US Postal
Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852, USA; rick_desper of yahoo.com - Demo Games
Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033, USA; rebhuhn of rocketmail.com - US Postal
- - - - - - -
And last, but not least, I wish John Coffin and David Hertzman the best of luck as they take on their new challenge of following up Manus Hand and Edward Hawthorne as editors of The Diplomatic Pouch. I fervently believe that having both DW and the Pouch active and vibrant creates better writing and better things for all of us in the hobby. I intentionally waited with this announcement until they hit the ground with two weeks running. But 2004 should be a fun year for the hobby.
Jim Burgess, Co-Editor, Diplomacy World


MUSIC AND MOVIES SECTION (WITH COMMENTS ON OTHER ARTS AND SOCIETY)
Tell me anything you like about the recent past in music. List a top two, a top ten, or a top 100, I don't care, just tell me something!!


Me (back on Tue, 23 Mar 2004 17:08:21 -0500 (EST))
There will be a slight delay in TAP, this new Witty Worm almost wiped out my computer... extremely vicious it is! I can reconstruct and get TAP out with no problem, except time.
It will be awhile, sorry. I'll add to the deadlines when I figure out when to actually send it. ((Ultimately WAY longer than I thought it would take....))
Jamie can verify that my NCAA picks were NOT affected by the Worm and nailing Nevada to the Sweet Sixteen and having 6 of 8 Elite Eight and 4 of 4 Final Four still in has me with some of my best NCAA picks in years.
Happy Spring all, Jim-Bob
((Responding to: "this new Witty Worm almost wiped out my computer... " I received this quick reply.))


Mike Barno (Tue, 23 Mar 2004 18:15:14 -0500)
Hope it didn't cost you as much time as I spend deleting 150 spam messages each Monday, and 20 each morning, ever since you put my work e-mail in the szine. My co-workers still get one or two, so I'm persuaded a harvester phished the TAP site and put our addresses on the CDs they sell.
Mike, mpbarno of lightlink.com
((I thought I took all those all off, but I guess it harvests from cached pages.))


Mike Barno (Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:52:16 -0500)
You said reformatting all the back issues before changing to "of" was a "someday" project unless someone volunteered... oh, now I checked a couple of 1997-98 issues and see they're changed. Chances are the harvesters got my Claritas address within a week of the first time you put it in the zine, and those old lists have been propagated (and appended with newer addresses) ever since. They may still be going back over that old ground every time a crawler gets to diplom.org/blahblahblah/TAP, but it may have made *no difference at all* that you changed either current or past "@ß to " of ß. They may be harvesting from caches that aren't refreshed frequently but more likely these are just old lists being passed among every Russian mobster, Yemeni student, and script-kiddie who lacks imagination to harvest his own fresh names.
- Mike, mpbarno of lightlink.com
((An amazing quantity of stuff on the web is cached, so I think you're mainly wrong there, but in any case, the current assessment of the new spam law is that it really hasn't stopped much spam. It isn't too late yet, but figuring out how to make it really work is clearly the challenge.))


Bob Osuch (Tue, 9 Mar 2004 15:13:32 EST)
J-B, I have been meaning to contact you. First, I have no idea if Fantastic Voyage is over, but I vote for all draws. ((Yeah, the draw went through!))
I underwent open heart surgery February 24th. The original intent was to do a bypass and aortal repair, but when they opened me up they decided to forego the latter. My aorta was enlarged on one end to 4.5 cm (almost twice normal), but the surgeon said he would watch it the next few years and see what develops. ((We wish you the very best of health and that you recover well!))
It was nice hearing from Beyerlein and Michalski last TAP. Doug mentioned Buz Eddy...he is a member of the AOL Dip Club but no longer active. He quit playing out of disgust a couple of years back. I touched base with John a while back too, but his response was so cynical that I begged off. ((Yeah, no surprises there. Buz is around here, so he is reading this, and Buz does have more than a touch of that cynicism, as I'm sure he'd agree....))
I see the usual East Coast baseball blather prevails again, as if there are only two teams in the Major Leagues. The debacle in Boston last fall was a disgrace, as if MLB needed another black eye. No character, no chemistry...a pox on both of them. ((Fair enough. I think the Red Sox have lots of character, but that the Yankees have mostly lost theirs (the O'Neill, Brosius, etc. teams did have it). And it is not fair for me to criticize this view, since I do tend to think like every other team in the big leagues (except for my Giants, who are NOT doing very well) is relatively irrelevant compared to the Yankees and the Red Sox except as cannon fodder for them to beat up on.))
Hate to disagree with you about Milwaukee's minors, but it is not nearly "by far the best farm system in baseball". Granted, it is a quality system but Oakland, Atlanta, Minnesota and Anaheim come to mind as at least four better systems. The Brewers have Rickie Weeks and Prince Fiedler, but no pitching to speak of. And the franchise is on shaky ground. Unable to sell season tickets in Milwaukee, the Brewers are infiltrating Chicago's market for the locals to get a glimpse of the Cubbies at "Wrigley Field North". As long as they can't afford to pay the Richie Sexsons of the world, don't look to the Brew Crew to be anything more than bottom feeders. ((Quite possibly, especially as Goz refused to put his money where is mouth is and buy those lovable Brewers. I guess I'm listening too much to Brewer team rhetoric, as I have heard that statement being made. I met Wendy Selig Prieb once, and she seemed like a really nice lady, but I suppose that doesn't matter much. And I COMPLETELY agree with you that the franchise is on very shaky ground.))
The team I really like this year is Anaheim. The outfield of Guerrero, Anderson and Guillen is the best in baseball, Glaus and Erstad are due to bounce back, and they have a great young bench. Pitching will be the issue, but that's the case for nearly everybody.
Gotta run, BobO, ROsuch4082 of aol.com
((On paper they have pretty good pitching too, with a LOT of depth in the starters and Percival and Shields have been lights out in the bullpen. They've needed the depth in the position players too as they've had to play guys named Halter and Figgins way too often, but they are still in first place in the West, just ahead of Doug Kent's Rangers, who've done quite OK without A-Rod. As I also predicted, they should win that division easily. Let's now go to our resident baseball cynic, Goz...))


Warren Goesle (Tue, 6 Apr 2004 22:52:15 -0500)
Jim-Bob, Ah, Spring is in the air! Must be time for the usual silliness. So I present MLB: the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good: I'm sure most of you saw it, but didn't realize what it really was or why it was good. But it gives me hope that Major League Baseball is still cared about in the way that it has always been by the fans. On 26 February 2004 a large crowd and national media gathered around Harry Carey's restaurant in Chicago. The event: the destruction of "The Bartman Ball". ((Agreed, this was a REALLY cool event, probably won't help, but really cool nonetheless.)) When last seen the Bartman Ball had been interfered with by a hapless fan in the top of the 8th inning of Game 6 of the NLCS on a chilly night in Wrigley Field. ((I remain not convinced that it would have been caught anyway, and don't hold the guy up as quite the monster some would say he is.)) A few errors (real, mental and physical) later the Cubs had gone from 5 outs away from the World Series to just another Cubs disappointment, albeit a little later in the year than usual. But Cubs fans are a resilient lot. 6 weeks before the start of the 2004 season they celebrated the destruction of the symbol of last year's failure, and celebrated the fact that they are Cubs fans. Their "Wait 'Til Next Year" approach toward life and baseball is still intact and intertwined, and they are willing to once again drink the Kool-Aid that bonds them together. Oh, and the fact that the whole thing raised $2M+ for Juvenile Diabetes research also helps push it into the "Good" category. Somehow I don't see this kind of thing ever happening with Red Sox fans. Too much money has corrupted them. ((Oh come on, really! Haven't you ever heard of the Jimmy Fund? Admittedly, John Henry and his boys have been designing ever more inventive ways to raise more money to justify the inflated price they paid for the club, but the Red Sox probably are in the top 3 in the league annually for fundraising for charities, easily.))
The Bad: Ok, so here's my picks for 2004. Goz takes no responsibility for any wagers, legal or otherwise, made due to his MLB forecasting ability (or inability):
NL: Almost every expert is picking the Cubs to make it to the World Series. Say what? On what history is this based? Any prediction that has the Cubs doing something spectacular in the positive sense is fundamentally flawed by definition. Nonetheless, they have assembled a pretty good pitching staff. It will be interesting to see when in August they start wilting from the day games at Wrigley. ((Or when they actually have their stupendous starting rotation actually in place for one five game stretch.))
East: Oh, let's start with the easy one. Braves win their 13th in a row. The only safer bet in sports is the Christians losing to the Lions. Watch out for Philly though.
Central: A little tougher, as there are actually 3 teams worth considering. But the Cards don't have the pitching to go along with the best lineup in the division, so call them 3rd. Mark Prior is out for the first 6 weeks of the season, so I've got to give the division to the Astros.
West: This division seems to have gotten almost as weak as the AL Central. The Giants should win it, and I'll pick them, but watch out for the (dare I say it?) Padres, as they've started getting additional revenue for some better players.
Wildcard: It could be the Phillies, the Marlins holdovers, or the Cardinals, but I'll take the Cubs since they probably have enough to get there.
AL: Almost every expert is picking the Red Sox to make it to the World Series. Say what? On what history is this based? Any prediction that has the Red Sox doing something spectacular in the positive sense is fundamentally flawed by definition. And yes, I understand I repeated myself.
East: Ok, who has a guess? Yes, the freakin' Yankees will win again. Watch out for Baltimore though, as they may be most improved in the AL.
Central: What's the over/under on how many games it will take to win this division? 81? 78? 75? No team is out of it, but the White Sox have the most talent, if Ozzie Guillien can convince them of it. If not, Cleveland may sneak in with better pitching than they've had for a while.
West: Anaheim. I'm not sure how they got that much talent there. Maybe all the hitters that were supposed to go to the Dodgers got lost on the freeway. Look out for Seattle though.
Wildcard: Could be almost anyone not in the Central. I'll take Seattle to edge out Oakland, Baltimore, Toronto and Boston.
NLCS: Astros over Cubs. Ouch.
ALCS: Yankees over Anaheim.
World Series: Yankees over the old Yankees in Houston. Coincidence? Ok, picking the Yankees is like picking Duke in Men's basketball, but there's usually a reason to pick Duke in Men's basketball, like the fact that they've won it before and you know before the season starts that they'll be in the tournament. Hmmm...
The Ugly: John Henry complaining about George Steinbrenner's spending habits. Say what? Also, the Brewers, who used to be owned by Bud Selig, now have a lower payroll than the Expos, who are currently owned by Bud Selig. Also, the fact that Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay have no chance under the current format of ever playing a meaningful game against each other.
Howzit lookin' there Jim-Bob? Still convinced that the Red Sox will go undefeated?
Goz, wgoesle of comcast.net
((I want to get my "official" predictions in place and sent to you, since TAP is delayed. 60 hour work weeks in recent weeks are not conducive to producing a szine (I have to multitask and listen to a conference call while I type this....). Thanks for your thoughful opinions. I do think it is interesting (and will comment more in the szine) that attendance and "interest" in baseball is "up" and people don't seem much concerned about Steroids. [[Added now, have to come back to that later, but I do note those two "facts". The Red Sox have sold out every game so far this season and are now pretty sure to sell out the whole schedule for the first time EVER in franchise history, with the highest ticket prices in the league.....]] Now, to the predictions:))
((AL
AL East: I worry MUCH that the improved Orioles, Devil Rays, and Blue Jays will hold win totals in the AL East down so only ONE AL East team gets in. Al that being said, I still think we're going to have mostly status quo. I feel the need to predict that IF only one team from the AL East goes it will be BOSTON as champion. So, Boston, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, Devil Rays with Yankees as Wild Card very uncertainly.
AL Central: Royals, Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Indians Twins will challenge for the Wild Card, and all four of the top teams will challenge. I think the Royals have the subtle ooomph with Tony Pena's level managing to win out. 86 games or so will mean that they really beat each other up and have NO wild card challenger. More than 90 is possible though.
AL West: Angels, A's, Rangers, Mariners I think the Mariners are going to collapse completely. THe Rangers will be better off without A-Rod. A's will challenge for the wild card, but I'll go with the easy choice and say they've lost too much offense and Zito will stay in the toilet as he finished last year.
Angels/Yankees won by Angels; Red Sox/Royals won by Red Sox; Red Sox beat Angels.
Red Sox beat NL person and win World Series, recognizing I'm jinxing them. You should feel good about that!))
((NL
NL East: Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Expos, Braves Total collapse by Braves.... that's my prediction! Mets will surprise, but no wild card from this division, no how, no way this year.
NL Central: Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, Astros, Reds, Pirates I keep telling you that the Brewers have these great young players, so I have to stand behind that with a prediction! Yes, but the Cubs class out the division and will run away. Astros will collapse as Clemens and Pettitte will NOT perform well!
NL West: Giants, Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies Padres will surprise and win the wild card!
Giants beat Phillies; Cubs beat Padres; Giants beat Cubs.))
[[A few points added "today", I way overrated the Giants and Royals, and neither are likely to come back from where they are now, but I nailed the AL West and I wouldn't bet against my AL East predictions yet if I were you. The Padres and Rangers are doing what I expected them to do, maybe even a bit more than what I expected them to do.]]


Warren Goesle (Fri, 9 Apr 2004 22:24:13 -0500)
Jim-Bob,
This fan cares some about Steroids, in the sense that it's still an issue for the same reason that there will never be a decent revenue sharing plan: the MLBPA. I'd certainly like to see the same system in place that the NFL has, and the fact that the Union doesn't acknowledge the possibility is just plain silly.
As for our respective predictions: note that we agree on 4 (!) teams out of 8 for the post-season. When was the last time THAT happened? Ok, ok, we disagree on prospects for teams like Kansas City, Cleveland, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee...
Hope all is well there. Carol has, pretty much single-handedly, gotten the inside of the new house into something we'd like to live in, and is now working on the outside with the better weather. I try to stay out of her way, sometimes successfully. We could use a baby sitter. Let us know the next time you're in town.
Goz, wgoesle of comcast.net


Warren Goesle (Tue, 18 May 2004 22:43:23 -0500)
Jim-Bob, Schmidt throws a 1-hitter and gets overshadowed. There's tough luck. Tell me again how Pettitte (4-1) and Clemens (7-0) aren't going to be a thorn in the Cubs' side this season? I didn't get that the first time.
Goz, wgoesle of comcast.net
((Crow, CROW, CROW!!! Damn, if Roger Clemens really isn't Nolan Ryan, I don't know who he is? At this point, I wouldn't bet against him catching Cy Young for the wins and Nolan Ryan for the strikeout king, even though it would take ten more years for him to do it. You win that one..... let me switch to hockey, which I know even less about.... Steve Emmert sent me some hockey picks and stopped by to visit Providence's fine restaurants with me in person.))


Steve Emmert (Fri, 26 Mar 2004 19:15:34 -0500 (EST))
((After Steve informing he was coming to visit me on Sat. Mar. 27th, I said: "Hi Steve, that sounds great. Are you renting a car, or do you want to be picked up? Charlotte depends on how she feels about meeting Diplopals, she tells me this instant that it depends. She has to pick up a host of uniforms in Newport for her latest play and might have to go on Saturday. But in any case, the lunch should work. You like Italian, and our Italian is very good. Want to go to one of our very good Bistros? How do you feel about our Boston Bruins, they are looking "peaky" at the right time?))
1. I have a rental car available, so I can meet you wherever you like. I'm a pretty good navigator, so if you give me a reasonably accessible destination, I'll find it.
2. I understand about Charlotte, of course; we'll see how that goes. I assume you will be telling her that I am easily the most sophisticated and genteel of your DiploPals.
3. A bistro is fine. Let me know where.
4. As much as it pains me, a Habs fan, to say anything nice about the B's, yes, they are looking very strong right now. They made a superb pickup in getting Sergei Gonchar from the Capitals (the one caveat here is that this defenseman doesn't play very good defense, but he is essentially a fourth forward on the ice for them; he's that good a passer). They also got Michael Nylander from Washington, and that has been a boon for both player and new team. Nylander is playing better for Boston than he did for the Caps.
The problem, for both Boston and Montreal, is that they play in the toughest division in hockey. When I checked the standings yesterday, I saw that no other division has more than one team with 90 or more points; the Northeast has FOUR 90-point teams. They still have to deal with Toronto and Ottawa, even before the playoffs begin. Now, if Patrick Lalime were playing better now, I would make Ottawa my Stanley Cup choice, and then go back and fill in all the other picks; Ottawa is THAT good. Goaltending is the Sens' only question mark (aside from health, of course, but that's a universal concern).
But I'm getting ahead of myself; I'll write that playoff preview at the end of the regular season. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Best wishes. Steve, steve.emmert of cox.net
((We met at one of Providence's VERY fine Italian bistros and had a wonderful lunch. Don Williams will note both that Charlotte appeared and was charming, and that I paid and made up from when Steve bought us that wonderful dinner in Baltimore a few years back. Now to the picks.... Steve gets instant reaction since we're into the Stanley Cup finals now to see how he did. I thought the Bruins would be excellent, I was clearly wrong.))


Steve Emmert (Mon, 5 Apr 2004 22:15:40 -0400)
My dear Jim-Bob - It was delightful to see you last week, and to finally get the chance to meet Charlotte. I hope her production of Tommy goes well, and look forward to reading about it.
((Oh, I guess I have to say a bit about that. For those of you who know the adaptation of The Who's Tommy you will know that there are these historical vignettes covering WWII to the late 60's and Charlotte nailed ALL of the time changes for 208 full costumes in total, a record for her, and probably for about any small budget production. It was a visual extravaganza across the board, but you shouldn't hear about it from me, I'm biased. I did think it was interesting that in the Friday night production I attended, I could tell where the "usual season ticket holders" seats were by how the WHOLE audience lept to their feet at the end.... except for a big delay from the usuals. Oklahoma it wasn't.))
I have promised you an NHL playoff preview; here's at least half of it, with the other half coming tomorrow. The caveat here is that ANY team, even a #8 seed, can make big noise in this sport if it gets a hot goaltender. For an excellent example, see last year's Cinderellas, the Ducks, who rode Jean Seabastien Giguere's lights-out netminding from a #7 seed to a spot in the finals. Unlike the 1-16 game in the NCAA basketball tournament, there is no safe matchup in the NHL playoffs.
EASTERN CONFERENCE My normal tendency is to analyze these series in order, starting with the 1-8 matchup, then 2-7, and so on. But this year's eastern pairings present an irresistible grouping that simply has to be listed before we move on.
ROUND 1 #4 Toronto vs. #5 Ottawa This matchup is fabulous; it's the Yankees-Red Sox, Cowboys-Redskins, Alabama-Auburn, Arsenal-Man-U. These guys hate each other; spent a couple of game-years in the penalty box in a single game last month; play each other over and over again in the same division; and are wonderfully matched for a seven-game series. The key for this series, as with so many others, is goaltending. Ottawa's attack is overwhelming, and its goals margin (goals scored minus goals surrendered) was easily the best in the league. If they had a hotter goaltender, I would go ahead and pencil them in as the Cup favorites. But Patrick Lalime, while capable, isn't the kind of playoff goalie you dream about; Ed Belfour of the Leafs is. Toronto made a magnificent acquisition at the trade deadline by acquiring Brian Leetch from the hapless Rangers; he solidified a strong defense. But Toronto's forwards just can't hang with Ottawa's. The question becomes whether the irresistible force of the Sens' scoring attack can overcome the immovable object of Toronto's blueline and goaltending. The guess here is yes; I give this series to Ottawa in seven games.
#1 Tampa Bay vs. #8 New York The Lightning's rise to the #1 seed in the east surprised a lot of VERY smart hockey people. Sure, they benefitted from being in a bad, bad division (the rest of the Southeast was terrible), but finishing with the second best record in the league? The answer, again, was goaltending; Khabibulin and Grahame, while falling off considerably toward the end of the season, played well enough to stake the Bolts to an insurmountable lead. The Islanders, in contrast, limped into the final playoff slot with the poorest record of any playoff team in either division. But the Isles have a card up their sleeve; they have owned the Lightning this season, winning three of four games in the series. They also have the superior defense, including a resurgent Rick DiPietro in net. But what forwards those defenders will have to stop! Tampa Bay has the best collection of young forwards in the whole league, including Martin St. Louis, who won the league scoring title. Recent winners of this title have included guys names Gretzky, Jagr, Iginla, . . . and now a little guy from a team in Florida, fer cryin' out loud. The season record has lots of Islander fans optimistic, but I say the Bolts burst their bubble in five games.
#2 Boston vs. #7 Montreal It's 2002, and the Stanley Cup playoffs get underway with the #1 seed in the east, the Boston Bruins, against the lowly Canadiens, who barely sneaked into the playoffs. Boston massacred the Habs on paper, but Montreal won the series on the ice, leaving the Bruins wondering what the hell happened. Habs fans are conjuring images of that magical run (well, it was only SO magical, as they lost their second round matchup in six games). This year, Montreal has two excellent young forwards in Michael Ryder and Mike Ribeiro. They started gathering steam in late February and early March, before losing three straight down the stretch, finally winning against Buffalo in their last game to secure the #7 seed. I say they're out of gas (and this is hard to say, as I'm a Habs fan) and won't be able to hang with Boston. The B's picked up two excellent players from the Capitals at the trade deadline, Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander. Gonchar is the best scoring defenseman in the league, essentially another forward on the ice (and his defense suffers accordingly; his nickname in Washington was "The Gate", for the way he swung open to let opposing attackers through). Nylander adds depth up front. Joe Thornton, assuming his health holds up, is probably the best two-way player in the league. And Andrew Raycroft has been wonderful in net. Boston in six games, but this one could get ugly and go down sooner.
#3 New Jersey vs. #6 Philadelphia Another wonderful matchup between two teams from the same division who despise each other. New Jersey's defense, toughness, and goaltending are nonpareil; it's hard to pick against Martin Brodeur in any seven game series. But I'm going to do it anyway, because of the absence of the soul of the team, defenseman Scott Stevens, who is out indefintely from post-concussion syndrome. His toughness is part of the reason why the Devils defense is so overwhelming; while Scott Niedermayer is an excellent blueliner in his own right, the team simply isn't the same without Stevens. Philly's key, ironically, is in goal. I say it's ironic because Robert Esche, the #1 man in net, is a lights-out goaltender who can play with anyone. But the knock on him, unfair as it may be, is that he isn't playoff tested. And in this game, playoff experience means a great deal. Philadelphia backers will panic and howl for the team to insert one of their capable backups, Jeff Hackett or Sean Burke, at the first hint of weakness by Esche. If that happens, the kid's confidence may be shot. The teams' offenses match up well; the Devils' line of Elias, Gionta, and Gomez has been very hot lately, while Philly counters with two lines that might be first lines anywhere else. Philly has more depth at blueline; New Jersey has better individual stars, IF Stevens returns. I'm betting agsinst that. Philadelphia in seven games.
ROUND 2 Remember that in the NHL playoffs, they reseed the teams after each round. So if you're the #7 seed and upset the #2 team, your likely reward is to play the #1 team next.
Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia Talk about contrasting styles; the Flyers play a tough, physical game, while the Lightning are all youth, speed, and razzle-dazzle. I have thought all year that the Lightning have been playing over their heads, and I think this is where it catches up to them. This assumes that the Flyers' players stay reasonably healthy, but Flyers in five games.
Ottawa v. Boston Two series, and neither team gets to move out of its own division yet. (The Northeast Division was the strongest in the league this year, placing four of its five teams in the playoffs. Consider how hard that is to do with an unbalanced schedule.) Personally, I think The Sens are better on paper, as their offense is magnificent; Boston, in contrast, is less showy but steadier. This one is very hard for me to call, especially as I think Ottawa will have a much tougher time in its first round series. But I still have the Sens moving on in seven games.
CONFERENCE FINALS Ottawa vs. Philadelphia Okay, what kind of moron picks the fifth and sixth seeds to make it to the conference finals? I do, that's who. (Relax; that ain't gonna happen in the west.) This one won't have the passion of Philly-New Jersey or Ottawa-Toronto in the first round, but these guys can still generate a lot of antipathy for one another. My head tells me it's Philadelphia, especially as I have the Sens moving through two extremely emotional seven game series, while Philly gets an easier draw in round 2 (but remember the caveat about Scott Stevens' early return, which might knock them out in round 1). My heart, though, tells me that this is Ottawa's year to make it to the finals. Ottawa in six.
Now, if anyone here wants to take these picks and head to the betting parlor, let me tell you that you're beter off trying the Powerball Lotto. But that's how one hockey fan sees things as the REAL season begins. Game on!
Best wishes. Steve, steve.emmert of cox.net


Steve Emmert (Wed, 7 Apr 2004 22:16:22 -0400)
Let's head to the West, where most of the power teams have resided for the past several years.
ROUND 1 #1 Detroit vs. #8 Nashville On paper, this is a blowout; the Wings won the President's Trophy for the best record in the league, while the Preds were one of only two playoff teams to give up more goals than they scored over the course of the regular season. Maybe it goes five games, but maybe not. But wait; the season series between these clubs was 3-3. The overwhelming talent of the Wings translated into a dead heat with a recent expansion team. What's more, the Preds have a hot, underappreciated goaltender in Tomas Vokoun. Detroit was embarrassed last year by getting swept by the #7 seeded Ducks (proof of my hypotheses that one hot goalie can carry you deep into the playoffs, and that no high seed is a safe bet). I still think the Wings win this series, and that the magnificent Pavel Datsyuk will simply take over at times; but look for the Preds to extend it all the way to seven games.
#2 San Jose vs. #7 St. Louis The Blues essentially backed into the playoffs, beating out the Oilers on the next to last day of the regular season despite losing their own game. They are the other team in this year's playoffs who got outscored over the course of the season. I don't think they have anywhere near the guns to stick with the resurgent Sharks, who made it to the Western Conference finals in 2002 before fading badly last year and missing the playoffs. This year's edition is a monster, with no stud scorer in the lineup, but incredible depth. Biggest mismatch of the first round; Sharks in five (and I think I'm being generous to the Blues).
#3 Vancouver vs. #6 Calgary A fascinating matchup of the Canucks' marvelous offense against the Flames' stingy defense. (Canadian fans are probably angry that of the five teams from north of the border in the playoffs, four of them face each other in the first round this year.) Vancouver's first line was nonpareil until Todd Bertuzzi got a bad case of the stupids and finds himself watching "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" reruns for the duration, thanks to a hit that was probably malicious assault and battery. Vancouver will miss his play in the offensive zone, though Markus Naslund and veteran Trevor Linden (who led the team's run to the Cup finals ten years ago) will fill in nicely. On Calgary's side of the equation, Jarome Iginla is a major stud, but the real story is Miikka Kiprusoff, a Sharks castoff who landed in Alberta and merely set a record for lowest GAA in modern history (1.69). The combination of Kiprusoff's hot streak and Bertuzzi's absence leads me to pick Calgary in six.
#4 Colorado vs. #5 Dallas Two of the best teams in all of hockey find themselves playing each other in a 4-5 matchup. Who says hockey needs shaking up? Dallas has the best defense in the west, and the Avs stumbled into the playoffs, getting just two wins in their last ten games. This is not a good time to be fading, boys. Colorado's top two lines, when healthy, are unmatched anywhere, and they have some very talented defensemen; the question mark is goaltender David Aebischer, who put together a fine regular season, but doesn't have much of a playoff record, thanks to carrying Patrick Roy's skates for the last few years. Dallas's defense is anchored by their wonderful goalie, Marty Turco, and a suffocating neutral zone trap; they simply don't lose at home (only seven regulation home losses the entire year). Add to that the Avs' injury problems (Paul Kariya is out for now; while Milan Hejduk, Rob Blake, and the oft-injured Peter Forsberg will play at least some of this series hurt), and I see a Dallas victory in six games.
ROUND 2 Detroit vs. Calgary The brain says the Wings, easy. But the gut tells me that Calgary will be a very dangerous draw for Detroit, especially if Kiprusoff stays hot and the Flames pick up a few extra power plays; Calgary had an impotent game with the man advantage this year, but Iginla is always a threat to get hot, especially if he isn't closely shadowed man-to-man. I think Detroit's relative age - they are MUCH older on average than the young Flames, with the notable exceptions of Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg - will tell, especially if I'm right about their having a tough seven game series against Nashville in Round 1. I'll go with the Wings in seven games, stealing Game 7 in the Joe, right in the middle of Hockeytown USA. If I'm right, this will be a big night for the Detroit Police Department, unfortunately.
San Jose v. Dallas Old guard vs. new line; the Stars are perennial Cup contenders, while the Sharks' run two years ago had to be regarded by most fans as an aberration. The comparison shows that San Jose has a wonderful defense; Dallas's is better. San Jose has a marvelous goalie; Dallas's is better. San Jose has a steady but unspectacular front line; Dallas's is better. I hate to say this (I dislike Dallas and New Jersey, damn 'em), but Dallas in six games. I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this one.
CONFERENCE FINALS Detroit vs. Dallas Well, aren't these the two best teams in the west, records notwithstanding? Aren't both teams playoff tested, full of depth and seasoned veterans? Don't they both have good coaching staffs? Is there a dime's worth of difference between these two teams? You're damned right there is; Detroit has too much firepower, from too many directions, to be stopped even by Dallas's excellent defense. Expect a lot of 2-1 games, but look for the Red Wings to take the west in six games.
STANLEY CUP FINALS Ottawa vs. Detroit I see this matchup as Goliath vs. Goliath; the Sharks were the last Davids left. Ottawa's all-round game against Detroit's technical brilliance and depth. Both teams have goaltender questions, which might ultimately keep both out of the finals. But in this one, I give a slight edge to Patrick Lalime of Ottawa over Detroit's Curtis Joseph. Ironically, if Detroit loses confidence in CuJo and turns the series over to their talented backup, Manny Legace, I think Detroit's chances actually improve.
Decision time, Stevie. Ottawa wins the first Stanley Cup to find its way back to Canada since the Canadiens won, back in 1993. Senators in six games.
Now, shall we turn to who will win the Masters? You know, if Mike Weir repeats, that means that both the Masters title AND the Stanley Cup could be held by Canadians . . . if only it were Canadiens . . .
Best wishes. Steve, steve.emmert of cox.net
((Now, in addition to the Bruins taking a header there were lots of other upsets going on here, so it is only fair to let Steve make a after first round update....))


Steve Emmert (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 08:56:06 -0400)
As if there were any need to bolster the contention that, considering all of the playoffs, the NHL's are far and away the best -
1. Most sports fans would agree that the most exciting two words in sports are, "Game Seven." Tonight and tomorrow, we have THREE Game Sevens.
2. Sudden death means much more in a seven-game series. You work and you toil for six grueling games, end regulation in Game Seven in a tie, and then go to sudden death overtime. This is unlike all of the other major sports. Baseball, great as it is, doesn't have sudden death. Football does, but they don't have playoff series. Basketball has seven games and overtime, but they always play a designated amount of time. Only a hockey series can end in the blink of an eye.
3. Speaking of overtime, have you seen how many of these games have gone into extra periods? And how many have needed multiple extra sessions? In the regular season, overtime is only five minutes. But in the playoffs, they keep playing extra twenty-minute periods until someone scores. One game recently went well into triple overtime, meaning the two teams played alomst as much sudden-death overtime as they did regulation.
I haven't gone back to check on my picks yet, but at this point, I think I have absolutely blown one of my predictions (Dallas over Colorado), while most of the rest are at least still alive going into tonight's action. But you know what? I don't care! With all these great series, I don't mind being wrong. Of course, it's usually better to be right, with one exception - Go Habs! Pound those damned B's tonight!
Best wishes. Steve, steve.emmert of cox.net
P.S. Can I get an amen from the congregation for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have (albeit temporarily) the best record in baseball?
((I am a San Francisco Giants fan, and even a Barry Bonds fan, since I was a huge Bobby Bonds fan in my youth, so I really, really, really hate the Dodgers, but you have an AMEN from me. Watch out for the Padres though!))


Steve Emmert (Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:40:40 -0400)
The intriguing thing is that the Habs get Tampa Bay next, which definitely presents an opportunity. The Bolts have overachieved this year, and I think Montreal actually matches up better against them than they would have against, say, the Flyers.
Now, what I'd love to see is the Habs winning the second round series, and the Toronto/Ottawa winner taking out Philly. That would guarantee a Canadian team in the Cup finals. And who knows? Calgary could conceivably make it through, too. One hot goaltender can take a team a long way (see last year's edition of the Ducks). Can you envision the ABC executives crying in their collective beer over a Calgary/Ottawa Cup finals???
While none of this fantasizing is likely to come to pass, I will at least have one consolation, no matter how the rest of the playoffs go - neither Dallas nor New Jersey, my two least favorite teams, will hoist the Cup this year.
If you want, I can give you a revised look at the second round after tonight's game settles the matchups. Let me know. Best wishes to Charlotte.
Steve, steve.emmert of cox.net
P.S. How did the production of Tommy go?
((Hmmm, I already said something about that, well, the students really LOVED the production (Charlotte is a professor of costume design and make-up), which meant that they put an immense amount of energy into it. I'm pretty sure that the play is still a rock opera, not even a musical in the classic sense. But it is visual and aural candy for the senses.))


Douglas Kent (3-11-04)
Dear Jim, First things first... if you can think of any specific topics for Diplomacy World articles I might be able to write, feel free to let me know. Maybe I'll write one on applying Dip skills to prison life. ((That will work, please write one, please.... another idea that I think would be interesting that I think you know about from your experience is the relationship between the self interested Diplomacy player and the self interested penny stock trader. In each case, you want to bring people along with you but you also are trying to set them up to stab the hell out of them down the road, so you get the big profit. And of course you have to build trust with them to bring them along and in doing that, YOU might be the one who takes the fall. Something like that would be interesting.... but whatever you want. Probably at this point we're talking about the next deadline.))
Life in prison has been pretty uneventful lately. I finally had my appointment with the dermatologist. He excised one of my lesions for biopsy. I guess I didn't explain part of that story properly last time - I should have specified that the PA's here outrightly refused to have anyone except the dermatologist remove the lesion. That's why getting the appointment was so important. Anyway, I should have the biopsy results in the next week or two. ((You have to remember that I'm a health economist, so forgive me if I "don't get that" and go on a bit further. Usually, PA's in federal service (e.g. in the VA where I work) like the idea that they aren't subject to state guidelines that limit the scope of their work so much. And it obviously is much cheaper the less they have to contract out to the outside dermatologist. Ordinarily, the other reason a particular health provider gets antsy about doing something around the limits of their official duties is the risk of malpractice. If the PA was at risk of being sued if something came out badly, then it could ruin their career or cause bloating in their insurance premiums. Well, again, in federal service (and I'm pretty sure this applies to prisons too) that is not a worry. The dermatologist, too, is not worried about this since if you want to sue over malpractice, you have to sue the federal government, not the dermatologist. And then, like all suits against the federal government, they get to decide whether you actually get to sue them or not. Anyway, don't mind me, but if you know I'd kinda like to know what I'm not getting here. Perhaps it is just that the PA's feel underpaid and overworked and thus they are "working to rule". In fact, that's most likely it..... what is more important of course, I hope things are working out for your biopsy and skin conditions! I don't think you said in the follow up letter (still going through everything for this issue).))
The big excitement in the last few weeks was today's visit to the camp by the Regional Director from Washington, DC. Lots of rumors have been going around about the future of this facility.... we're going to be shut down, we're going to lower our population level, we're going to have an additional 200 inmates brought in. Nobody knows the truth yet. Generally, inmate rumors are way off-base. ((Probably just a regularly scheduled visit. I'm surprised, a bit, that the Regional Director is based in Washington, rather than out in the field, but if he is, then of course he needs to make regular rounds visiting all of the prisons. Why does there have to be "something up"? Of course, many of you inmates are "short-timers" so you haven't been around long enough to see the cycles of the visits. What makes it even more likely that is the case is the wildly disconnected nature of the rumors. Usually, rumors are more likely to on target if they fit into each other. For example, in the Dept. of Veterans Affairs right now, nationally, there are large rumors going on about plans to reconfigure the organization drastically in Bush II (second term when such things usually happen). I hope I don't get in trouble for putting these things out on the Internet in a szine, but I'll disguise things a bit and see if that works.... and no names.))
((You can put some facts together to see why that is the case: (1) A top senior manager for health issues was forced to resign a few months ago, so much so that they had to "write his resignation letter for him" (short and all flowery boilerplate); (2) The Secretary has filed legislation to allow the new top senior manager in this position (which needs Congressional approval) to be a "qualified business person" rather than a physician, as currently is required; (3) The physician who is acting in that position is pushing really hard (really hard!) on a 12 month planning horizon (12 goals for 12 months). Then rumors from that look like the following: (1) the acting person in this key health job is bailing out of DC into the field when everyone had thought he wanted to be the next one in that permanent position; (2) virtually every other senior manager in Washington is currently rumored to be jumping into all sorts of other field positions out of Washington; (3) the Bush people are planning for that new "business person" in the top health job to contract out large portions of the work of VA hospitals, drastically cut back on support for research and education and connections with medical schools, and probably drop large portions of the inpatient care VA hospitals do, essentially ending more of their lives as hospitals and turning them into outpatient clinics contracting with hospitals. This, of course, would dramatically increase outside contracting with the private sector and would be essentially "privatizing" inpatient hospital care, a fine Republican goal. This being said only WEEKS after the VA has announced their last "base-closings" commission report. Time to move to the next capital plan, which would be much more drastic.))
((Now, this might be fine policy, and it all might WELL be rumor, but it is more likely to be true when the rumors line up into the steps in something larger. The rumors of inmates, as you say, unfortunately doesn't do this and is less likely to be true. As a side note, this policy could be a last straw that exacerbates crises that are brewing in national health policy. The medical schools in the US simply cannot afford to deal with what would happen if they no longer had the federal government to pay for the salaries of so many of their faculty and they will not be able to find places to train their residents to replace the VA. Should be a fascinating debate. And it is what is being considered. I've been in enough high level meetings to see the handwriting on that wall, even if the specifics of some of the rumors are off. How would your prison rumors fit into something larger like that? That's how I think you assess their veracity.))
The other big topic of conversation is the so-called Libra Act which supposedly offers ways for inmates to increase their "good-time" days (time off for good behavior). You hear something new about that every day too. Congress passed it... the Senate passed it... it's in Committee... it's being reconciled... it's all a sham... who knows? ((And this is because, of course, they haven't given you access to the Internet, where you can learn the facts behind such rumors very quickly. When I and my boss heard the rumor above about the intent to hire a non-physician into this top health job at the VA, we knew legislation was required to make that happen, looked it up on the Internet, and voilà, there the legislation was: rumor to fact.)) One fact is clear - Federal Prison populations are rising (due to mandatory minimum sentences and the ever-growing reach of the Federal Government) while the budget for the Bureau of Prisons is shrinking. Something has to give.
((Again, from our agency, the push-push-push is to do more with less. Force workers to get things done in less time, or using unpaid overtime if they can't get it done in less time, since deadlines are set and they are non-negotiable. Provide fewer resources to get things done right and focus on outcomes with quality demands, etc. These are Bush Administration mantras. This may not be a bad thing, but it is a different thing, government feels like the private sector much more now, without the private sector perks. And the sword of contracting out is there. Of course, it isn't just in Iraq and the military that contracting out, in the absence of full and complete quality specified performance contracts, is problematic.))
((The public doesn't seem to understand this issue explicitly, but this election and these debates between the Democrats and Republicans really is about whether you believe in rule governed directive based administration (write rules and make people do as you want) or more flexible processes that rely on individual initiative and decentralization of control for administration of policies and programs. This issue goes back to the Reaganization of the Republican party, and is why ever since then Democrats have been painted as "flip-floppers". This is what decentralization of control oriented people must look like, since they won't write strict directives for behavior, believing that "complete contracts" to do this are not possible. To me, this is a legitimate question and is the key for what really is dividing the country. Does it really make sense to have strict sentencing guidelines, or do you want to have judges make context specific decisions based on what is in front of them in particular cases? In the former, you make mistakes when the rules force judges to send people to jail who really probably shouldn't be there, but it is "easy" and in some general sense "fair". In the latter, you make mistakes if you don't appoint good judges who will make good decisions when exercising context specific judgment. And, of course, judgment is still an issue in appointing the judges and administrators in a directive and rule based structure too, since you still have to "apply the rules fairly". The whole thing becomes circular, doesn't it? I don't know, Doug, am I making any sense, or am I taking arguments that are too complex and simplifying them too far?))
Thanks to Richard Weiss for his kind words about Mara. I believe only Richard and Andy York were the hobby members lucky enough to meet Mara. Her physical and mental illnesses led Mara to limit most social contact.
As far as time on my hands, I'm working on a number of writing projects. Two screenplays right now, a book about my family that may or may not ever be finished.... for my Anniversary with Heather (we met on March 15) I sent her a 90-page "play" about how fate conspired to allow us to meet and fall in love. ((I think it's great that this happened and you're able to stay together through your present separation!)) Maybe none of these ideas will result in anything I'm proud of, but it keeps me busy. None of my projects involve prison life directly, yet. If anyone wants to send me gifts (haha!), softcover books on writing, or on stageplays and screenplays always are welcome. ((I'll try to do that, see Doug's other note below...))
I guess that's it for now. I was going to write about tax cuts = new jobs as explained by potential returns of new companies vs. fixed income, or about how as a Texas Rangers fan I love A-Rod but I'm glad to stick with the youth movement, but I had to switch pens in mid-letter and this one sucks.
Best to you and yours, Doug
((Yeah, and it seems like it could be argued that the Rangers are MUCH better off without A-Rod. I'd be interested in your thoughts on that "is A-Rod the cancer that was freed from the Mariners and Rangers and caused the bump up in their fortunes when he left?" argument! Do you have any thoughts? I picked the Rangers for third, but they could get second and even get the Wild Card over the Yankees, which would be oh so sweet.... and it might even make up for being so wrong about the Astros this year.))
THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION
"So I called up George and he called up Jim, I said let's make a deal.
He said he'd talk to him. Gonna start a church where you can save yourself,
You can make some noise, When you've got no choice...
You told me useful things, what people think of me, I guess I should thank you.
It's true, then I agree... I'm all alone, I've got no choice,
I'm all alone, I've got no choice."
From "Got No Choice" by the incomparable Mark Cutler, from the CD Mark Cutler and Useful Things.
If you want to submit orders, press, or letters by E-Mail, you can find me through the Internet system at "burgess of world.std.com". If anyone has an interest in having an E-Mail address listed so people can negotiate with you by computer, just let me know. FAX orders to (401) 277-9904 if you let me know in advance to be sure the fax machine is set up.
I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine.
Standby lists:
Mike Barno, Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Glenn Petroski, Steve Emmert, Mark Kinney, Vince Lutterbie, Eric Brosius, Paul Rauterberg, Bob Osuch, Doug Kent, Sean O'Donnell, Vern Parker, Heath Gardner, Phil Reynolds, Paul Kenny, and Dan Gorham stand by for regular Diplomacy.
Brad Wilson and Jack McHugh stand by for the Modern Diplomacy game.
Let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF. Standbies get the szine for free and receive my personal thanks.


GAME OPENING INFORMATION
We've got lots of openings in the subszines, check them out!!! Especially, contact Rip Gooch for Railway Rivals, see Rip's subszine elsewhere in most issues of TAP. Come on, help me out!!! Contact Rip Gooch directly at xyropedes of canada.com.
I also am starting a game of the variant I designed, Spy Diplomacy. Signups for that are now open. I'll publish the rules shortly or you can look at them at www.variantbank.com. Bruce Edwards is signed up.
John Harrington is offering to guest GM a game of Office Politics. Any interest in that?? Let me or John know! Jody McCullough and Bruce Edwards are interested, anyone else?
Harold Reynolds has started the game of Colonia (see elsewhere in this issue) and is interested in guest-GMing a game of Aberration. Sean O'Donnell and Brendan Whyte are interested in Aberration. Brendan and Sean BOTH need rules from Harold Reynolds.
Also, I am going to design some postal rules for Devil Take the Hindmost, and Chris Lockheardt is pulling out of that opening too, so I need three players. Bruce Edwards and Eoghan Barry are signed up. Postal rules from me will be forthcoming shortly, on my never ending to-do list. I will get them in SOON! I'm more likely to get these things started if I see some interest..... it takes four and Eoghan is getting tired of waiting....
Right now, the other thing I am contemplating getting going is the Modern Diplomacy game with Wings. Rick Desper, Alexander Woo, Dave Partridge, and Eric Ozog are signed up for that. I will start it when I get a full complement of players, and may not wait until the other Modern game finishes.
Mike Barno and Edi Birsan run a great web site at http://www.diplomaticcorps.org! Please check it out!


FLIP FLOP: 2003G, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR WINTER 1901 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Fall 1901
AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): a tri-VIE, a SER S f alb-gre, f alb-GRE.
ENGLAND (Schmit): f nwg-BAR, f NTH C a yor-nwy, a yor-NWY.
FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): f PIC S ENGLISH a yor-bel (nso), a BUR S ITALIAN a tyo-mun, a mar-SPA.
GERMANY (Sundstrom): a ruh-HOL, a KIE-ber, f DEN-swe.
ITALY (Williams): f ion-TUN, a apu-VEN, a tyo-MUN.
RUSSIA (Sean O'Donnell): f GOB-swe, f RUM S TURKISH a bul (otm), a SIL-ber, a UKR S f rum.
TURKEY (Levinson): f ANK-con, a CON-bul, a BUL-gre.


Supply Center Chart
AUSTRIA (Wiedemeyer): TRI,VIE,BUD,ser,gre (has 3, bld 2)
ENGLAND (Schmit): EDI,LVP,LON,nwy (has 3, bld 1)
FRANCE (Jeff O'Donnell): PAR,MAR,BRE,spa (has 3, bld 1)
GERMANY (Sundstrom): KIE,BER,hol,den (has 3, bld 1)
ITALY (Williams): ROM,VEN,NAP,tun,mun (has 3, bld 2)
RUSSIA (Sean O'Donnell): MOS,STP,WAR,SEV,rum (has 4, bld 1)
TURKEY (Levinson): ANK,SMY,CON,bul (has 3, bld 1)
Neutral: por,bel,swe (Total=34)


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Fred Wiedemeyer, Box 92010-Meadowbrook RPO, Edmonton, ALBERTA CANADA T6T 1N1,
PHONE NUMBER??, wiedem of planet.eon.net
ENGLAND: Karl Schmit, 1452 Seville Dr. #3, Green Bay, WI 54302-5559, PHONE NUMBER??,
diplomacy of new.rr.com ($5)
FRANCE: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728,
(440) 322-2920 or (440) 225-9203 (cell)
GERMANY: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882,
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
ITALY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947,
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org
RUSSIA: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230,
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com
TURKEY: Alexandre Levinson, 1, allee des Marniquets, 78430 Louveciennes FRANCE, don't need phone,
levinson7 of hotmail.com ($5)


Game Notes:
1) I think we can get the Winter orders in by the 12th and stay on schedule. SORRY for getting this new game started so badly!!!


Press:
(ITALY to FRANCE): I can only hope that you know what you are doing and that you did what you said you would.
(GYPSIES IN THE PALACE to BERLIN): Mi dispiace molto, sai, ma ... ooops! Hey, very sorry to have dropped in like this but, given the buzz in this game, I thought I'd better get mine while the getting was good. No malice intended, but you are like a super magnet in a bin of screws ...
(BERLIN-SILESIA): If this space is actually vacant, my apologies. But fool me twice, shame on me.
(RUSSIA-GERMANY): Sorry man, you looked too good not to eat. I had to get that forbidden fruit. I wonder if it's my downfall though.......
(BOOB to SEAN): I think you were left foraging the wilds of the Silesian hills, relatively unsuccessfully.
(GYPSIES to TRAMPS AND THIEVES (AKA FRANCE AND RUSSIA)): You're here just in time to start the Reformation. Start nailing things to the doors ...
(CAPTAIN'S LOG, SUPPLE"METAL"): We have been in the perpendicular universe for six months. I think being changed into a Ferengi has done something to me. I just signed an agreement with the evil Commander Worf and two other unknown aliens to form a co-op that will essentially annex an entire culture. Everyone seems amiable and the aliens themselves have offered anyone who joins our alliance the perpendicular universe equivalent of Romulan ale. I really don't know who these aliens are, but at least they have a sense of humor....
(GYPSIES to TRAMPS): BTW, you should hear what the Thieves say about you when you're not around.
(DON to FRED): I sincerely hope you made a determined effort to keep your hands off Venice. You wouldn't like it anyway. Very soggy. Hard to drive around in those German cars you favor.
(VENICE to LIVERPOOL): So, what did you decide to do, and who did you decide to do it to?
(A CONVERSATION KIRK (K) AND SPOCK (S)):
S: Captain Kirk, please come to the Bridge.
K: What now?
S: I've made some progress on our com pic view screen. We just received a transmission from one of our alien allies. I think I can get a partial picture.
K (now on the bridge with Spock as the static from the "cheat'em" view screen clears) - The Captain and crew witness one of the strangest sights they'd ever seen. The picture showed a shop of what looked like large intelligent Tribbles with short arms and legs.
S: Fascinating.
K: Spock, did we just make an alliance with a group of evolved Tribbles?
M (Dr. McCoy): Hey, Jim, ya think we should introduce these guys to Commander Worf?
K: I'd buy a ticket to that! Spock, did you scans reveal anything else?
S: Yes, Captain, some of the transmissions we picked up from the Tribble home world indicate that they are familiar with the alien group we are attempting to take over. According to the transmission, the alien group is called Human and we are about to support an assault on a perpendicular universe planet called "Earth".
M: Damnit, Jim, it's bad enough that the idiot Bajorans have given humanity to the Romulans in our Universe, you've got to destroy humanity in this Universe!
K: We can't turn back now, and besides, the Human leader is offering Ale to anyone who makes it to Earth. If we can keep the alliance together we can make the occupation a benevolent one.
M: This could make Spock the last human in the galaxy even if he is only half human!
S: I need a Romulan Ale!....


I CAN'T FIND MY MONEY!: 2001F, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1907 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Summer 1907
AUSTRIA (Parker): has a UKR, a VEN, a TYO, a MOS,
a TRI, a RUM, a STP, f GRE.
ENGLAND (Kinney): has a LON, a EDI, f NTH, f NWG.
FRANCE (Kent): R a bur-PAR; has a MAR, a PAR, a PIC,
f ENG, f MID.
GERMANY (Wilson): has f HOL, a BEL, a DEN, a MUN, f SWE, a RUH, a BUR.
ITALY (Gardner): R a ven-ROM; has a ROM, f ION, f AEG, a APU.
RUSSIA (Desper): has a NWY.
TURKEY (Miller): has f SMY, a ARM, a CON, f BUL(SC), a SEV.


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Vern Parker, 337 Winter Hill Place, Powell, OH 43065, (614) 402-5139
VernDip of aol.com is preferred
ENGLAND: Mark Kinney, 4830 Westport Road, Apt D, Louisville KY 40222
alberich of iglou.com
FRANCE: Douglas Kent, #30694-177, Federal Prison Camp Allenwood, PO Box 1000, Montgomery,
PA 17752
GERMANY: Kevin Wilson, 373 Gateford Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021
ckevinw of aol.com
ITALY: Heath Gardner, 1627 Abbotts Creek Circle, Kernersville, NC, 27284
hdgardne of uncg.edu
RUSSIA: Rick Desper, 5440 Marinelli Road, #204, Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 977-7691, rick_desper of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Tim Miller, 5421 S. Ellis Ave. #1-E, Chicago, IL 60615, +1 773-834-4597
btmiller of uchicago.edu
GM: Jim-Bob Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327, +1 401-351-0287
burgess of world.std.com


Game Notes:
1) The FITAGE and GAFT draws are both rejected.
2) I'd really like to do the Fall orders on June 12th, but I only have orders in hand from half of you. If you really insist, I might delay, but how about if everyone gets orders in, please? Pretty please??


Press:
(FRANCE-GERMANY): Remember that time in that game when you were playing one nation and I was playing the other, and I did that thing for you? Good, now you can pay me back by not attacking me anymore.
(ENGLAND-FRANCE): Only if you intend to help destroy us. After all, we've already destroyed all cuisine in our country, so there probably isn't much left to rename.


SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF: 2001D, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1909 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Winter 1908
ENGLAND (Sundstrom): bld f lvp; has f LVP, f STP(NC), f NWG, f SWE, f NWY, f IRI.
FRANCE (Tretick): has a BUR, a BRE, f MID, a GAS.
GERMANY (Williams): bld a kie; has a KIE, a MUN, a DEN, a WAR, a TYO.
ITALY (Barno): rem f nao; has f TYH, a PIE, f GOL, a MAR, a VIE,
f SPA(SC), a TRI, f POR.
TURKEY (O'Donnell): bld a con, f smy; has a CON, f SMY, a SER, a RUM, f TUN, a GAL,
a BUD, f WES, a LVN, f AEG, a MOS.


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Doug Kent
ENGLAND: Matt Sundstrom, 1760 Robincrest Lane South, Glenview, IL 60025, (847) 729-1882 ($5)
Matt.Sundstrom of bbdoch.com or mattandzoe of earthlink.net
FRANCE: James Alan (Jim) Tretick, 1383 Canterbury Way Potomac, MD 20854, (301) 279-0803 ($4)
JTretickGames of aol.com
GERMANY: Don Williams, 27505 Artine Drive, Saugus, CA 91350, (661) 297-3947 ($3)
wllmsfmly of earthlink.net or dwilliams of fontana.org
ITALY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221,
(414) 281-2339 (E-Mail) trauterberg of wi.rr.com
TURKEY: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or seanfodonnell of yahoo.com


Game Notes:
1) Let me know if you really think you need until the July 3rd deadline for Spring, since we're jumping right back into it. It will take only one request to get that extension.


Press:
(IRKED, ITALIANS AND IRE back to the recent GERMAN PRESS): The Italian leadership has been rocked by a diplomatic coup, so crucial that it overrides the aptly-named recent German "PEABRAIN" policy, which showed the incoherence expected from the German planner. Some Western Triple power suckered the Sultan into believing that Italy "may be attacking" Turkey in the immediately past autumn months, despite having no sustainable way to do such a thing, and ignoring frequent Italian messages offering reassurances and effective cooperative plans. Buying this story was less than peabrained. Either he was completely played for a fool, or Uncle Jeffy Pooh's psycho nephew wants to grab dots now, thinking it will get him closer to the win than a strong alliance would. ((Yes, tell us something that we don't know....))
Half-fast thinking there. Italy now offers a full truce to EFG or any combination above, with the specific purpose of turning Italian forces against Turkey and preventing the Turk from mounting any challenge toward continental hegemony. Italy further offers discussion of terms for full alliance, including negotiated gradual return of formerly French centers as heroic Italian forces liberate key cities from Turkish oppression. The first Italian demonstration of good intent shall be the immediate disbandment of our vanguard fleet in the northern Atlantic waters, a fleet poised to support Turkish naval forces into Liverpool as a first reward for years of Turco-Italian alliance. Those years were thrown away in a single stroke by an impatient Sultan. That error must be rebuked, and if French and German military leaders can show some restraint and good prioritization, Italy will do her share in keeping the continent free and undominated. ((Ah, I see, a proposal and a divination.... boy, is he wordy this time, I LOVE it!!! Bring it on!!!))
(BARNO INTERPRETS A DIPLOMATIC MOTTO): "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away." ("La perfection est atteinte non quand il ne reste rien à ajouter, mais quand il ne reste rien à enlever.") The problem is that, for a perfect game, you must have 17 units all occupying foreign supply centers in one gameyear. Otherwise the game ends while there are still supply centers for you to take away. ((I had to think about this too... are we getting in too deep here??))


FANTASTIC VOYAGE: 1999K, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR END GAME STATEMENTS IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Five Way AEGRT Draw Declared!


Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
ENGLAND: John Biehl, #8 - 11530 84th Avenue, Delta, BRITISH COLUMBIA, V4C 2M1 CANADA,
(604) 591-1832 ($7); jrb of dccnet.com
FRANCE: Rick Davis, 2420 West Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, (707) 544-5201,
redavis914 of aol.com
GERMANY: Bob Osuch, 19137 Midland Avenue, Mokena, IL 60448, (708) 478-3885
ROsuch4082 of aol.com
ITALY: Terry Tallman, PO Box 782, Clinton, WA 98236, (360) 710 9613, cell (360) 710-9613 ($2)
terryt of whidbey.net
RUSSIA: Buddy Tretick, 9607 Conaty Circle, Spotsylvania, VA 22553, (540) 582-2356 (E-Mail)
batretick of earthlink.net
TURKEY: Vince Lutterbie, 1021 Stonehaven, Marshall, MO 65340-2837, (660) 886-7354
melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net


Game Notes:
1) Draw passes. I'll have the SC counts next time, then continue to print End Game Statements to the issue after that. Thanks, everyone, I wish Buddy well in his illness motivated transitions. I hope you (through Jim and directly) will keep in touch. But given that Buddy was likely to have to resign, I think that pushed everyone over the edge into calling it a draw.


End Game Statements:
AUSTRIA STANDBY (Rauterberg): This game, with its wide variance of challenges, proved to be quite an adventure for a standby Austrian. I joined the game quite early on, allied with Randy Ellis' Turkey, and pushed back advances on my frontiers by Italy and Russia. Indeed, I was fortunate enough to be able to continue on into Italy and take over that country as well.
At this point, perhaps A/T was a bit TOO successful. The nations of the West allied with Russia against us, and we were forced to think "stalemate lines" rather than to anticipate any further advancement. Now Randy grew tired of participating in the hobby, resigned, and my implacable A/T alliance crumbled. The rest of the game was an exercise in survival, and my Austrian forces were driven into Italy to make their last stand while the dogs of war snarled over my homeland. And so things ended.


SECRETS: 1999D, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR SUMMER 1916 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1916 IS JULY 3RD, 2004
Spring 1916
ENGLAND (Brosius): f LON h, a GAS S FRENCH f mar, f NAO S f mid, a KIE S FRENCH a mun,
f MID S FRENCH f spa(sc), f ENG S f mid, f HOL S a kie, f POR S FRENCH f spa(sc).
FRANCE (Sasseville): f MAR S f spa(sc), f SPA(SC) S f mar, a MUN S a bur, a BUR S a mun.
GERMANY (Barno): a gre-BUL.
RUSSIA (Reynolds): a MOS h, a LVN S a mos, a BER S FRENCH a mun, f BAL S a pru,
a STP S a mos, a PRU S a ber.
TURKEY (Linsey): a bul-GRE (CRUSH THAT KRAUT!), f ALB S a bul-gre (YEAH! CRUSH HIM
LIKE A BUG!), a UKR S a war, a WAR S a sev-mos, f WES S ENGLISH f por-spa(sc) (nso),
a SEV-mos, f GOL S ENGLISH a gas-mar (nso), a SIL S ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso), a GAL S a sil,
f NAF S ENGLISH f mid, f AEG C GERMAN a gre-bul, a TYO S ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso),
f PIE S ENGLISH a gas-mar (nso), a SER S a bul-gre (SMUSH HIM! STOMP HIM! DON'T LET
HIM GET AWAY!), a BOH S ENGLISH a kie-mun (nso).


Addresses of the Participants
ENGLAND: Eric Brosius, 53 Bird Street, Needham, MA 02492
eric.brosius of comcast.net
FRANCE: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($0)
roland6 of cox.net and ICQ: 40565030
GERMANY: Mike Barno, 634 Dawson Hill Road, Spencer, NY 14883
mpbarno of lightlink.com
RUSSIA: Phil Reynolds, 2896 Oak Street, Sarasota, FL 34237, (813) 953-6952
preyno of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Bruce Linsey, PO Box 234, Kinderhook, NY 12106
GonzoHQ of aol.com


Game Notes:
1) The FREGT draw is rejected and then reproposed. I had no complaint, so I've granted a request that we go back to where we were on the voting, which was this: (1) Some of you have "perpetual draw votes on this proposal on file", those are still in force; (2) Some of you do not and have been voting every season, for you if you FAIL to vote it counts as a yes vote for this proposal. If we get to a situation where no centers change hands for three game years, then we can go to the next step, which will require everyone to vote every season, no perpetual draw votes. And failure to vote would be a yes. Fall 1915 is one game year by that measure. PS I may do a GM judgment call that no "real" center movement has occurred if there are only small insignificant trades of centers that are done (that will include the one that looks like it might happen this fall).
2) I forgot to put your deadline in last time, but this is one of our "soft" Winter turns with no changes. Please get your Spring orders in for next issue!


Press:
(PHIL TO JIM): I commend you on adopting the policy of ending this game by ruling that "no real center movement has occurred if there are only small insignificant trades of centers that are done." You must have been reading my mind! BRAVO! ((Well, it won't be ENDING the game exactly, since we will just get to the point where someone wanting the game to continue will not be allowed to have "perpetual no" draw votes. We may or may not have anyone with such an order submitted.))


DR. EDWARD TELLER: 2002?rn42, Nuclear Yuppie Evil Empire Diplomacy - Black Hole Variant
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 1907 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Winter 1906
AUSTRIA (Rauterberg): has a VIE, a BUD, f TRI; and 5 nukes.
ENGLAND (Muller): has a LVP, f LON, f EDI; and 5 nukes.
FRANCE (Andruschak): has f BRE, a PAR, a MAR; and 5 nukes.
GERMANY (Kendter): has a MUN, a BER, f KIE; and 5 nukes.
ITALY (McHugh): has a VEN, a ROM, f NAP; and 5 nukes.
RUSSIA (Kenny): has f STP(SC), a MOS, a WAR, f SEV; and 4 nukes.
TURKEY (Schultz): has f ANK, a CON, a SMY; and 5 nukes in their silos.


Current Standings
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 TOTAL
JOHN SCHULTZ  3  3  3  3  3  4     19
PAUL RAUTERBERG  6  1  6  3  5  2     23
KARL MULLER  2  3  3  4  3  4     19
HARRY ANDRUSCHAK  4  5  0  3  3  3     18
LEE KENDTER, JR.  1  6  2  4  5  2     20
JACK MCHUGH  5  0  3  3  2  3     16
SANDY KENNY  3  1  3  3  2  3     15
Black Holed  8 14  7  1  7  7     44
Neutral  2  1  7 10  4  6     30
Totals(eventually) 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 238
Times GM Nuked  0  1  1  0  0  0   2
Whole Frelling Game  0  0  1  0  1  0   2


Addresses of the Participants
John Schultz plays on in our memories....
Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
Karl Muller, 3154 East Lydius Street, Schenectady, NY 12303-5035
karlmuller of alumni.lemoyne.edu or pegandkarl of mindspring.com
Harry Andruschak, 734 West 214th Street, Apartment 12-A Torrance, CA 90502-1907
(310) 533-8945, harryandruschak of aol.com
Lee Kendter, Jr., 1503 Pilgrim Lane, Quakertown, PA 18951
lkendter of speakeasy.net
Jack McHugh, P.O. Box 427, Claymont, DE 19703, (302) 792-1998
flapjack of comcast.net
Sandy Kenny, 23 East Coulter Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108-1208 (609) 869-3160
KennyShire of aol.com or possibly sakenny of net-gate.com


Game Notes:
1) A couple of adjudication notes.... when you guys nuke the same province more than once, I put in parentheses the number of nukes that hit that spot. Also, if your move to a space succeeds and THEN you are annihilated, I capitalize the first letter of that space where you are annihilated. The reverse happens if your move bounces where I capitalize the first letter of the place you started.
2) The rules I have been using for this game have been that there are no replacements or standbies. Nukes for the positions John has will remain unfired in their silos. None of his units will move or support anything. They can be attacked and dislodged and his centers can be nuked. John could win the game this way, conceivably, but likely would not. The two man race among those who actually are playing is winding down....


Press:


FINDING THE COMMUNITY: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules


THE DUE DATE FOR TURN 3 IS MARCH 13TH, 2004


Turn 2
22 (replenish with a 3) Zedd
21 (no replenishment) Empty
20 (no replenishment) Empty
19 (no replenishment) Empty
18 (replenish with a 3) James, Johnny Peso
17 (replenish with a 5) Geri Lee Lewis
16 (replenish with a 6) Wade, El Vez
15 (replenish with a 8) Carl Sagan, Frederick, Hearts, Spades, Omega, Silt, Marge
14 (replenish with a 15) Franklin, Paige, Bart, Clay, Diamonds
13 (replenish with a 20) Sand, Pebble, Lisa, Clubs
12 (no replenishment) Empty
11 (no replenishment) Empty
10 (replenish with a 3) Edmond, Homer


Addresses of the Participants - Their Team and Their Cards
TEAM 1 (Rick Desper): rick_desper of yahoo.com (0 points)
Team Name: Team Springfield
A: Homer Simpson (5) 15 8 21 3
B: Marge Simpson (9) 13 16 8
C: Bart Simpson (5) 10 9 15
D: Lisa Simpson (8) 11 21 20
Total Replenishments: 22+63+46 = 131
TEAM 2 (Bruce Edwards): kactusjak of tiscali.co.uk (0 points)
Team Name: Last Again
A: Zedd (3) 15 3 3
B: Omega (8) 13 9 8
C: Paige (4) 10 3 15
D: James (13) 1 21 3
Total Replenishments: 16+37+29 = 82
TEAM 3 (Tom Howell): off-the-shelf of olympus.net (0 points)
Team Name: The Soils; Manager: Boulder
A: Clay (8) 9 15 16 15
B: Silt (8) 13 9 8
C: Sand (7) 10 16 20
D: Pebble (8) 6 21 20
Total Replenishments: 17+62+63 = 142
TEAM 4 (Dennis Menear): dmenear of wirefire.com (0 points)
Team Name: The Firm
A: Edmond (3) 9 14 9 3
B: Franklin (3) 14 3 15
C: Frederick (7) 6 9 8
D: Wade (9) 5 7 6
Total Replenishments: 12+28+32 = 72
TEAM 5 (David Partridge): rebhuhn of rocketmail.com (0 points)
Team Name: It's In The Cards; Manager: The Joker
A: Spades (8) 15 8 9 8
B: Hearts (8) 13 9 8
C: Diamonds (8) 9 16 15
D: Clubs (8) 6 21 20
Total Replenishments: 17+55+51 = 123
TEAM 6 (Karl Schmit): diplomacy of new.rr.com (0 points)
Team Name: 25 Dollar Quartet
A: Carl Sagan (6) 15 3 5 8
B: El Vez (8) 12 7 6
C: Geri Lee Lewis (10) 6 9 5
D: Johnny Peso (12) 1 16 3
Total Replenishments: 12+37+22 = 71


Game Notes:
1) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. Press is VERY welcome!!!
2) Up above in parentheses is the card you played to get to where you are in the field. The replenishment card is the last card in your list. Be careful to note that the card you played (the one in parentheses) is not available for you, for next turn. Just for fun, I'm going to keep track of total replenishment, by turn, which is a rough measure of how the teams are doing. Of course, it is lining up to get across the sprint and final lines in the right places that really counts. I'm not setting up a separate scoring method. BUT..... we can calculate an "efficiency score" later, which will be the ratio of scoring points per replenishment. If I'm predicting how the future of this will come out, a 10% score will be really tremendous for this measure.


Press:
(TOM - RICK): Was I prescient, or what? Jump the field with 63 replacement points! Wow, I'm impressed!
(RICK - > TOM): I don't remember what we decided at DipCon. Am I supposed to race for the first sprint or not? I did that in Fat Bottomed Girls and I'm not very optimistic about the result.
(ZEDD - FIELD): C'mon you lot - how can I be last from here??
(BOULDER - ZEDD): Petal to the metal, man! You gonna coast for a while, or shoot your wad for something like fourth or fifth place at the first sprint line?
(TOM - DAVE): Congrats on your win in Grand Lake! You going to repeat here? Me thinks you'll be needing to spike the track for Desper...
(B - BOOB): So there's no maximum card value then?? Teach me not to read the rules!!!
(BOOB to B): And you also missed the rule that you only get the Breaking Away bonus on the FIRST turn you break away??
(CHIEF WIGGUM - > ONLOOKERS): Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
(TOM to BOOB): Ok, I get it. You got Zedd out in front on position, and Desperate Team Desper out in front on points. That's nice! But, the 64 dollar question is: who's gonna win?
(BOOB to TOM): Last I looked, Bruce was still controlling Zedd and the other last again's. Congrats to Bruce on continuing to get his life back together and his forthcoming new address.


FEAR AND WHISKEY: 1998Ers31, Modern Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR SPRING 2014 IS JUNE 12TH, 2004
Winter 2013
BRITAIN (K. Ozog): R a liv otb; has a SWE, f NTH, f HEL, f DEN, a NOR, f HOL, f HAM.
EGYPT (J. O'Donnell): bld f asw; has f ASW, f CAI, f EME, f ALE, f ISR,
f ROM, a SYR, a NAP, a IRK.
GERMANY (Rauterberg): R a ham otb, f ber otb; has a RUH, f BEL, f IRE, f LIV, a SWI, f ENG.
SPAIN (S. O'Donnell): has a MAR, a POR, f MAO, f TYS, f MAL, a WAL, a AUV, a PIE,
f BIS , f LBS.
UKRAINE (Partridge): bld a kie, a kha, a ode, f sev; has a KIE, a KHA, a ODE, f SEV,
f IST, a WAR, a SER, a HUN, f IZM, a ADA, a VEN, a STP, a CZE, a LAT, a SIL, a SAX,
f AEG, f ANA, a MUR, a MUN, a BER, f ALB, a IRN, a AUS, a GDA, f ION, a PRU, f APU,
a ARM, a MIL.


Addresses of the Participants
BRITAIN: Kurt Ozog, 391 Wilmington Drive, Bartlett, IL 60103, (630) 837-2813
heyday6 of yahoo.com
EGYPT: Jeff O'Donnell, 402 Middle Ave., Elyria, OH 44035-5728, (440) 322-2920
or (440) 225-9203 (cell) ($2)
FRANCE: Harry Andruschak ($5) Tapmdfrance of aol.com
GERMANY: Paul Rauterberg, 3116 W. American Dr., Greenfield, WI 53221, (414) 281-2339 (E-Mail)
trauterberg of wi.rr.com
ITALY: Eric Ozog, PO Box 1138, Granite Falls, WA 98252-1138, (360) 691-4264 ($3)
ElfEric of Juno.com
POLAND: Roland Sasseville, Jr., 38 Bucklin Street, Pawtucket, RI 02861, (401) 481-4280 ($5)
roland6 of home.com and ICQ: 40565030
RUSSIA: Randy Ellis
SPAIN: Sean O'Donnell, 1044 Wellfleet Drive, Grafton, OH 44044, (440) 926-0230 ($3)
sean_o_donnell of hotmail.com or seanfodonnell of yahoo.com
TURKEY: Kent Pollard, 1541 W. San Jose, Fresno, CA 93711, (209) 225-0957 ($10)
UKRAINE: Dave Partridge, 15 Woodland Drive, Brookline, NH 03033 ($8)
rebhuhn of rocketmail.com


Game Notes:
1) A concession to Ukraine is proposed. Please vote with your Spring orders. I think the handwriting is on the wall here to everyone, but it's your choice if you want to play it out.


Press:
(THE MEKONS QUOTE OF THE MONTH): "I'm so happy, focused on destruction!" from "I'm So Happy", a song on the brand new Mekons release, Punk Rock.
(BOOB to GAME): I think I missed this press last time.... if not, here it is again....
(ENGLAND - SPAIN/GERMANY): London is yours. Take it. And Liverpool too if you may. Have fun!
(SPANISH TRIBUNE): Reports are study that the Ukrainian invasion of the mainland of Europe has extended all possible means of being halted even the President of Spain has issued an statement to the Ukrainian leader that Spain has surrendered its arms as long as it retains survival status. Reports still are coming in....
(CAPTAIN'S LOG): We have achieved another mild victory as we have re-taken the Ferengi Divine Treasury and have scratched another Romulan troop transport. The Romulans, with the help of a group of PUSSIES from the planet Bajor, are about to win. Why anyone would rather surrender than fight is beyond my comprehension. StarFleet is now teaching its cadets to speak Romulan. Many thanks to our Klingon and Cardassian allies for a good fight.
(SEAN-BOARD): Well, good game. Jim, I'll be sending in my end game statement soon. grats to Dave on a game well played.
(JEFF to JIM): How can 27 units win a 64 supply center game? I thought based on 18 centers winning a 35 supply center original game that 33 would win this game. This sounds like "fuzzy math"??? ((Well, perhaps because 33 centers ARE required to win this game, and right now someone has 32 centers, but no one has 33, so the game goes on. Forgive me if my math is fuzzy enough that I don't understand the question?))
(SEAN-BOARD): I forward the vote of a Ukraine/Romulan solo victory. I vote yes on it regardless. I fail to see how we can possible stop Ukraine from gaining the one more he needs to win the game.
(BOOB to SEAN): At least SOMEONE gets it.... would you educate your Uncle on the "new math"?
(KURT OZOG ON THE MEKONS): FYI- The Illinois Entertainer issue for this month features the Mekons, your favorite! The cover of the issue has a modern picture of the Mekons. I cannot believe how horrible Sarah Corina looks now. I mean, she **really** changed for the worse in 5 years. You can't help but notice. ((Thanks much for sending it to me!! I will have more comment on this shortly. Sarah is the bassist and she's a bit overweight, I would say..... for those who don't know what Kurt's talking about.))


Personal Note to You:


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.35.
On 24 May 2004, 20:05.