THE SCRABBLE ASYLUM (continued)

While we are still on the subject, you might care to examine the following email correspondence:

from: Adam Kretschmer
to: "Mohammed A. Hegazi"
date: 9 April 2015 at 18:46 subject: WESPA Championship

Hi Mohammed,

Just letting you know that I've just been informed that ASPA WA will not be petitioning WESPA to honour their ban on you for the events to be held in Perth in November, so you are welcome to attend should you wish to do so.

Cheers,

Adam.

from: Mohammed A. Hegazi to: graham bell
date: 10 April 2015 at 01:37 subject: Unwarranted ban

Hello Graham,

I am not sure if you are aware that I am banned from participating in ASPA(WA) tournaments. Please don’t ask me why, because I have never been given any reasons for the unwarranted ban, but I can guess that such ban was based on a similar ban imposed on me by ASPA(Vic) in 2008, which was later lifted by a court order in 2015.

From a practical angle, I never intended to challenge the ban by ASPA(WA), since the distance and travel cost between Perth and Melbourne were prohibitive. However, David More from QLD and Adam Kretschmer from SA tried to get this ban lifted via negotiations with Russell Honybun, in relation to the forthcoming WESPA tournament. I did not object to their benign effort, but was later told by Adam Kretchmer that the ban still stands and would only be lifted for the WESPA tournament.

The initial decision to ban me was taken unilaterally by Glenys Laurie in 2008, and later sanctioned by ASPA(WA) committee. The second decision to continue the ban in 2015 was taken unilaterally by Russell Honeybun. You might want to discuss this matter with your committee and inform me as to whether the committee would decide to lift the ban or to sanction Russel’s decision.

Thank you,

Mohammed Hegazi

_____________________________________________________________________

Apparently, the courtesy of a reply to my question is not forthcoming.

Some ASPA committees believe that incorporated associations are governed by their constitutions only. The reality is that once you are in the public domain, other common laws come into play. ASPA (Vic) have already learnt their lesson in court. Albeit that I have been too lenient with them for the sake of a sizeable minority of members. If you are not aware of the full story, just Google the three words: “hegazi scrabble victoria” or "scrabble victoria scandal".

Being a bit stubborn, when I am right, I am now contemplating my next step. The committee, and possibly members of, ASPA (WA) should safeguard the interests of their association by seeking initial free legal advice. I now have some experience with what to do, and what not to do, in courts in order to transform questions of principle into monetary language, which is the only language courts use.

THE SCRABBLE ASYLUM

Do we have mental cases playing the game? Yes, we sure do. One funny example that comes to mind is "Stephanie", who is a female Victorian player. She claims, rightly or wrongly, that she cannot walk to the computer to check challenged words. This is quite acceptable if it doesn’t cause problems. Her opponents can do the checking for her. But the mad aspect is when she wants to create a scene. She challenged one of my played words. I went to the computer and came back to tell her that my word was “UNACCEPTABLE". Guess what she did: She sprung up yelling at the highest pitch of her screeching voice, “I got to see for myself”. She dashed to the computer on perfectly capable legs and came back to tell me in a loud voice, “It’s unacceptable”, to which I replied, “So I told you! I have already taken my word off the board. It’s your turn now.” To her chagrin, no one took much notice, except the lady sitting next to her, who exchanged a wondering look with me.

 I suppose it would be alright for a person to be mad, but it would be a bit outlandish to be both mad and shifty. I noticed that I almost ran out of time whenever I played that particular female. I usually have up to 10 minutes left on my clock at the end of a game. So, I decided to keep an eye on the clock and to make sure that it has been stopped before making the trip to the checking computer. What I found out was that every time I turned my back on that mental case, while heading to the computer, she operated my clock.

After discovering her ploy, I had a plan to deal with it. I put a small laptop on the table and told her that we would use it for challenges, instead of me flying solo to the common computer. She refused and ran off to call the TD. The TD was a friend of hers, and quite possibly privy to her frolics. I decisively said to the TD, “Either accept having the small computer on the table, or your friend must walk with me to the common computer to resolve challenges.” The dumbfounded TD hesitated a little before agreeing to have the computer on the table. Do you think we are suffering any shortage of mental cases? Nah! The TD announced shortly after, during the following 2012 tournament at Geelong, that electronic devices would not be allowed on tables. She made no allowance for exceptional cases like that of her friend. It was one of her clumsy reactions to my attempt at sorting out the problem of her intimate friend at the previous Mt Martha tournament. It was also a sneaky obfuscatory attempt to indirectly suggest that, "This Mohammed is the source of all our problems"!

Incidentally, don't miss the congregation of the half-wit disciples on 24/05/2015. Check the Tournament Calendar for details.