" It's the crossword game you've played all your life, but never quite like this....."SCRABBLE!
I miss this game show. It's very to have a game make a successful transition from a popular board game into a TV show (anyone remember the awful "Monopoly" game show?), but this worked. The play was easy, it was relateable, and Chuck Woolery was in his prime as a host. I worked the remote hard between Scrabble at 11:30 and the end of Price is Right for a while....(of course, in the mid 80s, that "remote" was actually Layup....
Anyway, the main game was simple. You had a word where one letter was given to you, and a clue was given to you that usually was a clever pun or had a second meaning. Then you picked "tiles" of letters out of the bin - 2 at a time - and placed them. When you knew the word, you solved it and won!
It's harder than it looks! The tiles aren't letters but numbers - so you don't know what actual letter is it when you pick them - and there were 3 tiles in the bin that were false letters and weren't in the word. If you picked them out of the bin and tried to use them, you lost your turn.Of course everyone knows what those false tiles were called.....THE STOPPER. Devastating! You're trying to solve the last word, you have an "E" placed, with and "R" and an "S".....and you pick two tiles and the tiles are "Q" and "X". You're screwed.
They never quite perfected the bonus round. The first bonus round was the "Scrabble Sprint" - you had to solve 2 words in under 10 seconds to win the jackpot. Sounds ok - but how does that work on TV? How do you fill a 5 minute ending spot with 10 seconds of action? They should have taken suggestions from the NFL! (ba-da-bum).
The next format was a "head-to-head" format; two winners play the same 4 words; the lowest time wins. Again, good in theory, but does the viewer want to see two people struggle with the exact same set of words ? They are probably playing at home - so what do they do for the second set?
Oh - and the 5 foot tall "plunger" to stop the clock. "It's the only way the clock will stop!" Cool technology you got there, Chuck!
Scrabble also highlighted the height of 80s fashion. The hair! The neon colors! The ties! And, of course, the sweaters. For you kids out there, go google "Lou Carnessecca" as he was the fashion god of the 80s.Oh, and Chuck Woolery was a perfect host. This wasn't too intellectual of a game, and he was the perfect mix of a joking host at the beginning, then turning serious at the end for the "big" jackpots of $5,000...... I'm sure we will talk about Chuck again in this blog later this year.
Here's a Scrabble clue for you...
"Building on the "C" in "Holy Crap".....Eight letters.....the clue is: "An accurate description for 16 years".....
PATHETIC!
Well - there weren't just three stoppers in the Browns tile bin, but 5. 5 turnovers vs. the Jets. Holy crap. The first one was devastating. We have a NINE minute drive in the first quarter....85+ yards....9 minutes vs. the Jets physical defense. And what happens? Josh does his helicopter impression and fumbles at the 1.
The second one was a killer also - up 7-0 second quarter; Fitzpatrick throws a duck that we pick off. Great, huh? Yeah, for most teams. Our DB - Gibson - takes two steps and then is stripped by Brandon Marshall. Marshall recovers at the 15 for the Jets; they score 2 plays later. Absolute killer.
What do you think of the Browns, Chuck?
Anyway, on to the games....
NE 23, Buf 20. I just can't trust Buffalo yet. There are holes in NE's defense, but I have to think that Belicheck will fix them with 10 days preparation. Did the Bills get too amped up for week 1?
Hou 20, Car 13. I couldn't figure this one out until I asked myself - how exactly will Carolina score? They have no weapons! They only managed 13 vs. the Jags.
Az 27, Chi 24. I remain impressed with the modest improvement of the Bears. But they can't stop precision passing games (like GB), and the Cards are a slightly worse version of the Pack. They won't stop Carson when it matters.
Cin 27, SD 17. I'm convinced Cincinnati is undervalued - strong lines on both sides- and people are overvaluing the Chargers after last week. The Cincinnati pass rush should overwhlem Rivers.
Min 23, Det 13. Speaking of the Chargers....boy, the collapse of the Lions vs. the Chargers was impressive. I'm not sure what the Lions do well. Their pass rush was not good; that will help to enable Teddy in the Vikes home opener.
NO 31, TB 20. Tampa could not look worse; but I don't think Rob Ryan is as good as his press releases. Tampa should be able to score here, especially with Evans back. The question is - can they stop the Saints at all at home?
NYG 20, Atl 17. Monday night hangover for the Falcons? They always seem to lose these types of games. The Giants will have to try to win ugly every week to be competitive; I think they can do it here vs. a possibly over-confident Falcons team.
Pit 23, SF 20. Boy, it's hard to miss the Pittsburgh holes in their defense. It will be bad this year. I just can't see the Niners taking full advantage, coming off a late Monday game. They don't have the passing attack to utilize the weakness of Pittsburgh.
Was 24, StL 20. Playing outdoors is different than turf, and the Redskins defense is better than advertised. I was surprised at how good Washington's D was last week, and there will be some letdown for the Rams after the week 1 win.
Mia 17, Jax 16. I really want to pull the trigger on the upset here, but I don't know how many weapons the Jags have. But I am not impressed with the Dolphins offense.
Bal 20, Oak 17. This is the test to see the true colors of the Ravens. Do they have offensive problems, or was it great Denver D last week? Will they have issues on D without Suggs? This game will tell a lot.
Phi 31, Dal 21. The Eagles of the 2nd half of the Atlanta game will show up for 4 quarters here. Not sure how Dallas can keep up with Bryant out.
GB 30, Sea 21. The Hawks are overrated. Their lines are not very good; look at St Louis last week! They only scored 17 offensive points vs. the Rams. And now they go into Lambeau against the Packers who want revenge?
Ind 27, NYJ 17. I think people are overvaluing the Jets due to the 5 stoppers we gave them last week. I expect the Jets to return to earth and the Colts to dominate.
Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 7-6
NE pk
Hou +3
Hou/Car under 39 1/2
Az/Chi over 46
Cin -3
Min -2
Det/Min under 43 1/2
Atl/NYG under 51 1/2
SF +6.5
Was +3
Jax +6
Mia/Jax under 41 1/2
Oak +6.5
Phi -4.5
GB -3
Supercontest picks: Last week: 3-2.
Hou +3
Cin -3
Min -3
Was +3.5
GB -3.5
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