Opening Ceremonies at the Summer of Victory III

It was Jason, one of the hosts of the Point 2 Point podcast, that started it. A few years ago, having wrapped up another year of teaching, he declared a “summer of victory,” promising to win more board games than he lost. It did not go well, turning into a summer of defeat, but at least it wasn’t a summer of obliteration or anything. It became something of a joke on the podcast, with co-host Scott sarcastically asking him every episode how the summer of victory was going.

Two years ago, I declared my own personal summer of victory. Ah, the halcyon days of 2008: one year into my new board gaming hobby, I played 40 games between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend, which would become the official start and end times of all future summers of victory. I won 23 of those games, batting a respectable .575. Last year, however, 2009, was a much different time. I don’t really like to remember that summer, in which I played 54 games for only 22 wins, a measly .407 average. It was the World Boardgaming Championships that did it, which dashed my hopes of ever being a world champion (it turned out I was just a local champion). I went only 2 for 16 in that hateful week in August.

But hope springs eternal! Memorial Day weekend just wrapped up, the official opening ceremonies of the 2010 summer of victory (in my head anyway). I hummed the Olympic Theme throughout, although I only won one of the four games I played while camping with the in-laws. As it turns out, cribbage is not my strong suit. However, the entire summer is stretched out before me, one glorious, sun-drenched time in which to…crush my opponents whenever, wherever, and however they oppose me. To victory!