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| (Your name here) North American Mah Jongg Champion! |
Something is afoot in the world of mahjongg. I just received a very fancy flyer from the American Mah Jongg Association announcing their inaugural North American championship tournament in Atlantic City on November 28 - grand prize $2500 and coverage in "multiple media outlets". Mahjongg Madness is having their tournament on November 11-14 also in Atlantic City. There's also a tournament at a Wisconsin Dells resort that same weekend. On October 30th there are three - count 'em three -tournaments in the NY metropolitan area. If you click on the tournament schedule link to the left you'll find a bunch of great cruises are coming up in December and January. Sounds to me like mahjongg is getting hot. Can the mahjongg channel be far behind?
All this mahjongg activity has given me an idea. Why not have teams, like in Major League Baseball? Now that everyone is back from vacation and the fall mahjongg season has started, this would be a great time to organize. We've got about twelve people on the Forest Hills team raring to go, and I bet Century Village Pembroke Pines would make formidable opponents.
Here is how it would work: The season would begin when the new card arrives. Each team would have a uniform, of course; colorful T-shirts, jewelry made from tiles and other identifying paraphernalia such as mahjongg motif cat's-eye glasses or sneakers sponsored by Where the Winds Blow. The team would notify a tournament operator that four people will be attending on behalf of the team. The players would attend and play their darnndest, after which they would have their cumulative score certified by the tournament operator. Sometime in March before the new card comes out, a World Series will be held with the highest scoring teams playing in competitive faceoffs. The winning team will get to take possession of the Unger Award and declare themselves World Champions for a year. They will also appear in a commercial for Crunch N' Munch, and one lucky team will be the subject of a Ken Burns documentary.
I personally would be thrilled to go into the field and scout for talent, or better yet, create a training camp in Florida. I could coach or even own a team! Maybe create a mahjongg scholarship! Next stop Madison Square Garden! No, wait -Mahj Arena! So come on Cleveland Crakheads and Boca Boomer Bammers, let's roll the dice and make this happen!
All this mahjongg activity has given me an idea. Why not have teams, like in Major League Baseball? Now that everyone is back from vacation and the fall mahjongg season has started, this would be a great time to organize. We've got about twelve people on the Forest Hills team raring to go, and I bet Century Village Pembroke Pines would make formidable opponents.
Here is how it would work: The season would begin when the new card arrives. Each team would have a uniform, of course; colorful T-shirts, jewelry made from tiles and other identifying paraphernalia such as mahjongg motif cat's-eye glasses or sneakers sponsored by Where the Winds Blow. The team would notify a tournament operator that four people will be attending on behalf of the team. The players would attend and play their darnndest, after which they would have their cumulative score certified by the tournament operator. Sometime in March before the new card comes out, a World Series will be held with the highest scoring teams playing in competitive faceoffs. The winning team will get to take possession of the Unger Award and declare themselves World Champions for a year. They will also appear in a commercial for Crunch N' Munch, and one lucky team will be the subject of a Ken Burns documentary.
I personally would be thrilled to go into the field and scout for talent, or better yet, create a training camp in Florida. I could coach or even own a team! Maybe create a mahjongg scholarship! Next stop Madison Square Garden! No, wait -Mahj Arena! So come on Cleveland Crakheads and Boca Boomer Bammers, let's roll the dice and make this happen!
Love the idea! Baseball, why not mah jongg?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THE IDEA of getting jewelry and sponsored shirts from WHERE THE WINDS BLOW ;)
ReplyDeleteI just attended my first Mah Jongg tournament (Mahjong Madness in Las Vegas) and I'm ready to recruit. Let us know when you're ready for San Francisco's Mahj Club to join the competition!
ReplyDeleteI need some help
ReplyDeleteI have a group of 20 ladies who i taught the game to last year who are now all addicted, we are all going on a cruise together in february and we want to organize an unofficial tournament, but having never attended one i don't know how they work or how to start the process. Please can someone email me with these answers,
How do you determine who plays with who
How are the winners determined
we will be playing for 3 days ( not all day of course)
Anyone with advise please email me mdenton3@cfl.rr.com
I love the idea of a league i am also in florida near daytona
Thanks
Marisa
Question:
ReplyDeleteIn the January, 2012, Newsletter under Q&A:
Players take tiles counterclockwise(to the right)--Isn't to the right clockwise?--tiles are picked from the Wall clockwise(to the left)--isn't to the left counterclockwise? Alicia Hutton
I always get clockwise and counterclockwise mixed up so I rarely use them. But I looked it up and clockwise means like a clock - if you pretend you are sitting at a table and you are the number 6 and the person across from you is the number 12 then, starting from 12, the hands of the clock would move down and to the left. Counterclockwise would be if the clock was running backwards and the hands would move up and to the right. I still think it's easier to say right and left!
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