Previewing the 4th annual Labor Day Oregon Coast Open (LOCO)
Ah, Labor Day - it's one of the most anticipated holiday weekends of the year, every year. But here's the age-old question - what do you do with your time off? Do you chase that thrill of competition and enter a Scrabble tournament? Or opt for a relaxing weekend on the beach with friends?
Pffft - trick question. You do both. The best way to spend Labor Day weekend is to round up 16 of the best Scrabble players (and coolest humans) in North America, spend the weekend together in a beach house, cook meals, drink drinks, enjoy beautiful oceanside views, and, while you're at it, sneak in 20 intensely competitive games of Scrabble. That's the idea behind the Labor Day Oregon Coast Open (LOCO), and this weekend, it's back for the fourth annual.
I love everything about this tournament. I love the Oregon Coast - the beaches here are beautiful, and the location is nice and central to draw in players from all over Oregon, Washington, California, and British Columbia. I love the people we draw to these tournaments - a lot of the most loyal CoCo regulars mark this tournament on their calendars every year, but we're also thrilled to see a few fresh faces each time. And the beach house environment is awesome, of course.
And this year, it should be doubly awesome. We've got a great field of people coming in from all over - our usual cohort of West Coasters, plus visitors from Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and more. And the field is insanely competitive! For a minute there, I thought I would be seeded in the lower half of the field; after a few last-minute signups and dropouts, I ended up ranked 8th out of 16 players. I'm anticipating a veritable murderers' row of opponents all weekend. And as for the venue, we splurged this year for an extra-sick beach house. There's a pool table, a hot tub, and all sorts of fun stuff. I can't wait.
The LOCO weekend should be fun from beginning to end. I'm psyched for Friday, when caravans of Scrabblers will set out from Portland to the coast in the afternoon, culminating in an evening gathering at a local brewery for dinner and drinks to kick off the weekend. Saturday will feature 8 cutthroat games of Scrabble, followed by a special treat - Terry Kang cooking up all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ amazingness for the group to enjoy. Sunday brings 8 more games, then Conrad Bassett-Bouchard treats us to a cookout dinner in the backyard. Then Monday, the tournament concludes, followed by a relaxing afternoon of walking on the beach and perhaps tossing a Frisbee around. Finally on Monday night, a bunch of us will head back to the house, have dinner together, and enjoy one last night of fun before heading home.
The fourth annual LOCO is just days away! If you're playing, we'll see you Friday. If you're missing out on this event, that's a bummer - I hope to see you at another house-style tournament soon, as they're loads of fun. But in the meantime, you can check out the CoCo social media feeds as well as our live coverage site to follow along with this one. Enjoy, everyone.