I started this thread as a joke. It's growth merits some comment. -- Winning means less to those who win all the time. " --Shawn Pickrell -- I'm somewhat amused by Shawn's rather fatuous comment, perhaps the most erroneous thing ever posted to this board. I'll assume he's taking a jab at Andrew Yaphe for his "attitude." In reality, the reason certain people win so often is because winning means so much to them. That's why we put effort into getting better, and becoming and staying good enough to win tournaments. (In my playing days, I know I found tournament preparation a more worthwile use of my time than the composition of an inflammatory 23k post.) I think it's rather legit to compare Andrew to TIger Woods or Jordan. He has been a dominant player over the last several years for the same reasons Tiger and Michael are. He's as talented at this as they are in their sports, and he has the same desire to win that they do. Andrew can come off as arrogant. That's because his priority (so far as I can tell) was to kick ass at tournaments, not make friends. He's won at every level. He's won CBI, NAQT, and ACF. I should know. His teams have beaten mine in championships in high school, in undergrad and grad school, and at masters tournaments. He's also written and organized several high quality tournaments. So he denounced CBI. He won the tournament. If anyone has the credibility to criticize, it's Mr. Yaphe. Like Andrew or not, he is the best. Why: talent, effort, and desire. Any team he plays on is the favorite to win any academic tournament it enters. There's your damn comparison. David L. Goodman (I intentionally left out TRASH. As David Vacca noted, TRASH is not "academic competition" and probably should be separated from the other formats. Personally, I think Yaphe could assemble a team and win TRASH too if he really wanted to - he just wouldn't dominate it as he does the other formats.)
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