 Over
the past year, the best and the brightest
spellers of five-letter words were invited for
one final shot at a Suzuki Verona. We started
with eight teams, and now we're down to just
two: Ben and Josh against Tim and Catherine. At
the end, two people will be driving home from
the Lingo Tournament of Champions. As Chuck
Woolery said, "This is where the rubber meets
the road."
Chico Alexander
news editor
Final
|
Yellow:
Ben (hotel auditor) and Josh (soundboard
operator/production assistant), friends |
|
Red: Tim
and Catherine, friends/students |
Two teams enter,
one team leaves. Let's get it on! Tim and
Catherine start things off with ABOVE,
following STIRS and stirring up a red ball. Ben
and Josh TOTAL up their first 25. But Tim and
Catherine steal FROZE. Ben and Josh answer back
by stealing WRECK, following with LIKES. But
Josh pops up red for the yellow side. Tim and
Catherine don't CHOKE on their Lingo, as they
leads it, 150-75. Josh gets OPERA, and Ben
Lingos to tie the game, 150 at round's end.
One round away
from a new car. Tim and Catherine stall, but get
MUDDY. Catherine draws red, though, giving Ben
and Josh a chance to even the odds. They do with
GIVEN. And they pull another red stopper. Tim
and Catherine capitalize with PACKS, DODGE, and
the Lingo, giving them 400 to the reds' 200. Ben
and Josh need every word they can get now. They
get VITAL... and that's it. Tim and Catherine
still lead it, 400-250. So game over, right?
W-R-O-N-G.
It's time for
round 3. It's still anyone's game, because now
scores are TRIPLED. That's 75 for a word, and
150 for a Lingo. Ben and Josh have control, but
Tim and Catherine have HASTY for 75. They also
have another red ball. Ben and Josh with control
back and NOTED and LABEL. Their Lingo puts them
back into the lead, 550-475. One word separates
the two teams. Tim and Catherine get BLEED to
tie and EASEL to pull ahead. They need 62 for a
Lingo. Catherine pulls... a ? ball. That's a
bucket of ice water on the game point.
 In
a heated clash of titans, Tim and Catherine
emerge as your season three champions by a score
of 775-550. Ben Helverta of American Suzuki
Corporation comes to present each player with a
key to a 2004 Suzuki Verona, which Tim and
Catherine say will be driven off together. |
