There Can Be Only One…(Except When There Are Two)

Posted on by travelingmarla
board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
The Mead notebook, circa 1990-something, containing the official rules and tips and journal notes of the Druzgal Olympics. Could we get any dorkier?

The 2012 Druzgal Olympics have begun! Help us choose a new game!

Last weekend we kicked off the 2012 Druzgal Olympics.

board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
We were in a bit of a panic trying to find the folder. After searching every nook and cranny, we found it…in the filing cabinet. :-/

Started for our 5th wedding anniversary in 1998, the Druzgal Olympics are a series of games between my husband and I, held annually around the time of our wedding anniversary. Since we were married on New Year’s Eve, it’s convenient to hold a lot of the games during our holiday vacation.

board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
Some early stats from our Olympic games.

20 favorites are played. A few have switched over the years, but we have several favorites that have been in play since we began. Sometimes we have to take into account favorites. For example, Kurt always wins Pool. I always win Boggle. So if we have one, we must have the other. We keep stats and journal entries regarding the games and have developed a rule book which includes tips and things to improve the games in each successive year.

board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
Riesling is the official alcohol of the Druzgal Olympics. Kurt generally tries to get me drunk for an early headstart. It usually works. This bottle is a new brand we hadn’t tried before. We think it was brought as a gift for a party recently but can’t remember by who or when. Tastes like ass but I think that’s because we have 2 Buck Chuck taste in wine and this was probably expensive.

We’ve skipped years, and some years have dragged on for a year.

We play for nothing but bragging rights, and we don’t allow anyone else to play.  But friends and family get oddly excited, nonetheless. Some have played their own games simultaneously. Others have bet on the outcome of the year. People seem to root for Kurt most of the time.

Board Game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
A toast to a friendly competition

As if playing our own version of (mostly) board game Olympics weren’t enough of a dorky thing to do, we also have an opening ceremony. Over a Riesling toast (this year accompanied by low-fat stick ColbyJack cheese), we hold up lighters to the Kurgan’s theme from Highlander, Queen’s “Gimme the Prize.”

board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
We couldn’t find both lighters, so I was stuck with matches. Who holds up a match? Seriously. Gimme the Prize!

And of course, we dorkily say to each other, “There can be only one.” Which, in fact, isn’t true since we intentionally have an even number of games to allow for a tie.

(Warning: the following video contains graphic violence!)

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We have picked games 1-19 but are leaving spot 20 open until we can choose something fresh and interesting.

board game competition There can be only one Highlander Kurgan's Theme Gimme the Prize
Baxter tries to participate but instead causes a re-roll Yahtzee.

Here are this year’s games (this isn’t the order in which they’re played, however. Loser choses each round.)

  1. Monopoly (Best of 2)
  2. Boggle (Best of 7 Rounds)
  3. Pool (Race to 3 in 9-ball and 8-ball)
  4. Uncle Wiggily (Best of 2)
  5. Battleship (Best of 2)
  6. Shanghai Rummey (Best of 2 games)
  7. Life (2 games (tiebreaker = $ totals)
  8. Trivial Pursuit (1 game, regular rules, 4/6 final round)
  9. Payday (Best of 2, 6 mos/game)
  10. Yahtzee (Best of 5)
  11. UNO (to 500 pts)
  12. Aggravation (Best of 2)
  13. Inventors (Best of 2)
  14. Sorry (Best of 2)
  15. King Oil (Best of 2)
  16. Mastermind (2 games each. Lowest # total rows wins)
  17. Chutes & Ladders (Best of 2)
  18. Blizzard of 77 (1 game)
  19. Clue (Best of 2)

Do you have any good suggestions for the #20 spot this year?

Love, Marla

P.S. I’ve been thinking a lot about accountability when it comes to my fitness, and have decided that I want to be accountable to you, my readers. I wanted a trainer that would ask about my progress daily and keep me on track, but I’ve not yet found one who does that. It’s pretty much hit or miss. I’ve considered hiring an online trainer (and still might) just because I am somebody who needs a stranger to coach and motivate me and expect me to work hard. It’s not something I will take seriously from a friend or family member.

But in the meantime, I’m going to be accountable to you, my readers, by posting a daily fitness log, whether it’s a fitness post or not. Sometimes it’ll be a photo. Sometimes, like today, I’ll just put some stats in a star. In the meantime if any of you have had experience with online personal training or know a good fitness community network, please hook me up!

fitness accountability online trainer personal weight lifting
1 hour of cardio on the treadmill followed by leg and ab work makes Marla a very tired but good, GOOD GIRL!

16 thoughts on “There Can Be Only One…(Except When There Are Two)”

  1. Pingback: Choosing the End Game: Muzzleloader Shoot | Traveling MarLa

  3. I think this can only be answered with a game denoting utter mastery of quick wit, solid strategy & immense skill – required by none other than the game of…Candyland. (Yes, an evil 7-yr-old mastermind just took me in the championship game for the best 2 of 3. I am demanding a rematch, as I think there may have been some kind of cheating going on when he riffle-shuffled the deck.) 😉

    1. Thanks Colin. We don’t have kids but I always thought it would be a really great family tradition with kids. You guys would probably love it!
      I like Michelle’s comment below of making game #20 one more physically active. Of course since Kurt out-physicals me at most things, her dance-off suggestion is perfect for that.

      Great post today, btw. Envious of how well you’re doing with your legwork. I think my trainer gets tired of my bad knee. I do too. Wishing I could leg press a lot more than what I can right now.

      1. Yeah I’m totally thinking I need to show this to my wife. It looks like so much fun!

        With the knee just make sure you get it better first! Once you get it healed then it’s time to make gains. Sounds like that’s exactly what you are doing. I followed doctors orders completely and it helped me recover and not have any setbacks. Sometimes it’s really tough to do! Is the knee something that should get better or something you’ll always have to deal with? Hope it’s something you can get over!

        1. It’s so much fun and I can only imagine incorporating kids into it. After all, we still play kids games ourselves!

          Unfortunately the knee will be a lifetime thing, but it can be less of a problem as the weight comes off and as I strengthen the muscles around it.

          The best training that has ever worked with my knee pain was from a trainer in California – he is getting his degree in kinesiology. He had me contracting abs and glutes every time I had to put pressure on the knee joint and it still amazes me how much it helps the joint. I don’t understand the mechanics of it, but then I suppose that’s why I’m not the one getting a degree in kinesiology.

          Hope you work some kind of annual Olympics into your family as well. 😀

  7. Do you have a wii? I’d love to see a video of a Druzgal Dance Off in your choice version of Just Dance! No wii? How about Blockus? Or, in honor of the physical fitness how about a game of darts or bowling?

    1. Michelle, Funny you should ask, because we just got a Wii. I think that sounds like a great idea. I’ll see if Kurt will go for it. Darts has been in previously, but it’s one that is always Kurt, so we only put it in when we have a second one that’s always me, like Scrabble. Since Kurt hates Scrabble, we also omit Darts. 🙁

    1. Yeah, we’re not real big on Dominoes. We have played Triominoes and RummiKub in the past, but they just haven’t really floated our boats.Of course you have to consider that games which often take awhile in between turns and require patience and long attention spans may not be ideally suited for this long session of games.

  9. This is awesome. We might have to start our own Everitt Olympics, maybe on our first year anniversary. I’ll bet he’s up for it. Brilliant idea… =D

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