March 14, 2012

Article about the game of 42 in the NY Times

I just came across an article about 42 today in the NY Times, at least the online version. I think it's taken from a Texas Monthly article.

It mentions the Austin 42 Club, and how they're working to keep the game from dying out due to mainly being played by older people:


Hundreds of small groups, mostly composed of retirees, now gather weekly or monthly for informal games and tournaments. Last year, the unofficial “national game of Texas” received a more formal designation when the Legislature named it “the official state domino game.”
Despite the recognition, however, the game is dying off as its players age. There are a few cities in Texas where this is not the case. One is Austin, home to the largest club in the state.
Aaron Kuntschik, the club’s 39-year-old director, says the group formed in the spring of 2005. “In six years, we’ve had a little more than 200 people sign up,” he said. “Of those, we usually have 60 or 70 active members in the league.”
Besides mini-tournaments once a month, the club offers spring and fall leagues, each 10 weeks long, plus playoffs and a six-week summer fun league.
During a break in play at the mini-tournament, Mike Sobin, a 32-year-old in a red T-shirt and backward baseball cap, explained how he helped create the club.
“A friend taught a few of us how to play, then we taught other people, and within a year we had a little league of eight,” Mr. Sobin said.
In 2006, his club combined with another that had risen independently at a bar across town, bringing the number of teams to 16.
Partly because Mr. Sobin and his friends who started the group were in their 20s, the club that has formed is much younger than other 42 groups in Texas. Roughly one-quarter of players are under 30, half are between their 30s and 50s, and a quarter are in their 60s or beyond.

3 comments:

Tuta said...

Curt -- good to see you are still around!

Any chance that you are working on porting Win42 to an iOS format?

If not, have you thought about licensing the code to others?

CathAggie78 said...

Hi Curt - Is this blog still active (I hope!)??

Like Tuta, would love to be able to play Win42 on my Samsung tablet or android phone. Anything in the works?

LOL Elo Boost said...
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