Windy City Weasels

The Great Pacific Northwest Blood Feud is over. Phew.

To be sure, there were anxious moments last weekend between our Weasels and the Pacific Northwest delegation to Weasel Moot, which included Alex Maslow of Alaska, whose CODCon trip last spring paved the way to peace; Matt Shields of Portland; Nathan Barnes and Eric Mead of Seattle; and Weasel ex-pat Christian MacDonald, now also of Seattle. Tensions nearly boiled over during Thursday evening's social when the Seattle crew bombed me not once but twice.

Fortunately, we kept talking and cool heads prevailed. We pledged to send a delegation to WACCon in January, and they promised to return for next year's WDC.

As your War Weasel, I now declare this blood feud to be over.

This weekend, Diplomacy gunslingers from all over the country will descend on Austin, Texas, to shoot it out for the first ever North American Diplomacy Federation Championship. I'm excited to be joining them.

Preface: I originally intended to write this as a private message to Ted McClelland, but the empathetic reaction by the other players to his lament in Game No. 110 convinced me that it would be a good subject for this blog, so here it is. I hope you find it helpful.

The alliance fell apart in 1904. Up to that point, Ted McClelland’s Austria had worked earnestly with John Gramila in Italy and Christian Kline in Russia to destroy me. However, through the first three years, Ted had gained the only center—Bulgaria in 1902.

As Diplomacy players, we're always jumping at opportunities to screw each other over. Off the board, we're equally eager to help each other out.

When Ted McClelland publishes a book about young Mr. Obama, we  buy it. When Matt Sundstrom's band plays a fest, we go. When Nate Cockerill does standup, we'll watch...if he ever tells us about it.

On Sunday, Kevin O'Kelly is walking to cure Diabetes. Many of you may not know that he's lived with Diabetes for 25 years. His fundraising goal is $1,500, and as of today, he's $365 short. If you're able, please take a moment to visit his fundraising website and make a donation. Any amount will help.

Next time we're on a board with Kevin, we'll jump at the chance to stab the crap out of him. Today, we have an opportunity to support him. We should jump at that chance, too.