At the end of the 25 minutes of regular play, I was totally squopped-out under a horde of other winks. A girl in the audience giggled at my haplessness. But in the decisive four final rounds, Gittleman kept the game close with an awesome display of skill, squopping, potting and squidging amazing shots.

It came down to the last tiddler. I could tie the game and save face if I could pot my only unsquopped piece. A simple five-inch pot. If I sank this one fame and fortune would be mine (sort of), but more importantly, my macho honor was on the line. Plimpton could do it. So could I.

I missed by a mile.

Choke

I put a towel over my head and walked toward the showers. "L" turned to me as I shuffled out. He was putting his prized squidgers in a felt-covered case. "Kid," he said, "You're okay, but this game isn't for you. Why don't you try something more your speed, like writing about what it's like being a boxer or something?" MIT and Cornell--the two best collegiate teams in the country--square off in a tourney November 14 in Ithaca. But if you can't wait that long, there's always the Tiddlywinks World Singles Championship on November 7 at Haverford College, near Philadelphia. Larry Kahn (MIT '75) will meet current champ Dave Lockwood (MIT '74).

Make your hotel reservations before the rush.