The rivalry

You could call it a friendly, family game night. Or you could call it the breeding ground for the greatest rivalry of all time.

Forget Rocky vs. Drago, Inigo Montoya vs. The Six-Fingered Man or Marty McFly vs. Biff. My rivalry runs much deeper, for it is blood against unrelated blood.

His alias is the Buzzinator (Yes, that is correct). Don’t be fooled by the fact that he is the volunteer coordinator for a non-profit and also a youth pastor at his local church. Below the surface is a sinister game-genius who must be defeated.

After all, Competition is not solely for geniuses, athletes like Tim Tebow or beauty pageant contestants like someone we’ve never heard of Alyssa Campanella. Competition is for man, woman and beast alike.

This rivalry began over a simple game of Buzzword. Essentially, there are two teams. Let's say the Buzzword is “ball”. You and your teammates have 45 seconds to solve 10 clues, and all the answers contain the word ball. There’s more to it than that, but you get the gist.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am an incredibly awesome decent game player. I can hold my own, but for some reason I am 2-6 against the Buzzinator and his team.

After so many (lost) games I figured it was time for a new game. Plus, we really should give my pride the rest of the players a fighting chance. The Buzzinator agreed and that was his first mistake [insert evil gleeful laugh].

We pulled out the old classic game of Guesstures (a.k.a. charades). It’s always been a fan-favorite and frankly it was time we all shut our mouths and let our inner Nick Cage’s loose (he’s dramatic, right?).

Well, that did the trick. The Buzzinator was dethroned. Two games. 100 points. My team (Team Batman, thanks to my nephew agreeing to be our team mascot) smoked Team A by more than 20 points each game.

I’m not sure what gave my team the edge. It could be the fact that I can act like a buffoon (or for some, a monster) like no other. Or it could be that I have finally found my arch-nemesis’ weak point: charades. Regardless, Team Batman triumphed and I shall never forget it. Seriously, I won’t forget it because that’s how I spent my New Year’s Eve.

While that game night was the best way to end 2011, I know this isn’t the end. Until we meet again, Buzzinator.

p.s. I would like to thank Team Batman for making my 2012 dream come true.