Nominees | Past Winners

The third leg in the BPA Triple Crown of year end honors is the Sportsmanship Award. Coupled with Caesar honors for prowess on the gameboard and our GM of the Year Award which honors those who sacrifice their time to make WBC the memorable event that it is, the Sportsmanship winner completes our annual virtual Hall of Fame by reminding us that there is no fun to be had with these games without an affable and enjoyable opponent with which to cross vicarious swords.

Doubtless there are many more good sports at WBC than those we acknowledge here. But we limit the nominees to those endorsed by WBC GMs or other observers for outstanding sportsmanship and further reduce their number by selecting only the most fervent endorsements. This year, for the first time, we've also included nominees from our numerous email tournaments.

While some admittedly get caught up in the quest for "wood," the folks listed below subscribe to a higher standard. These are the sportsmen and women of the WBC…the shining example of sportsmanship that we should all aspire to. These folks are the ones that make it bearable for our GMs and attractive to our members by contributeing most to the friendly atmosphere of the conference. Their shining examples contribute to the remarkable esprit de corps and camaraderie for which the WBC has always been noted by those in the know.

Nominations are not accepted for individuals who conceded a victory to allow a beaten opponent to continue in an event in their place. While a player who allows another to play on in "his" place may well have good intentions, doing so is contrary to the purpose of a tournament. A player who concedes a won game is circumventing the rules of the event by dispensing byes in a non-random, unearned manner and is actually committing an unsportsmanlike act in the eyes of some. Such a kindness bestowed upon one player is actually grossly unfair to the other participants who had to win their right to advance and tarnishes the event as a true test of skill.

So without any further ado, let's present the class of 2013—and as always, it is a deserving group. The following individuals were just some of many nominated and owe their appearance here to both their own actions (for the reasons indicated below) and the fervency of their sponsors in relating it to BPA. As is our practice, all BPA members are urged to vote for one of the following when submitting their 2014 membership form and voting for Continuing Trial games before Jan. 1, 2014. Those who have already joined for the 2014 season are encouraged to submit their votes separately. Reward a good sport with our biggest prize…free lodging at the next WBC.

2013 Nominees

7 Wonders: Antony Saccenti. Despite his tender age, Antony was always professional and courteous. In particular, in our semifinal game where every card mattered, the turn after Antony had played a card, he realized he had played a duplicate card. He called the error on himself alhough no one had noticed. Doing so effectively cost him a card play which in all likelihood prevented him from advancing to the Final.

B17: Rose Hitchings. Rose was part of a large group of younger players who play together in their own squadron. However, as squadrons are limited to six planes, Rose was the "odd man out" and assigned to a different group. As luck would have it, this group was beset by stragglers and the last to finish the third mission. Rose remained true to her new squadron and stuck it out like a veteran—proclaiming that it was more fun than shooting down her husband.

Dominant Species: Tom McCorry. Tom gained the ire of a player who declared one of those "holy war—I'll dedicate the rest of the game to ensuring that you don't win" jihads. Tom took it in good grace and did not respond in kind.

Football Strategy: Paul O'Neil. Unbeknownst to them, Paul was using a different edition play chart than his opponent which included different timing results. As fate would have it, this was not discovered until the final drive of the game when seconds were precious and a play was called with different time usages on the opposing charts. Paul took the ruling against his outdated chart in good humor. The extra 15 seconds gained resulted in the winning long range field goal against him.

For the People: Emily Wu. Less than one hour after being married, Emily was back in Lampeter Hall playing CDWs in her wedding dress. In the game of life, that is Sportsmanship of the highest order.

Gettysburg: Mark Gutfreund. The complete gentlemen willing to play anyone at any time. This is easier said than done when playing in Grognard free form events where who you play is as important as wheher you win or lose.

Galaxy: Max DuBoff. Max and his brother Drew were both finalists. Drew's position was such that he could not win, and he decided to destroy his own last world, thereby ending the game and all but giving the win to his brother who had selected Galaxy as his team game. Max, to his credit, said he didn't want to win that way and talked him out of it. The round thus continued and Max eventually finished second. It showed great sportsmanship for a pair of teenagers—especially in contrast to a similar "kingmaking" scenario witnessed that week that was decidedly less commendable.

Le Havre: David Duncan. Allowed an opponent to purchase buildings he had forgot to do earlier in the turn sequence. The new purchases allowed the opponent to win the game.

Memoir '44: Daniel Heintzelman. Young Daniel informed his opponent that he had forgotten to claim ground worth VPs and also pointed out when he rolled less dice than he was entitled to.

March Madness: Jeremy Billones. Jeremy had defeated his opponent by 5 points. In reviewing the game to report the stats to the GM, he noticed two scoring errors that cost his opponent six points. He reported the revised score and proclaimed his opponent the victor.

Paths of Glory: Robert Frisby. Aided a new player with patient corrections and strategy tips that made the learning exprience most pleasant. Upon completion of the game, offered to play another to help still further.

Stockcar Championship Racing: Steve Lollis. Despite terrible luck, remained in the five-hour race to the end—becoming the first player to ever be lapped.

Virgin Queen: Tom Vickery. Long after the results had been posted, Tom realized that his score had not been penalized for executing Mary, Queen of Scots and reported the error, dropping him in the seeding for the upcoming semifinals.

War At Sea: Rob Drozd. Coached a new opponent and offered strategy advice that could well have caused his own defeat.

War of the Roses: Jeff Hing. Sacrificed his last chance to qualify to allow another player to play.

HONORABLE MENTION: Others recommended include: Kevin Karg, Walt Collins, Andy Roosen, Andrew Ruhnke, Richard Borg, Chris Yaure, Barry Smith, Charles Drozd, Brandon Bernard, Ed Beach, Jeff Senley, Phil Yaure, Bill Powers, William Hoch, Mikaela Kumlander, Art Dohrman, Scott Smith, John Min, Rob Olsson, Ken Whitesell, Lyman Moquin, Vincent Sinigaglio, Emily Bacon, Lane Hess.

Honorable mentions are eligible for the vote on a write-in only basis due to the nature of their nominations usually having more to do with being courteous or helpful as opposed to conduct more often associated with sportsmanship.

Chuck Stapp 1992 - NJ	Tiger Von Pagel 1993 - FL	Rob Kilroy 1994 - PA	Ian Lange 1995 - AE	Jim Matt 1996 - MI
Ed Connery 1997 - NJ	Frank Sinigaglio 1999- NJ	Robert Sacks 2000- NY	Bret Hildebran 2001 - OH	Kaarin Engelmann 2002, 2008 - VA
James Jordan 2003 - MD	Steve Okonski 2004 - MD	Bruno Sinigaglio 2005 - AK	Phil Barcafer 2006 - PA	Rebecca Hebner 2007- CO
Mark Yoshikawa 2009 - CA	John Emery 2010 - SC	Larry Lingle 2011 - PA	Peter Eldridge 2012 - uk