Every now and again a year comes along that you are more than happy to see it go away. 2020 was one of those and unfortunately 2025 was its uglier...angrier cousin. I knew in early November 2024 that 2025 would be a rough year...but it was far worse than my worst expectations...much worse. I try to stay apolitical on my blog as I have many readers and friends that have opposite views, beliefs and opinions from my own. And that should always be perfectly normal. American Democracy's greatest strength has always been our diversity of ideas. At any rate, this trainwreck of a year is on its last minutes. I am hopeful that 2026 will bring some light to the darkness.
Now for a brief recap of the year gone by. Like Pvt. John Reese...I have more angst than is healthy for the year gone by. I'll spare you the bulk of that!!
2025 was a pretty good year for ASL. I managed to attend two tournaments - both held in KC. I enjoyed them both and interestingly my only loss in each tournament was to Nathan Wegener. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to give him a more competitive game. I had the opportunity to play Nathan, Rob Schmidt, Kevin Bradshaw and Tom Meier for the first time. It was great to add some new faces to my catalog of opponents. Dave Mareske and I got to spend some quality time at our tournaments and had a game scheduled in December, but events overtook us and we didn't have a chance to play this year. We'll make up for it in 2026.
Dan Best of course is my ASL brother from another mother. KC ASL meets STL ASL you might say. Despite living in Tulsa...St. Louis is my ASL spiritual home. And I'm a proud member of the KC ASL Club. March Madness is an annual pilgrimage for me. It's a fresh start to the year and an event that feels like home to me. Already excited for MM 2026.
Dan and I would play 150 games in 2025 (one still scheduled for this evening...so I will finish 2025 with 156 games played in total). Dan and I were also working hard to see him surpass 200 games played for the year. As of tonight's game, Dan will finish 2025 with 208 games played. Imagine that...Dan will have played 52 games more this year than I played...he managed an extra game a week, when we were playing nearly 4 x a week. That is next level commitment to the game.
Seriously...congratulations Dan. I remain impressed by your intensity and focus for ASL.
As for the Grumble Jones blog...well 2025 was a slower year. I blogged less than in previous years and enjoyed the break. Playing 4 x a week left me with very little time to blog. And of course, playing it so much more rewarding than blogging. The blog did have a great year and many of this year's scenarios were actually played. There were of course a couple of barkers in this year's offering. It's difficult to avoid without playtesting. This year also saw the introduction of AI to my creative efforts. GJ153 Shattered Bridgehead was scripted by ChatGPT and after some revisions ended up being a pretty decent scenario. Several images in this post are also courtesy of ChatGPT. AI will continue to be an assistant but not the driver in 2026 activities.
The other new addition to my blog was the retooling of my YouTube channel. Up until recently, it was primarily filled with personal videos. In 2025, I began the Going Cardboard series. This will be a complimentary addition to my blog. My hope is to do AAR commentaries as I figure out how to add images to my videos. Still not there yet...so a few more episodes may just be me blathering on about this or that. You know standard Grumble Jones kind of stuff.
Yes...Yes I do...
Alright...that's a wrap on 2025.
Good riddance and here's hoping that 2026 ushers in a better year for us all.
Thanks for you readership and support in 2025. Very much appreciated.
I look forward to sending more content down range in 2026.
And as always I wish for all of you and your families a very Happy New Year's!!!
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