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The mere mention of playing the old familiar board game of Monopoly, conjures up some fond memories for most of us. It seems that the game has been around for so long that with few exceptions, there aren't many that can say that they haven't played Monopoly, and even fewer haven't heard of the game at all. However, how many folks can say that they've played Monopoly…underwater?! Enter the Arthritis Foundation's annual underwater Monopoly marathon…
On November 8th, 1997, Sea World hosted the Arthritis Foundation's Underwater Monopoly Marathon. The Foundation was celebrating their 50th anniversary, and they commemorated it by launching a 50-hour marathon, with a new set of divers playing each hour. Sea World hosted the event and provided their schooling fish tank in which to carry out the historic tournament. The tank was filled with refreshing 67° salt water, and was home to a school of shimmering silver minnows and an almost mechanical bat ray that circled the tank with a relentless rhythm. Of course, the tank was bordered by a regular stream of spectators, curious about this new breed of "fish" that had this certain affinity for playing Monopoly. Now, I know how fish feel, swimming around in a tank all day!
The game required a little ingenuity on the part our marathon staff. One can imagine that if we were to use the original cardboard version of the game, in little time the game would not be much more than a soggy mess. The playing board was laminated to a ¼" steel plate and placed upon a large plastic patio table. This plate played a vital role in securing the table to the bottom of the tank. The
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rolling antics of blowing on the dice or the two-handed cupped roll, but underwater these antics do require a bit more effort and attention to the slow-motion dice. A normal throw that might send the dice hurtling across the playing board, are now converted to a slow motion action that finishes with a "thud" as the metal dice end their journey on the table.
Normal Monopoly game play is a mix of rolling a set of die and moving game pieces around the board. Underwater, a whole new set of obstacles comes about. Looking through a mask and moving one's game marker is slightly awkward, especially if one has gloves on. Consider the chore of placing a single set of houses next to an already existing set of houses, with gloves on - it takes a little more concentration to be quite precise. Of course, waving one's hand a little too close to the Bank might actually cause a few dollar bills to lift up and drift away. Then, there's also the portions of the table that are actually hidden from view due to dive mask construction …I realized this was a problem when I noticed that half of my properties had slowly been falling (drifting) down to my knees. This might all sound like something of a hassle, but it was fun! In this tournament one's opponent is really much more of a friend than a real opponent. If movement of your game marker was too far of a stretch, as it was to the other side of the board, the other player would usually move the piece for you. And, when the die were too far out of reach, the other player would grab them and hand them to you. It really gave new meaning to "buddy diving."
(Continued on page 9)
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