I remember the fist time I heard about the USA Memory Championship it must have been 2004 or 2005 and I thought, ‘WOW! Who are these savants!!!?’ I never thought that one day I would become a USA Memory Champion!
The 2012 USA Memory Championship is coming up in just a few weeks. It will be held March 24th at the Con Edison Building in New York. The founder of the tournament is Tony Dottino. Tony’s dedication and efforts for this tournament has been largely overlooked over the last 15 years. Year in and year out he has held a tournament, organized the event and fronted his own money to promote the tournament for little reward other than contributing to the lives of others.
USA Memory Champions have gone on media tours, received applause, book deals and fanfare and Tony stands quietly in the background applauding the mental athletes. I genuinely wish he received the praise and accolades that I and other USA Memory Champions have received because without him none of us would have this tournament. THANK YOU TONY!!!!
This year the tournament is partnered with life’sDHA–an algal source of DHA omega-3, a nutrient that is important for a healthy brain–will bring to life the four dimensions of brain health at this year’s USA Memory Championship by sponsoring a presentation by Dr. Majid Fotuhi, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Neurology Institute for Brain Health and Fitness, and assistant professor of neurology, John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The tournament itself consist of 7 events:
– Memorizing a poem
– Memorizing random numbers
– Memorizing list of words
– Remembering details of 5 people (name, birthday, phone, address, zip code, pet name, pet color/type, 3 hobbies, favorite car, 3 favorite foods)
– How many playing cards can you memorize in 5 minutes
It is a fun filled day and ANYTHING can happen. With the playoff format of the USA Memory Championship any participant who makes it to the final round can win. I am excited to see who is the 2012 USA Memory Champ!!
– Author is Ron White, 2 time USA Memory Champion
