Just thinking about this now. Thanks to all for a good game. Patrick, Scott, Brian, I enjoyed working with you even if there was heartburn at times! Tim, great job on the win. You took advantage of nearly every opportunity you had and created many of those yourself! No hard feelings, although I won't be as trusting of you if we run into each other in another game. Thanks as well to Bryan for all of his efforts on our behalf.
I think the most important factor in this game was Peter, who was eliminated relatively early on. Sometimes you decide to play crazy and sometimes that works. This time, it didn't work, for Peter or for me. I don't claim that I played great but Peter's aggressiveness towards me really hampered my start.
Once Peter was gone, Tim did a great job keeping Brian and me at each other. I did my best to work with Tim sometimes but was hampered by my position and the fact that I kept believing him. Seriously, Tim is a very good liar and it worked out well for him in this game! Not so well for me, though.
Our grand alliance, once we got it together, had many cracks in it: mostly between Patrick and Scott. I understand why they did not trust each other but if they had been able to, I still maintain that we would have been able to salvage a 4-way draw. Brian, you did make it to the end of the game alive but if Italy hadn't won the way he did, I doubt I would have been able to keep you alive.
All in all, a fun game and a loong game. Thanks to all of you and best of luck in your current and future games.
Wesley