Spammity Spam

On the eve of the F&L list, here is my plea to Konami: 

I DO NOT LIKE SPAM

SPAM: To summon a stupid number of monsters at one time in a way that threatens the integrity of the game. See also: Spammier, Spammiest, Spammalicious, Spam-a-rama, and Spamhead.

There are several words that describe the strategy of flooding the field with monsters but spam remains my favorite.  The other terms do not capture the utter disdain I have for filling up the monster slots like an elementary school teacher lining up little kids at a bus stop.  The play style can be thoughtless and unwanted just like those emails that clutter your inbox.  Though email spam can be filtered, often times Yugioh spam is something that you just have to sit back and take.  

How much effort does it take to contribute to spam? The answer is not much.  Pitcairn Island is the leading broadcaster of spam on a per capita basis. There are 50 inhabitants on this little South Pacific island and a lot of infected computers.  There may be talent in the writing of the Malware, but there is little skill in just passing it along. And so it is in Yugioh, we cooperate in the spamiation of the game … or we lose.  

It just so happens that the Elemental Dragons also come from the Pacific.  Coincidence?  I think not.  

By now, you can see the connection between your in box and your deck box.  But what’s the connection to your lunchbox? 

As the Internet was being developed in the 70's and 80's, graduate students began to circulate jokes and other time wasters (sound familiar?).  Among these messages was – you guessed it – Monty Python's sketch about spam. Thanks to the ancient geeks, a skit with Vikings singing about a luncheon meat permeates the computer and the card culture.  

The canned meat came to market in 1937 bearing the acronym SPAM, which stood for Special Processed American Meat or Shoulders of Pork and Ham.  My mom fried it, which was probably the last time I liked Spam.  

 ______________________________

 The information on spam is taken from the book "Spam: A Shadow History of The Internet" by Finn Bruton