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[[Image:CribbageSmr04.jpg|right|thumbnail|Jonathan (left) and Zach (right) face off in Jonathan's summer penthouse, high in [[Morgan#East|Morgan East]], [[Summer 2004]]. Photo taken by [[Alaya Kuntz '04]].]]
After a resolution made a year prior to spend a summer together in Williamstown, the friends (and foes) lived for 2 months on bustling Spring Street from mid-June to mid-August 2004. The first 2 weeks of summer found Zach bunking on Jonathan’s Jonathan's floor in Morgan East while Zach’s Zach's apartment over Helen’s Helen's Place was getting sterilized from the [[football]] team’s team's contamination the previous year. This situation allowed for the heated rivalry of 2003-2004 to go straight into an overtime, so both players' skills stayed sharp for the real, and final, season senior year.
Games were played both in Morgan East during bridge club nights and at the apartment over Helen’s Helen's Place, once Zach had moved in. The combination of enormous amounts of free time (Jonathan frequently did not start work until 2 pm and Zach was largely unemployed) and the presence of cribbage boards in the Helen’s Helen's Place apartment drew a few more casual players to the game, especially Emily Russell-Roy ’06 '06 and Dave Weimer ’06'06, who seemed to have a rivalry of their own heating up.
A modest total of 29 games was played over the summer, but looking back it was these games that allowed for the frenzy of senior year games to reach an amazing cribbage milestone. It was agreed before the start of play that the summer would not count toward the “years won†"years won" tally, so Jonathan remained behind 2 years to 1 going into the final year, still with the chance to even the epic struggle. Interestingly, only 2 skunks were recorded, one per man, as it appeared both competitors were happy simply to play cribbage over the summer and less concerned about piling up points at the end of games.
From the point of view of most analysts, this season is the least important, and most overlooked in scholarly writings on the Great Williams Cribbage Series. However, those who scholars who approach their study from a geographical point of view have found this era to be an invaluable source of information for juxtaposition with years in which Zach and Jonathan lived across campus. Studies have sought a relationship between ''d'', the distance between the competitors, and ''g'', games played. With Jonathan and Zach cohabiting a room, the Summer 2004 series has provided an invaluable set of data points in the lower end of the ''d'' scale. Though models have been inconclusive, the sheer simplicity of the model has made it good grist for entry-level courses in study on Williams Cribbage. Many freshman a lab report has been written on the trends in ''d'' and ''g''.
== The 2004-2005 Season ==
Even Zach and Jonathan would probably have been surprised if they knew in early September 2004 the sheer volume of games they were going to undertake their senior season. Jonathan managed to snag a room in the elite senior year housing of Chadbourne House (pick 84), while Zach was in for another year of survival within the riff raff brick walls of Greylock (pick 110). This was not all for the worst, however, as Greylock and Chadbourne’s Chadbourne's doors were but a couple of hundred yards apart -- the closest the friends had lived since freshman year. The number of games reflected this proximity, as an incredible 153 games were played in the ~225 days spent on campus from September through May. All told, probably over 50 cribbage-hours were logged by the friends -- looking back, maybe two or three should have been put towards [[PSYC 401]].
Jonathan continued to have the edge in skunks, collecting 13 to Zach’s Zach's 8 as his ever more aggressive play continued to pay off. When a large lead materialized early in the game, double skunks, or winning by 61 points, were often the subject of trash talking, but neither player would amass that large a margin of victory by the end of any match. This saved the two from deciding whether the elusive double skunk would be worth four points, or some other value in the tally.
As the year wore on, it was clear that the training Zach had in early life at the hands of his father and grandfather had paid off handsomely for him, as he waltzed through the season with Jonathan in his rear view mirror. Jonathan trailed by an average of ~10 games throughout the season, coming within one game of Zach only once, and no closer. The frustration, as he began to slip back down to his prior ten-game deficit, was enough to send his will to read Melville's ''Pierre'' down the crapper.
Meanwhile, the return to focus on cribbage, leaving distractions such as Go, Ms. Pacman, and term papers, were certainly a factor in Zach’s Zach's excellent year. Another possible reason for the season’s season's result was that it was Zach’s Zach's second year in a Greylock dorm -– it certainly became a comfort zone for matches and perhaps reached the point of an unfair home-field advantage.
After four years of learning each others' tendencies and styles, the duo could play in almost any environment, maintaining same easy rhythm to the game. Music, especially in Jonathan’s Jonathan's room, was background to almost every contest; Marc Cohn’s Cohn's ''Walking in Memphis'' and Dexy's Midnight Runners’ Runners' ''Come on Eileen'' were just two among many favorites. Playing in front of the TV was a new and frequent feature this year, especially if the MTV show ''Boiling Points'' happened to be on. To be honest, the friends often scheduled game sessions specifically to coincide with showings of ''Boiling Points''.
To the entire town's surprise, the hours and hours of cribbage somehow did not destroy the duo’s duo's grades. Jonathan got [[Phi Beta Kappa]], and was so surprised at this development he e-mailed the person in charge back to make sure it wasn’t wasn't a mistake. Zach wound up graduating ''cum laude'' to the shock of his mother and golf coach, among countless others.
=== The 100th game of 2004-2005 ===
The hundredth game (#455) was played in Fitch Hall on January 9th: by far the earliest 100th game in any season. It was held during [[Fitch]]'s Sunday Tea and was a low-key matchup played before a group of about 15 odd-quadders, many of whom left for [[Driscoll]] dinner before the game was even over, and never knew it was taking place. It isn’t isn't even remembered who won the game --though statistically Zach probably did. The game held less significance than in past years as it was merely a step toward the Big One –- the 500th game at Williams.
=== The 500th Game ===
[[Image:Cribbage500_crowd.jpg|right|thumbnail|Friends and fans gather in front the banner that displayed the year's tally. Zach, newly crowned champion, tops the stairs, with Jonathan content at the bottom, up to his chin in adoring babes.]]
Zach and Jonathan’s Jonathan's four years of friendship and cribbage culminated in early April with the 500th game played since that fateful fall day freshmen year when Jonathan saw Zach’s Zach's board and inquired “You "You play?†" and Zach answered “Yes"Yes.†" A perfect situation unfolded for the 500th game – - Chadbourne resident and cribbage fan Robert Hahn '05 had scheduled a root beer keg party for Saturday April 10th, and welcomed Zach and Jonathan's big game to the festivities. To promote the blockbuster event, the following ad was run in the Daily Messages the week of April 4th:
<blockquote>Cribbage Fan??? Come to the Williams Cribbage Club's annual meeting on Saturday April 9th. The two titans of the college game, Jonathan Landsman '05 and Zach McArthur '05 square off in their 500th game of their career at 1pm on Perry Volleyball Court.<br><br>
Come learn the game and then cheer on your cribbage stud of choice, Z-money or J-dawg in their 500th clash. Runs, pairs, fifteens,... it's going to be crazy. Don't miss this epic event, or you'll be, like, totally skunked</blockquote>
In addition, Jonathan emailed the bridge and deviant listservers, while Zach composed an email late the night before the contest to the golf team, Gladden, and the pair’s pair's freshman year East Three entrymates. It read,
<blockquote>1 pm
