Almost 14 years ago, my hairy brother (Andy, if you must know his name), and his beautiful wife begat a son. I was present the moment he came into the world and I knew he was special from the moment I laid eyes on him. Mostly because he shared a large part of my DNA. No, but seriously, Andrew Michael Brads, or Drew as we like to call him, is a great kid. As are all my nieces and nephews! And for the past few years, Drew has been pretty relentless in pursuing one of his passions – cubing. As in Rubik’s Cubing!
He’s reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally good at the Rubik’s Cube. So good that this past weekend he competed in the Rubik’s Cube WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS for team USA! And guess what I learned from Drew’s interest? There is more than one kind of cube. There’s the original (3×3), a 2×2, 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, 7×7, and a pyramid version called the Pyraminx. (And also, you can compete doing the Rubik’s Cube one-handed or even WITH YOUR FEET! What??)
The Pyraminx is actually Drew’s best event.
He’s reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyREALLY good at the Pyraminx! So good, in fact, that back in November he solved it in just 2.33 seconds, setting a North American record that still stands. And so good, that this past weekend, Drew won the Pyraminx event at the World Championships. That’s right, he’s the Pyraminx World Champion!!! His average of his five solves of the Pyraminx was a world-championship-winning 3.16 seconds. Go Drew! Go USA!! And he finished 7th in the world on the 3×3 “regular” Rubik’s Cube with an average of 9.85 seconds per solve. Did I mention he’s still 13 (for another couple weeks)???
Our family is all really proud of Drew’s dedication and hard work. And as much as we’ve teased him about how nerdy cubing is, I have to admit that watching him in the finals – and all his competitors – online via live stream was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen or done. Check out this video of Drew solving the Pyraminx in one of the early rounds of the competion. He set a new North American Record average here, which he broke the next day at the Pyraminx final. Two North American Records and a World Championship in two days. NOT BAD! 🙂
Congratulations, Drew! (Should I tell the blogosphere that I used to call you Drewbie? Drewbear? No?) I’m so proud of you! Thanks for skyrocketing the Brads family to World-Class nerdy fame!
Want more Drew? Check out his cubing videos on YouTube or his official stats page at the World Cubing Association.
Or come to my house to see what a cute, chubby baby he was in my wedding pictures. Congrats Drew!!
That is so very cool– congrats!! (Way back in the days when there really WAS only one cube, my older brother was awesome at solving them– he was once called to the principal’s office when he was 10 to solve all the confiscated ones because they were driving the principal nuts. ;))
Wicked cool, Jenny! I am sure your family is super proud!
So cool!
Great stuff!
Congrats Drew! (and Aunt Jenny)
I was always horrible at rubix cube but I got one of the Pyraminx. I loved it because the pieces snapped off really easily and then it was really easy to put back together and look like I had solved it. lol! I found that more efficient than actually solving it. I’m all about efficiency. 😉
I remember sitting on your couch in the family room while your dad sat in his recliner. He would toss the cube to me, I’d mix it up, and then be amazed that he could solve it without removing the stickers.
And, “online via live stream was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen or done” was even cooler at the Bossick house since we were nerds and hooked up the HDMI cable to the laptop to watch it on the TV. We were all sucked in.
Wow! Super cool.
Awesome kid!
Very proud.