July 2006 - 6

Viewpoint
By Brent Manley

You spend a good piece of your life gripping a
baseball and in the end it turns out that it was
the other way around all the time.
- Jim Bouton

Enthralled
When I was a kid, I played little league baseball. I lived in a warm climate in east Texas, so there was sand lot or Little
League most of the year. I was never much of a player, but my interest in
the game was intense.
For some reason, I really liked the Milwaukee Braves - Hank Aaron,
Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette and others. I knew their batting averages and ERAs, everything. For that matter, for a long time I could
recite just about every major leaguer's batting average, plus the day-to-day
standings in both leagues.
I had fantasies about playing in the majors, although I knew on an intellectual level I wasn't even good enough to make my high school team. Still,
it was fun to envision myself with the game-winning hit in the bottom of
the ninth at Fenway Park (I switched allegiance to the Boston Red Sox after
meeting Ted Williams circa 1960).
When I discovered bridge, I devoured everything I could read about the
game, including accounts of the heroics of the top players. I thought about
the pressure of performing on the big stage in a key moment and what it
takes to be a champion.
It's part of my job to keep up with the best bridge players of today, but I
would be just as keen even if I wasn't editor of this magazine and part of
the editorial team at the world championships each year.
That's why I am saddened to hear from some ACBL members that they
don't care about the stars of our game. Surveys tell us readers would prefer
to see fewer pages devoted to reports from world championships and NABCs.
Bridge is the kind of game that can never be mastered, not even by the
world champs and the greatest experts. A big part of the allure of bridge,
for me at least, is the struggle to gain a measure of competence in a very
difficult pursuit.
I look up to and am inspired by the top players. Most of them have
achieved their places in the bridge world through hard work. At the same
time, I am gratified, in observing the best of the best, to note that they, too,
make mistakes (some as egregious as my own). That helps with the overall
perspective.
If some members of the ACBL feel alienated from the stars, it's not
the fault of the big shots. A good number of them labor over computer
keyboards, for precious little compensation, to provide information and
education for you in this magazine. Others can be found at tournaments,
especially NABCs, giving of their time with lectures to help up-and-comers
improve. Most are much more approachable than you might think.
The stars love the game as much as you do, possibly more. Don't resent
them because they're successful. Let them inspire you to greater heights. ❒
© 2006 by American Contract Bridge League. All rights reserved. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner
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Letters to
the Editor
Creative TDs
To the Editor:
The May cover story about Swiss
teams numbers games (page 36)
reminded me to comment about
another way TDs add fun to their
tasks.
At the 2006 Spring NABC in Dallas, I noticed an interesting array of
names posted for one of the evening
Swiss teams. I wrote down only a
few of them, but it's enough for you
to get the idea. Take my word, they
were all very clever.
Even Stevens, You're Really Kuhlman, Do What You Duterme, Easterling
Basket, Denison the Menace, Gary on
Without Me, Life of Reiley, Davis Cup,
Jordan 2NT, Shaw 'nuf, 'Erwin Williams, Cheah Pet, Little Too Good To
Be True, Franco American, Aten Uncle,
This Landis Your Land, Apple Brown
Betty, Moore's the Better, Watt's Up
Doc, Tunnel of Luv, Poliquin Brief, Lein
On Me, Wynne, Lose or Draw, Shick
of Fools

B. Z. ZIONS
Naples FL
Speaking of the May issue, all
that can be said about the next
letter is ... oops!

Mixed up mice
To the Editor:
The Swiss numbers article was
interesting, and cover illustration
was very clever, but the mice are
Bridge Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2006