January 2024 - 8

IN Box
Wanted: More teachers
I read your " Masters in training "
editorial in the October issue with
personal interest. I, too, have taken
the plunge and committed to teaching
beginners. I challenge others with
teaching skills to do the same.
I am an intermediate player, but in
50 years of bridge, I've learned the
fundamental principles of competent
bridge. I also have some previous
training/teaching experience. So I
contacted the local library to hold
a free beginning bridge course (six
lessons). We had 20 participants this
past summer plus another dozen in
the fall. We also set up weekly practice
sessions for our Olney MD Bridge
Club. Our roster is up to 45 players.
We are focusing on social bridge: fun
first, then competition.
If we don't teach, we'll soon be playing
solo. Now's the time; don't wait.
CAREY GIRE
Olney MD
Thanks, Jason
I would like to express my sincere
thanks and appreciation to Jason
Carter of Unit 218 (Northern VA
Bridge Association) who manned the
partnership desk at the Fairfax VA
Sectional held last fall. He was most
gracious in helping me find partners
for my games at the tournament.
Because of him, I had the best time
playing in post-pandemic, face-toface
bridge contests.
Again, thank you, Jason, and keep
on doing a great job, as that will bring
more players.
EMÉRITA HAYWARD
Leonardtown MD
Less is more?
Nobody I know in my large circle
of online friends wants to play in the
ACBL's " regional " games on BBO due
to the price. The charges are ridic8
| Bridge Bulletin | January 2024
ulously out of line with any costs
you might have. At least when you're
hosting face-to-face events, you have
obvious costs; the fees are very high
but at least understandable.
Having owned a club, I can tell
you that bridge is a price-sensitive
endeavor. Your audience is a bunch
of fixed-income, accountant-like
people. I've seen people stop playing
when the card fees went up $2.
A much lower price might result in
more revenue.
PAUL DUBOIS
El Cahon CA
Bridge in the sky
Nothing horrifies me more than the
prospect of being jammed in among
hundreds of people on a flight. Inflight
movies exhaust or bore me; I'm
aghast that there's no bridge available.
How can this be? There must
be endless thousands who would
welcome any form of in-flight bridge
on the game menu that many flights
feature. Can this be so difficult? Even
the longest and most trying flight
would dissolve in a flurry of bridge
hands!
JACK BEELER
Vallejo CA
Art imitates life
I subscribe to The New Yorker and
receive random emails from that
magazine of old stories which are
considered interesting.
I just received a copy of a 1926
profile of baseball giant Babe Ruth.
It says he plays all forms of poker and
pinochle, but prefers bridge. The article
says the reader might guess that,
because of his outsize personality, the
Babe would tend to overbid and often
be set - and that surmise turns out to
be correct. (I presume he was playing
auction bridge, as contract bridge
was only invented in 1925, by Harold
Vanderbilt.)
I make a mental note whenever I
see bridge mentioned in old movies or
books. In 1956, " Around the World in
80 Days " won the Academy Award for
Best Picture. The hero, Phileas Fogg,
is trying to win a big bet by accomplishing
exactly what the title of the
picture suggests, but he is constantly
stymied and delayed by an English
detective who mistakenly thinks
Fogg is a criminal. Near the end of the
film, it appears that Fogg has lost too
much time, alas, and thus lost a huge
amount of money. Having apparently
just lost a fortune, the worst insult
Fogg can think of for his antagonist
is: " Moreover, you are, sir, a terrible
whist player! "
BOB SANNER
Palo Alto CA
Never give up
At the Fall NABC in Atlanta, I
played with a newer ACBL member,
Yong Kang Huang from China, now
working in California. " Jeffrey "
and I were simply buried in the first
qualifying session of the 0-10,000
IMP Pairs, as the opposition did the
right thing so often that we finished
dead last.
Many players would simply go
through the motions because we
could not qualify after that start.
But not this guy. We agreed to work
toward a decent second session
performance. He played great, and
we finished second for seven gold
points. We expect more from him in
the future!
DAVID G. SIZEMORE
San Diego CA
Letters to the editor are welcome
by regular mail and email. Brevity is
considered a virtue, as is subject matter
with relevance to a majority of ACBL
members. Unsigned letters are not
considered for publication, so please
include your name and hometown.
Letters may be edited. All letters will
receive a response. Send emails to
editor@acbl.org.
January 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2024
