The devil made me do it.

I have a confession to make:  I am on speaking terms with the devil.  We're not best friends or anything like that, but he does sometimes speak to me.  And unfortunately, sometimes I listen.  This is never a good thing; take Friday night, for example.

I was playing with Lee, and as far as I could tell we were having a solid game.  Since I hadn't played for almost two weeks and was worried about being rusty, this was a relief.  Then came board #11 and the devil.  I had 14 high card points, 7 clubs and a singleton heart.  The opponents were bidding hearts and my partner was silent.  They went to two hearts; I said three clubs.  They said three hearts.  This is when the devil appeared.

Oddly enough, he (of course the devil is male) was silent.  Usually he is vocal, whispering bad ideas in my ear.  If perchance he was talking, my own voice overpowered his.  "Don't bid 4 clubs, even though you can probably make it," I said to myself.  "You'll just push them into game.  Then you'll have to bid 5 clubs, they'll double and you'll go down."  Even though the devil was silent, I could feel his presence.  "Don't do it!"  I told myself more loudly.

It was my turn to bid.  Aghast, I watched myself pull out the card to bid 4 clubs, and then, as I knew they would, watched the opponents bid 4 hearts.  I was so stunned by my bid that I just passed.  At that point I should have kept bidding all the way to 6 clubs; even going down two, doubled, would have been a better score.

But, you guessed it, the devil didn't let me.

Not a Pleasant Surprise: Julianne's Story Part II

 Dee and I slept in and met our partners from Kalamazoo at 1 for our second go round in the knockout competition.

There were so few teams in the knockouts night that there ended up being only three sessions to determine winners.  Hence no play, no money for the coffers for night.

So someone/s decided there was a better way to run the knockouts.  They put everyone in one field.  Needless to say, we knew no handicap was going to make a difference.  The lowest team had an average point count of 390; the 5 highest teams (all with 6 players) averaged over 11,000+ points, with one team over 13,000.

We knew after the first 6 boards we were playing with one of the 11,000+ teams.  Our opponents were pleasant so it wasn't as bad as it might have been.  Yes, we were knocked out in that first round.

We talked to the director (such a nice guy) about the ridiculousness of one bracket.  He apologized and admitted he was sorry and that he realized most of us were just fodder (my word).

After that experience we did what any sensible pair would do.  We went to the bar and had some wine and got over it.

We returned to play in an abbreviated Swiss game last night.  We ended up tying the overall winners in one match and winning the other 3, coming in second in B.  One of the great aspects of bridge is that even if u do terrible in an event, there is always another opportunity to do better just a few hours later.

We had a great time with Karen Allen and Don Power from Kalamazoo.  They were the best pair to play with.  They r better players than Dee and me, but they came back to the table every time and brushed off the bad bids/play and encouraged us to move on to the next match with a positive attitude.

We had a great time.  Leaving today but heading over to Somerset Mall for some retail therapy.

Julianne

The Blob continues: A Message from Julianne

So we (Dee and me) r playing in Farmington Hills with team Karen and Don in knockouts.  We played in the "New England" knockouts tonight.  I think that means u have to be genteel and not swear at anyone.  Because the one guy who said a naughty word was reprimanded by the director (who danced and sang at the karaoke bar in Gatlinburg) who said, and I quote:  "u may not use that word."  We r still trying to figure what the first letter of that word was.

Back to bridge, we won 3 of 4 matches.  So live on to play another day.  Dee and I had the usual goof ups (remember we can't say certain words in this tournament.). Luckily our opponents out goofed us.

We r missing the late night parties that we like to incorporate into our more sedate times at the bridge table.  So far we have not met any other trouble makers but the week is early.

As far as our accommodations r concerned, my roommate reported we don't have any hot water.  I called the office to report that there is no hot water in our room.  The response from the desk clerk was "who don't u have in your room."  We r currently waiting for Roba (yup that's the name) to show up and bring us hot water.  I'm thinking this is not going to happen.

Oh ya did I mention we r really, really serious bridge players.  "Winning" Sheenish is all we care about.

Over and out.  Still waiting for Roba.  I am guessing tomorrow we will either pass on hygiene or do a versions of that s/s/ and shave.  Fondly, Julianne

Superheroes

I teach English classes at the community college, and recently I had my students read a piece by Sharon Cho.  She writes about how reading comic books at a young age influenced her; not only does she have a clear conception of what a hero is and does, she aspires to be one.  This made me wonder what a Bridge Superhero would be like.

First and foremost, I thought about the costume.  Every superhero has a special outfit, and I like to think that the BS (unfortunate initials, I know) would wear something sleek.  I'm thinking Cat Woman, but maybe with spades or clubs instead of cat ears.  Of course, it might be something showier like Wonder Woman, who knows?  Lest you despair that your club doesn't have a superhero because you've never seen anyone wearing anything like either of those, let me remind you that superheroes often walk among us in disguise--think Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne.

The main role of a superhero is to help those in trouble.  There's plenty of bidding and playing trouble during a game, but the BS would be judicious in handing out advice--no one likes a know-it-all.  Also, the BS would acknowledge good bidding and playing, never saying things like "You could have made 3 spades" after being set in 4 clubs.

Most of all, the BS would leap to the defense of players whose partners are mercilessly berating them.  This usually happens because people get so wrapped up in the game that they don't realize what they sound like; a reminder from the BS would set things right.

In addition to the type of courage it takes to speak up in defense of another, the BS would have bridge courage as well. Julie and I had a bad game Friday night, and after analyzing what went wrong we decided that we should have had the courage to bid more aggressively.  Of course you have to know when to jump to 3NT and when not to jump to 6NT (you know who you are).

In closing, every club has hidden superheroes.  To find them, just imagine what they might look like in costume--or look for kindness and courage.