ACBL Fumbles BIG TIME!!
smooth
allows him to retain titles "ACBL Certified Director" and "ACBL
Certified Teacher." I am damned upset about it. Here is the story:
The ACBL recently awarded a complete buffoon 3,000 supposed
'eligibility points' for the stated reasons that it would help reflect
his European experience, and that he would now play at approximately
the appropriate level. Neither of these reasons is valid.
These points were reflected in his ACBL totals in the computer and were
verified to be there prior to the start of a write in and phone
campaign. The ACBL apparently determined that they had been lied to by
this person, and sent him the following letter which was copied to as
many people who were copied on the complaints, as well as sent around
to scores of others after the fact:
"Mr. <deleted>,
You are clearly misrepresenting the issue of eligibility points
assigned to your account.
They will be removed tomorrow, April 20, 2005.
Based on your statements I must insist that in the future you may not
play in any events other than Flight A, Stratum A and top brackets of
knockouts. If it comes to my attention that you have played in any
event with an upper masterpoint limit I will be forced to pursue
administrative and disciplinary remedies.
Respectfully,
Richard F. Beye
Chief Tournament Director"
This buffoon has claimed to be a champion in England, Israel and
France, and to be among the top 100 players in France from the late
60's to mid-70's, to have been featured in The Bridge World many times,
and etc. Recently when asked to provide one single verifiable title he
held, he said this, "the records were poorly kept, and disappeared
altogether when I left the French Bridge Federation."
NO ONE (except the ACBL and players who know nothing about bridge as
yet) believes he has any such past, all one has to do is watch him to
realize it is complete fabrication.
To demonstrate how clueless he is, I will provide one hand. He held x,
JT9xxx, xxx, xxx. His partner opened 2C and rebid 2H over his 2D bid.
What would any expert bid? What would any person who plays at any
level at all bid? What did this buffoon bid? PASS!!!
He not only passed, but then blamed failure to reach game on his
partner for not jumping to three hearts with his AKQxx suit. How would
you like an "ACBL Certified Director" with this grasp of the game to
show up at your table?
Now this brings me to the point of this post.
How could this ever have happened in the first place? Does the ACBL go
around assigning thousands of points to people's ACBL totals based on
their word only? Is there no verification process? If so, why is this
the case?
What steps have been taken within the organization to prevent this sort
of injustice from occurring again? The rest of us have to work hard
for our points and pay good money trying to earn them at tournaments.
This man invented a past and on his word only got the ACBL to help him
misrepresent himself to others.
After 15 years as an ACBL member, this buffoon has only just now
achieved rank of Life Master. In February he appeared in the list of
"Newest Life Masters" on the ACBL's own website. And now he can boast
that he is ineligible for Flights B and C (in which he has been
competing) because of his foreign experience. He has 318 points after
15 years.
And lastly and perhaps most importantly, how is someone who has
"clearly misrepresented" himself to the ACBL permitted to hold two ACBL
titles? ACBL Certified Director and ACBL Certified Teacher? I see it
as the ACBL conferring honor onto someone who has lied to them, which
is a nice way of saying "defrauded." Is he deserving of either one of
these titles under the appalling circumstances?
A much more severe sanction should be brought against the person for
defrauding his sponsoring organization. Clearly he lied in order to
make the ACBL complicit in his misrepresentation of his playing ability
to would-be "students." This offends me enough to prompt the posting
of this message.
He currently enjoys a "protective" status which has been programmed by
Uday into Bridge Base Online, making it impossible for spectators at
any table where he plays to speak freely, and he has liberally banned
persons for daring to speak honestly about this guy. That is their
business as a private concern, but getting the ACBL involved is
infuriating.
Stan Wrona
SashaA
If you are sure he is certified, it is an abvious crime to let the
person in question (very easy to recognize who) teach bridge.
It is a shame for those who love bridge.
Alexandre Ananin
Andrew Gumperz
It may be a shame, but it is hardly a crime. If he passed the
certification exam, no matter how incompetent he is as a player, he is
still entitled to call himself an ACBL certified teacher.
Andrew
Barry Margolin
"Andrew Gumperz" <agum...@gmail.com> wrote:
Many certifications have background and ethical requirements on top of
passing the test. If this person has lied about their bridge
experience, that would probably disqualify them on either grounds.
There's a widespread DNS problem that's preventing me from getting to
the ACBL web site to see what their official requirements for
certification are, but I would be surprised if they couldn't revoke it
for committing fraud against the organization.
--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
Ann
agree that when a member has defrauded the ACBL, they should definitely
not be certified to direct games and thereby hand out masterpoints.
I also think that the ACBL should hold their teacher certification
standards up to a higher standard than to allow someone who has been
proven to be fraudulent in ACBL matters to tout he is ACBL certified
for teaching bridge.
I know this particluar individual had on his Bridge Base Online profile
page that he was certified as both, as if trying to qualify himself as
an agent of the ACBL and to distinguish himself as an expert bridge
player. These claims are unsettling in light of him recently
defrauding the ACBL to try to acquire more masterpoints and attain a
higher status than he had earned in ACBL tournaments.
I hope the ACBL will take care of this individual once and for all so
he quits damaging the image of the ACBL.
Ann Williams
John Blubaugh
"Ann" <annwil...@hotpop.com> wrote in message
news:1114230470.3...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Damage the image of the ACBL? ;-) They do that all by themselves.
JB
ddub47
"lessons". I was appalled that people would actually pay for this
tripe. This player has absolutely no concept of ANY aspect of the game
of bridge and the thought of him passing on some of his bizarre ideas
is horrible to contemplate. If this person did receive ACBL
registration as a teacher, it has to throw their entire teaching
program into disrepute and it truly is a crime.
Derek Ward
David Howorth
non-ACBL bridge history (if that's what "eligibility points" -- a term I
don't know -- means), in order to gain a higher ACBL ranking than he would
have obtained based on ACBL experience alone.
Now, if I'm right about that, what I don't understand is the letter that is
supposed to have addressed this situation:
>
> "Mr. <deleted>,
>
> You are clearly misrepresenting the issue of eligibility points
> assigned to your account.
> They will be removed tomorrow, April 20, 2005.
>
> Based on your statements I must insist that in the future you may not
> play in any events other than Flight A, Stratum A and top brackets of
> knockouts. If it comes to my attention that you have played in any
> event with an upper masterpoint limit I will be forced to pursue
> administrative and disciplinary remedies.
The two paragraphs of the letter almost look as if they were addressed to
different people. If the ACBL believes he is not as good as he has claimed
to be, why are they limiting his future playing to the top flights,
brackets, etc. -- the very flights and brackets he would have been limited
to if his "eligibility points" were valid? If a flight/bracket restriction
is going to be imposed, I would think it would be more logical to require
him to play in the lowest flights, brackets, etc. (although I don't see why
even that restriction would be appropriate).
Don't look for some clever point underlying my message. I'm not making one.
I simply don't understand and want to be enlightened. Help!
David Howorth
Andrew Gumperz
I know that his bridge ability varies somewhere between that of a
low-level simian and a piece of spinach. His standing as an ACBL
certified teacher does suggest it is time for a review of their
standards.
But on a serious note, I think his critics take him way to seriously.
He is obviously delusional since he seems to believe many of his own
crazy stories. I feel sorry for him.
As for the people who come to his classes, if they have any brains at
all, it should take all of one lesson to figure out their money is
better spent elsewhere.
Andrew
Peter Clinch
Andrew Gumperz wrote:
>
> But on a serious note, I think his critics take him way to seriously.
> He is obviously delusional since he seems to believe many of his own
> crazy stories. I feel sorry for him.
>
I don't think people take him seriously enough. Although he is
currently not a member, he has attracted at least four generations of
cult followers on OKBridge - including some very distinguished players
- who turn up to wonder and snigger at his psychosis. Even the weaker
players have been able to laugh hard; he has acted as a boost to their
fragile bridge egos. There have been web pages - in addition to his own
- set up exclusively to relate his antics.
Unfortunately, in addition to his laughable incompetence, he can be
charming, and he does appear to have something of a grasp of the basic
bidding structure of a number of systems. He has no idea how to apply
these, as he was born with negative card sense. All this makes him very
dangerous to those who see only the charm or the bridge bravado - in
this sense he is a classic con man, and I know people who have been
hurt both financially and emotionally by his lies or fantasies,
whichever you may call them.
In a sense he has pushed a stereotype we all know - the incompetent
player who is nevertheless obsessed with the game - to a new extreme.
He does believe in his own mythology. It's not difficult to pull off -
anyone who has won a club pairs is widely regarded by the
non-bridge-playing community to be of near-expert status. But when one
considers the trail of innocent people who have suffered or been duped
by him , he loses all my sympathy.
Peter.
New York, NY.
Sid Ismail
<double...@yahoo.com> wrote:
:
:
I am not on OKB, nor am I an ACBL member. I am intrigued - who is
this? Email me privately (in confidence of course) and tell me what
his BBO logon is? I will discreetly try to follow his antics.
Can't help trying to open this can of worms...
Sid
email: el...@elsid.co.za
www.elsid.co.za
gilagirl
Why would the ACBL take someones word that they have had a "european
experience" and not verify that information? Who do I write to and
tell them that I have had more than one "european experience" and I
need 10,000 master points? It makes a mockery of people that have
played and paid for their master points. Suddenly a less than class c
player is a GLM. Apparently, the ACBL has seen fit to rectify this
situation at some level.. but did they go far enough? I don't think
so. He's still allowed to advertise that he is an "accredited ACBL
Director and Teacher". Unsuspecting novice bridge players will
believe this and he will be allowed to "teach" them bad bridge and
steal their money.
As for BBO... don't they have some responsibility to their membership
not to allow con men to
enter their site for the express purpose of stealing money? I'm
certain, they are aware of this lastest info. How can they in good
conscience continue to protect this person?
Alice
Richard Pavlicek
You have to consider the pros and cons of the situation.
Some bridge pros are cons, and some cons (or should I say,
ex-cons) are bridge pros. Further, being a pro requires
scientific knowledge, while being a con is more of an art
form (con artist) so the terms are not mutually exclusive.
Anyone with half a brain (which includes many) will get
what they can as a pro, and con everything else. :)
I offer this advice pro bono (in memory of Sonny).
-RP
Who ya gonna call? http://www.rpbridge.net/8x25.htm
Fred Gitelman
"gilagirl" <Gila...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1114360288.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> As for BBO... don't they have some responsibility to their membership
> not to allow con men to
> enter their site for the express purpose of stealing money? I'm
> certain, they are aware of this lastest info. How can they in good
> conscience continue to protect this person?
As for BBO, we think that it is very likely that the "e-mail from the ACBL"
is a forgery (no doubt created by one of the complete losers who has nothing
better to do with his/her time than to viciously attempt to humiliate one of
our members). If it does turn out to be a forgery, the person who is
responsible
for this fraud should be congratulated for their brilliant prank. In this
case not
only will he/she have managed to smear both the ACBL and Rick Beye (who
happens to be a great guy) for the sake of some amusement, it wouldn't
surprise
me if someone were to take legal action against this person. Nice work!
We are currently investigating. Until the truth of this matter comes to
light, we
will not be taking any action.
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
Chris Pisarra
> First, let me thank the person that brought this information to light.
> Why would the ACBL take someones word that they have had a "european
> experience" and not verify that information?
Not very likely. The bridge world is a small place, and all the
good players know each other. Verification needs little more than to look
across the room and say "hey Norberto!! Know this guy?"
>Who do I write to and
> tell them that I have had more than one "european experience" and I
> need 10,000 master points?
Even if this story is true, the person doesn't get masterpoints. It
would help in the seeding for events like the Vanderbilt and the Spingold,
and prevent him from playing in lower flights and brackets.
>It makes a mockery of people that have
> played and paid for their master points.
I'm afraid the ACBL Board of Directors did that long ago. (God help
me, I'm agreeing with Blubaugh)
> Suddenly a less than class c
> player is a GLM.
No he isn't. The only way to get to be a GLM is to play a lot,
win a lot, and pick up a national championship somewhere along the way.
>Apparently, the ACBL has seen fit to rectify this
> situation at some level.. but did they go far enough? I don't think
> so. He's still allowed to advertise that he is an "accredited ACBL
> Director and Teacher". Unsuspecting novice bridge players will
> believe this and he will be allowed to "teach" them bad bridge and
> steal their money.
There are lots of bad bridge teachers, unfortunately. He can
advertise that he is an accredited teacher if he took the course and passed
the test. And so can you, if you want to. I passed the class, but I'm a
rotten teacher so I don't bother anyone with my limited skills.
Chris
--
Those who would give up a little liberty in exchange for a little security
deserve neither.
---Thomas Jefferson
John Blubaugh
"Chris Pisarra" <Ch...@Pisarra.com> wrote in message
news:V9-dnTT0A_q...@comcast.com...
> gilagirl burbled to the world:
>> First, let me thank the person that brought this information to light.
>> Why would the ACBL take someones word that they have had a "european
>> experience" and not verify that information?
>
> Not very likely. The bridge world is a small place, and all
> the good players know each other. Verification needs little more than to
> look across the room and say "hey Norberto!! Know this guy?"
>
>
>>Who do I write to and
>> tell them that I have had more than one "european experience" and I
>> need 10,000 master points?
>
> Even if this story is true, the person doesn't get masterpoints.
> It would help in the seeding for events like the Vanderbilt and the
> Spingold, and prevent him from playing in lower flights and brackets.
>
>>It makes a mockery of people that have
>> played and paid for their master points.
>
> I'm afraid the ACBL Board of Directors did that long ago. (God
> help me, I'm agreeing with Blubaugh)
There is hope for you yet, Chris ;-) We have agreed on things before. I know
we both used to have the best interests of the ACBL and the bridge community
at heart. I am sure you still do.
JB
Todd M. Zimnoch
> scientific knowledge, while being a con is more of an art
> form (con artist) so the terms are not mutually exclusive.
Though I like the pun, the words do come from different roots entirely.
con as in ex-con is short for convict.
con as in con artist is short for confidence.
con as in pros and cons is short for just plain old con.
-Todd
Eric Kehr
Eric Kehr
Jim
called the ACBL and received phone calls back from Rick Beye.
"Fred Gitelman" <fr...@bridgebase.com> wrote in message
news:wwQae.30490$lv1.155@fed1read06...
richard...@gmail.com
matter..."
The only significance that these types of "incidents" have is in the
mind of the beholder. What does it matter if the ACBL wants to make
Citizen X a Netronium life master or the Don of all Bridge Teachers?
Rich
> "gilagirl" <Gila...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1114360288.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> > As for BBO... don't they have some responsibility to their
membership
> > not to allow con men to
> > enter their site for the express purpose of stealing money? I'm
> > certain, they are aware of this lastest info. How can they in good
> > conscience continue to protect this person?
Great question Gilagirl. A shame Fred didn't address his company's
unethical behavior. (Surely it is unethical to protect the unethical
?)
>
> As for BBO, we think that it is very likely that the "e-mail from the
ACBL"
> is a forgery
Maybe this post is a complete forgery. I happen to know Fred to be a
nice, friendly and successful person. I have spoken with him
personally and found him to be wise. Certainly a wise person wouldn't
unfairly ban many from his bridge site, only to protect a lying con
man.
If this were Fred, how hard would it be to have called Rick Beye?
> We are currently investigating. Until the truth of this matter comes
to
> light, we
> will not be taking any action.
(yes you did, Today you kicked several honest people off your site)
A complete investigation will find:
1. Gerard Cohen lied to the ACBL about past experience, and had them
award himself 3000 points.
2. While in Gatlinburg one of the "losers" BBO speaks of saw that MR.
Cohen had 3310 points, Odd since he just made life Master (after being
member of ACBL for 10-15 years).
3. SEVERAL members of the ACBL, members who do not lie or cheat, sent
emails to Rick Beye protesting the egregious error.
4. Rick Beye sent a letter to Gerard... (Rick used the term
"misrepresented" ... my Thesaurus says "misrepresented" and LYING are
similar words.)
5. Less than 2 days later, Gerard quit or got kicked off OKBridge...
My guess is out of humiliation.
6. Gerard is STILL lying about his experiences, and profiting from
unsuspecting novices. (I have the chat logs, not forged, to prove it)
7. Gerards Web site is full of half truths and exagerations. Easy to
check out NOW! .....
http://www.entsoft.com/gerard/Gerard_News.htm <-- You can see where
Gerard claims a 9th place finish at nationals in Swiss pairs.
http://web2.acbl.org/nabcbulletins/2005spring/db4.pdf <-- You can see
where Gerard actually was 5th in B, in a side game, winning all of 1.68
masterpoints. 1.68 was his entire total for the Pittsburgh Nationals.
His website in February, as well as his comments on OKBridge stated
that he wanted folks to send him money, so he could to go Pittsburgh...
because "you all know I have a great chance of bringing home a national
title".
Rick Beye is out of his office until the 26th. Maybe, if this really
is Fred Gitelman, he can sort out truth... and act like an honest,
ethical businessman.
Rich Regan
Chris Pisarra
Thank you for this incredible clarification of the perfectly
obvious.
Chris
--
No one could have a higher opinion of him than I have, and I think he's a
dirty little beast.
---W. S. Gilbert
Fred Gitelman
"Rich" <scya...@alltel.net> wrote in message
news:1114385783.0...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Fred Gitelman wrote:
>> "gilagirl" <Gila...@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:1114360288.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>> > As for BBO... don't they have some responsibility to their
> membership
>> > not to allow con men to
>> > enter their site for the express purpose of stealing money? I'm
>> > certain, they are aware of this lastest info. How can they in good
>> > conscience continue to protect this person?
>
> Great question Gilagirl. A shame Fred didn't address his company's
> unethical behavior. (Surely it is unethical to protect the unethical
> ?)
OK here's your answer:
To the best of my knowledge Gerard Cohen (you are the one who started naming
names) has not violated the rules of our site.
We do not have a program for certifying teachers nor to we have the
resources to check out the creditionals of the many BBO members who call
themselves teachers. If a BBO member complains to us about the way they were
treated by a "teacher" on our site, we will investigate and take whatever
action seems most appropriate within the context of our rules. This has
happened a few times in the past. In some cases we have either barred the
offending "teachers" from our site. In other cases we have told them to stop
advertising their services in their user profiles or through chat.
To the best of my knowledge only one of Gerard's students has ever
complained to us. The nature of this complaint (which I won't go into here)
was such that, in our judgment, there was no reason to "punish" Gerard. The
student in question was satisfied by the way we handled this situation.
We "protect" Gerard in the same way that we would protect any other BBO
member who is the subject of abuse from other members. We are not protecting
him as a teacher - up until now we have had no reason to involve ourselves
in how he makes his living. We protect him because he is a person and we
don't think that he, or any other BBO member, deserves to have a pack of
wolves following him around our site.
>>
>> As for BBO, we think that it is very likely that the "e-mail from the
> ACBL"
>> is a forgery
>
> Maybe this post is a complete forgery. I happen to know Fred to be a
> nice, friendly and successful person. I have spoken with him
> personally and found him to be wise. Certainly a wise person wouldn't
> unfairly ban many from his bridge site, only to protect a lying con
> man.
>
> If this were Fred, how hard would it be to have called Rick Beye?
I found out about this incident yesterday. Since the ACBL office is closed
on Saturday, there was no point in calling. I sent Rick Beye an e-mail
instead. I don't think there is anything more I could have reasonably done,
especially since I had no idea how public this whole affair was about to
become.
I had no intention of posting any of this to rgb (and I now regret making my
initial post), but when I saw gilagirl's post that attacked our site,
perhaps foolishly I decided to try to defend myself. Furthermore, I did not
like some of the things I was hearing and reading about my friend Rick and
the ACBL. I had what I thought were good reasons to believe that the whole
thing was a fraud. Again, perhaps it was foolish of me, but I thought it was
appropriate to raise this possibility.
>> We are currently investigating. Until the truth of this matter comes
> to
>> light, we
>> will not be taking any action.
> (yes you did, Today you kicked several honest people off your site)
At least some of them are certainly not honest. Regardless of what our
investigation turns up, all of the people we kicked off BBO have violated
the rules of our site. Some have also broken the law. I am not going to make
the details public.
I am sorry I was not more clear in my initial post. What I was trying to say
was that we would not take any action concerning Gerard himself until we had
more information.
Thanks. I will look into your web references, but (not offense intended) I
will wait until I hear from Rick himself in order to confirm some of these
assertions.
> Rick Beye is out of his office until the 26th. Maybe, if this really
> is Fred Gitelman, he can sort out truth... and act like an honest,
> ethical businessman.
I'm really sorry if you don't like the way that we are handling this
difficult situation. We are trying our best to do this right thing, but it
may take a few days for us to get to the bottom of this.
What I hope you understand is, regardless of what Gerard has done, that is
no excuse for the cruelty that he has suffered over an extended period of
time. Even if everything you say is true, some of the behavior I have
witnessed by people other than Gerard is truly shocking. It hurts me to
think that fellow bridge players are capable of the level of hatred and
malice that I have seen time and time again.
You claim to have met me. If you know me at all you will believe me when I
tell you that I wish I could have nothing to do with any of this.
Unfortunately that is not possible since I have certain responsibilities
towards our members and, unless our investigation gives us reason to change
this, Gerard will remain a BBO member in good standing. Gilagirl herself
wonders about our responsibilities to our members. What she does not seem to
appreciate is that Gerard is one of our members too. As such, he is entitled
to a fair trial (as opposed to a public lynching). If our investigation
reveals that he has engaged in behavior that is potentially damaging to
other BBO members, then I can assure you that we will take whatever steps
are necessary to stop this.
Sorry if you don't like the way I am handling my responsibilities in this
area. As I have said, I am doing the best that I can. I have a great job,
but this part of it really sucks. Be thankful that you are not the one who
has to deal with this.
gilagirl
And I received this not long after I posted at this site. Retaliation
is swift... for some of us...
My name is uday. I am one of the 3 owners of BBO
I have banned you for 7 days because I suspect you of participating in
the latest
round of Gerard-bashing on BBO along with that guy who labels himself
"XXXXXX"
and a host of others.
If you don't know who Gerard is, and can convince me of this, I will
lift the ban.
If you do know who Gerard is, and can convince me that lifting the ban
won't cause
more trouble for me later, I will lift the ban.
If your reply makes me feel that you will be trouble for me in the
future, I will
killfile your email address and extend the ban.
If you don't reply, the ban will expire in 7 days and you will be able
to login at
that time.
Regards
uday
ted
>
> Sorry if you don't like the way I am handling my responsibilities in
this
> area. As I have said, I am doing the best that I can. I have a great
job,
> but this part of it really sucks. Be thankful that you are not the
one who
> has to deal with this.
>
> Fred Gitelman
> Bridge Base Inc.
> www.bridgebase.com
As a regular user of BBO thanks for your clarifications(and inspite of
your regret I think you needed to do this). I am sure you are doing
your best under somewhat trying circumstances.
Ted Morris
ted
If this ban was instituted solely because of the posts on
rec.games.bridge I would encourage Fred and Uday to lift them
immediately. Expressing concern about goings on at BBO should not be
(and probably aren't) reason to ban an individual for any period of
time although this is entirely within the owner's right.
Peter Leighton
"ted" <tmo...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:1114395210.3...@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
You are assuming the ban and email are legitimate.
I have my doubts.
Peter
ted
Also that no problems exist on the BBO site. If things aren't on the up
and up it usually comes out.
gilagirl
You doubt my ban is legitimate? I'll be happy to forward the letter to
you personally. Well, imagine my surprise when I couldn't log in to
BBO and got a message saying I was banned until May 1. I wrote to BBO
and asked the nature of this ban... and the letter I posted here is the
response I got from Uday. Now, if you don't believe me.... write to
Uday, I'm certain he will confirm that he did indeed write the letter
to me. And I don't take kindly to be called a liar.
Alice
gilagirl
Peter,
Retribution is ever swift.... Uday has now banned me for 2 years.. May
1, 2007.
You want a copy of that one too?
Alice
gilagirl
Uday's retribution is ever more swift... I've now been banned for 2
years. You want that one too Peter?
Alice
Don
I am not sure that Peter thinks the letter from uday is real or not. I
on the other hand actually believe both it, your 7 day ban, and now
your 2 year ban are all real. And the bans are probably well-deserved.
Why would I say that without knowing anything more about you than what
I can read in this thread? Let's examine the evidence.
You start out in first post stating this person enters BBO and steals
money, and attack both ACBL and BBO management for allowing this based
upon "this information" (I am assuming you mean the letter posted
here). This was addressed by Mr. Gitelman who said he was
investigating.
Next we hear from you, what looks like a reasonable communication from
Mr. Uday. First, he tells you that your are banned for seven days. This
is an extremely lose ban, as it turns out. First, he says why you are
banned... "banned you for 7 days because I suspect you of participating
in the latest round of Gerard-bashing on BBO along with that guy who
labels himself "XXXXXX" and a host of others."
Ok, it takes no genius to see that Mr. Uday is banning you for what he
believe is happening on BBO ("Gerard-bashing on BBO), not what you post
here.
Second, Mr. Uday states that this is he just "thinks" (he used the word
suspect) that you are involved, and he gives you a number of ways to
have your 7 day ban lifted either immediately or, to let it run its
course. His first option was if he identified you completely wrongly...
"If you don't know who Gerard is, and can convince me of this, I will
lift the ban. " Clearly you would fail that test miserably. A second
option was easier, "If you do know who Gerard is, and can convince me
that lifting the ban won't cause more trouble for me later, I will lift
the ban."
Ok, the second option might not be to your liking, but with Fred G.
saying he is investigating, and with this thread having all the alleged
accurate info out in the public, surely you could have said, fine, I
will come back to BBO and mind my own business, and follow their number
one rule, which is to "be nice". If all the allegations against Mr.
Cohen are true, and if he is "stealing money" from BBO members, shortly
it will be resolved. Or you could have gone with the last option Mr.
Uday gave you (quoting out of order).."If you don't reply, the ban will
expire in 7 days and you will be able to login at that time."
Suggesting if you did nothing, you would be let back in after 7 days.
However, we find this interesting statement (call it a warning if you
like)... "If your reply makes me feel that you will be trouble for me
in the future, I will killfile your email address and extend the ban. "
Ok.. now you say retribution is quick. Well, I can imagine without any
great leap of mental powers that your "EXTENDED BAN" deals with this
very last case. If your reply makes uday feel like you will be trouble
in the future. I would think your posting his private email in a
public forum might be enough represent your "REPLY" to his email, and
no doubt he would have no trouble seeing that attitude falling into
such a category. However, I don't think I am going too far out on a
limb here when i say, I have no doubt that you actually wrote a reply
directly to Mr. Uday. Why? Your tone here is angry and "righteous"..
"how dare they allow that horrible con artist on their site to steal
money". And any such letter written in a fit of righteous anger is
surely going to be received well. So while you could have promised to
not bagger Mr. Cohen online (I would guess you might say you never
have, who knows), and been back on line when Mr. Giteleman finishes his
investigations. Who knows, Mr. Cohen maybe banned, or may be forced to
stop charging money (if he does), or may lose his private club he uses
for teaching, or whatever. But now, if Mr. Cohen is banned from the BBO
because of these allegations (if true, and even then bannishment might
not be the choice) you will not be there to enjoy it, because your ban
will have 1 year, 354 more days to run.
So just look at what you are doing. You cast aspersions on the ACBL, on
Mr. Beye, you attack BBO policy, Mr. Gitelman, Mr. Uday, and you try to
bite Peter's head off suggesting the ban and the email might not be
legitimate. I have ABSOLUTELY no doubt they are legitimate. But Ted
questioned rather or not the ban was for what you posted here. I think
the first ban was not. Mr. Uday's email clearly states "on BBO".
The extended ban might be for what you posted here. There is a
precedent for them to ban people who attack them with great vigor in
this forum. Their site is a free private club. If you want to attack
them here, that is certainly your right. I will fight for your ability
to do so. But if they want to ban you (in affect not associate with
your) for your negative overall attitude, your vindictiveness against
Mr. Cohen who probably has never done the first bit of harm to you, and
more importantly for you open and hostile attacks on them? Well that is
their right too. Think of the BBO as their "home" and all the
"members" as their invited guess. Guess what, looks like they
don't want to invite you back anymore. And you know what, I don't
think many people here will blame them.
Come on, while you are posting email's, why not post what you send
to Mr. Uday in response to his email you posted. Somehow I can't
imagine him setting around reading this thread closely enough to ban
you (I guess if I was him, I would have read your posting his email and
a very negative reply to his offer to lift the ban). Admit it, you
wrote something in anger to him, didn't you. I am sure we would all
like to read that so we can judge for ourselves if his response was
measured given the context of his initial communication to you. But
rather you do that or not, examine your own motives for the venom and
hatrid your post in this thread express. What have any of these people
done to you so that you responded in such a matter as to get a banned
for two years. Mr. Cohen, Mr. Gitelman, Mr. Uday, Mr. Beye have never
done anything to you, not really. How can you possible get so upset
over this issue?
As a footnote, several people clearly were banned over this issue on
BBO. Mr. Uday must think he is running an insane asylum sometimes,
bridge players are so often such big, spoiled, brats. However, at least
a few of them wrote in response to similar communications from Mr. Uday
that they would not "stalk" Mr. Cohen and would let Mr. Gitelman do his
investigation, and they were immediately unbanned. If pushed, I could
provide at least one name for certain, and I ahve heard of a few more,
but that might be just rumor. Maybe these people will post and
volunteer that a promise "to be nice" was sufficient to get back in
(and I suspect if they violate this be nice promise they will be with
you one the outside for a couple of years). Compare what happpened to
them to what happened to you, and as you do, examine what the
difference might be. In the famous words of Mr. Rodney King, "can't we
all just get along".... is that asking too much?
Don
Sandy E. Barnes
news:1114408016.5...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Interesting that you selected Rodney King for your quote. He has been
arrested several times for assault after the famous quotation was public
made. In addition, he represents the central figure in perhaps the greatest
miscarriage of justice in American history (the 4M award for damages, and
the trial of the police officers who arrested him).
The 90 second tape got a lot of press, but the events which led up to the 90
seconds of tape were ignored and never really acknowledged by the press or
public. Those folks did not start their shift by saying "lets find Rodney
tonight and beat him for a little fun".
Sandy Barnes
David Stevenson
>4. Rick Beye sent a letter to Gerard... (Rick used the term
>"misrepresented" ... my Thesaurus says "misrepresented" and LYING are
>similar words.)
Good for your thesaurus. I bet it did not put one word in capitals
nor discuss the nuances of the differences.
This sounds just like the words "tantamount to cheating" by which
people try to get sympathy by accusing themselves of cheating when
no-one else has.
--
David Stevenson Bridge RTFLB Cats Railways /\ /\
Liverpool, England, UK Fax: +44 870 055 7697 @ @
<bri...@blakjak.com> ICQ 20039682 bluejak on OKB =( + )=
Bridgepage: http://blakjak.com/brg_menu.htm ~
David Stevenson
>First, let me thank the person that brought this information to light.
>Why would the ACBL take someones word that they have had a "european
>experience" and not verify that information? Who do I write to and
>tell them that I have had more than one "european experience" and I
>need 10,000 master points? It makes a mockery of people that have
>played and paid for their master points. Suddenly a less than class c
>player is a GLM.
Hang on, a moment. I have many of these points: they mean I cannot
turn up and play in Flight B or Flight C events, and when I play
bracketed knockouts I am always in the top two brackets.
But they do not get me an ACBL rank. I still cannot get to be a Life
Master in the ACBL having no Red points - or is it Silver?
These points are solely used for what events you are allowed to play
in, nothing else.
Don
> Interesting that you selected Rodney King for your quote. He has
been
> arrested several times for assault after the famous quotation was
public
> made. In addition, he represents the central figure in perhaps the
greatest
> miscarriage of justice in American history (the 4M award for damages,
and
> the trial of the police officers who arrested him).
>
> The 90 second tape got a lot of press, but the events which led up to
the 90
> seconds of tape were ignored and never really acknowledged by the
press or
> public. Those folks did not start their shift by saying "lets find
Rodney
> tonight and beat him for a little fun".
>
> Sandy Barnes
Let me get this straight Sandy. Do you ACTUALLY support the concept
that the police can decide, on their own, who is worthy of being
assaulted during an arrest and who is not? You think the police get to
decide guilt and innocence, and to issue punishment for the crime
without need for a court, a judge, a jury, and a verdict?
Unlike you, I don't care WHAT lead up to Mr. King's arrest. His past
actions, or his actions in the years since his arrest. What happened to
Mr. King was simply wrong. It was wrong in America and it is wrong
anywhere else in a civilized world. Mr. King was caught, restrained,
and under control of the numerous police officers. He represented no
threat to the officers or to the public at that point. He should have
been told his rights, and transported to a holding facility to await
arraignment.
As for his words, they didn't come at the time of his arrest. They came
later, where there where Riots in the streets for how he had been
treated. Did Mr. King say, "yea those bastard officers beat the hell
out of me, Burn the city down?" No. Did he keep quiet and not do
anything? No. He came out and pleaded for peace and harmony with his
words. Hate him for being a bad guy who has done bad things, fine. I
have no problem with that. But condone the misconduct by the officers,
and use Mr. King's history to support this is totally inappropriate.
What is really sad is that under color of the badge, police may get
away with similar mistreatment of suspects much too often simply
because there is no camera to catch their actions (remember we all
INNOCENT until proven guilty in a court of law).
The GerardC case here bears, perhaps, some similarity to the Rodney
King case if you believe Mr. Cohen guilty. There is a lynch mob out to
punish him (as the police officers did to Mr. King) without due
process. The lynch mob group comes here and smear his name. They set up
webpages to smear his name (a link given in another post), the go
online on the BBO and OKBridge and join tables where Mr. Cohen is not
playing and smear his name by talking about how horrible he is. Why do
they do it at a table where Mr. Cohen is not playing? Because it got so
bad that the BBO had to alter their software such that kibitzers could
not talk about him (that is smear his name) while he was playing.
Imagine that, they had to change his software because otherwise they
were banning people several times of day for violating their rules
about not insulting players. So here, while the dispute over Mr. Cohen
has gone public, and BBO officials have said they are investigating and
will contact ACBL officials (see Mr. Gitleman's initially reply), the
public lynch mode continues. This despite the fact that their are
official channels in which one could complain about Mr. Cohen and get
him stopped, if what he is doing is bad/wrong, and despite
acknowledgement that an investigation has been started.
So why not report it the normal way? Why not wait and see what happens?
The lynch mob is still out to get Mr. Cohen (for whatever reason) and
anyone they deem incompetent to make a ruling the way they think it
should be made. That is, the "riot" continues... so, the words can't we
all just get along, seem quite appropriate.
As for Mr. Cohen and the BBO, I have observed Mr. Cohen's table on BBO
often has by far and away the most kibitzers, people seem to enjoy
watching him play and to listen to his analysis of the hands. Perhaps
this is for comic relief. Perhaps this is in the hopes of learning
something. I suspect these people who often watch him would actually
hate to see him banned from BBO. The reason I say this, if they didn't
like to watch him, they simply would not watch him. No one is forced to
kibitz him. But perhaps I should have ended up with a different phase
to the GerardC bashers... since "get a life" seems more
appropriate.
Don
Ann
Fred and Uday seem to want to think. Gerard lashes out at people
verbally with great frequency, calling them imbeciles, spitting rats,
small time club players, etc. He has routinely blamed his partners for
all the bad results he has at the table. He claims to be an expert and
a pro bridge player when in FACT he is a far cry from what most
advanced players would consider as pro and expert. Poor Gerard blames
others for his inability to get and keep bridge students. He blames
just the presence of others at a table for his poor concentration and
performance during a hand(not a trait I ever hear from Pros I know).
So, while you may think some of this criticism of Gerard is harsh you
must realize you have not been on the receiving end of his insanity and
his verbal abuse like many of us have. We feel that bringing Gerard
out in the open during the light of day might help Gerard to get a
grasp of reality for a change and learn to enjoy what bridge offers him
rather than complaining constantly about not making enough money off of
the game. Gerard has repeatedly threatened in public (using okbridge
as his platform) lawsuits, suicide, and quitting because he cannot make
the money he needs to live on from bridge.
If Gerard would quit being mean, would quit trying to convince people
he is an expert (which only makes him look like a clown since we all
know what level of player he is), would quit his public whining
sessions as have occurred on OKbridge many times, would apologize to
the people he has been extremely rude and arrogant to and would stop to
smell the roses so to speak, then we would all live happily ever after,
maybe even Gerard could enjoy bridge again. But Gerard has too many
expectations from the game (his entire life seems to depend on it) so
Gerard will never be able to enjoy it while he feels his expectations
are not met.
This public exposition will also help to serve BBO management and ACBL
management in that they will be more aware of why Gerard causes a
raucous anywhere he goes. Gerard is the eye of the storm with his
self-proclamations of greatness and resulting arrogance.
While some of you without personal knowledge of Gerard and without a
personal history of interactions with him may want to criticize the
items in this newsgroup topic .... be aware that your criticisms do not
bear much weight compared to those who have been on the receiving end
of Gerard's craziness.
Otis Bricker
news:IdidnVJtF_8...@comcast.com:
<SNIP>
> Interesting that you selected Rodney King for your quote. He has been
> arrested several times for assault after the famous quotation was
> public made. In addition, he represents the central figure in perhaps
> the greatest miscarriage of justice in American history (the 4M award
> for damages, and the trial of the police officers who arrested him).
>
> The 90 second tape got a lot of press, but the events which led up to
> the 90 seconds of tape were ignored and never really acknowledged by
> the press or public. Those folks did not start their shift by saying
> "lets find Rodney tonight and beat him for a little fun".
>
I am not saying that the actions of the police were right, but they are
much easier to understand in context.
Sara Stobbe
of this ugliness by Gerard that you claim so many have been exposed to.
If you spec at his tables and participate in the ridicule that goes on, of
course you are setting yourself up to be a target of his 'insanity' - but if
you refuse to become part of that ugliness then how can you become one of
his targets?
I really don't understand how all this has escalated into such a huge thing.
There are many folks out there who claim to be experts and teachers and
really are awful that don't get this kind of reaction. If Gerard is such a
terrible bridge player, I'd think his partners would eventually stop playing
with him. If Gerard is such a terrible teacher, I'd think he would not be
able to get and/or keep students. The circus atmosphere that goes on
wherever he plays is a huge part of the reason that he gets any notice at
all.
Sure he blames other folks at the table for his poor play -- have you ever
tried to play with dozens of folks in spec making fun of you? How well do
you think you'd play? How well do you think anyone would play?
I can only imagine that even Fred Gitelman's game would suffer if he were
wondering what folks were saying about him in spec rather than being able to
focus on his game.
You don't have to like or respect someone -- but you also don't have to
become part of an ugly mob just because you don't like or respect that
person. Just stay away. Don't validate what he's trying to do -- if he gets
no attention do you really think he'll keep at it? Shrug.
I guess I just don't get it. I really don't understand how any of you can
justify the way you've treated that man.
Sara
"Ann" <annwil...@hotpop.com> wrote in message
news:1114447823.8...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Don
authorities abuse their power towards him just because I am not a black
repeat offender, who will speak up for me should the authorities decide
rightly or wrongly to come after me? This applies in this situation as
much in the US today as similar sentiment did in the late 30's.
Wayne
I have *NEVER* chatted with or about Gerard, but I have watched him
play and abuse people and threaten suicide. (A local member claimed
to have contacted the police and had him taken for observation, that's
how seriously we (I proudly count myself a member of the "vicious wolf pack)
feel this man is delusional.
I have seen him give bizarre "lessons" to unsuspecting students,
Most of whom left him without filing complaints. I have watched
in real-time "Gee" (as he is known) abuse others and lie about
others and himself. I have seen in real-time complaints made.
For some reason the management of BBO has seen fit to protect this
man and not only permit him to use their site to de-fraud others
but actively seem to help him, by ignoring the incredible volume
of complaints and "booting" many members who seek to protect
potential students from him. That of course should be the BBO
management's responsibility but as they haven't seen fit to do
this job it is not surprising that others have stepped in. These
are the so-called members of the vicious wolf pack. What else
can be done? Complaints are ignored, and the complainers get
kicked off of BBO. Do you sit silently by and condone Gee's actions
with silence? Watch him abuse others and not step in? That's
what I have done and I'm not proud that I did nothing to help stop
him.
(In spite of my inaction, I too have been booted from BBO,
apparently because one of the suspected "wolf pack" often uses
my home computer to play. It seems they either are tracking
IP address or the software has some hidden spyware.)
These people including myself watch Gee with a morbid fascination.
You want to turn away but you somehow can't help but watch this
jerk hurt others and himself. Many have tried to speak with
Gee to no avail. He seems very delusional and I fear that
if he is ever confronted with the truth about himself in a way
he can't evade, he would hurt himself. Gee reminds me, not
of Rodney King, but of Frank Burns of MASH.
Fred has stated in this forum that no action would be taken
until an investigation was completed. Then BBO turns
around and boots several members before completing the
investigation. Given what I know of Fred Gittelman's excellent
reputation for ethics and integrity, these actions seem
premature. If you are banning the "wolf pack" (I love that
phrase) you should also ban Gee until your investigation
is complete. By taking sides you have not be treating all
members fairly. And from my own observations you have been
not protecting Gee's students, by allowing him to use your
site as a platform for "free speech", but denying any
"rebuttal" you seem to be taking sides before completing
any investigation.
Many of Gees students do leave him early. I would guess
many of them have abandoned bridge altogether due to the
experience. I am neither a lawyer nor a bridge expert,
but if any of these former students make a legal issue of
this behavior I would imagine the BBO could be sued as
a co-defendant for their obvious support of his actions.
-Wayne
Sandy E. Barnes
Sandy Barnes
"Don" <donTw...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1114443815....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
Time out here. What I saw on the 90 second tape was repeated efforts by Mr.
King to attempt to reach his feet. I did not see him ball up to protect
himself like we would do if under attack from an overpowering group of
people.
What led up to the events recoreded is extremely important! He was known to
be both hostile and to have resisted arrest. He was able to throw off
multiple attacking police officers who had previously attempted to restrain
him. He was proven to be violent and appearantly to not feel pain as normal
people will. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs and out of
controll.
The police do not decide who is going to attack them (or shoot them, which
sometimes happens). They need to protect themselves first, and the public
secondly. If they are dead or injured beyond the means to protect the
public, they do us no good. Them need to first restrain the suspect before
any due process can occur. This has NOTHING to do with your suggestions of
them deciding the case on their own.
If I (or any sane person) was trying to subdue him, I would want to be sure
that he was powerless to hurt me, particularly after he has demostrated the
ability and desire to do so. How would I tell if he was so now powerless as
long as he continured to try to reach his feet after having already been
tasered and struck with battons? Perhaps I would strike him additional
times beyond the final strike which rendered him powerless in oreder to be
confident that he was no longer a threat.
In any event, you are judging their actions without having experienced all
that happened, home safe without any threat to yourself. Try being in their
shoes.
A small point. They were well armed and could have simply shot him, and
there would be no tape, no outcry, and perhaps no Rodney. They did not take
the easy way out, rather tried to perserve life while subduing a criminal
who was a threat to themselves and the public at that moment.
> As for his words, they didn't come at the time of his arrest. They came
> later, where there where Riots in the streets for how he had been
> treated. Did Mr. King say, "yea those bastard officers beat the hell
> out of me, Burn the city down?" No. Did he keep quiet and not do
> anything? No. He came out and pleaded for peace and harmony with his
> words. Hate him for being a bad guy who has done bad things, fine. I
> have no problem with that. But condone the misconduct by the officers,
> and use Mr. King's history to support this is totally inappropriate.
> What is really sad is that under color of the badge, police may get
> away with similar mistreatment of suspects much too often simply
> because there is no camera to catch their actions (remember we all
> INNOCENT until proven guilty in a court of law).
So what? He had a multi million dollar suit against the City of LA to
benefit from some good press.
You must be innocent minded to think that Mr. King was/is some sort of saint
who was wrongly attacked by the mean spirited LA Police Department. Where
is your common sense man? How do you think it came to be that there were so
many policemen around him in the first place?
> The GerardC case here bears, perhaps, some similarity to the Rodney
> King case if you believe Mr. Cohen guilty. There is a lynch mob out to
> punish him (as the police officers did to Mr. King) without due
> process. The lynch mob group comes here and smear his name. They set up
> webpages to smear his name (a link given in another post), the go
> online on the BBO and OKBridge and join tables where Mr. Cohen is not
> playing and smear his name by talking about how horrible he is. Why do
> they do it at a table where Mr. Cohen is not playing? Because it got so
> bad that the BBO had to alter their software such that kibitzers could
> not talk about him (that is smear his name) while he was playing.
> Imagine that, they had to change his software because otherwise they
> were banning people several times of day for violating their rules
> about not insulting players. So here, while the dispute over Mr. Cohen
> has gone public, and BBO officials have said they are investigating and
> will contact ACBL officials (see Mr. Gitleman's initially reply), the
> public lynch mode continues. This despite the fact that their are
> official channels in which one could complain about Mr. Cohen and get
> him stopped, if what he is doing is bad/wrong, and despite
> acknowledgement that an investigation has been started.
Gerard's case in no way resembles Rodney King! At the worst, Gerard is
simply a misguided soul blinded to the facts of his bridge ability. Perhaps
his dreams ahve become his reality. Many of us are so blinded by our own
estimate of our own ability, but we just have not taken the next step and
acted out our dream.
Rodney King was a criminal before the now famos incident, and continued to
be a criminal after that event. Even before the $4M judgement was ararded!
Don
I never once said Mr. Cohen is not everything people said he is here in
this thread. Truth be told, I don't know much about Mr. Cohen. I did
read, a long time ago, the godofthemachine site. Quite funny if true, I
suspect it is, but maybe taken out of context. From the few times I
have kibitzed Mr. Cohen, it is my belief he is far below being a
"bridge expert". However, in my opinion more than half the people
playing on BBO who identify themselves as Bridge Experts are also far
below that level, and virtually all who identify themselves as "world
class" are even worse. If the BBO started weeding out every fake expert
and fake world class player they would lose half or more of their
members (myself included.. blush).
As far as Mr. Cohen being mean spirited, I have to admit the times I
kibitized him (again not many) he was perhaps the best behaved player I
have ever seen on BBO. He thanked his partner, he apologized for his
mistakes (At least the ones he recongnized), and he never said a single
cross word. The BBO has a strick policy against insulting people and
using harsh language, and they log public chat (this is no secret). So
if Mr. Cohen was every nasty to someone, all they had to do (you or any
other Gerard basher), is to report it to the abuse person on BBO.
Repeat offenses would get Mr. Cohen, like this gilagirl in this thread,
banned. The fact that this hasn't happened suggest either it doesn't
occur on BBO or no one bothered to report, or if you are a
conspiratist, it was reported and BBO ignored the complaint. Since, so
far, no one has said they have reported this behavior (even you in your
post talking about how poorly you were treated, didn't say you reported
it).
As far as being critical of this item on Gerard in this user group, you
are wrong again. I explicitly stated in my post in response to gilagirl
that I support her right to go after Mr. Cohen her. I said I would
fight for her right to do so. Where I took exception was her
characterization of the ACBL officials and Mr. Uday's response and it
being retribution for daring to challenge Mr. Cohen in this forum. The
ban (especially the extended ban) surely had nothing to do with
insulting Mr. Cohen here and everything to do with her attitudes toward
BBO policy and staff.
The BBO has a responsibility to protect their members from attack (and
as fred pointed out, Mr. Cohen is a member, and as such deserves this
protection). Likewise they have the responsibility to protect their
members from fraud. I suspect that by giving Mr. Cohen a private
teaching club, the BBO might seem to be endorsing him as a teacher. If
the allegations are true, I suspect the BBO might at the very least
remove his private club, if not restrict his activities on line. But
again, I think if we took a poll on Mr. Cohen, most BBO members would
care less about him, and those who know him, many more would like to
have him around (as indicated by his high kibitzer rate) than ban him.
As for the banned gilagirl? There is always msn bridge and okbridge for
her. It is probably just as well, because when she plays there she will
not have to endure Mr. Cohen logged in to the same gaming site.
Sandy E. Barnes
news:Xns96438478148DDob...@216.196.97.136...
I fully agree with this comment above. The final analysis may in fact be
that there was/is some amount of error by the police involved with Rodney
King, but whatever amount that may be is easily understandable due to the
sequence of events of that incident. We, as ordinary people, are far from
perfect. Police are people as well, and, while trained for this sort of
situtation, are subject to the impact of events, particulary when their own
safety is involved. To expect and demand perfection from them is foolish at
best, and certainly not practical.
It is easy to Monday Morning Quaterback. After all, there is no pressure on
that person to perform.
Abuse of power is another subject, but there is no evidence to support this
contention in the case of Rodney King. This is a case where events may have
got out of control, largely due to Rodney King's actions.
Sandy Barnes
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell050302.asp
>
Don
1) you have the fellow picked up (arrested is too strong, but taken in)
in the real world
2) you actively seek out people to tell how horrible he is
3) you hate "gee" but you watch with morbid fascination (would you
really like a bbo without gee? I wonder.
4) You misrepresent Fred's comments where he said he was taking no
action (later clarified) against Mr. Cohen until the investigation is
completed (and by implication may not take any when it is completed).
5) You think it only fair that everyone is tossed off the BBO site (the
wolf pack and Mr. Cohen). But it is clear that the formal rules of the
BBO, all the actions you describe above (except number 4) are
violations created by the wolff pack, and none of these are violations
by Mr. Cohen. The Wolff pack is being sanctioned for clear,
unequivacable violations of the SITE rules. This isn't black and white,
this is clear in most cases. In your case, you profess to be both
innocent (never spoken to or about Mr. Cohen) and guilty ("I proudly
count myself a member of the "vicious wolf pack").. however Mr. Uday
found you, looks like it was a good catch.
As far as who is responsible, if anyone, for allowing Mr. Cohen to
advertise himself as a bridge teacher, this is not as easy a question
as you assume. The BBO does not certify teachers. There are plenty of
people advertising themselves as "pro's" and teachers. Some claim to be
ACBL-certified, others make no such claim. Some claim national
championships, others do not. I do know that the BBO has not issued Mr
Cohen a gold star. So it is clear they do not assume he is a national
champ or a european champion. That "recongnition" (the gold star) is as
far as the BBO goes to certify some has at least reached some level of
success at bridge. No doubt there are a lot of people who would be more
than happy to start threads on how this "gold star player" or that
"gold star player" is not close to an expert, and how the BBO is
defrauding the community by letting such "idiots" have a gold star. I
have actually had lots of people tell me things along those lines as I
kibitiz tables with one or more gold stars.. and it is fairly frequent,
where some kibitzer will make disparaging remarks about a gold star to
the full table after a play or bid. It is enough for the poor BBO staff
to deal with this rude and boorish behavior than have to run around
trying to figure out who is, and who is not, fit to teach bridge.
Travis Crump
> gilagirl wrote
>
>> First, let me thank the person that brought this information to light.
>> Why would the ACBL take someones word that they have had a "european
>> experience" and not verify that information? Who do I write to and
>> tell them that I have had more than one "european experience" and I
>> need 10,000 master points? It makes a mockery of people that have
>> played and paid for their master points. Suddenly a less than class c
>> player is a GLM.
>
>
> Hang on, a moment. I have many of these points: they mean I cannot
> turn up and play in Flight B or Flight C events, and when I play
> bracketed knockouts I am always in the top two brackets.
>
> But they do not get me an ACBL rank. I still cannot get to be a Life
> Master in the ACBL having no Red points - or is it Silver?
>
Probably Silver, Gold can be substituted for red for the purposes of
life master.
Travis
Wayne
I'm not sure how Rodney king came to be involved in this. But
after thinking about it I assume it was for the visual imagery
of many people attacking poor Gerard.
I have decided there is merit in the analogy, but something
bothered me about it. At lunch today I figured out what was
wrong: there were three principals here, not two: Mr. King,
the police, and George Holliday.
From my point of view the analogy as presented has the cast of
characters mixed up: The "victim" (Rodney King) is Gerard's
students and abused partners. The "police" is Gerard, and
the "wolf pack" is George Holliday.
Many people have posted here stating that if people didn't
like what Gerard was doing, they should have walked away and
not gotten involved. George Holliday could have done that.
Instead he stayed and filmed six armed police using excessive
force. Then he further got involved, which certainly must
have entailed some risk, by publishing the tapes.
"Walk away, it isn't your business" is easy advice to give but
difficult to follow if you see someone being hurt or about
to be hurt. Do you walk away from a raving nut waving a gun
around? Would you walk away and do nothing if you saw that nut
heading for a playground with children?
Okay, so I went overboard here. Gerard is not like some nut
with a gun threatening children. But he has threatened to kill himself
(which is when some people acted). And he does harm.
(I didn't start the analogy to Mr. King. But I can invoke
imagery with the best of them!)
-Wayne
Sara Stobbe
protecting..... do they think there are a bunch of 6 year olds hanging out
at BBO, looking for teachers to teach them to play bridge, that need to be
protected from the big bad "not really qualified to be a teacher" person?
In my experience, bridge players as a whole are an intelligent group of
people. If someone advertises as a world class player, expert teacher, and
I decide I want to pay him for a couple of lessons to see if we are
compatable and if I really can learn from him, do you really think I am
going to appreciate you warning me off? And do you really think I'm going
to give this person lots and lots of my money once I figure out (and I WILL
figure it out) that he's not really all he claims to be? If anything, my
tendency would be to defend him and insist on making up my own mind about
his qualifications and ethics.
As far as the 'we are trying to help this poor sick man' garbage.... give me
a break. You stalk his every move, you devote web space to ridiculing him
and recording every silly thing that might happen during his sessions, you
sit and watch and pounce on every incident and blow it all out of
proportion.... he knows this is going on!.... and you think you are helping
him? I think you just might be the reason he threatened to kill himself!
I think BBO is banning the right people. You don't have to 'walk away' --
there are procedures in place to protest anything that goes on at BBO that
you might not like. If you are not willing to follow the procedures and
respect the BBO owner's rights to decide how they want to handle any
problems they may have, you shouldn't be a member.
Sara
"Wayne" <nos...@all.4me> wrote in message
news:d_bbe.25172$5f.1...@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
Andrew Gumperz
IMO, almost everything about this thread on both sides of the issue
seems like overreaction. There is one exception below:
> For goodness sake Wayne, look at what you and your friends are doing.
>
> 1) you have the fellow picked up (arrested is too strong, but taken
in)
> in the real world
Threats of suicide are not a joke. No, I don't think someone who has
threatened suicide as frequently as Gerard is reputed to have done is a
serious risk, but a risk is still a risk.
If I ever see such a threat I will immediately attempt to contact the
person's local police department--I believe that to be the only
appropriate response.
Gerard, if that thought makes you uncomfortable, don't publicly
threaten suicide--If you seriously feel suicidal get some help instead.
If you don't, find another way to express your feelings. There are a
few things that should be outside the bounds of discourse and this is
one of them.
Andrew
Adam Beneschan
> Please repeat after me... "It just doesn't matter. It just doesn't
> matter..."
>
> The only significance that these types of "incidents" have is in the
> mind of the beholder. What does it matter if the ACBL wants to make
> Citizen X a Netronium life master or the Don of all Bridge Teachers?
Yeah, when I saw the BIG TIME in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS with not one, but
two!! exclamation points, I thought it was going to be about the ACBL
doing some stupid bumbling thing that cost them a ton of money, like
some years ago when one of their employees embezzled a bunch of money
or the fiasco when they paid a bunch of money to a CEO who turned out
to be a dud. Compared to those, this seems like "ACBL Fumbles
<whispering> little time ......"
-- Adam
Rich
## If a man walks into a bar and brags about being a successful
engineer, when he is no engineer, no real harm done.
## If a man cons someone into hiring himself to build a bridge,
convincing his customer he is an engineer when he is not, that becomes
fraud.
Most of us "losers" in the "wolfpack" watch Gerard for humor. HIs
play, his mistakes, his comments...and the comments of the spectators
can be much funnier than TV. 99% of the time, there is no serious name
calling or insulting from the wolfpack, just things like "nice raise
with a stiff", etc. Most of the comments are meant for the other
kibitzers. While on OKB, Gerard routinely when to "spec", to ease drop
on conversations that werent meant for him to hear. He also, on
occaision, would have a "mole" report to him what was being said.
Another point of interest, there are even worse players than Gerard on
OKB. You dont see them with 50 spectators making fun of them. The
reason is that they dont lie about there abilities, they dont make
outragious claims of greatness. (I have personally witnessed Gerard
claim past European titles, that he has been in Bridge World several
times, and that he is great expert with worldwide noteriety)
What has brought this matter to a boil however is far different. He
conned the ACBL into "awarding" himself 3000 points. I believe this is
pure fraud. My firm belief is that he did this to further add
credibility to his silly claims of greatness. I also believe it was
his intent to later use his "3310 pts" to assist himself in defauding
other nonsuspecting students. Kinda like a person lying about military
experience, buying himself a medal he didnt earn.
His last stunt clearly crossed the line. This is no more "barroom
bravado". He lied to the acbl, he lied to BBO about a "forgery". This
is what upset me most.... and this is why I personally sent an email to
the ACBL and to Fred Gitelman. This action is undeniably unethical,
and damages those of us who actually earned points.
Rich Regan
Sara Stobbe
"Rich" <scya...@alltel.net> wrote in message
news:1114466761....@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> If you want to understand Sara, maybe I can help you.
>
> ## If a man walks into a bar and brags about being a successful
> engineer, when he is no engineer, no real harm done.
>
> ## If a man cons someone into hiring himself to build a bridge,
> convincing his customer he is an engineer when he is not, that becomes
> fraud.
and whose responsibility is it to find out if this man is who he says he is?
If you were going to pay an engineer to build a bridge, wouldn't you check
out his credentials and references? Or would you convict him without
knowing all the facts because a group of malcontents have decided that he's
a liar and a cheat?
>
> Most of us "losers" in the "wolfpack" watch Gerard for humor. HIs
> play, his mistakes, his comments...and the comments of the spectators
> can be much funnier than TV. 99% of the time, there is no serious name
> calling or insulting from the wolfpack, just things like "nice raise
> with a stiff", etc. Most of the comments are meant for the other
> kibitzers. While on OKB, Gerard routinely when to "spec", to ease drop
> on conversations that werent meant for him to hear.
Wow. so it's ok to make fun of him behind his back, but not to his face. I
see.
no 'serious name calling or insulting'..... just total ridicule and contempt
:(
He also, on
> occaision, would have a "mole" report to him what was being said.
Yeah, I've heard of these 'moles' who innocently went to spec a game and got
caught in the crossfire. I'm sure glad I didn't make a practice of speccing
Gerard's games or no doubt I'd be labled a 'mole' by your friendly wolfpack
too.
> Another point of interest, there are even worse players than Gerard on
> OKB. You dont see them with 50 spectators making fun of them. The
> reason is that they dont lie about there abilities, they dont make
> outragious claims of greatness.
Actually that's not true. I know of one teacher for sure who is definitely
NOT qualified and lies all the time about their level and abilities. No one
is ever around to challenge this one.... and I know there are quite a few
other 'teachers' at OKb and BBO who are not really qualified to be teaching.
That's the point, if left to their own devices, folks figure it out soon
enough on go on to find someone more qualified.
(I have personally witnessed Gerard
> claim past European titles, that he has been in Bridge World several
> times, and that he is great expert with worldwide noteriety)
>
> What has brought this matter to a boil however is far different. He
> conned the ACBL into "awarding" himself 3000 points. I believe this is
> pure fraud. My firm belief is that he did this to further add
> credibility to his silly claims of greatness. I also believe it was
> his intent to later use his "3310 pts" to assist himself in defauding
> other nonsuspecting students. Kinda like a person lying about military
> experience, buying himself a medal he didnt earn.
>
> His last stunt clearly crossed the line. This is no more "barroom
> bravado". He lied to the acbl, he lied to BBO about a "forgery". This
> is what upset me most.... and this is why I personally sent an email to
> the ACBL and to Fred Gitelman. This action is undeniably unethical,
> and damages those of us who actually earned points.
I have full respect for anyone who takes issue with this man's actions, and
reports their suspicions to the proper authorities and let's them handle it
from there. I have no respect for folks who will go out of their way to
trash someone's name and reputation via a vehicle like this news group. Why
should we take your word for anything you claim about this man any more than
we should take his word that he is what he says he is?
Sara
>
> Rich Regan
>
Barry Margolin
"David Howorth" <howorthd.don...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> As I understand the original message here, someone was misrepresenting his
> non-ACBL bridge history (if that's what "eligibility points" -- a term I
> don't know -- means), in order to gain a higher ACBL ranking than he would
> have obtained based on ACBL experience alone.
>
> Now, if I'm right about that, what I don't understand is the letter that is
> supposed to have addressed this situation:
>
> >
> > "Mr. <deleted>,
> >
> > You are clearly misrepresenting the issue of eligibility points
> > assigned to your account.
> > They will be removed tomorrow, April 20, 2005.
> >
> > Based on your statements I must insist that in the future you may not
> > play in any events other than Flight A, Stratum A and top brackets of
> > knockouts. If it comes to my attention that you have played in any
> > event with an upper masterpoint limit I will be forced to pursue
> > administrative and disciplinary remedies.
>
> The two paragraphs of the letter almost look as if they were addressed to
> different people. If the ACBL believes he is not as good as he has claimed
> to be, why are they limiting his future playing to the top flights,
> brackets, etc. -- the very flights and brackets he would have been limited
> to if his "eligibility points" were valid? If a flight/bracket restriction
> is going to be imposed, I would think it would be more logical to require
> him to play in the lowest flights, brackets, etc. (although I don't see why
> even that restriction would be appropriate).
I think this is ACBL's general policy when they revoke someone's
masterpoints -- it happens more often when they reinstate a member who
was previously suspended for cheating. In those cases, the player's
experience typically corresponds to the high flight/bracket, but their
official masterpoints would have allowed them to beat up on low
flight/bracket players.
But even in a case like this, it serves a purpose. For bridge
professionals, masterpoints have an additional value beside restricting
the events you can enter. They use them in marketing themselves. So he
can only play against the big boys, but he can't claim to be one of them.
--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
Ann
Sara, sweetheart, wake up! ... How many people telling you they have
heard/seen Gerard do the exact same thing does it take before you
believe it?
You and other people are being naive if you think Gerard has not caused
every bit of this commotion.
My personal integrity I would stake next to anyone's and every word I
have reported in my previous posts are the truth and most from personal
experience ... seen with my own 2 eyes.
Gerard may be Mr. nice guy on BBO ... but he has earned every bit of
his current reputation that is being exposed from OKBridge activities
and his recent claims to the ACBL.
The only reason he has the kibitzers on BBO is because they are folks
from OKBridge that still find his play humorous. You do not think
these kibitzers are there out of respect for Gerard do you? It is much
better than TV most nights.
David Stevenson
No, they cannot. Trust me: I know!
Tim Goodwin
<sandyba...@comcast.net> wrote:
>easily understandable due to the
>sequence of events of that incident.
Understandable is very different from excusable or justifiable or even
acceptable.
Tim Goodwin
<bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>> But they do not get me an ACBL rank. I still cannot get to be a
>>>Life Master in the ACBL having no Red points - or is it Silver?
>
>>Probably Silver, Gold can be substituted for red for the purposes of
>>life master.
>
> No, they cannot. Trust me: I know!
Yes, they can. From the ACBL web oage:
Life Master 300 (50 silver, 25 gold and 25 red or gold)
Tim
Tim Goodwin
>Sara, sweetheart, wake up!
Ann, darling, wake up! How long before you realize that your campaign
here is more likely to convince people that you are a kook than
convince us that the target of your witch hunt is a bad guy?
David Stevenson
I misread what was written: anyway you *have* to have 50 silver. You
cannot substitute them. I cannot use equivalency points to get a rank.
Steve Grant
news:2qlCWOBw...@blakjak.demon.co.uk...
> I misread what was written: anyway you *have* to have 50 silver. You
> cannot substitute them. I cannot use equivalency points to get a rank.
This is *almost* exactly right. If you had any masterpoints when silver
points went into effect, but were not yet a LM, you were assigned a prorated
silver point requirement. For example, if you had 60 masterpoints as of the
cutoff, you needed only 40 silver points to make LM.
Of course, this was all back in the Paleozoic era. I know -- I was there.
raija d
"Tim Goodwin" <ne...@9oakhill.com> wrote in message
news:426d8be6....@news1.news.adelphia.net...
Forget the "wolf pack" syndrome and witch hunt, that was not what started
this thread. It was about a guy who contacted ACBL with information about
past european successes that did not exist and asked to be awarded
masterpoints for them. And the subsequent exposure of the fraud.
Ann
here is more likely to convince people that you are a kook than
convince us that the target of your witch hunt is a bad guy
This business of fraudulent activity by Gerard is serious and not
simply juvenile name calling.
Do you know me well enough to pass judgement? This aspersion you cast
on me is merely an idle digression from the more important matter at
hand.
Webster's defines "kook" as ... Etymology: by shortening & alteration
from cuckoo : one whose ideas or actions are eccentric, fantastic, or
insane : SCREWBALL
Robert Lipton
Agreed. And we have subsequently been told that Fred Gitelman is
looking into the matter and will decide what to do when he has the
facts he needs; and that he and his associates are insisting on a
certain level of decorum in the matter until they have made up their
minds. And Ann -- whoever she is -- has just posted the same item half
a dozen times.
The world is not going to end no matter what happens on BBO and the
level of hysteria evinced by the people who started this thread, from
THE BIG CAPS AND MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION POINTS TO THE POST-SNL ARCH SCORN
HAS ME CONVINCED THEY ARE HYSTERICAL FOOLS!!!!!!!!
Start your own mewsgroup to discuss this dreadful matter, kiddies.
Bob
David Stevenson
Yes, but I was not. And I need 50 silver. None of my successes in
Europe are going to affect that one jot or tittle.
I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
Chris Pisarra
> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the value of
the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on a plane, come to
the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
Chris
--
I want to die in my sleep, like my Uncle Jack
not screaming in panic like his passengers. ---Jack
Handy
David Stevenson
>David Stevenson burbled to the world:
>
>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>
> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the value of
>the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on a plane, come to
>the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
It is still a teensy bit expensive, especially as I am not sure of
doing well without a partner whom I understand.
ted
> Yes, but I was not. And I need 50 silver. None of my successes
in
> Europe are going to affect that one jot or tittle.
>
> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
I think our SPAM poster knows where you can get 30 pieces of silver.
;-) BTW The invitation to play in the Greater Metairie Sectional
(weekend of May 5 thru 8) with me still stands. ;-))
John (MadDog) Probst
<Ch...@Pisarra.com> writes
>David Stevenson burbled to the world:
>
>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>
> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the value of
>the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on a plane, come to
>the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>
> Chris
Since I only need 41.2 silver points can I come too?
>
>--
>I want to die in my sleep, like my Uncle Jack
> not screaming in panic like his passengers. ---Jack
>Handy
>
>
--
John (MadDog) Probst| . ! -^- |AIM GLChienFou
451 Mile End Road | /|__. \:/ |BCLive ChienFou
London E3 4PA | / @ __) -|- |john:at:asimere:dot:com
+44-(0)20 8983 5818 | /\ --^ | |www.asimere.com/~john
John (MadDog) Probst
<bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>Tim Goodwin wrote
>>On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 23:56:14 +0000 (UTC), David Stevenson
>><bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>>> But they do not get me an ACBL rank. I still cannot get to be a
>>>>>Life Master in the ACBL having no Red points - or is it Silver?
>>>
>>>>Probably Silver, Gold can be substituted for red for the purposes of
>>>>life master.
>>>
>>> No, they cannot. Trust me: I know!
>>
>>Yes, they can. From the ACBL web oage:
>>
>>Life Master 300 (50 silver, 25 gold and 25 red or gold)
>
> I misread what was written: anyway you *have* to have 50 silver. You
>cannot substitute them. I cannot use equivalency points to get a rank.
Hey david. I've got 8.8 silver points, and enough gold or red to be LM.
I even won another 0.56 blacks in Toronto at Kate Buchanan's last week.
A nice club, cheerful high ceilinged basement, noisy, happy TD called
Alex who tried to put me in the 'B' flight (yeah yeah). Good fun. Even
met a rgb'er there. Perhaps we should organise ACBL sectionals at
brighton :) cheers John
John (MadDog) Probst
<bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>Chris Pisarra wrote
>>David Stevenson burbled to the world:
>>
>>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>>
>> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the value of
>>the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on a plane, come to
>>the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>
> It is still a teensy bit expensive, especially as I am not sure of
>doing well without a partner whom I understand.
Bwahahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Robert Lipton
John (MadDog) Probst wrote:
> In article <2qlCWOBw...@blakjak.demon.co.uk>, David Stevenson
> <bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>
>>Tim Goodwin wrote
>>
>>>On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 23:56:14 +0000 (UTC), David Stevenson
>>><bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>> But they do not get me an ACBL rank. I still cannot get to be a
>>>>>>Life Master in the ACBL having no Red points - or is it Silver?
>>>>
>>>>>Probably Silver, Gold can be substituted for red for the purposes of
>>>>>life master.
>>>>
>>>> No, they cannot. Trust me: I know!
>>>
>>>Yes, they can. From the ACBL web oage:
>>>
>>>Life Master 300 (50 silver, 25 gold and 25 red or gold)
>>
>> I misread what was written: anyway you *have* to have 50 silver. You
>>cannot substitute them. I cannot use equivalency points to get a rank.
>
>
> Hey david. I've got 8.8 silver points, and enough gold or red to be LM.
> I even won another 0.56 blacks in Toronto at Kate Buchanan's last week.
> A nice club, cheerful high ceilinged basement, noisy, happy TD called
> Alex who tried to put me in the 'B' flight (yeah yeah). Good fun. Even
> met a rgb'er there. Perhaps we should organise ACBL sectionals at
> brighton :) cheers John
Mybe you should see about organizing a rec.games.bridge individual so we
can find out how all these styles of bidding clash.
Bob
John Blubaugh
"Chris Pisarra" <Ch...@Pisarra.com> wrote in message
news:TeSdnckOVOm...@comcast.com...
> David Stevenson burbled to the world:
>
>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>
> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the value
> of the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on a plane,
> come to the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>
> Chris
>
Hey, Chris, we agree again. Wanna rethink your political position ;-)
JB
Chris Pisarra
> "Chris Pisarra" <Ch...@Pisarra.com> wrote in message
>> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the
>> value of the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on
>> a plane, come to the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>>
>> Chris
>>
>
> Hey, Chris, we agree again. Wanna rethink your political position ;-)
Yes. War and deficits are good. Civil rights are bad.
Who needs a supreme court, just let Falwell decide things. Women should be
barefoot and pregnant, but we shouldn't teach them in school how they got
that way.
Chris
--
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to
achieve it through not dying. ---Woody
Allen
Chris Pisarra
> In article <wABjcXQh...@blakjak.demon.co.uk>, David Stevenson
> <bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>> Chris Pisarra wrote
>>> David Stevenson burbled to the world:
>>>
>>>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>>>
>>> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the
>>> value of the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get
>>> on a plane, come to the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>>
>> It is still a teensy bit expensive, especially as I am not sure of
>> doing well without a partner whom I understand.
>
> Bwahahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I was going to suggest that he bring you along, too. Guess
that won't work after all.
Chris
--
These are my opinions. If you don't like them, I have others
John Blubaugh
"Chris Pisarra" <Ch...@Pisarra.com> wrote in message
> John Blubaugh burbled to the world:
>> "Chris Pisarra" <Ch...@Pisarra.com> wrote in message
>
>>> Now that our brilliant president has managed to run the
>>> value of the dollar right into the ground, why don't you just get on
>>> a plane, come to the states for the weekend and play a sectional?
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>
>> Hey, Chris, we agree again. Wanna rethink your political position ;-)
>
>
> Yes. War and deficits are good. Civil rights are bad.
> Who needs a supreme court, just let Falwell decide things. Women should
> be barefoot and pregnant, but we shouldn't teach them in school how they
> got that way.
>
> Chris
>
That was extremely well said. I'm proud of you.
JB
David Stevenson
>[snip]
>> Yes, but I was not. And I need 50 silver. None of my successes
>in
>> Europe are going to affect that one jot or tittle.
>>
>> I WANT SOME SILVER POINTS !!!!!!!!!
>
>
>I think our SPAM poster knows where you can get 30 pieces of silver.
>;-) BTW The invitation to play in the Greater Metairie Sectional
>(weekend of May 5 thru 8) with me still stands. ;-))
Crockfords Final, I'm afraid. No, I'm not playing.
David Stevenson
Actually, I think I understand Probst. I just can't afford him!
Ann
I feel that the events of the last few days deserve my making some
comments. Firstly, I want to say that, today, April 26th 2005, I
finally spoke to Mr. Richard Beye, from the ACBL, who confirmed that
the letter he sent from the ACBL, that everybody has read by now, was
really from him and not a forgery. This was great surprise for me,
since, even short, it contains contradictions and was sent to other
parties than me, though it was actually a letter addressed to me
personally.
Mr. Rick Beye, in that letter, made some statements that I cannot
accept. The first one is, and I quote:
" misrepresenting the issue of eligibility points assigned to your
account".
I did not misrepresent anything. My past records, being prior to 1980,
were before computers were used for tracking and keeping clear and
consistent records. All records were kept manually, and archived,
making it very difficult to retrieve, unless precise dates and places
are provided by whoever needs copy of those records. I did not keep any
personal records, since playing bridge was not my priority at the time
either. He even acknowledge that he had been unable to get them either.
By adding the word clearly in front of it, he implies that he has proof
that I claimed something I had no right to claim. Again, He admitted he
did not have any more proof than I had myself. So, there is a misuse of
the word "clearly"
His next statement is: "They will be removed tomorrow, April 20,2005.",
talking about the seeding points the ACBL had given me. The ACBL
certainly has the right to do so, and I have no objection to it.
Next, he says:
"I must insist that in the future you may not play in any events other
that Flight A, Stratum A and top brackets of knockouts.". The director
a sole responsible for assigning the flights for players during
tourneys and club games. I may request to be in Flight A, but the
director might decide otherwise. I know, it has happened before.
Following this, he adds: " If I comes to my attention that you have
played in any event with an upper masterpoint limit I will be forced to
pursue administrative and disciplinary remedies.". Since I cannot
control or force a director to put me in a specific flight, this is a
meaningless threat. Either the ACBL forces me to play in flight A by
giving me a 3000 points additional handicap, which I had accepted to
get (and does not modify my ranking), or they cannot punish me if the
director of a tournament decides to put me in any flight he wants to
put me in. This is setting the stage for more humiliation if I am not
playing in the top flight of any event. I cannot accept to be willingly
put in that situation.
Mr. Beye made a unilateral decision, not based on any more facts than I
have for claiming my past bridge experience by writing this letter,
then added the humiliation of sending it to third parties, instead of
writing a separate letter to them, stating his resolution without
qualifying my conduct.
I have requested the immediate termination of my ACBL affiliation,
because of the humiliation I am subjected to in the matter.
I had closed my account with OKBridge last week, since Tony Reus had
refused to take sanctions against XX for saying in public that I
"should be put in jail for stealing and begging for money". I want to
make very clear that OKBridge did not ask me to close my account, did
not close my account, did not threaten me to close my account either. I
did it totally voluntary, because I could not get satisfaction from
Tony Reus in a timely manner.
I informed Fred Gitelman this morning that I would not go back to
BridgeBase. Not that I have any problem with BridgeBase, but again,
because the humiliation is too hard to take.
I will not play live bridge either any longer. Everybody knows about
the rec.bridge postings, even at my local club, and I dare not show my
face there either.
So, thanks to a bunch of liars and bullies, I am forced out of the
bridge community for good.
Why am I calling some of them liars? I let you be the judge...
icewater... Someone had told me I had been written up in the Bridge
World magazine several times, which was possible. I answered "Oh, I did
not know, but thank you for telling me"
When icewater asked later if I had been written in the Bridge World
magazine, I answered: "I know. I was told" or something like that. When
asked when it was, I said "I don't know"... Nevertheless that was
enough for him. He started to say that I claimed to have been written
in that magazine. And there started a legend I could not stop, and
accusations of lying. I did not claim, I just did not deny I had been,
because I did not know for sure one way or another." .......
ddub47... I played with him on BridgeBase and did ok. He joined
OKBridge and played with him there too, until one night when I was too
tired to even play, but did anyway because he insisted to play even
just a few boards. I made an error, due to fatigue, and he literally
assaulted me verbally, to the point that I told him I would never play
with him again.
Later on, he wrote in his stats, for all to read, that I had totally
destroyed his Lehman's stats, which was a lie. We actually were +5.40
playing together. That was retaliation by him for my refusal to play
with him again.
Later on, on BridgeBase, he signed on as Geedoubtr, and sent private
messages to one of my students during her lesson to tell her to stop
taking lessons, that I was a bad flight C player, among other things.
SCYardmn, aka alias, aka namdraycs. Besides his attacking me verbally
in front of a student during the Long Beach Nationals, wrote in his
profile as namdraycs that his name was Mark Smith, who is a friend and
someone I trust.
Those 4 people are plain liars. They also are among the most vicious
people I had to deal with. They are the case of liars calling someone
else a liar.
These are facts, not opinions.
Other people are bullies, insulting and full of anger... Maybe because
they have no talent, and attacking me gave them a place in the sun
while doing it. They are handyjh, XX, gilagirl and vulture (polymer on
BridgeBase).
None of these 8 people is an expert. But they make claims anyway,
One of the claims they make is that I am a lousy player. How could
anyone play a good game when constantly harassed and stalked? not even
the top players in the world would be able to. While nobody is in specs
that I suspect making horrible statements about me, I play well enough
that my expert partners and opponents enjoy the game. As soon as the
pack of bullies show up, and sometimes send me private or public insult
messages, I lose concentration and start making errors. Maybe that is
also the reason why I play better live than online too, as shown by my
records of live plays.
The other claim they make is that I am a bad teacher. I wont go the
route of justifying my abilities or lack of such at teaching, but I
question how they would know that, since none of them ever took a
lesson from me. While in specs, they might have captured some of the
things I tell students, but like everything else, they can turn to
ridicule everything and anything, since they are already geared to find
fault to anything I do and say.
Those are the people who have been hurting me since the year 2000. Are
they really worth anyone's trust? You'll be the judge of it. By the
way, who is smooth who started that thread on the internet? does not
have the courage of showing his face?
Meanwhile, I am done with bridge altogether. I am not at the ACBL any
longer since this morning. I cancelled my affiliation. I am not on
OKBridge, and I promised Fred Gitelman I would not embarrass him by
showing up on BridgeBase. This should satisfy the blood thirsty wolves.
My humiliation is total and with no remedy, so are my hopes for a
better tomorrow.
I am dismantling my website, so there is no more info to use and beat
me up with.
Farewell, all.
Gerard M. Cohen
John (MadDog) Probst
<Ch...@Pisarra.com> writes
David and I like playing together as it happens. We're a pretty decent
pairs partnership, but seldom get the opportunity. Of course we spend
all our time winding each other up at or away from the table. My
favoUrite is still "How come we're defending a 2-level contract when you
hold an 8-card suit?" His is: "How could you possibly drop that half
matchpoint? - it cost us the 80% game".
I think there is a significant chance it will happen in the next few
years.
>
>
>--
>These are my opinions. If you don't like them, I have others
>
>
--
Phil C
FWIW - my point of reference is that I know Gerard personally and play
against him at the Costa Mesa, CA club.
<snip>
> " misrepresenting the issue of eligibility points assigned to your
> account".
>
> I did not misrepresent anything. My past records, being prior to
1980,
> were before computers were used for tracking and keeping clear and
> consistent records. All records were kept manually, and archived,
> making it very difficult to retrieve, unless precise dates and places
> are provided by whoever needs copy of those records. I did not keep
any
> personal records, since playing bridge was not my priority at the
time
> either. He even acknowledge that he had been unable to get them
either.
Surely there's something...SOMEWHERE - newspaper articles, talking to
OTHER French players...
<snip>
> Next, he says:
>
> "I must insist that in the future you may not play in any events
other
> that Flight A, Stratum A and top brackets of knockouts.". The
director
> a sole responsible for assigning the flights for players during
> tourneys and club games. I may request to be in Flight A, but the
> director might decide otherwise. I know, it has happened before.
Beye seems to contradict himself. If Gee Flight A or not? If he is,
then put him in the A strat, end of story. Why put the burden on a
local director? Seeding isn't rocket science.
<snip>
>Since I cannot
> control or force a director to put me in a specific flight, this is a
> meaningless threat. Either the ACBL forces me to play in flight A by
> giving me a 3000 points additional handicap, which I had accepted to
> get (and does not modify my ranking), or they cannot punish me if the
> director of a tournament decides to put me in any flight he wants to
> put me in.
> This is setting the stage for more humiliation if I am not
> playing in the top flight of any event. I cannot accept to be
willingly
> put in that situation.
Gerard (assuming you read this), what would you rather have? If you
accept the 3,000 MPs for the non-acbl events, then you accept playing
in higher level events with your "peers". You can't have it both ways.
<snip>
> I will not play live bridge either any longer. Everybody knows about
> the rec.bridge postings, even at my local club, and I dare not show
my
> face there either.
Gerard: there are only a handful of the locals that know about or give
a rat's tooty about this saga. Don't worry about it.
<snip>
Here's my personal take:
I've known Gerard for about 5 years and have watched him on OKB since
'96 - '97.
Is he a good player? His card play leaves a lot to be desired, but can
occasionally come up with an inspired play. When he's fresh, I would
put him at an advanced (-), better than 70% of the players at our club.
By the way, I would put the Costa mesa club in the top 20 in the USA.
regular players include: John Swanson and Lowell Andrews (they were
there last night), Chris Larsen (who runs the Thursday afternoon game),
Ross Grabel and Mark Itabashi.
When Gerard is tired, watch out. But if you can say that you play just
as well fatigued as fresh, then you are kidding yourself.
Maybe because of the sheer quantity of hands he plays, there is some
rather funny material. Over the last year, I've made some really
bonehead plays myself where I have compressed hands too. They make
great stories, and I laugh about them now.
What I do admire about Gerard is his depth os system knowledge. If you
are trying to learn Precision, Polish, Blue Club or 2/1, he is a pretty
good reference.
If I was a new player would I hire Gerard as a pro to teach me card
play? No, and I honestly would not recommend him.
BUT if I was a new player and needed a partnership coach or wanted to
develop a good bidding system with my partner, then I would absolutely
endorse him.
Gerard is a true gentleman in person. That in my opinion is the most
important attribute that anyone that makes a living out of bridge
should have.
Phil Clayton
craig
>
> Gerard is a true gentleman in person. That in my opinion is the most
> important attribute that anyone that makes a living out of bridge
> should have.
>
>
> Phil Clayton
>
So many people I know feel the same way about Gee. A nice man. I, too,
enjoyed his company.
Nice people don't deserve public humiliation for being human. OK, some funny
bridge hands occurred. As Phil points out we all do it. My BBO profile
openly admits my game sucks if I don't sleep enough. I'm human too. Go thru
the hands database at BBO and have a great laugh...
People lost sight here. He is not an evil man worthy of scorn. He is human.
He is frail. He has foibles like the rest of us. Unfortunately a few rabid
haters saw it differently. They wanted to see his head on a post.
They got their wish. And most of the rest of us are sad to see it, no matter
what his bridge abilities may be. Who cares? Besides the rabid few.....
cheech
I honestly feel that Gerard has been unfairly victimised and harrased,
and that it is unfortunate that he feels so put upon that he feels he
has to leave bridge as a whole. I think this is the case regardless of
whether he has misrepresented himself in some way. As to this, many
claims have been made on both sides without the slightest shred of
evidence to support them, and I have to wonder why. In Gerard's case,
it does seem a tad implausible that he achived all this success in all
these events but cannot find any proof at all, but on the other hand, I
find it at least as unlikley that he has been as vile and abusive on
BBO as these people are claiming simply because, were it the case, I am
am sure he would have been repeatedly reported for it and eventually
banned. While I have not always been completley satisfied with the way
BBO has handled reports of abuse in the past (I was quite disappointed
when I reported someone for what I felt to be sexual harrassment, and
they weren't given even a temporary ban), I nevertheless have great
respect for the people who run the site, and cannot believe that they
would tolerate such blatant, prolonged abuse as has been alleged in
this thread. I therefore conclude that there have in all likelihood
been exaggerations (and quite possibly outright fabrications) on both
sides, and think it unfortunate that they have had such serious
consequences.
Fred Gitelman
"Fred Gitelman" <fr...@bridgebase.com> wrote in message
news:wwQae.30490$lv1.155@fed1read06...
> We are currently investigating. Until the truth of this matter comes to
> light, we will not be taking any action.
I thought it was appropriate to post an update.
My "investigation" was close to complete, when I received an e-mail from
Gerard informing me that he was quitting bridge and that he would not be
logging in to BBO anymore.
I have learned a lot, but the only thing that I feel comfortable about
sharing with the public is that the e-mail from Rick Beye was indeed real. I
apologize for suggesting that it might not be. At the time I thought I had
good reasons for making this assertion.
Gerard's status as a member of BBO has not changed and I sincereley hope he
returns one day. I will not be discussing whether or not I believe that
Gerard actually did anything that will impact his status as a teacher on
BBO, but for now that is a moot point since Gerard has claimed he will not
be back at BBO. Should he return in the future, the matter of whether or not
he is allowed to advertise his teaching services on our site and the
conditions (if any) that are imposed upon him (above and beyond our normal
rules), will remain a private matter between BBO management and Gerard. At
least I hope it will remain a private matter...
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
Ivan Popivanov
new meaning of the word "assertion".
> I have learned a lot,but the only thing that I feel comfortable about
> sharing with the public is that the e-mail from Rick Beye was indeed
real. I
> apologize for suggesting that it might not be. At the time I thought
I had
> good reasons for making this assertion.
Here is the "assertion":
> "As for BBO, we think that it is very likely that the "e-mail from
the ACBL"
> is a forgery (no doubt created by one of the complete losers who has
nothing
> better to do with his/her time than to viciously attempt to humiliate
one of
> our members). If it does turn out to be a forgery, the person who is
> responsible
> for this fraud should be congratulated for their brilliant prank. In
this
> case not
> only will he/she have managed to smear both the ACBL and Rick Beye
(who
> happens to be a great guy) for the sake of some amusement, it
wouldn't
> surprise
> me if someone were to take legal action against this person. Nice
work!"
Is that really an assertion? I guess the "complete loser" part is
highly supported but the latter actions by Uday ... the person also
lost her BBO access, what a loser LOL
Regards,
Ivan
PS: If you need my BBO login(s), just let me know ;-)
John Crinnion
like to swap him for EBUland's David Stevenson?
Mark Brader
> I even won another 0.56 blacks in Toronto at Kate Buchanan's last week.
Buckman's!
--
Mark Brader "Poor spelling does not prove poor knowledge,
Toronto but is fatal to the argument by intimidation."
m...@vex.net -- Gene Ward Smith
Chris Pisarra
> This Gerard character sounds like fun. Would you lot over in ACBLland
> like to swap him for EBUland's David Stevenson?
Stevenson, two draft picks and a player to be named later.
Chris
--
Oh life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea.
And love is a thing that can never go wrong
And I am Marie, of Rumania.
---Dorothy Parker
Tim Goodwin
>John Probst:
>> I even won another 0.56 blacks in Toronto at Kate Buchanan's last week.
>
>Buckman's!
They spell funny in England.
David Stevenson
They even use correct grammar.
Ann
bringing this matter to your attention, both you and Uday. I would
also think that all of these bans of access to BBO based on
interactions with Gerard should be lifted because it is clear that
Gerard was indeed quite culpable in the ill-feelings, that is, he
instigated many of the ill-feelings and words which Uday and Fred have
banned people for. I understand that once you make a policy to ban
anyone bothering an individual (gerard) that you will keep following
through with it. But once the parameters change, I think you should
re-evaluate your policy. Gerard was indeed found to be fraudulent and
is openly a self proclamed hateful person.
I know you have banned certain people that would like to use the BBO
servcies, It is ashame that you would allow Gerard to use BBO after
all you are learning about him, but not others who would cause no
trouble as long as Gerard was not being fraudulent.
Please be fair enough to reassess each person you have banned from BBO
and if they had anything to do with Gerard, lift the ban. Many of the
bans were in place because of words that were exchanged between Uday
and the banned party. Uday can be very terse and is unrelenting. I
think Uday should now back down and lighten up about this situation and
rethink his hardline about banning people so quickly as soon as he sees
the word "gerard" involved.
Thank you for taking this extra step in fixing this "Gerard" issue.
I personally am not banned but many of my friends are and I would hate
for them to not be able to watch me if I play on your viewgraphs in a
national tournament. <smile>
A quick and fair resolution would be to lift all the bans and let us
all try again to behave since the central figure of discontent has
removed himself. Hopefully if Gerard returns to OKbridge and BBO, he
will change his self assessment and the manner in which he treats his
partners. Then controversary will not follow him as it has these past
5 years.
John Blubaugh
"John Crinnion" <jcri...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114701537.0...@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> This Gerard character sounds like fun. Would you lot over in ACBLland
> like to swap him for EBUland's David Stevenson?
>
And we would add another player to be named later (probably me). :-)
JB
Ann
hopefully it has a swinging front door.