[david_c]

I finally got round to listening to the interview on "the Today programme" which the article was based on. Until next week you can hear it on the Radio 4 "listen again" page (Monday's edition, about 2:20 into the 3-hour programme).

It becomes clear that all the talk about a dress code came about because Tony Forrester used dress as an example of how players' attitudes have changed. As Frances pointed out, the EBU's new initiative doesn't actually say anything about a dress code, so this discussion had nothing to do with the original point of the interview, which is a pity. They also went off on a tangent by discussing the reasons for the decline in bridge in general (clearly behaviour is one issue to consider there, but the interviewees had their own ideas of what is wrong which they talked about instead).

But they did at least manage to get across the idea that bridge is a competitive game, and we need rules about behaviour in order to deal with people who take the competitiveness too far. Of course, we did already have rules about behaviour before the EBU came along, but it seems that deciding to have a written code of conduct is somehow newsworthy.

[slothy]

lol read the article and this is just too funny

Saw Tony Forrester in London about 6 months ago....the LAST person on this earth to talk about dress codes....he was the scruffiest person in the whole building

(and the dress he was wearing wasnt really flattering anyway)

[felt so sorry for the poor bloke had to put 2p in the plastic cup he had in front of him ]

the minute i have to wear a tuxedo to play bridge, an item of clothing i do not own and never intend to , (bad enough to have to pay the exorbitant entrance fees) is the minute that i will .. ah waste of breath