[NickRW]

jeremy69, on Mar 24 2010, 12:12 AM, said:

Quote

I do not want to be in the Camrose - I doubt that there are many at my club who do

Fine but in many sports/mind sports/pastimes including bridge there are people who are proud of what their country does and want to help it achieve better. I accept you don't but it is a competitive game and the top level is important which doesn't mean that other levels are not. The contributions of people who help the club or county or body at National Levle are also important. I fear it is you who doesn't get it because no-one is permitted to disagree with your myopic view of the game(or at least without some modest abuse!).
The Thursday afternoon game continues if that is what the club wants. No-one is stopping it or wants to or has the right to. What this is about is a viable model for the future of duplicate bridge in England and you move the argument from matters of great principle(in your view) to more mundane arguments about how the software works and back again without any cogent view on how you would move forward.

"Myopic" - and you say that I am the one hurling abuse. Jeez.

As far as I can see the EBU has lost more clubs that it was bargaining for. The P2P fee will rise and more will go. The EBU will end up bankrupt. The national team will not then be supported.

Fundamentally the EBU is claiming rights to money which does not belong to it and if it sounds like I regard it is a criminal organisation that is because that is what it has become - ripping us off for things we don't want to pay for while potentially destroying part of our club.

If the above is being "myopic" - well - you're living in cloud cuckoo land away with the fairies.

Nick

[jeremy69]

You ought to have some figures for you assertions.
For P2P to work then about 1.9 milliion player sessions are going to be needed per year. As clubs differ in size it's difficult to say exactly how many but certainly 550+. The number of clubs signed up already exceeds that and the projected number of player sessions will reach these needed figure so however many clubs have decided to join or not join it would have been grossly irresponsible not to plan and work out what was needed and if the eBU was to be lead to bankruptcy as you suggest then whilst not criminal it would certainly be grossly irresponsible but I don't think any figures produced suggest this is on the way to happening but, hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your views.

I'm glad your club has affiliated as I think a strong EBU is key to bridge developing in this country but if it were the fact that your members wanted a game of bridge a few times a week in the club and saw no advantage in affiliating then they would not do so. I don't understand where the compulsion comes from. Even if it did not affiliate and there were some members who wanted to play county/national events the individuals could join directly. However if your club and its members want EBU benefits then they need to affiliate but only if they think them worthwhile. I assume that up to now those who are not EBU members and play at the club are aware that a portion of their table money(13p) is going to fund masterpoints whereas from April the proportion will rise but not hugely?

If you want a pleasant game of bridge around the kitchen table then you have no requirement to join any organisation. If you want to play tennis with friends in the local park you similarly have no need to join any organisation but if you want to play in a club it will be affiliated to the LTA and you will pay a fee/levy to it. It, like many other bodies, has a universal membership scheme and you get the benefits. Watching the Davis Cup team lose to Lithuania may not seem like one but there are good times and bad.
In the course of this year I have spoken to at least 8 clubs all affiliated who have had problems related to members and the local game anbd wanted advice on rulings, their constitution, what they could do etc. Advice willing given to affiliated clubs and for it to contiue a strong solvent EBU is needed. It could be that the model proposed and about to start won't do that but it is the best effort of a lot od dedicated people who have done their research and not just sailed in in a cavalier fashion so give some credit even through your gritted teeth.
Now I will take your earlier advice and "butt out" as I guess everyone will now have heard enough on this topic.