[flytoox]

Good luck. What a pity a natural bidder is leaving. Hope you come back soon. You are young so there is plenty time:)

Best wishes

Hongjun

[han]

Thanks for letting us know. As little as I know you, I wish you all the best.

[kenberg]

Jlall, on Jul 14 2005, 09:27 AM, said:

I'll keep this short. I have been receiving alot of emails "why haven't you been posting" "where are you" "why is your blog down" etc. I will no longer be posting on BBF and quit blogging about a week ago. I haven't been on because i was banned. I do not plan on posting/blogging anymore. I do not like bridge anymore or alot of the people that I used to like that I knew from bridge. Since I will no longer be thinking about the game, there is no need to post. I will also not be playing on BBO anymore, at least for a while. If I do it will be on an alias. Have fun I wish you guys the best, and please stop emailing me asking where I am. Thanks

Justin

Do I read this correctly? You were banned? I am truly stunned. You are giving up bridge? I am floored.

Best wishes in whatever path you take. Perhaps you will reconsider.

One of the downsides of computer use is that it is more difficult (perhaps safer though) to work through conflicts online than it is in face to face encounters. Looking at someone we may realize it is best to say "Oops, maybe I should rephrase that". Here, it festers a while.

Well, enough babble when I don't know anything about it. Again, best wishes.

Ken Berg

[scoob]

I am sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience, Justin. I can only hope that in time it will pass and you'll come back to bridge and this community. Good luck!

[pclayton]

Justin,

You'll be missed. I've always enjoyed playing against you and enjoy your insight on BBF and your blog - which I would usually check daily.

But if the game isn't fun anymore it isn't fun. Coming from an ex-junior, I can tell you that your priorities change at your age, which is a good thing.

I will share with you what my old Montana bridge partner wrote on his graduation card to me when I graduated high school. He was about my age when he gave it to me:

"You have mastered bridge. Once you have mastered one thing, you have the key to master anything".

That right there was the most influential sentiment anyone has ever told me. It gave me a huge shot of confidence. Think about it, what are all the things you had to do to master this game? Study your butt off and develop a zenlike focus. And bridge has the extra element of the CHO. If you aren't getting along, team performance will suffer. These skills have taken me far in life, and I hope that you will have the opportunity to use these talents you have developed in other avenues.

This former bridge partner and I are still good friends, as a matter of fact I saw him at Long Beach after about 5 years.

So, do whatever you need to do.

Oh one last thing, the bridge bug never really leaves you. It can stay dormant for years or even decades, and there is a certain amount of relearning, but now that I'm in my 40's it is as enjoyable as ever.


Good luck!

[pclayton]

Oh OK - I took the phrase "I do not like bridge anymore" more literally than you meant it I guess.

I still meant what I said.

[mike777]

Hope to see you back soon.

This is from a song that was big when Kimmel and I were your age and playing bridge.



"I got a young man's brain and an old man's heart.
took eighteen years to get this far.

I'm 18. I just don't know what I want. 18, I gotta get away.
I'm the the middle, the middle of life.
I'm a boy and I'm a man, I'm 18 and I like it! I like it, love it, like it, love it, like it, 18, 18, 18, 18
I'm 18 and I like it!!!!"

[pigpenz]

JLall, get yourself a chick

[keylime]

Same here. We've seen a glimpse of the potential you have. Hopefully circumstances become more favorable.

[luke warm]

and when you *do* come back, for God's sake *slow down*!! i get too damn dizzy watching you play

[luis]

Justin Justin, what did you do?
I bet they got you for PUI (Playing under influence) or maybe a IOFL violation (insulting old fat ladies). Was it a Burattism? You ask How's the weather there pd? pd guesses a doubleton queen and the next thing you know is you are in prison waiting for the judge.
In any case did you use the Chewbacca defense? You could have escaped free of charges with that, it took OJ out, it took Michael Jackson out, it never fails.

In any case a big majority of BBO forum members and BBO players want you back so you will have to return per force. Life is hard, you can't just make a lot of fans and friends just to leave them for an incident. We may even say you are trapped :-)

Luis

[ritong]

hi justin .

i like to share virtual table with you . the "at least for a while " part says it will be possible again . waiting for that , hoping luis " rock'n'roll" argerich will be online at the same time .

bon vent a toi .

henri

[DrTodd13]

Justin,

You're too passionate about the game man. You'll never be able to stop.
You're addicted like many of the rest of us are. Don't want to call you a liar
but anybody want to take odds about whether Justin's hiatus will last longer
or shorter than Gerard's?

DrTodd

[pclayton]

It might be longer Todd.

There's a line in a John Mayer song (see - I aint THAT old) that talks about a "quarter-life crisis". A certain 18 y.o.might be going through one right now. I think we all fought our existential demons at that point.

[Winstonm]

Life comes first; bridge is always seconday; do what you have to do.

My best wishes,

Winston

[Echognome]

Justin - Sorry to see you go. Hope you sort everything out. Best wishes with everything.

-Matt

[nickf]

I've seen way too many young talented bridge people on this side of the world drop out of uni and attempt to make a living out of bridge. Some of them had an awful lot of talent but you need to make contigencies. It's a real pity to see them now in their 30s+, burnt out and often without two coins to rub together, or so it seems.

Get a trade, get a partner, have some kiddies if that's your scene.

I have a mate from my junior days who now plays internationally. I asked him years ago for some input into a strategy for me to attain his level in the bridge scene. He said simply: give up bridge for 6 months. I can't do that but I am sure he is right.

nickf
sydney