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BGonline.org Forums
My response to Phil...*long* but please read
Posted By: rory
Date: Wednesday, 2 June 2010, at 11:56 p.m.
Phil published an article some time ago stating his opinion on what changes he would like to see and he stated that he wanted tournament directors to be creative and come up with some new ideas. I agreed with him 100% and was inspired by his words to do exactly that in coming up with this new format. I am guessing that his opinion of this format may have been different he had won his first or second qualifying bracket.
Phil is a great BG teacher and lecturer for beginners, intermediates, and low/mid level open players. Phil is great for the game of BG and I hope he remains close to the game for many years. Phil is one of the funniest and wittiest people I have ever met.
Phil can also be very mean and disrespectful. I have been insulted by him on many occasions here at BGonline and in person and I will no longer stand for it.
There are many definitions of the word perspective and I give you the one that is relative to this post…
per•spec•tive -noun: the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship: You have to live here a few years to see local conditions in perspective
I have a different perspective from Phil of the happenings of this past weekend. On Saturday night, I was standing behind Phil who was at his computer as Bob Steen walked up to shake my hand and said he will see me tomorrow. I asked him if he would be back for the 11AM or 2PM re-buy session. He said maybe the 2PM but wasn't sure. I tried to persuade Bob to show up at 11AM and let him know about Stick's lecture Sunday morning. Before I had the chance to extend the same offer I made to some others in the Open (which was paying 50% of their re-buys for a 10% share of their return for each re-buy) Phil interrupted my conversation with Bob and made his offer of paying the full $60 re-buy for a 50% share of any tournament winnings. I was surprised by Phil's offer and impulsively stated I thought it wasn't fair.
I have not done the math to figure out what fair was but just so everyone understands Bob still had 35% equity to play for as the consolation paid 25% and the Last Chance paid 10%.
Over the weekend I offered money to at least 6 people for an equitable, less than equitable, or 0% share of any potential return. Those people include David Settles, Lucky Nelson, Gordon Miller (to play his dad in a Blitz), DuJuan Meekins, and Herb Roman. Not all of them accepted but most of them did. I did this because I did not want people to feel like this tournament was “all about the money” to me. I care about BG and care about the people that play the game and attended my tournament. I didn't want people not to play because of the cost. I wanted people to play and enjoy themselves!!!
Phil was upset that I said something and belittled me in front of 6-8 others that were within ears shot which he has also done on many other occasions. Some may have been deserved but for most I would say that if he was a mench he could have bit his tongue.
I said nothing!
Bob offered Phil 25%. Phil made 2 or 3 more offers between 50% and 25% while Bob stood firm each time with a response of 25%. Phil agreed to 25% and Bob was back at 11:00 AM for the early re-buy session.
There are a few statements Phil made in his post that are inconsistent with what he said over the weekend or they are just false and I would like to clear them up now.
1. Every time Phil came up to re-buy he stated that he loved this format and was thrilled that he had the opportunity to re-buy one more time and still had a chance to win the tournament. If he was just staying this to support the tournament I say, “Thank you”.
2. Phil was the first guest lecturer this year as he was last year. He also let us use his equipment this year and last for the Sunday and Monday lectures by Stick and Perry. He was also there early both years to help set up. On both Saturday and Sunday I thanked him publicly and stated that I thought he was the best BG lecturer in the country (which I do wholly believe). He is articulate and makes leaning BG seem easy. He stated, “That nothing was offered in return, by the way”. This is false as Phil was given the same $100 off his entree as Stick and Perry. Originally we had a different auctioneer in place but Howard decided to ask Phil to be our auctioneer instead and he agreed. Since I didn’t ask Phil to do it, I didn’t offer him any extra perk. Maybe I should have?
3. Phil did buy the most fields for the most money but he did it with at least one partner sharing the equity and was given 2 door prizes including a Starbucks gift pack and a dinner certificate.
My goal as a TD is to promote and create a total backgammon experience, thus, the three lectures, new format with maximum play opportunities, and the convenience of a hospitality suite. I will be sending out a survey to attendees to gather further input on all aspects of the tournament, including format. I look forward to both the positive feedback and constructive criticism so that we can continue to improve the overall backgammon tournament experience at the Chicago Open.
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