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BGonline.org Forums
How I wish I had more time to rant in general
Posted By: Stick
Date: Sunday, 5 December 2010, at 1:30 a.m.
I bitch, a lot. I don't understand why a lot of things are the way they are whether it be a team down 21-26 on what is the last play of the game from the snap watching the quarterback get sacked after having ample time to toss it into the end zone, what he had planned to do since the snap of the ball. He also knew he was going to be hit, he actually curled up and started to 'go down' like a normal play. How can you not do anything with the ball other than let it go to the ground with you!? This is analogous to someone 'knowingly' allow their time to expire in backgammon. I don't care what play you make, any play is better than losing on time.
Today I'm going to rant on article(s) that have appeared in the Chicago Point and I think Bill Davis has written them all. As the politically correct person I am I want to make it clear that I love the Chicago Point. I look forward to getting it in the mail and would recommend anyone who asked me if they should subscribe or not. Any well done newsletter or magazine on backgammon or poker I like, that's not going to keep me from bitching about the material within' though. I haven't written before because I don't want to reproduce for free those articles which Bill & his team works to produce for paying people. I think taking small excerpts or talking about the general subject matter is okay though, and if it's not I'm sure Bill will poke me with a sharp stick and let me know.
This month's feature article runs along the same lines as the last 2 issues. Three issues ago it was the 'hey, people dress for shit' article, two issues ago was the 'wtf is wrong with bg and its technical devices' (dice tube, recording, etc) article, and this month we attack the clock.
Bill starts off by talking about the French Open which as everyone here should know featured two Americans in the finals, MCG and Stepan. It was a clocked match to 21 points that eventually went to dmp. (30 games it took) I was the one who recorded it so I consider myself qualified to comment on what went down and how it went down. Bill wasn't even there. One of Bill's first questions was (paraphrased nicely) 'Why was Stepan playing so frantically'. I also took how it was worded to mean 'poorly'.
Stepan was running low on time going in to the last game. He was forced to play quickly because both himself and MCG managed their time like absolute shit in the beginning of this match. I don't think either of them will deny it, they used way too much time in the early stages of the match. As Bill says, clock proponents like myself will tell you it's their own fault they got so low on time. Bill wonders why the match needed to be clocked in the first place? The first thing of note that made me laugh is 'neither Stepan nor Matt is excessively slow'
Umm.... cough cough. MCG can be brutally slow. He doesn't have to be, he isn't always, but he can be. As for Stepan I don't know his average speed so I can't comment. If they aren't excessively slow in general and now they're playing a clocked match, why are they suddenly so slow they get way down on time?
The question up for debate is basically 'Why would such a match need to be clocked?' The rest of the tournament is over, nobody is in a hurry now right? Wouldn't everyone enjoy a great match regardless of the amount of time it took compared to what Bill is perceiving as a clocked speedfest? First off, the rest of the match went slow enough. They never shifted gears until really the last game. I have the match and I can only see 1 error in the last game that I believe either of the players would not have made based on how they had been playing if they were given more time.
Secondly, this isn't some ABT event where you have the finals and people cut out. We have dinners, award ceremonies, and people itching to hang out every night at the casino where the perks are basically free alcohol. Both the tournament and its participants would be best served if it ran in a timely manner.
For the next many paragraphs Bill goes on about when the clock was introduced in the past, how it failed, how it was re-introduced it failed, etc... I don't care about any of this and it has no relationship to the modern clock. Back then the clocks were analog and I would never recommend these. Even mentioning analog clocks when trying to beat down the modern clock to me shows how weak the argument against current clocks is.
Next we roll on to asking if required clock use has had a positive effect on tournament attendance on the ABT scene. Bill lists the numbers from 2007 to 2010. He lists the # of events, total players, and avg. per event. Without going in to the what I think the flaws are of comparing the average number of people at an event when there are less events to the average number of people when there are more events, let me ask the general public something that would be news to me if it was true, has required clock use been in effect at many (if any) tournaments since 2007? Since 2008? Since 2009!?
Bill gives a nod to other factors that could be influencing the decline in attendance but he sticks by the high tech things like clocks, dice tubes, and cameras as scaring off beginners.
Bill now proceeds into an area that I don't believe I've ever seen discussed openly and am almost 100% I have never given my two cents on the matter. Clocks at local events like his Bar Point Club. I am with Bill on this one, I would not recommend mandatory clock use for a weekly event. During a weekly event the director almost definitely knows all the players involved, he knows who the slow players are, and the matches are short. People don't come with their A game in hand generally either...don't try to sell me that someone from your Bar Point Club would play the finals of a weekly event just as tough as they would if they found themselves in the French Open finals. I think making clocks available at local clubs is fine if both players agree, or even using them to get people accustomed to them with no penalty. A sort of 'hey, this is what the big boys use, want to try it?'
I have also not personally advocated clocks in the lower divisions such as the Intermediate or Beginner divisions. I don't think clocks have been around and familiarized enough for them to be made mandatory. These divisions also don't hold up events like the main, masters, or doubles can so there's not as much of a need for it to happen.
I'm going to cut myself off now. I'm on the verge of actually ranting and up to this point I feel I've been as fair in presenting as I can be.
Stick
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