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BGonline.org Forums
Thank You and The Sad Thing
Posted By: Rod
Date: Monday, 3 January 2011, at 1:01 p.m.
I just received and email (yet another). This one was also from a respected member of the community. But it went beyond this fight. It looked at the underlying issues. (And thank you for that email).
The fact is that there are respected people running on the board and running the USBGF. We all know them. We've known them for years and years. We like them personally. Many of them are good at what they do professionally. I wanted a large board (11, in contrast to the 5 or 7 others [on the board] said was sufficient) because I knew that I needed buy-in from the community to make the USBGF have a chance of succeeding. Phil asks "who are you going to believe, them or Rod". Well, that's my own doing. I needed a board that everyone knowns, loves, trusts. And, that's what I got.
But, that's also the problem. Before I begin, let me say this about every member, I like them all personally (though I really do feel, as I might have mentioned, that they screwed the pooch regarding me) - all except one, but now isn't the time to get into that (but we can't like everyone, I suppose). ok.....
We have a group of people who have tried for years to promote the game but have fallen sadly short of their goals. They've talked about it. They've bitched about it. They've thought of ways to do something about it. Some of them have even tried to change it.
Yes, I "allowed" the framework to be "used" when others had ideas about starting an org up. But, in reality, that was more talk. Talk as had been going on for the past several ***decades***. In reality what I did was create and organization, realize that little old me couldn't get buy-in from the community alone. I enlisted Rich and Lynn. I knew that others would buy-in, in part because of their names. When other talked about doing something I already had the momentum and people to enlist them to "use" my organization.
It was no accident that this all happened. Virtually everything being done by the USBGF now was either my idea or something put in place (or at least started) before I was removed. Even our celebrity, whether you consider her a great one or not, was given on a silver platter to Perry after I was removed - I had, unbeknownst to anyone else at that time, contacted her management company and had already worked out a press release. Others were planned. I mean, look at that, as just one example - after I had been removed, feeling as I had, I handed Perry something he thought was "really great".
They're great people but they were never meant to be agents of change. They haven't been for 30 years. I cajoled Stick into joining the board. I wanted MCG to be a board member too once we had 9 or so people on the board. The response - well, we already have Stick. The implication was we already have our token guy in that respect. The board already saw themselves as long-established folks who would be "the board". But it isn't dynamic. Backgammon saw its heyday and all people have done since then is talk about the good old days.
Rather than stand up for the agent who brought change, it seems that most of you will side with the board for the very reason I chose them, missing the underlying issues. In another 30 years, you'll all be able to look back, but I wonder what it is that you'll be saying.
I ***won't*** be posting anything else in respect to these matters. But I really hope that enough of you stop being so apathetic and get the board to reinstate me. Speak up for yourselves and the game you love. Attack me, commend me - I simply won't post another word, either way.
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