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Is BGO an Elitist Society?

Posted By: Jason Lee
Date: Wednesday, 10 December 2008, at 4:50 p.m.

In Response To: Is BGO an Elitist Society? (Stick)

I'm only worried they don't post because they're posting with the likes of a NeilKaz or John O'Hagan and don't want to look foolish. They may not ask questions for the same reasons, or give their answers to threads posted by others because they see that the best of the best have answered, what is their opinion worth?

OK, I'm got stuff to say on this topic, because it's related to what's percolating between my ears these days.

I feel embarrassed about one particular thing: I think the BG community overrates me. The last two (three?) times I've showed up at Pat Gibson's tournament, he's put me in one of the seeded teams. I cringe every time I see that, because there are tons people in the unseeded teams who would mop the floor with me. I was probably above average in the field, but not by much, and CLEARLY not good enough to be in a seeded team. I have practically begged Patrick to pleeeeeease stop putting me up there until I deserve to be there.

I know what people see: they see a young (relative to the community) guy who won a smattering of things... the very first tournament I played in, I entered the Open division and made it to the finals, and then not long after that, I won the LA tournament. I have a Ph.D. in math, and right there, people assume that I'm some kind of uber genius. These things all translate to a certain perception, and I can tell you right now for sure, this perception is WAAAAY off. It all catches up to you eventually -- after four good BG years, I cashed in absolutely NOTHING in 2008.

So *my* reluctance to post sometimes is that (a) I don't believe I articulate my BG thoughts very clearly, (b) my BG thoughts aren't very clear, independent of whether or not I can state them clearly, and (c) by posting a lot, I would change this perception that I'm a strong player. I guess I'm trying to do that now.

Because I am nowhere near as strong of a player as many who post here, it is only natural that I will get a bit intimidated by the avalanche of "NEXT"s that I see on positions where I say, "Um... not so clear to me." And the important part: it's not clear to me not because of some brilliance that allows me to see what others can't... it's absolutely because my judgment is not at an expert level.

Everything that happens at this site is of great interest to me -- I check the forums every day, often several times a day -- but I just don't feel like my contribution is really worth that much in most cases.

I really do want to try to elevate my game -- I have a few ideas for how to do it, but some of it is restricted by the fact that I do have a job that keeps me quite busy, and misc. "family" obligations. Maybe what I need to do is use this site in a different way -- try to connect with people who are in a similar boat as me -- good players, but not expert/world class, but have the desire and the skill and the dedication to improve their game.

JLee

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