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BGonline.org Forums
Clocks, Trains, and Planes
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: Clocks, Trains, and Planes (Seth)
Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2009, at 12:48 p.m.
I do appreciate the humor! I also appreciate the agreement here that clocks are good for the game. Carter and I lost a player at our Monday night events because he was angry we would put a clock on his match that was starting very late and because of his very slow opponent. People will always resist change. Others resent having matches recorded. Many hate baffle boxes and other rolling devices that help prevent cheating. Others hate new rules or formats that also improve the game (in "most" people's opinions).
But clearly, change is often needed, and we need to find ways to make tournament backgammon more exciting and fun and popular. For the most part, the tournament directors have been around for a long time, doing things "their way" for a long time, and for the most part, they resist change for a variety of reason.
I really believe the best chance for real improvement to the game must come from the players, and the people on this forum represent a lot of the leadership and a lot of respect from the tournament playing community...so this is a terrific forum to air and discuss the issues.
While I'm on my soapbox, there is one MAJOR POINT I believe is critical: while we may often disagree on various points, we should all never argue against the person, but only against the ideas. We should not belittle or berate someone simply because they have a different opinion. And we should not question each other's motives without good reason: we should realize that we all have the goal of improving and promoting backgammon as a major motivation for being involved in these issues.
There has been far too great a tendency to publicly belittle or insult or "demonize" anyone who does not share our own opinions, and that approach is not productive or helpful or fair.
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