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BGonline.org Forums
Giant 32 Criteria
Posted By: Jake Jacobs In Response To: Giant 32 Criteria (Perry Gartner)
Date: Sunday, 13 September 2009, at 1:52 a.m.
Hi Perry:
I read all of the posts (maybe I am starting to get the hang of this site) before responding. My first reaction (other than that the chance of Yamin responding to a petition, unless all 4000 signators show up at his doorstep some sunny Sunday morn, is nearly nil) was that I hated rule one. Not that I am fond of the other three - how in the world do you expect Yamin and Carol and me to enforce any of that? - but rule one struck me as a very bad idea.
Twelve years ago I was hearing good things about a young player from NYC who indeed showed up on the ballots that year. I finally got to meet Abe Mossieri, playing in his first tournament (where unfamiliarity with tournament cube handling let to a victory in the Ltd Jackpot I am sure his opponent, Bob Glass, would like to forget). Abe would have been ineligible to vote and to receive votes that year under rule one; meanwhile his day job was beating up on Senk, Billy, Jason, Svobo ...
He had a sidekick, another youngster who wouldn't have been eligible, kid named Falafel. I wonder what became of him?
There's no need to debate rule one further, because by the time I got to the bottom of the posts the community had worked it out.
Which is, I keep telling you people, just what happens when the votes are tallied. Who, you ask, are the voters? It's you. You don't need us to write something telling you how to vote. You've done a good job of figuring it out. If someone isn't, in your view, active: are you planning to vote for them? No. Does it sound like Rich or Bob or Stick or Neil or Chiva or Christian are planning to vote for them? No.
Over the years almost every objection to the Giant format has boiled down to this: I don't trust the way other people will vote. I am wise enough to do it properly, but those (Americans, Brazilians, Japanese, inactive players ...) simply are not, so I want you to tell them to do it, well, my way.
I see all the ballots. Is every one filled out wisely and sagaciously? No. Are most? Yes. People really do put some effort into this; at least ninety percent of the ballots clearly reflect the effort expended. (We usually get feedback from the voters, along with the ballot, so we know. We don't have to rely on sweat stains to calibrate it, though we do that too.) Have I seen frivolous ballots? Sure. If every ballot from Patagonia has Patagonian players in the top ten slots, and only two Patagonian players have ever played in an Open tournament, and one of those is dead, I tend to question the sincerity of those voters. But if you are asking yourself "what year did Patagonia sweep the top ten?" and answering yourself "I don't recall a Patagonian in the top 32, ever" you have reaffirmed the strength of collective wisdom.
Before I close, I'd like to bring up one more point, directed at all non-Americans reading this. Two years ago a certain non-American player, worrying about how all you Americans reading this would vote, insisted he would not vote unless I threw out enough of your ballots that the remainder comprised 25% of the total. (He gets credit for thinking outside the box!) Why not, I asked him, go out and get me enough foreign votes that they comprise at least 75% of the total? Well, any Europeans, Asians, South Americans, and yes, even Patagonians who might be reading this: why not? Go forth, and sign up voters.
Best,
Jake
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