Re: Who would you hire

On Aug 20, 3:20 pm, Eric Leong <ewleong...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Aug 20, 7:57 am, John Blubaugh <jbluba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:





On Aug 20, 4:39 am, Eric Leong <ewleong...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 6:27 pm, John Blubaugh <jbluba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 8:55 pm, Eric Leong <ewleong...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 4:45 pm, John Blubaugh <jbluba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 5:22 pm, Eric Leong <ewleong...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 1:27 pm, John Blubaugh <jbluba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 3:37 pm, Ron Johnson <john...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 18, 5:47 pm, John Blubaugh <jbluba...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 18, 5:29 pm, richlp <richl...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Part of my reason for playing the Lottery is that I get my money's
worth just dreaming about what I could do.  One of those things is
that I could now afford to pay somebody and play at a level far higher
than my bridge ability warrants.

I enjoy the "thrill of competition" so my goal is not a major victory
but the experience of playing with and against upper level players.

My criteria for a partner is

1.  Upper echelon stature
2.  Can accept my mistakes graciously
3.  Won't badmouth me behind my back
4.  Can give a lesson telling me WHY I should have known better
5.  Will make me feel at ease so that, regardless of outcome, I would
enjoy the game

To give my reveries a little more substance, who should I consider
hiring and (if you want to) who should I avoid?

Jeff Meckstroth could fit this bill.
Marinesa Letizia
Mark Lair
Dennis Clerkin
Jerry Clerkin
Geoff Hampson
Gene Simpson (but I think he is retiring from playing professionally)
Curtis Cheek
Shannon Cappellitti
Fred Hamilton

I should note that my father did in fact hire Dennis Clerkin a
few times and Jerry once filled in when Dennis couldn't make it.

Fine players. Great people.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well, Eric Leong doesn't think much of them but I do. They have played
on some of best teams in the world and they own many national
championships. You would certainly enjoy playing with either of them.
I agree with you about them being great people. I miss seeing Marinesa
and them on a regular basis as much as I miss anything in bridge.

JB- Hide quoted text -

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EXCUSE ME, where in the hell do you get the idea that "Eric Leong
doesn't think much of them (Clerkin)"
Can you quote anything specific I said? In particular, I don't even
know or know about Dennis or Jerry Clerkin to say anything about them
as I could about the other 7 out of 10 pros on your list.
When you make up statements like that with no foundation why should
anyone want to listen and believe you when you whine against the ACBL?

Eric Leong- Hide quoted text -

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Eric, in one of your many diatribes against me, you referred to them
as "lower level" pros. This has been a few years ago but I have a long
memory. I don't want a pissing match with you, if I misunderstood you
then so be it.

JB- Hide quoted text -

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Until today, I don't even know the Clerkins.
I search on rec.games.bridge from day one with the key words "clerkin
leong" and I came up empty.
Unless you can up with a specific quote, I think this is a perfect
example of you loosely shooting off your mouth with little or no
foundation.

Eric Leong- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

This is from five years ago or more and I don't recall if you were
specifically talking about the Clerkins or all of my professional
friends like Michael Huston, Gene Simpson Big John Anderson and
others. As compared to folks like Mike Lawrence (who I admire greatly)
and what their ideas on different bidding problems might be. I cannot
come up with a specific quote from that long ago but I know what you
said and it stuck with me. I even had a talk with Mike Lawrence about
you at the time because I had never heard of you before.  I knew you
were very opinionated and that you  had little tolerance for other
people's ideas. I can see that hasn't changed. I have avoided dealing
with you for a long time because it isn't worth the effort. I only
mentioned this about the Clerkins because I saw your name and
remembered you calling them lower level professionals.  So, please
take the opportunity for the last shot that you always demand and I am
done with this discussion.

JB- Hide quoted text -

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If such a quote existed one would think you could easily come with it
by searching on key words back to day one on rec.games.bridge. If you
are pleading that you are a cripple that you don't know how to search
I would not be surprised. As for being opinionated, I try to give some
sort of reasons and arguments for my positions. You on the other hand
are certainly consistently long on opinion with insults and short on
reasons. You would be the type of "pro" I would not squander money on..
It would be like flushing money down the toliet.

Eric Leong- Hide quoted text -

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Here is one:

I think there are more great players than you know.
Obviously true, but still more than you ever knew, played with, or talked

with.

Eric Leong

What leads you to believe this is true? And even if it is true, if
just
talking to great and good bridge players makes you a great or good
bridge
player, the world would be full of experts. Hmmmm, perhaps it is.

JB

Here is another that seems to say that the players you learned from
were far better than the players I learned from:

You get to learn by playing with and against players often much
stronger than yourself. When your cut in a game with a Grant Baze,
Peter Pender, Ronald Von Der Porten, or a Meyer Schliefer you are
going to learn something and if they get upset at you for doing
something really dumb which costs them you are going to learn.
Further, you learn a lot by discussing hands hanging around waiting
for a game or just eating dinner together. At tournaments, you have a
lot of great players you can get advice from. Sometimes, you get to
play in a game with players who come only rarely that you would not
expect to play with in a normal duplicate setting such as Mike
Lawrence, Belladona etc. The first time I meet Zia, it was in a
Chicago Bridge game in NYC. Zia came walking in to kibitz a 25 cent
game ($25/100 points which was low stakes for him) I was playing in.
He was watching a little bit bored for a couple of rounds when I was
dealt something like this in fourth deal:

This one implies that I do not even know who the great players are:

"John Blubaugh" <j.bluba...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message <news:

1p9Tb.201807$xy6.1031825@attbi_s02>...

By the way, I have not seen one credential listed by you other than the "Great"
players you have learned from. How have you applied this great knowledge?
JB

How to deal with a bridge bully.
How to talk about the game intelligently.
Perhaps, to know who the real players are?

Eric Leong

These are from January, 2004. I know there were more but I don't see
any reason to pour through all of them. It is obvious that you think
your bridge background is superior to mine and perhaps it is. Again, I
did not mean to attack you or the people who helped develop your game.
I just didn't expect you to agree with many of the people I listed.

JB- Hide quoted text -

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Here is your original comment:

=================================================================

I should note that my father did in fact hire Dennis Clerkin a
few times and Jerry once filled in when Dennis couldn't make it.
Fine players. Great people.-

Well, Eric Leong doesn't think much of them but I do. They have
played
on some of best teams in the world and they own many national
championships.
==================================================================

Nothing what you quoted above has no comments I made about the
Clerkins.
I don't even know them Some might accuse you of being an idiot. But I
think that would be unfair.
How could you be called an idiot when if one took a magnifying glass
and tried to find some semblance of a brain on you but found it just
too microscopic to identify?.

Eric Leong- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Can you not read? Try to follow. You disparaged EVERYONE that taught
me everything I know about bridge. I know you made more direct
comments about the Clerkins and Marinesa but I don't want to spend
hours reading your bull*** to find it. What you said is quite clear
it shows your arrogance and idiocy. You will note that the man first
asked for an upper echelon professional. I would have eliminated
myself from the list immediately when someone said that. I do not
claim to be or to have ever been as good as anyone in this group. I no
longer play the game at all. I do still have friends that play
professionally.

You have accused me of being a bridge bully in the past. Who sounds
like the bully here? I haven't commented on your bidding or style in
years and I do not intend to do so. I produced numerous of your
comments about my friends and how you thought they stacked up and now
you supposedly don't even know who they are. Bugger off, Eric and
crawl back under your rock.

JB
.