Unit 223 Reporter

News from Southern Illinois-Paducah Unit 223

Editor: Karen Coe, 12761 Webb Hill Rd., Ewing IL 62836
(618-435-4200) 
finesse002002@yahoo.com

"Director, please"

Calls for the director are never boring events. Sometimes, they're absolutely riveting.

Several years ago in Gatlinburg TN, I was startled by an absolutely furious female voice in our section bellowing out "DIRECTOR!!!" I glanced up and observed a lady director headed toward our section. The same voice, a couple of heartbeats later, in a nod to "political correctness", called out in a more moderate tone of voice, "type-person". In a return to sanity and politeness, the same voice followed up a few seconds later, sweetly, gently -- with "please".

Experienced players all have been told, at one time or other, to "cut a little slack" and be careful about calling the director when dealing with C-flight players -- that for the "newbie", having a director called can be traumatic. Likewise, sometimes having an inexperienced player call the director can be an unnerving event for the so-called "old-hand".

Several years ago, at a St. Louis Regional, playing East-West, my husband and I sat down at a table against an extremely serious and intense North-South pair. Nothing immediately clued me in that North-South were beginning players, but you could have cut the tension in the air at that table with a knife. North opened, my husband passed, South pulled out a Stop Card, correctly made a jump-bid, and then tucked away her Stop Card. I paused for the required 8 to10 seconds, and passed. "Director!" South called out. When the director arrived at the table, an outraged South pointed at me and informed the director that I had "hesitated". I was so astonished. The director had admonished me and my partner about unauthorized information, observed my partner's subsequent Pass, and departed before I managed to close my dropped-jaw and find my voice.

Then recently, at a regional in Florida, once again sitting East-West, I experienced another director call. Sitting in first position, my husband (West) bid 1C; North passed; I bid 1D; 2D by South. My husband passed and North now bid 2H. Holding a 5-card diamond suit and 11 points, I decided to bid 3D. Pass by South; Pass by my husband; and North now ventured 3H. I doubled and South and my husband passed. North regarded his hand and announced "I need to call the director and ask him a question".

While we waited for the director to arrive at our table, I sat and pondered what the call was possibly about, as one is inclined to do. What was the irregularity? What possible offense had we committed? Believe me, I didn't guess. The director arrived and North asked quite seriously, "If I bid 4D, who will have to play it? Her (pointing at me) or her (pointing at his partner)?"


2012 Masterpoint Races -- 1st Place

Ace of Clubs   

(0-5) Pamela Ames  

(5-20) *Donna Murphy

(20-50) Joyce Kirby

(50-100) Carol Phillips

(100-200) William Riley

(200-300) Mary File

(300-500) *James Reid Brazier      

(500-1000) *Don Klingsick  

(1000-2500) David Drennan

(2500-5000) Judy Eaton   

(5000+) Dalton Darnell

Mini-McKenney            

Pamela Ames

Donna Murphy

Joyce Kirby

Doug Snow

William Riley

Mary File

James Reid Brazier                       

Don Klingsick

David Drennan

Rich Brummer

Dalton Darnell

Awards were passed out to the top three players in each category at the sectional tournament held in early March at Kentucky Dam Village. For players not present, awards were either delivered by hand or by mail. To view the top 10 players in each category, visit ACBL's website.

Of special interest, players with an * by their names also finished first in their category in District 8 for 2012.


Silver Point Winners

The following Unit 223 players finished in the Top 100 masterpoint winners list during the recent District 8 Winter Sectional at Clubs:

8/9  Joel and Jo Krin Pendergraft, Paducah  17.02

15  Dennis Rose, Boaz, KY  15.95

20  Jill Woolf, Carbondale, IL  14.16

21  Jane Baker, Paducah, KY  14.08

26  Bryan Lee Williams, Centralia, IL  13.61

27  Gene Schuster, Mt Vernon, IL  13.61

40  Ron Brockman, Paducah, KY  10.90

67  Krzysztof Jarosz, Edwardsville, IL  8.72

72  Sue Davis, Marion, IL  8.57

73  Mary (Dottie) Lang, Marion, IL 8.38

74  Ann Smith, Marion, IL 8.38

89  Elaine Sigler, Trenton, IL 7.25

91  Bill Petrie, Mayfield, KY 7.16

93  Ron Brotherson, Paducah, KY 7.07


Rising through the Ranks

Congratulations to the following players who have advanced in rank:

New Junior Master:  Judy Neel, Belleville, IL

New Club Master:  Shirley Holt, Newton, IL

New Regional Master:  Mary Lattan Shaw, Carlinville, IL

New Bronze Life Master:  Mike Ritchie, Effingham, IL


2012 McCord Race

Friends of the late Dalton Darnell (Murray, KY) will be interested to know that Dalton fulfilled his ambition to win the McCord Race again in 2012, and became the Unit 223 player who has won the race the most times. 2012 was Dalton's fifth win, following wins in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

The McCord Race, for those of you who may not know, is a Unit 223 race for the Unit 223 player winning the most points in Unit 223 sectional tournaments. The winner's name in inscribed on a handsome, silver traveling trophy.

And speaking of Unit 223 Sectionals . . .

Effingham Pioneer Sectional

Unit 223's next Sectional will be held April 12 through 14 at the Ron Diehl Center (formerly Hendlemeyer) in Effingham, IL. Kate Dickens is tournament Chair (cowper4@yahoo.com) and Rick Beye is the director in charge. For further information, contact Kate or click here for the full tournament schedule. Kate and her club always do an excellent job hosting this tournament. I urge you to attend.

One Final Thought

Have you marked your calendar? Our regional tournament will be held in Metropolis at Harrah's June 17th through 21st.