District Director's Report
November, 2003

New Orleans NABC

New Orleans was a superb site for the 2003 Fall Nationals. The playing facilities, all located in one building – the New Orleans Marriott - were excellent, even for the Regional events. There was ample room between tables and all events were held in carpeted, well-lit space. As one might expect in New Orleans, there are many fabulous places to eat, either within walking distance or a short taxi ride away. There are also numerous attractions for sight seeing. Attendance was 12,403 tables, better than the initial projection of 12,000 tables but not as good as some of the optimistic predictions made at the beginning of the tournament based on advance room sales.

As is customary, the tournament started the week before Thanksgiving, but it is becoming clear from surveys that the players prefer starting either the day after Thanksgiving as we did in Phoenix last year or having the Fall NABC begin earlier in the month. Unfortunately, NABC’s are typically scheduled well in advance so many of the upcoming NABC’s, including Boston in 2008, will start the Friday before Thanksgiving. I’m also not convinced that the ACBL Meeting Planner realizes that starting the Friday before Thanksgiving is not what the majority of our players favor.

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN NEW ORLEANS NABC EVENTS

LIFE MASTER PAIRS

Jay Borker, Greenwich CT
2

SENIOR KO TEAMS

Dan Colatosti, Waltham MA
2
Rich DeMartino, Riverside CT
John Malley, Pascoag RI  
Pat McDevitt, Brookline, MA  
John Stiefel, Wethersfield CT  
   
Simon Kantor, Agawam, MA
4

This performance is not as impressive as District 25 players’ achievements at last Fall’s NABC in Phoenix but, nonetheless, it was a very good showing with a couple of near misses.


HIGHLIGHTS OF ACBL BOARD MEETING

2004 Budget

As I previously reported, the preliminary budget assumptions approved in July are as follows: No change in membership dues or club fees; an 8% increase in tournament sanction fees (Regionals and Sectionals); a 6.5 % increase in tournament directors’ fees (3.5% salary plus 3% catch-up); and a $4.00 per table increase in NABC entry fees

I am delighted to report that in the final budget process the Finance Committee determined that there will be no change in sanction fees for 2004. Further, tournament directors’ fees will increase by 4% instead of the planned 6.5%. Both of these actions should be great news for our units and districts. NABC entry fees will increase by $1.00 per player per session, as previously planned.

Despite the above, the ACBL is projecting a $29,000 gain for 2004. For 2003, we budgeted for a loss of $314,000 but the current projection is that the actual results will be much closer to break-even. The league continues to be in excellent shape financially.

Part of the reason we are able to maintain sanction fees at the 2003 level is a change in our potential member marketing guidelines. As head of the Finance Committee, I advocated that we change the existing guideline which stated that we would budget 14.5% for marketing in 2004. The new guideline is that the budget for potential member marketing will be in the range of 12-15%. The actual budget in any year will be the amount needed to fund those projects Management and the BOD believe are necessary to achieve the organization’s marketing objectives. Despite the guideline change, the Finance Committee remains firmly committed to providing adequate funds for potential member marketing in the future.

North American Pairs (NAP’s)

As previously reported, NAP and GNT attendance has been declining. The Board decided to form a Committee to determine the future of these events. The two most significant problems with the NAP’s are as follows:

Based upon the recommendations of the Committee, the Board voted unanimously to retain the current structure of the NAP’s for the next two years but with the following changes:

If these proposed actions do not help to revive the event over the next two years, it will probably be discontinued. I strongly encourage all club owners and players who wish to keep this event on the schedule to do whatever you can to help out here. At present, no changes are planned for the GNT’s.

Scheduling Knockout Finals

The Board unanimously passed the following motion to clarify the scheduling of finals for KO’s:

Only in the instance of fewer sessions than originally scheduled, at the option of the sponsor, finals of Knockout matches may be played at a time other than that scheduled if agreed upon by all parties. The entire match must be finished prior to the conclusion of the tournament. When this option is exercised, the event will be deemed complete upon the end of play and the two teams may enter any new event.

Stratified Games

A motion was made that the stratification level of a pair or a team in a Stratified Event will be based upon the average masterpoint holding of each pair for pair games and of the top four masterpoint holders on each team for a team game. After much discussion, this item was deferred to the Spring 2004 meeting, primarily so Management can determine time and cost estimates to modify our computer systems. The proposed change benefits pairs and teams where there is a player over the masterpoint limit for the stratum (e.g., a player with 2200 masterpoints playing with a player with 1500 masterpoints with a stratum break at 2000 masterpoints) but there are also some good reasons for not adopting this suggestion.

Goodwill/Charity Committee Appointments for 2004

It gives me great pleasure to announce the following appointments to the ACBL National Goodwill Committee and the National Charity Committee. These are lifetime appointments honoring players who have contributed substantially to bridge in District 25:

 
National Goodwill Committee
National Charity Committee
     
  Wayne Hersey, VT Mike Farrell, VT
  Jan Cucurullo, EMBA David Shaw, VT
  Anne Hoffman, VT  

TOP 25 MASTERPOINT WINNERS –NEW ORLEANS NABC

   
Name
Total Points
Points Won in
NABC Events
1.
  Harold Feldheim, Hamden CT
136.05
44.83
2.
  Paul Kinney, Jamaica Plain MA
118.81
52.83
3.
  Daniel Colatosti, Waltham MA
116.44
108.18
.
  John Malley, Pascoag RI
116.04
108.18
5.
  John Stiefel, Wethersfield CT
114.85
106.59
6.
  Pat McDevitt, Brookline MA
113.18
105.00
7.
  Rich De Martino, Riverside CT
112.06
108.45
8.
  Jay Borker, Greenwich CT
93.75
93.75
9.
  William Hunter, Reading MA
80.84
7.18
.
  Shome Mukherjee, Randolph MA
80.84
7.18
11.
  Simon Kantor, Agawam MA
75.72
73.18
12.
  Allan Graves, Barnet VT
74.79
20.59
13.   Susan Winkler, Amherst NH
69.78
1.80
14.   Carole Weinstein-Gorsey, Acton MA
66.45
15.   Myles Walsh, Buzzards Bay MA
65.29
2.65
16.   Walter Spiewak, Amherst NH
64.74
1.80
17.   Jennifer Nabrynski, Ashland MA
59.50
1.59
.   Michael Nabrynski, Ashland MA
59.50
1.59
19.   Vincent Messina, Wolfeboro NH
54.90
20.   Bruce Downing, Manchester NH
54.64
    Mark Conner, Grantham NH
54.64
22.   Walter Tauber, Longmeadow MA
54.06
23.   Nathan Glasser, Somerville MA
53.23
1.37
24.   Bud Biswas, Lexington MA
52.62
8.37
25.   Barry Margolin, Arlington MA
50.30
5.11


The Spring NABC is in Reno, Nevada from March 18 – March 28, 2004. Reno is considered a very good site for a Spring NABC. Please plan to come and join the fun! Also, please plan to play in the Grand National Teams on January 31 in Worcester; details are on the District 25 Website (nebridge.org).

Rich DeMartino
District Director