A TOPIC VERY NEAR TO MY HEART BY GUS BONDI!

It was great to hear from Larry Brown and his comments on where he thinks the game is going in the future……Larry is a firm believer that change is needed in the game soon or else we will not have a game to enjoy, a game with good but friendly tournaments!! He is absolutely right that if change doesn’t happen in the near future, you will see small groups get together on Mondays and have their own mini-tournament that will last….ONE DAY…. and the participants will be home for supper with their spouse and have Tuesday and Wednesday to practice and socialize with their spouse at night. It’s currently being done and it will grow in the future……The culprits are the price of gas, the price of motels, and too much time for the tournament away from home if you win and have to stay over.
I am not in favor of a shortened season to accommodate a select few people so they can make The Masters at the end of the year…….The Master’s should be renamed to ….The Monopoly……because that is exactly what it is…..a group of elite players that play together most of the year and then play against one another in The Master’s…….The 2005-2006 season hasn’t started yet, and I can predict right now 5 or maybe 6 players that will be playing in it because of the monopoly of elite players grouping together to help one another. So now you have a few hundred others fighting for the 6th, 7th, and 8th positions. The format of State Tournaments has to change, and very soon. To ensure survival, the very first change must be the introduction of DRAW TOURNAMENTS!! Is there anything unfair about “Equal Opportunity” for all participants?? Draw Tournaments prevent the elite grouping together and forming a monopoly ~~ unfair and illegal in business ~~ equally unfair in sport! If draw tournaments were implemented, some of the better players may NEVER make another Masters!! SO BE IT!!
When to 2005-2006 schedule came out, I asked a very dominant HOF’er for ONE tournament for the coming season. His answer to me was, “I’m booked for the next 4-5 years, I’m trying to get “so in so” into the HOF.” Now I ask you, “Is that helping the game or hurting the game?” It’s definitely hurting the game and such players ought to sit down in front of a mirror and have a talk with themselves. The word GREED is in the dictionary and they should look up the definition of what it means….excessive desire. Don’t forget also that we’re not dealing with 25-year-old professionals as in major sports ~~ trying to make the HOF. We’re dealing with 60-70 and 80-year-old sincere and real people trying to make the HOF. They go to a tournament and witness monopolization and soon become disgusted and eventually withdraw by staying home…..So who is hurting the game, you tell me…….Some very important people had better wake up and smell the roses because there is a big skunk out on the horizon waiting to kill the “sweet smell of the roses”!! Gus Bondi, 2005 07 25.
Stan’s Note: Gus expresses his opinion with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm!! Everyone who knows Gus agrees that no one has more love for shuffling!! Thank you Gus ~~ You just may get a response or two!!