mrdct Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Quite incredibly, after going for 1100, 1400 and 1400 on consecutive boards, the Germans abandoned their semi-final versus England mid-segment. I have never seen such poor sportsmanship in bridge. What should the penalty be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickf Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Quite incredibly, after going for 1100, 1400 and 1400 on consecutive boards, the Germans abandoned their semi-final versus England mid-segment. I have never seen such poor sportsmanship in bridge. What should the penalty be? I think they should be forced to attend the Victory Dinner with t-shirts bearing the slogan "I voted for Angela Merkel". nickfsydney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finch Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Why is it bad sportsmanship? I would say that, if anything, it is bad sportsmanship to continue playing in a hopeless position. Even when you are a lot up, it is still tiring to continue concentrating and you might think that forcing England to play on, while Italy are having an early night, would be unfair on England. Conceding mid-segment is unusual, but only because there's always the chance that teammates have done something spectacular. My guess from the (lack of) swangames running scores is that Norway conceded against Italy before the last segment started. Is that also bad sportsmanship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walddk Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Why is it bad sportsmanship? It's bad sportsmanship because once you decide to sit down to play, you are committed to playing the full set and not leave the room in disgust! You are obviously entitled to forfeit due to a medical condition, but that was not the case. Please note that Norway conceded after a session. That is completely different. Roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBridge Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ban them for 50 years plus a substantial fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosi2 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I think its has to do with lack of respect, for the sport, opps and all the people that are following the game, my suggestion is to ban the pair for some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm218 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask the England players - surely they are far happier with the concession midway and an earlier night than having to play an additional 10 pointless boards...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OleBerg Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Quite incredibly, after going for 1100, 1400 and 1400 on consecutive boards, the Germans abandoned their semi-final versus England mid-segment. I have never seen such poor sportsmanship in bridge. What should the penalty be?Their daughters should be turned over to me. May seem a little harsh to those who know me, but they deserve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iznogood Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 althought usually i am a german fan in most sports i think the wbf should ban germany from the next bermuda bowl (they qualified for it beeing 2nd of the european championship in Pau) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dicklont Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask the England players - surely they are far happier with the concession midway and an earlier night than having to play an additional 10 pointless boards...? I don't know. This kind of unusual stuff can distort their flow.Playing 10 more boards is no problem when things are going your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm218 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Does anyone know the rule on concessions? Is there one that allows the Norwegians to conceed at the end of a stanza but the Germans not to midway through a stanza? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geller Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I take a less extreme position. It's obviously bad sportsmanship to walk away without saying anything, but (depending on the score before the 3 disasters) it might be appropropriate to stop play for a minute and call the director and respective NPCs and if all agree then concede the match. Of course in the future let's hope sponsorship takes off so that the match has to be played through to the end for commercial reasons. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_l Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask the England players - surely they are far happier with the concession midway and an earlier night than having to play an additional 10 pointless boards...? Italy earned the extra rest by beating Norway soundly. i think the walkout is unsporting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skjaeran Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 althought usually i am a german fan in most sports i think the wbf should ban germany from the next bermuda bowl (they qualified for it beeing 2nd of the european championship in Pau) I disagree. They should ban the two players involved from international play for a very long time. But not do anything at all with the rest of the German team, in Beijing now or next years Bermuda Bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_l Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 agree, i think the players are at fault, not the nation. banning the players may be a solution, provided there are regulations against abandonment. however, i don't think the country should be penalised - IIRC the German NPC attempted to restart play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharp01 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Fatigue and stress are a medical condition like straining a muscle for a tennis player. I find much more "disgusting" Norway conceding cold blooded (world and european reigning champions... THEY have to set up standards). Germany played a terrific tournment and they should not be judged for 2 minutes of folly. Anyway i am sure, as someone else has already said, that both Italy and England appreciated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HedyG Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 2 minutes of folly? you have obviously not watched the match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharp01 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I am talking about the reaction of quitting as "2 minutes of folly"... the 800' and the 1400's are on the score sheet, therefore are part of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Does anybody know the particular circumstances? Wasn't there a TD?I read just the message about the anticipated end of the match while I was watching at the other table.IMO it is very inequitable to denounce the whole team, I know all members more or less well, and at least 4-5 of them don't deserve it, I know them as sportsmen. Sure, a team is a team (or should be), but what can the others do when 1 member cannot control a sudden dropout? Ban him, punish him, perhaps also his partner because he wasn't able to have a positive influence on him, but the others didn't do anything wrong. And, as others said before, the English team has no disadvantage, quite the contrary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerardo Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Highly unusual, don't see why wrong. Unless there are regulations forbidding this, don't see why they should be punished. They don't owe explanatations to anyone but partners, captain and federation. If DBV (after this) judges they are in the BB team, it is their choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdct Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I find much more "disgusting" Norway conceding cold blooded (world and european reigning champions... THEY have to set up standards). Conceding in a knock-out match with a segment to play when down a suitable margin is completely normal and happens frequently in major tournaments. If anything it's the ethical thing to do by not wasting everyone's time playing on pointlessly. Conceding mid-segment is completely different and is without precedent as far as I'm aware. Walking out mid-session is not acceptable in a social home game, it's not acceptable in a club duplicate and it's certainly not acceptable in a world championship semi-final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulie1990 Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 As for me, I think it's necessary to know more details about what exactly has happened. I can't really imagine that they have just risen after four bad boards without saying a word and walked out of the room. Obviously the Germans had to cooperate, unless there was present some sort of telepathy. So if they agreed on it with opponents, or at least explaining their intentions, I consider it being perfectly correct. After all, in many sports you can see players give up if they play somewhat terribly. I think the closest to bridge are other mind-sports, like poker or chess. And is it not a typical ending in these two games that one side gives up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finch Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Ask the England players - surely they are far happier with the concession midway and an earlier night than having to play an additional 10 pointless boards...? Italy earned the extra rest by beating Norway soundly. i think the walkout is unsporting. italy earned a rest by beating Norway soundly, but england don't earn a rest by beating Germany soundly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smiffy Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I'm not sure about punishments bridge-wise, but if these two players have a doctor in medicine i really would not want to have them as my doctors. They might walk out on me in the middle of a complicated brain surgery just because it does not work out as they had expected. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackthelad Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Bridge is a game where emotions are tested. The higher up the game you play, the more extreme the emotions. Without emotion bridge is nothing; so a little understanding of the extreme stress that germans felt might go a long way here. No one wants to make mistakes, but when they are of atomic proportions, then sometimes the resultant actions are equally extreme. All bridge players have felt like this at one time or another. I vote for a sympathetic approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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