[bluejak]

G_R__E_G, on 2011-January-04, 15:15, said:

In an NHL hockey game there are two on-ice referees, two linesman, two goal judges, video reviews done at the league office in Toronto and a Director of Officiating that reviews plays for possible disciplinary action against players. When me and my friends get together to play a pick-up game we make our own calls. There are of course many levels in between.

I think the bridge club regular games are much closes to the latter than the former and that having any sort of formal appeal process is a little over the top. At my club I'm the head director and if a player has a concern about a ruling they all know that they can come to see me. I've been approached all of three times over the last four years that I've been doing this and on all three occasions the director was clearly correct. I'm not saying that our directors haven't made any mistakes but clearly our players are happy enough with them. I think when you set up all sorts of formal processes for these types of things you're really just asking people to complain more often.

No-one is suggesting you "set up all sorts of formal processes". But the Law book allows appeals against a TD ruling, so not to be prepared to do one is likely to lead to more arguments than it solves.

You have not had a formal appeal in the last four years? Fine, but one may be just around the corner.

The thing that worries me is that several of the posts here including this one seem to suggest that the question is whether a TD has made a mistake or not. That is not the primary purpose of an appeal and this sort of attitude is contrary to the spirit of directing. Rulings come in two sorts, judgement and book. No, I do not expect appeals against book rulings, and explaining why they are correct or correcting them if they are wrong is the way to go.

But a TD who gives a judgement ruling [or his superior] seems unnecessarily arrogant if he does not want to have an appeal or if he is going to think it matters if it reverses or amends his decision. Such appeals tend to be very rare in clubs but a club that is not willing to have such an appeal heard is going against both the Law book and, in my view, the interests of its members.