[PhantomSac]

Did I accidentally click on the watercooler? *shudders*

[zasanya]

PhantomSac, on 2015-October-15, 20:10, said:

Did I accidentally click on the watercooler? *shudders*

One of your best comments.

[gordontd]

Vampyr, on 2015-October-15, 16:22, said:

I would be less generous with welfare. You can stay on the dole forever if you choose not to work, and receive housing benefit on top of that.


I'm not saying that you get loads of money, but it is enough to live on, and a lot of people choose this life.

Have you started reading the Daily Mail?

[MrAce]

I always wanted Bridge to be recognized as sport. After recent cheat scandals, the way WBF EBL acted, politics involved even before we become and recognized as a sport, plus how some political views by some governments tried to be injected to Bridge players, including the country I was born, changed my mind totally.

Instead I decided Bridge can be a sport without having any ties to anybody. We do not need to be recognized as such by others. If we do and this means NBOs will be dependent to sports ministry, which is a part of the government, we will be forced to pull into world politics. There will come a day your government will tell you who you can and who you can not play against. Even worse if you are living in an islamic country, they will get their nose all the way into what kind of clothes you are allowed to wear in international competitions while you represent them. When you get caught with THC in your system, which is definitely not a performance enhancer, you will be put in same category with someone who cheated their @$$ off for decades.

It of course has some financial benefit off of it. But I prefer our freedom as a bridge community. It has already been stretched. I have no sympathy to those countries who denies to play against Israel and WBF allows this bs. If your freedom is compromised down to the level that you simply can not follow the laws of a game, you should not be part of it. My personal opinion, if your freedom is compromised down to level, bridge should not even be your priority and you should be fighting for something which is more important. Not for your right to be in competition that you can not complete fully.

If my country was Netherlands, U.K, Sweden etc, no problem. We have too many countries in the world that making Bridge an official sport will be a burden on people who loves the game.

Think about it. We are not a recognized sport. Yet we saw recently that WBF EBL can do things without giving any reasons. Let's just don't put governments at the top of all this bs. Nothing good comes out of it.

[Vampyr]

gordontd, on 2015-October-16, 01:09, said:

Have you started reading the Daily Mail?

LOL if only they had a good cryptic crossword...

[Caitlynne]

What's the point of this?

The offering of a few questionable definitions?

I don't get it.

[Vampyr]

Caitlynne, on 2015-October-16, 08:44, said:

What's the point of this?

The offering of a few questionable definitions?

I don't get it.

Have you read this thread? The point is financial.

[microcap]

The best definition of a "sport" versus a "game" was given to me by a Canadian chum of mine while discussing curling during the last Olympics. He said, "If you can gain weight while playing it, it's not a sport!" And we all know where bridge falls LOLL

You'd be amazed at the quantity of beer and doughnuts you can consume while chasing that whirling thing down the ice...

[manudude03]

microcap, on 2015-October-16, 10:19, said:

The best definition of a "sport" versus a "game" was given to me by a Canadian chum of mine while discussing curling during the last Olympics. He said, "If you can gain weight while playing it, it's not a sport!" And we all know where bridge falls LOLL

You'd be amazed at the quantity of beer and doughnuts you can consume while chasing that whirling thing down the ice...

I always thought calling Competitive Eating a sport seemed a little stupid.

[blackshoe]

el mister, on 2015-October-15, 08:09, said:

Sport England (the administrative body for sports funding) had let a few soft ones through such as darts and snooker, so probably felt they needed to draw a line in the sand. Otherwise you'll end up with dungeons and dragons players asking for VAT relief.

What, pray tell, is wrong with that?

[Vampyr]

blackshoe, on 2015-October-16, 16:19, said:

What, pray tell, is wrong with that?

Yeah, I really don't see why the government should get a cut of D&D entries.

[zillahandp]

Virgil 1 is timeo et dona ferentes,

[mgoetze]

MrAce, on 2015-October-16, 04:36, said:

I have no sympathy to those countries who denies to play against Israel and WBF allows this bs.

Do you have sympathy for Israel refusing to go to some countries because they can't get extra-super-special treatment there?

Anyway, at least according to German laws, the freedom is already an illusion, courts can fool around with Bridge whether it's a sport or not.

[jogs]

manudude03, on 2015-October-16, 10:55, said:

I always thought calling Competitive Eating a sport seemed a little stupid.

Actually the top competitive eaters are quite fit.

[jogs]

microcap, on 2015-October-16, 10:19, said:

The best definition of a "sport" versus a "game" was given to me by a Canadian chum of mine while discussing curling during the last Olympics. He said, "If you can gain weight while playing it, it's not a sport!" And we all know where bridge falls LOLL

Clients and 80 year-olds are winning national championships.
The World Championships are playing 48 boards a day during the knockout stage. If bridge wants to be a sport they must play 80 boards a day.
Olympics will never accept bridge. No money from spectators. Bridge players wont watch bridge. ESPN showed Scrabble once, but never bridge.

[manudude03]

jogs, on 2015-October-19, 16:57, said:

Actually the top competitive eaters are quite fit.

I don't doubt that from what little I've ever seen of it, but can you really say you're losing weight while doing it?

[MrAce]

mgoetze, on 2015-October-18, 16:37, said:

Do you have sympathy for Israel refusing to go to some countries because they can't get extra-super-special treatment there?

If this is exactly the reason why they did not go there, then my answer is NO.

[gwnn]

As far as I understood, the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs asked for some basic information on security from the hotel resort, exactly to avoid getting "extra super special treatment" in a city where one of the bloodiest terror attack happened about 10 years ago. The organisers and the hotel resort did not reply to any of the requests (they did not refuse, just refused to write anything).

[helene_t]

mgoetze, on 2015-October-18, 16:37, said:

Do you have sympathy for Israel refusing to go to some countries because they can't get extra-super-special treatment there?

Or for the US team that wouldn't play in Turkey, for that matter. There were also some obstacles with the visas although it could probably be resolved.

It is a bit different, though. A team can decide not to go to an event for any reason they might have. But once you decide to participate, you have an obligation to play your sheduled matches.

[Fluffy]

Are you talking about Israel not goig to Bali? Israel did indeed get a special treatment there, because Indonesia doesn't recognice Israel as a country.