Sunday 8 February 2015

I'LL TELL YOU WHAT CONSTITUTES UNFRIENDLY AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR........AND IT ISN'T FOUL-MOUTHED CRITICISM AND RUDENESS !! 

It is my most considered view that bridge clubs are nothing more than centres of approved cheating. What has reached epidemic proportions is the low-level soft cheating that goes on , whether it be deliberate or done in bloody-minded ignorance. It is there for all to see if people are prepared to open their eyes and acknowledge the reality of what is going on in front of them......and perhaps the truth about themselves.
Cheating is without doubt the most unfriendly and anti-social act you can commit against others. When a player verbally attacks another , there is one victim. Cheating on the other hands adversely affects and damages everybody participating in the event. The consequence of cheating is that it invalidates the final scoring , the final placings and the event as a whole. To sabotage, degrade and ruin an event is a both selfish and evil act , which defiles the purity and abstract beauty of the most wonderful game in the world. 
And what do the club committees and bridge governing bodies do about this problem ? 
The answer is nothing. Often it is lack of proof , corroborating evidence and the reluctance to investigate , but the most likely reason why cheating of this type is allowed to continue is the irrational and cowardly decision to turn a blind eye and let it happen. At best , alleged culprits are politely asked to play more in tempo , to refrain from asking oh-so-cunning questions , and to desist from making comments , body gestures and facial expressions which partner can glean unauthorised information from. Reporting is never encouraged , rarely takes place and more often than not conveniently forgotten.
But what really takes the biscuit is when cheats , who have been hit with a volley of accusations and insults from irate and frustrated victims ,  have the brass-neck audacity to put in a complaint about their  offensive loud-mouth behaviour. A clear case of the pot calling the kettle black. Inevitably , the cheat's misdemeanors are conveniently brushed aside as the committee throw the rule book at the member clearly found guilty of loud and boisterous criticism. No friendly or honest acknowledgement from the cheats that they were guilty of unethical acts : just more unfriendly and anti-social behaviour in the form of blatant hypocrisy , and lies by denial or omission. 
It needs to be pointed out that cheats have neither a legal nor moral right to do what they do. Not so with a member choosing to be loud and boisterous in criticising an opponent of cheating. As it happens he does a legal right to use speech to deride or expose a player's ethical shortcomings. I agree that the victim is under a duty to help make the club a pleasant and congenial place for others to enjoy their game , and the right to call a TD when seeking redress for any damage to the score the cheating may have brought about. But freedom of speech is right firmly enshrined in English law , which can be exercised in nearly all public and private places. Providing the comments reflect the truth and/or represent fair opinion , the victim of cheating is entitled to have his/her say. 
Cheats commit highly provocative and unfriendly acts. But for the provocation the victim would not have responded or over-reacted in the way he did. At what point then do "  sharp and pointed " remarks overstep the boundaries of " acceptable behaviour " , moving into the realms of venomous abuse possibly bordering on defamation ? Not an easy call.
However , what really matters is that the game needs to be cleaned up. One starting point is to get rid of serial, persistent soft cheaters ( along with the annoyingly provocative slow players ) , and many of those prone to emotional outbursts will revert back to being quiet, pleasant and harmless pussy cats. I would rather be the victim of an unforgiving partner who called me a " useless prat " for missing his suit-preference signal , than the victim of opponents using unauthorised signalling systems. But that's me.
  
     

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