"If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition."

-- Charles Caleb Colton

09 April 2008

A Bridge to Scandal By Daniel J. Friedman

The American Journal of Sporting Opinion
9 April 2008
Vol. 6, pp. 24-28

"A Bridge to Scandal"
by Daniel J. Friedman

This July's North American Bridge Championship (NABC) hosted by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) will be in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now Las Vegas is known, on the one hand, as "The Entertainment Capital of the World," and on the other hand, as "Sin City." I suppose these two nicknames are not mutual exclusive, as many people seem to find a great deal of entertainment in the practice of sin, but how will this affect the Evangelical Puritan Christian Base of the ACBL? Not favorably, one can imagine.

And yet, the concerns of a bridge-playing moral majority are nothing compared to the devastating fallout of a potential gambling scandal associated with this Summer's NABC. CEO Jay Baum apparently couldn't care less, seeking only to increase revenues and not at all concerned about a repeat of the 1920s gambling scandals that crippled bridge's popularity for a generation. Is Mr. Baum on the take? I'm not going to suggest anything that might get me sued, but yes.

No comments: