[DenisO]

I don't see any mention of a broadcast of the Vanderbilt (to be held early April) in the Vugraph schedule. Have the ACBL made any approaches or have they forgotten their internet audience?

Availabiltity of NABC match records seems to get worse - not long ago you can find records (pbn files) covering matches down to the round of 32. Nowadays it seems to be a bit of a lottery whether we even get the final

[Walddk]

The Vanderbilt KO Teams in Dallas, Texas, will start on April 2 and finish on the 8th. Two days ago I wrote an e-mail to Rick Beye, ACBL's Chief Tournament Director, to ask for information.

I am sorry to say that I haven't received a reply yet. Needless to say, we can't list anything without info. I would be surprised if the ACBL decides to skip this event as far as an internet broadcast is concerned, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

The normal procedure is that the organisers approach me if they want their event transmitted to the world through the internet. So I actually did more than I had to when I approached the ACBL.

Maybe Rick Beye is away on holiday. Let's hope that something good happens soon.

Roland

[pclayton]

OMG, this should be a no-brainer.

Maybe the league needs to actually PROMOTE the game instead of (insert appropriate comment here).

[barmar]

ACBL has been broadcasting the finals of the major team event at NABCs for years. I doubt they're going to suddenly stop now.

But maybe they're planning on using another online service this time. Wasn't Swan involved in one of the Vugraphs last year?

[Walddk]

barmar, on Mar 16 2006, 08:39 PM, said:

ACBL has been broadcasting the finals of the major team event at NABCs for years. I doubt they're going to suddenly stop now.

But maybe they're planning on using another online service this time. Wasn't Swan involved in one of the Vugraphs last year?

Never from ACBL-land and I very much doubt that they ever will. That would be a big step backwards as far as promoting bridge is concerned.

Roland

[uday]

The acbl-in-memphis is planning vugs from the next national in dallas. schedule tbd, but they're thinkinng things over . They're toying with covering at least one table from as early as the Rd of 4, and are dealing with the expected resource constraints. As usual, phone lines (USD 200/day/table) and operators (usually volunteers) are the main chokepoints.


We'll post when we know exactly what will and won't be broadcast.

[Walddk]

We are now getting a little closer to a vugraph broadcast from the Vanderbilt KO Teams. Rick Beye, ACBL's Chief Tournament Director, has responded to my e-mail and stated that "likely we will broadcast the semis and the finals".

As we get closer to Dallas, Rick will confirm exact days, based on entry.

Roland

[pigpenz]

so has the acbl come up with a schedule yet?

[kenrexford]

I'd like to see a vugraph of my local club. Actually, everyone would. It would hurt your stomach, but it would make the archives as the most-viewed.

[Walddk]

pigpenz, on Mar 31 2006, 03:45 AM, said:

so has the acbl come up with a schedule yet?

Not yet, but we are hopeful that they will be broadcasting from the Vanderbilt semi-finals and finals. Awaiting number of entries, and then final confirmation from Dallas.

I promise to keep you posted as I get more information. Keep an eye on our vugraph schedule web page.

Roland

[DenisO]

While we await news on the schedule, there is a good article on the history of the Vanderbilt in daily bulletin 3 on the NABC site :

http://www.acbl.org/.../bulletins.html

All the previous winners and lots of photos with famous names from the past - unfortunately B&L are smiling out from the photo of last year's winning team.

[Walddk]

I am getting bombarded with e-mails and private chat messages from all over the world. Understandable because it's a high profile event. This is what I got from the ACBL on March 17:

"Likely we will broadcast the semis and the finals. As we get closer to Dallas I will confirm exact days, based on entry".

I haven't heard anything since, so until now I have decided against listing the event on our vugraph schedule web page.

Roland

[mrdct]

This pathetic effort by the ACBL in getting vugraph coverage of this major event organised is closely matched by the non-existent website scores. Having to wait for daily bulletins is a joke.

There are lots of great match-ups in this event from very beginning, and just about every match in the round of 32 features well known players, so why isn't it on now? The ACBL needs to get with the times.

[Gerben42]

I agree - there are some interesting RO32 matches. Here are two that caught my eye:

Norway's Superstars against the Dutch

4. Weed (Cayne Seamon Levin Weinstein Helgemo Helness)
vs
29. Team Orange (Drijver Brink Westra Ramondt)

Senior World Champion vs Junior World Champion:

6. Robinson (Robinson Boyd Stewart Woolsey)
vs
27. Tucker (Tucker Kranyak J.Lall H.Lall Ferraro Ag.Madala)

[DenisO]

mrdct, on Apr 4 2006, 03:25 PM, said:

There are lots of great match-ups in this event from very beginning, and just about every match in the round of 32 features well known players, so why isn't it on now?  The ACBL needs to get with the times.

Exactly - this was the point I made in the first post of this thread - if you look in the GIB Library some years ago for this event, you will find .pbn files of the round of 32. I don't what the technolog for the coverage was then but it must have needed volunteer operators to record the deals, bidding and play.

Now we have better technology and the superb BBO software and we're down to the round of 16 and not a cheep from the ACBL - Seems to me they are going backwards. Is it run by dinosaurs who have no idea how to promote bridge and bring their major events , with really world class fields, to a worldwide audience - which obviously includes all the ACBL members who can't get to the NABC.

[Walddk]

What strikes me as odd this time around is that I don't see advertisements in the bulletins. Earlier we have seen the organisers advertise for volunteer operators. I can find two explanations in this context:

1. The ACBL has the operators they need.
2. The ACBL will start advertising tomorrow.

It may also be a question of $$ as Uday has pointed out in an earlier post. Maybe the budget doesn't allow the ACBL to broadcast until we reach the semi-finals and finals. $200 a day per table is a lot, and then we are back to where we were regarding the second weekend of the Camrose Trophy at The Hilton in Newport, Wales.

No matter what, it would certainly be nice to know what's going to happen. Our viewers deserve it, and so do our commentators.

Roland

[uday]

According to Sheri, who is on site:

The ACBL will start broadcasting the vugraph on starting Friday ( Semi finals - 4 teams remaining)

No word yet on how many tables, but we'll find out.

[uday]

All tables for the semis onwards will be shown

[Gerben42]

Great! Will be world class bridge no doubt.

[Walddk]

Here is our time schedule:

Friday, April 7:
2:00 pm New York, 20.00 Paris, 7:00 pm London, 4:00 am Saturday Sydney
SF1

*4:30 pm New York, 22.30 Paris, 9:30 pm London, 6:30 am Saturday Sydney
SF2

8:30 pm New York, 02.30 Saturday Paris, 1:30 am Saturday London, 10:30 am Saturday Sydney
SF3

*11:00 pm New York, 05.00 Saturday Paris, 4:00 am Saturday London, 1:00 pm Saturday Sydney
SF4


Saturday, April 8:
2:00 pm New York, 20.00 Paris, 7:00 pm London, 4:00 am Sunday Sydney
F1

*4:30 pm New York, 22.30 Paris, 9:30 pm London, 6:30 am Sunday Sydney
F2

8:30 pm New York, 02.30 Sunday Paris, 1:30 am Sunday London, 10:30 am Sunday Sydney
F3

*11:00 pm New York, 05.00 Sunday Paris, 4:00 am Sunday London, 1:00 pm Sunday Sydney
F4

* Approximate start times because we can't know for sure how long the break between 1&2 and 3&4 will be.

Roland