"Oh Joy!! Football is Back!" By Marti Ronemus
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For some of us, that is said with genuine rapture. Team sweaters are pulled out of mothballs. Larger TVs are purchased. Excitement builds as game days grow closer. For others, it is said with sarcasm and sighs. Those folks make sure their eReaders are fully loaded with new books (there’s a reason publishers have great fall lists!).
For those who are busy selecting their fall reading, there are two considerations about the football season (which between pre-season games and post-season games now runs at least nine months of the year) we want to bring to the forefront.
First, say what you will, football does exemplify Winning Attitude. The players, coaches, fans, all focus on that winning spirit. And that’s what we are going to focus on in our Defenders series today. Consider us your coaches… Winning Attitude isn’t enough, you need the skills to match.
Secondly, I’d like you to think about Football Food!! Tailgating! Tacos! Nachos! Chicken Wings! Seven-layer Dip! Chips! Burgers and dogs! Salsa! Wonderful junk food all designed to be eaten with our hands. Just don’t let it drip on the cards.
And now let’s hit the field for the kick-off.
David Bird drops the coin for the game with some Winning Attitude guidelines. **How we can use a boxing technique, the uppercut, in bridge. **How to never have to say “I know better than that!” (Well... less often?) **Why do we not want to always listen to Granny. **How to be so sensitive to nuances that we almost seem to be mind-reading. **When is over-ruffing a bad idea. **When to discard an honor.
Next we have Matthias Huberschwiller quarter-backing out Winning Attitude skill building. He continues his discussion from last month about signaling. **We get a quick refresher on attitude, how to tell Pard to change direction. **He reminds us that every card should carry a message… or why bother playing? **He shows us how to draw deductions: Why THIS card and not THAT one? **There are people in football called “blockers” so my husband tells me. I think they are the big guys, right? Anyway, Matthias demonstrates how we can help block suits by signaling how many cards we have in a suit. Wow.
Paul Bowyer may be from Great Britain where they don’t have football (I wonder how hard it is to emigrate?), but his guidance exemplifies preparing a Winning Attitude. He also works with us on our signaling. His focus this month is on how we can blow the whole hand at trick 1. **Artful deception can be raised to an art form! **How to make the odds work for us. **Paul reminds us that part-scores are hard to set, but oh so rewarding. **Are we paying enough attention to the location of small cards? **And several of Paul’s hands help us with the No-trump strategy of setting up OUR long suit before THEY do.
Paul also has two quizzes for us that will build our Winning Attitude skills.
Finally, I’ve got two warm-up hands for you.
SO!! Hup two three… get on that field and WIN!!
Don't forget: if you like Marti's style, have a go with her Bridge Boot Camps. Click here to ask Marti about the schedule...
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