[y66]

http://www.bridgewin...with-bob-hamman

with teammates John Hurd / Joel Wooldridge and Bob Blanchard / Shane Blanchard.

Can't wait to see this team in action next year!

[Zelandakh]

What does the Grue think about it I wonder...

[paulg]

 Zelandakh, on 2011-November-27, 14:34, said:

What does the Grue think about it I wonder...

He'll turn the other cheek.

[glen]

Congrads Justin on the win, and I look forward to the Hamall vs. Meckwell battles, as well as Blanchards vs. Levin-Weinstein.

Btw this now makes at least 4 US squads that are miles (kms) ahead of anything Canada or Mexico can put forward as North American team 3.

[aguahombre]

 Zelandakh, on 2011-November-27, 14:34, said:

What does the Grue think about it I wonder...

Don't think he will give it much thought. He already stated his hook-up with Justin was only for the BB, and that Curtis is his reg pard.

JLall and Hamman seem to be compatible personalities and are obviously great players.

They are certainly capable of overcoming the slow-play penalties which might occur at the other table.

[MrAce]

WoW !

I am so happy to hear this.

Not only because Justin will play with Hamman but also in same team with Wooldridge !

Good luck bro !

[capn1100]

Lucky duck!



(Hamman, of course.)

[chasetb]

Yeah, Grall wasn't to last, even though they make a kick-ass partnership. Joe himself said that Curtis Cheek (who was USA 2's coach for the BB) is his partner (probably for eternity). Next on the list would be John Kranyak (from Juniors), and I bet Justin is easily 3rd.

The real question is what bidding system they will use. I know this won't happen, but I would recommend the Black Club or the Green Club.

EDIT - I had forgotten about Orange Club, let alone HamWay Club.

[pooltuna]

No doubt Justin is girding himself for passing 3NT

[JLOGIC]

 chasetb, on 2011-November-30, 12:15, said:

Yeah, Grall wasn't to last, even though they make a kick-ass partnership. Joe himself said that Curtis Cheek (who was USA 2's coach for the BB) is his partner (probably for eternity). Next on the list would be John Kranyak (from Juniors), and I bet Justin is easily 3rd.

The real question is what bidding system they will use. I know this won't happen, but I would recommend the Black Club or the Green Club.

EDIT - I had forgotten about Orange Club, let alone HamWay Club.

I fell below Kran in the depth chart? News to me, I'm pissed!

But seriously, Curtis is Joe's partner and this was never in question, we had no plans to play after the trials. Joe is literally my best friend, but he and Curtis are a great pair that have had great success. Our one time partnership was quite random, I was on the Zagorin team 5 handed, but we wanted a 6th if a good one was available since Kevin didn't want to have to play all the boards and remember two systems. About the same time Joe and Curtis were released by the Gordon team. Zagorin was loyal to me and did not kick me off the team to add Grue-Cheek, and since it was quite last minute to find another team, Joe agreed to join as a 6th and play with me. We had some experience playing together at regionals/in the Azores.

I know other scenarios would make for more interesting gossip, but as most things are in life, this team came about by pure chance. I would have loved for Joe to be my next partner, but I also would love for it to be Meckstroth or Hampson, lol. Those guys are in really great partnerships already also though!

That being said I cannot imagine that I would be below Kran in the depth chart Kran and Grue haven't partnered each other in a long time despite being frequent teammates at regionals. I am a bit sensitive because I have already been told by Joe that I am below Kran on the "best man at his hypothetical wedding" depth chart

Playing with Hamman is obviously a great opportunity for me. Hamman and Wolff were household names to me before I even played bridge as my dad often played on teams with them. Having the opportunity to play with the most successful/greatest player ever as his regular partner is something I could never have imagined would happen. I am not really known for being humble, but it is humbling to even imagine his ~52 national wins and over a dozen world championships. I mean...have I even played in 52 national events in my life? lol. Some doubters will say Hamman is an old man, and while it is surely impossible that he is at his peak, he still has been 2nd in the trials, 2nd in the Rosenblum, won the Bermuda Bowl, 2nd in the spingold, etc etc in the past 2 years or so. And that was during the Nickell teams worst stretch ever as a team. I would of course kill to have that resume in a 2 year time period. He knows how to win.

Playing with your childhood hero that you worshipped, doesn't get cooler than that.

Shane and Bob Blanchard are like family to me, I even lived with them for 3 months. There was a time where Joe, Shane, and I hung out like every single day. I am really excited to team with them, especially as Shane is always getting better and already has a great resume for someone younger than me who has only played bridge for a few years (including a national win).

And Joel and Johnny are flat out awesome, nuff said. Also great guys/friends. I think our team will have amazing chemistry, which I think is really underrated (especially when people discuss things like pairs trials). Look at the great american teams recently, Nickell always had great chemistry in the beginning (and seemed to decline when there was some problems in that area, could be a chicken and egg thing but I don't think so), the diamond team were all juniors together and have all been great friends for a long time, the fleisher team had especially good chemistry and were all always friendly. A couple of those teams formed just for the opportunity for those guys to play together. This stuff really matters.

Quote

Btw this now makes at least 4 US squads that are miles (kms) ahead of anything Canada or Mexico can put forward as North American team 3.

Putting us in the same category as the other 3 is not warranted. I think we have the talent level and the chemistry and will put in the work, but at this point we are basically unproven compared to the other teams (except hamman). We would be massive betting line dogs to Diamond or Nickell obv. But I still plan to beat them

[fuburules3]

I know Hamman, Lall, Wooldridge, and Hurd are pros, so does that mean the Blanchard's are a father/son client pair?

[JLOGIC]

 fuburules3, on 2011-December-04, 00:59, said:

I know Hamman, Lall, Wooldridge, and Hurd are pros, so does that mean the Blanchard's are a father/son client pair?

I feel like some people when they hear the word "client" assume weak player (not that you have implied that in any way). Bob Blanchard is an extremely accomplished player (as a non client), I am not sure of his exact resume but he has won multiple national championships. Had he chosen to, he could have become a bridge pro for sure, but he instead opted to use his talents to become a very successful businessman. This is true of all of the most successful clients, think of Welland, Fleisher, etc, in fact some of them did at one point play pro before making their millions. It is said often, but there is no doubt in my mind that if my networth was mid 8 figures or higher, I would certainly hire teams for the cycle. Why not? And it certainly would not make me a weaker player. There is a reason that the teams that consistently do well have strong clients, that is the biggest variable (not the pros) and it is a huge edge to have a strong client.

The reality is, to be on the very best teams, you have to be a pro or a client. It makes sense that full time professionals are going to be the best players, so obviously they need to be paid in order to support themselves. If you are a very strong amateur, those people could not be on your team unless they were getting paid. If you have a lot of money, love bridge, and want to be on a competitive top team, you could choose to try to play pro, but obv it would be better to hire your own teams.

Kevin Bathurst always joked that he played juniors with Dan Zagorin, then Kevin chose to be a bridge pro, and Dan chose to leave bridge for a while and trade futures...who do you think made the right choice? Lol. I am sure the Fred generation has similar jokes with John Diamond (who won the world junior teams).

[JLOGIC]

On that note it is worth pointing out that the first time I played in the cavendish I was a broke HS dropout, maybe 18, and when Hamman asked me to play with him he realized this, and also paid me/for everything, effectively becoming my client! But surely nobody would think anything less of him for that.

[fuburules3]

Thanks for the insights--it makes things more interesting to follow to know what is happening in background.

The reason I asked was actually that I had it in my mind that the Blanchard's were a "bridge family" and didnt realize the father was also a successful businessman.

[akhare]

Does that mean 4 card majors for you, Justin?

Thought you didn't know how to play them ?

[bluecalm]

Quote

Does that mean 4 card majors for you, Justin?

Haha, I am interested in it as well

[JLOGIC]

We have not discussed system but the last few times we played we played 5 card majors. I imagine the main decision will be strong club or natural, not 4 card majors vs 5 card majors.

[MickyB]

 JLOGIC, on 2011-December-08, 12:21, said:

We have not discussed system but the last few times we played we played 5 card majors. I imagine the main decision will be strong club or natural, not 4 card majors vs 5 card majors.

http://www.bridgebas...bidding-system/

[mwalimu02]

Great team IMO!

[32519]

 JLOGIC, on 2011-December-08, 12:21, said:

We have not discussed system but the last few times we played we played 5 card majors. I imagine the main decision will be strong club or natural, not 4 card majors vs 5 card majors.

The latest CCs I could find shows Grue-Lall playing Precision and Hammon-Mahmood playing 5-card majors. Hammon had Flannery on his CC for the 2♦ opener. It will be interesting to see if Justin will also be expected to play Flannery should they choose to play a 5-card major system.