[blml] almost TD problem

[Tim West-Meads]

Is the guillotine still available to French TDs?  If not "tant pis" as 
they say.

The behaviour attributed to the ex-president (who should be an exemplar 
of good behaviour) of the club is an abhorrent attempt to use his power 
and status to bully another player.  Were I TD I'd have him in front of 
the club disciplinary committee and I'd request an independent 
representative of the French NA to be in attendance at the hearing.  
Maybe I won't make any friends, maybe I won't ever work as a TD again 
(or play) in that club but such is life.  As Grattan said a TD's life 
isn't supposed to be easy!

On a couple of other points - I regard 3H now as clear cut.  The lady 
was willing to defend 2S holding Qxxx but not 3D holding a singleton.
That's how many average players think and they would universally find a 
3H bid on the given hand.

There is no obligation (at any level) to be aware of partner's 
hesitations.  The lady was not "paying insufficient attention" she was 
thinking about her own hand.  In a low-level game the answer "I'm 
terribly sorry - I didn't notice but I'm sure opps are correct" is 
perfectly acceptable.  My own answer would be "I'm sure opps are correct 
and obviously I was under UI restrictions whether I noticed or not".  I 
don't want players being forced to lie about having noticed a hesitation 
they were in fact unaware of and I never interpret "I didn't notice" as 
a dispute of the hesitation.

Finally I find it difficult to believe the TD was unaware of the xPres's 
character and he really should have returned at the end of the hand (or 
indeed stood by throughout) to check up on things.

Tim