Platinum Pairs Renamed
Some time ago (about a year or so) I heard from District 4 Representative (now President of the ACBL) that he made a motion to have the prestigious award above (held at the Spring Nationals) renamed THE NORMAN KAY PLATINUM PAIRS. Over a year lapsed, and I disappointedly questioned Craig, assuming nothing had been done, and learned (though I have not been to a national in three years and rarely keep up with the Bulletins) – the following article appeared on the front page of the March 11, 2011 Kentucky Daily Bulletin (unbeknownst to me):
PLATINUM PAIRS RENAMED
The ACBL Board of Directors has unanimously approved the naming of the Platinum Pairs to the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs. The three-day event will be played starting today for the second time.
The decision means that the names of both members of one of the best known-pairs in bridge – Edgar Kaplan and Norman Kay – are now on two of the ACBL’S premier pair events. The Blue Ribbon Pairs was renamed The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs several years ago.
Norman died January 17, 2002. They were a bit tardy in recognizing one of the most stellar pillars of the bridge community for over forty years – both in the areas of bridge talent, victorious accomplishments, ethics, worldwide popularity and respect. But — better late than never.
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A wonderful way to honor Norman’s memory! Not that you need it, however, it would have been nice for the CEO and the president of the ACBL to send Norman’s widow a congratulatory letter. Perhaps that’s expecting just a bit too much of a public relations effort from the ACBL office.
HBJ : It is a stronly held view of mine that committees love to operate in secret, refuse to be accountable for their decisions, and are completely opposed to openness and transparency. That said one has to be grateful for small mercies, should they make a few good decisions………despite the fact that they may be long overdue with no one being properly informed.
How you retain your composure and sanity speaks volumes of your integity and strength of character.
http://judy.bridgeblogging.com/?p=773
Did you forget you wrote this blog?
Yes, Derek. There’s been a lot of dirty water under the bridge since then. I never received official notice which would have been nice.
The ACBL doesn’t do things in a timely fashion and we are still waiting to see what we will retrieve from the monies picked from Peter Pender’s pocket — although works are under construction.
Dear Allan: Don’t expect miracles and you won’t be disappointed. They have lots of their own problems and protocol is not on the top of their list.
Judy
HBJ; I agree with your theory of secret meetings. Less chance of criticism. However, I frankly had forgotten about Peg Kaplan’s telling me about it since no one had contacted me and they were waiting to see if the first one was successful enough to be worthy of Norman’s name. Guess it was!
Cheers,
Judy
Hey Judy, I saw it somewhere, thought WHEE! BTW, congrats to u and bobby who knocked them dead at the Vegas regional
Thanks, Jody:
Pair games is not what I consider Bobby’s “thing”as it is too slow for him, but we did have an overall and a second.
Not bad for too old geezers.
Cheers,
Judy
P.S. i might add they were going to test the success and attendance of the Platinum Pairs as it was a new event. That is why I thought it was a one-shot deal. Happy and proud of Norman for being recognized and also of Bobby for representing the U.S. AS USA 1 Seniors in Holland in
Ocotber. It is held every two years and he has won outright qualification three times in a row. Wow!
Some people don’t get it right once. Lucky me!