Bridge Blog 814: 2014 farewell

          Hobbled by health problems, I limped through the final weeks of 2014. Now that the ACBL has posted its year-end master point totals, I wonder how far I tumbled down the various lists.

          My point count for the year was 148.39, of which 110.26 came from club play. (In 2013, I earned 178.34, with 147.77 Ace of Clubs points.) In the Unit 116 (Buffalo) standings, I slipped to sixth place in the Ace of Clubs race for players with 1,000 to 2,500 points. The winner, John Ziemer, was never in doubt. He has 218.51, followed by Mike Silverman with 183.14, Ken Meier, 154.49; Fred Yellen, 121.70; and Chuck Schorr, 112.33. Following me are Vince Pesce, 87.84; Barbara Pieterse, 85.83; Gene Finton, 80.16; and Eleanor Whelan, 77.08.

          In the Unit 116 Mini-McKenney race, which counts all the points, I’m fifth. John Ziemer tops the list with 304.01, followed by Mike Silverman, 204.69; Ken Meier, 190.52; and Fred Yellen, 185.40. After the big step down to my 148.39, there’s David Hemmer, 146.33; Chongmin Zhang, 126.59; Chuck Schorr, 123.12; Gene Finton, 108.12; and Barbara Pieterse, 105.66.

          Who earned the most points of all last year in Unit 116? That would be the aforementioned John Ziemer. Runner-up is Jerry Geiger (2,500 to 5,000 points) with 293.32. Only five other players have more than 200 points.

Moving on to the District 5 level, which includes Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Buffalo players once again dominate the Ace of Clubs list. We hold the top four places and six of the top seven (only Eva Lefton of Cleveland, with 113.44, crept in among us). But that’s all we get. The list cuts off at 88.68.

In the district Mini-McKenney race, John Ziemer is fourth, behind three Ohioans – Peter Merker of Mentor, 407.27; Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, 402.52; and Michael Creager of Brecksville, 396.08. Mike Silverman is sixth, Ken Meier is seventh, Fred Yellen is 11th, I’m 17th and David Hemmer is 18th. The list cuts off at 127.30.

Biggest point winner in the district is Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, who has more than 10,000 points and racked up another 1,034.50 during the past 12 months. And who’s the winningest player of all? The eminent Jeff Meckstroh of Clearwater Beach, Fla. He had 3,098.24.