Bridge Blog 907: September Song

Has 15 points per month become my theme music? That’s what the year’s been singing to me. First six months were a fraction short of 90. July slipped to 12.34. August bobbed up to 14.91. And September? 16.28, with 14.76 coming from club play.  

This raised me a notch in the master point standings among the Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points) in the Unit 116 (Buffalo only). Now I’ve advanced a notch to third with 113.79 for the year, but the step up is through no fault of my own. David Millward, who used to be second, has disappeared from the list. Disappeared from every list. Did he not pay his dues?

Here are the Top 10: Mike Silverman, 141.64 (third overall in the unit); Ken Meier, 119.24 (eighth overall); me, 113.79 (ninth overall, also up a notch); Gene Finton, 84.10 (18th); Fred Yellen, 83.20 (19th); Vince Pesce, 71.47 (30th); Allen Beroza, 68.70 (31st); Bill Finkelstein, 53.05 (42nd); Chuck Schorr, 40.53 (70th); and Carolyn Siracuse, 37.10 (76th).

Overall Unit 116 Ace of Clubs leader continues to be Jerry Geiger with 190.56; still followed by Judi Marshall, 148.63; Mike Silverman; Ron Henrikson, 135.13; Liz Clark, 133.39; Tom Koralewski, 125.34; John Ziemer, 120.50; Ken Meier; myself; and Martin Pieterse, 112.05.

As for the Mini-McKenney, which measures all master points earned everywhere, I’m still fifth among Ruby Life Masters with 132.83 points, despite the disappearance of David Millward. Fred Yellen has passed me.

Ken Meier maintains his place on top with 193.41. He’s ninth overall in the unit. He’s followed again by David Hemmer, 160.52 (16th overall); Mike Silverman, 148.67 (19th overall); Fred Yellen, 135.20 (21st overall); and me, 22nd.

The rest include Gene Finton, 95.46 (36th); Allen Beroza, 83.35 (42nd); Vince Pesce, 77.06 (49th); Bill Finkelstein, 54.10 (71st); and Chongmin Zhang, 50.40 (76th).

Continuing to top all of the Unit 116 players is Saleh Fetouh with 395.55; followed by John Welte, 277.18; his wife Martha, 276.23; Jerry Geiger, 259.93; Dian Petrov, 248.93; Mike Ryan, 243.64; Tom Koralewski, 232.68; John Ziemer, 205.53; Ken Meier, 193.41; Ron Henrikson, 186.71; and Jay Levy, 186.63.

Go up to District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) and we Buffalo players hold down the top three spots and five of the Top 10 on the Ace of Clubs list for Ruby Life Masters. Mike Silverman is ninth overall in the district, Ken Meier is 19th and I’m right where I was last month, 27th.

Leading the club players in District 5 is Jerry Geiger’s 190.56. Next come two Pittsburgh players, Arlene Port and Patricia Katz, with 188.69 and 162.96, respectively; then Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, with 153.56; our Judi Marshall with 148.63; Ronald Franck of Pittsburgh with 146.71; Charles Smith of Erie, Pa., with 146.70; Judy Haffner of Pittsburgh with 145 even; Mike Silverman with 141.64; and Barbara Belardi of Pittsburgh with 139.52.

District 5 Mini McKenney finds two Buffalo players among the Top 10 Ruby Life Masters. Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, remains the leader by a wide margin with 364.76. And she’s only ninth among all players in the district.

The runners-up include Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, 198.18 (48th overall); Charles Ladiha of Vermilion, Ohio, 193.63 (49th); our Ken Meier, 193.41 (50th); Christopher Wang of Pittsburgh, 165.54 (71st); our David Hemmer, 160.52 (78th); Jean Picone of Pittsburgh, 160.06 (79th); Martin Kumer of Monroeville, Pa., 156.16 (84th); Ami Elis of Pittsburgh, 154.88 (86th); Wayne Heritage of North Olmsted, Ohio,  151.71 (90th); and in 11th and 12th place, Mike Silverman, 148.67 (91st) and Fred Yellen, 135.20 (104th). My 132.83 makes me 15th, up from 16th, and 109th overall, up from 117th.

Among all players in the district, Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh remains on top. She now has 677.70 points. Then come Philip Becker of Beachwood, Ohio, 543.20; Robert and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, with 502.81 and 475.91, respectively; and Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, with 434.16. Our Saleh Fetouh’s 395.55 puts him sixth. Wonder if we’ll see them all at the Buffalo Regional next week?

Nationwide, the Ruby Life Master Ace of Clubs list is headed by Robert Shearer of Diberville, Miss., with 260.95; followed by Edward Lauch of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 251.84; Richard Fronapfel of Danbury, Conn., with 245.42; and Doris and Gerald Berkman of Boca Raton, Fla., both with 243.54.

We three Buffalo-based District 5 leaders don’t raise much of a ripple. Mike Silverman is 108th; Ken Meier is 233rd; I’m 286th. And that’s it. The list cuts off at 99.31. Among all Ace of Clubs players nationwide, we don’t even register. That list ends at 161.62. Leaders there are Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta with 555.71, Kay Schulle of Purchase, NY, with 456.29, Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale with 446.73 and Sean Ganness of Miami with 403.83.

The nationwide Mini-McKeeney is another universe. The Ruby Life Master list is headed by Oren Kriegel of Chicago with 791.17. Next come Mary Jane and Michael Gladfelter of Columbus, Ohio, both with 654.48; Cookie Potter of Sunset Beach, Calif., with 584.34; Patti Mullendore of Houston with 548.66; and Sherman Gao of Orange, Calif., with 512.64.

District 5’s Sue Lan Ma is 29th; Peter Merker is 279th; and Charles Ladiha is 304th. Ken Meier is 307th. David Hemmer missed the cut-off, which is at 161.31.

And overall? Chris Compton of Dallas with 2,713.53, followed by Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla, with 2,404.53; Shan Huang of Toronto with 2,030.90; David Grainger of Roseville, Calif., with 2,021.78; and Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., with 2,010.76. The legendary Jeff Meckstroth is ninth with 1,886.79.

Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge is 28th with 1,231.44. District 5 leader Reanette Frobouck is 132nd. Unit 116’s Saleh Fetouh is 474th. The list stops at 385.91.