Bridge Blog 1050: Whatever happened to August? (Finally complete)

          Unit 116 (Buffalo only), Ace of Clubs (club play only), Ruby Life Masters (players with 1,500 to 2,500 points). 

    I earned only 10.52 club points in August, bringing my Ace of Clubs total to 94.24, enough of a slump to allow Ken Meier to bump me from fifth place down to sixth among the Rubies and drop me from 15th to 19th among all players in the unit. Here's the top 10:

Mike Silverman leapfrogs to first place with 128.67, hopping past last month’s runner-up, Allen Beroza, who has 124.41. Previous leader David Millward, with 119.79, is third. Martin Pieterse continues in fourth place with 109.55.

Ken Meier advances to fifth with 98.97. Then there’s my 94.24. Rounding out the list are Fred Yellen with 80.87, still keeping five points ahead of Dorothy May, who has 75.74.  Gene Finton continues ninth with 63.12; and Davis Heussler continues in 10th place with 61.42.      

             Unit 116, Ace of Clubs overall. Alan Greer. Another 50-point month lifts him to 310.51 club points, now more than 100 ahead of his sometime partner Nancy Wolstoncroft, who’s still second with 201.98.
Then it’s John Ziemer, with a 36-point month, has 185.59; Liz Clark inching up to fifth with 130.70 and Mike Silverman with 128.67.
After that it’s Allen Beroza, 124.41; David Millward, 119.79; Barbara Libby, 118.57; Mike Ryan, 115.27; Martin Pieterse, 109.55; and the Weltes, Martha and John, both with 108.33. Also over the century mark, Bob Linn with 106.64.

      Moving on to the Mini-McKenney races, which count all points earned everywhere, I’ve slipped a notch here, too, from sixth to seventh with 114.24 overall for the year, up by those 10.52 club points since July.

Still far ahead is Davis Heussler at 267.26, though he’s declined from second to third among all Unit 116 players. Still holding second place is Ken Meier with 182.80, down from 11th to 12th in the entire unit.  

Allen Beroza moves up to third place with 154.57 (14th overall in the unit). David Millward drops to fourth with 146.13; and he’s down from 13th overall to 16th. Mike Silverman is closing in at fifth with 139.11, (up four notches overall to 23rd).

 Martin Pieterse has displaced me from sixth position. He has 119.27 (26th overall), while I’m 114.24 (30th overall, down from 24th).

Then we get Fred Yellen, 113.91 (31st); and a big drop to Dorothy May, 79.01 (47th); and Elaine Kurasiewicz, 78.16 (49th).  

     Among all players in Unit 116, it’s Alan Greer, with 354.29. Saleh Fetouh takes a major jump from eighth to second, thanks to a 130-point month, and sits with 295.60. Then comes Davis Heussler with his 267.26; John Ziemer with 263.49; and Dian Petrov, up from 19th, thanks to a 118-point month, has 239.62.

All this drops Nancy Wolstoncroft from fourth down to sixth with 227.74; followed by the Weltes, 219.78; Jay Levy, 214.46; and Linda Burroughsford, 203.67.

Now let’s widen our horizons.

District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters. 

     Here Unit 116 players hold five of the top six  places, and six of the top 10.

Leader now is Buffalo’s Mike Silverman with 128.67, followed by Allen Beroza with 125.41. The leader back in April, Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., moves up to third with 121.92, while Millward descends to fourth with 119.79. Then it’s Martin Pieterse, 109.55; Ken Meier, 98.97; Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 97.48; James Wheeler of Edinburg, Pa., 95.08; moi, 94.24; and Chantal Whitney of Bratenahl, Ohio, 92.55. 

None of us Rubies are in the top 10 district-wide. Our top five are ranked 13, 14, 15, 17 and 24. I’m 41st, down from 36th.

Overall Ace of Clubbers in District 5 look like this:
Still three Buffalonians on top – Alan Greer with 310.51, Nancy Wolstoncroft with 201.98 and John Ziemer with 185.59. Then it’s Arlene Port of Pittsburgh, 178.10; Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., 177.53; Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 159.78, slipping from fourth to sixth; Asim Ulke of Monroeville, Pa., 141.60; Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 139.33; Barbara Belardi of Pittsburgh, 137.18; and Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh, 136.42. Buffalo’s Liz Clark is 12th with 130.70.

    Now for the District 5 Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters. 

    Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., had a 110.25-point month, outdistancing everyone. Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, with 319.13, has taken over second position. Unit 116’s David Heussler, first two months ago, now is third with 267.26. They’re eighth, 14th and 22nd overall in the district.

     The other leaders include: Ken Meier, 182.80 (46th); Leroy Hackenberg of Pittsburgh, 169.90 (53rd); our Allen Beroza, 154.57 (61st); Martin Kumer of Monroeville, Pa., 147.04 (69th) Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 146.98 (70th); then two Buffalonians, David Millward, 146.13 (72nd); and Mike Silverman, 139.11 (82nd). I’m down from 13th to 19th among Rubies with my 114.24, and down from 101st overall to 125th.

   Mini-McKenney leader among all District 5 players is, of course, Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, who added 130 points in August to reach 722.82. Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio,  reclaims second place thanks to a 144-point month with 510.66, displacing Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh who slips to third with 501.75 after a 109-point month.

     Maintaining fourth is Don Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, with 469.78. Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood, Ohio, reclaims fifth with 463.34, followed by Robert and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, with 436.94 and 418.55, respectively.

Then it’s Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., with 413.90; Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., 404.63; and Fred Schenker, 360.62. He knocks Buffalo’s Alan Greer, with 354.29, down to 11th. Next Unit 116 player on the list is Saleh Fetouh with 295.60. 

    Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

    Paul Hassett of The Villages, Fla., increases his lead by four points over Anna Maxcine Thacker of Palm Coast, Fla., 241.34 to 225.59. Joanne Matchette of Vero Beach, Fla., stays third with 225.82. Bruce Ladin of Harwood Heights, Ill., appears out of nowhere to take fourth place with 207.43, bumping Richard Seidman of Orlando, Fla., down to fifth with 206.74. 

Barry Nish of Little Neck, L.I., has a 34-point month and moves up to sixth with 206.42. Then it’s Brian Breckenridge of Corvallis, Ore., 202.78; Jonathan Williams of The Villages, Fla., 194.11; another new entry, Aivars Lapins of Cambria, Calif., with 192.59; and Mason Barge of Atlanta with 191.85. April's leader, Russ Pearly, also of The Villages, drops from seventh to 12th with 184.03.

   Unit 116 leader Mike Silverman breaks into the Top 100, up from 157th to 95th. Allen Beroza slips slightly from 109th to 111th. But now he’s ahead of David Millward, who’s down from 84th to 139th. Other local notables Martin Pieterse, up from 239th to 214th; Ken Meier, up to 315th from 408th; and me, down to 393rd from 356th. The list cuts off at 88.95.

Ace of Clubs, all players, nationwide. 

Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta is still on top, up 89 points in August to reach 541.86. Repeating in second place is Irva Neyhart of Corvallis, Ore., with a near-50-point month at 389.55. The woman she displaced a month ago, Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., holds on in third with 369.87. Coming up fast and breathing down her neck, it’s Harry Kaufmann of North Reddington Beach, Fla., with 369.58. Sheila Gabay of Newton, Mass., picks up 50 points to move up to fifth with 350.09. Last month’s fourth-place guy, Robert Epstein of Atlanta, has 345.56.

     Then it’s Kay Schulle of Purchase, N.Y., 341.47; up from a tie for ninth to a tie for eighth, thanks to a 55-point month, it’s Diane Hurt and Edgar Hurt Jr., both of Laguna Woods., Calif., both with 340.29. Tenth is En Xie of St. Louis with 337.27.

Alan Greer is up from 20th to 14th; Nancy Wolstoncroft is up from 170th to 133rd. John Ziemer is up from 257th to 209th. The list stops at 153.41.

    Onward to Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

Robert L. McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., added another 225 points to reach 1,373.35. Soon he will triple the totals for Alex Khrakovsky of Columbus, Ohio, who jumped to second with a 97-point month to reach 594.76; passing Mary Ose of Sacramento, Calif, who has 559.24.

Steady in fourth is Sabrina Miles of Mansfield, Mass., with 554.37. Darryl Legassie of Milton, N.H., remains fifth with 489.01.

     Then it’s District 5’s Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., moving up from ninth to sixth with 413.90, thanks to a 110-point month. Kim Brinkman of Highland Village, Texas, advances a notch with a 74-point month to 379.40. Ann Buchholz of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., debuts in the Top 10 with 373.32.

Mason Barge, who accumulated only 33 points in August, drops from sixth to ninth with 369.24. Joanne Matchette of Vero Beach, Fla., holds tenth with 362.31. Off the list is the only Top Tenner we know, Junko Hemus of San Clemente, Calif., who had just 27 points for the month and now sits 11th with 355.68.

Unit 116’s Davis Heussler, is down from 44th to 62nd with his 267.26. David Millward drops from 292nd to 334th. Ken Meier is up from 301st to 240th. Allen Beroza, who joined the list a month ago, moves up from 451st to 430th. The list ends at 146.34, eclipsing David Millward, who has 146.13.

     And now for the really heavy hitters, the Mini-McKenney leaders overall.

A month ago there were 15 players in four figures. Now there are 34. Three of them have surpassed 2,000. And there’s a horse race at the top.

Joe Grue of New York City clings to first for the seventh straight month with 2,379.42. Right behind him is Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., who had a 539-point month and now has 2,376.51.

Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., moved ahead of Brad Moss of Denver, a month ago and has increased his margin. A month ago it was 1,667.12 to Moss’s 1,612.07. Now it’s 2,055.42 to 1,898.43.

The legendary Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., moves up from sixth to fifth with a 543-point month to reach 1,846.16. Longtime partner Eric Rodwell is next with 1,813.48. 

Shan Huang from Melbourne, Fla., up from seventh to fifth place a month ago, is back in seventh with 1,688.82. January leader Geoff Hampson of Las Vegas breaks his decline by moving from ninth to eighth with 1,632.27, displacing John Hurd of New York City who has 1,571.60.  Steve Weinstein of Montclair, N.J., rounds out the Top Ten with 1,373.35, bumping Ruby Life Master leader Robert L. McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., who has 1,373.35.

     Familiar names: Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge slips from 24th to 26th with 1,111.02. District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma goes from 74th to 81st with her 722.82.

Unit 116’s representative on this list, Alan Greer, was 419th when he debuted a month ago. Now he’s 477th with 354.29. The list cuts off at 349.01.