Minnesota Bridge

A Phoenix Rises in District 14

 

Have you ever sat at the table, dejectedly thinking "we have no chance"?  (Hey - who plays bridge who has not felt this way!)

Bill Voedisch, on the winning team of District 14's 2016 GNT Flight B final, was on his way to "no chance" sentiments.  And then....  

Well, we'll let Bill tell the story.  Good luck to Bill, his teammates, and all our GNT competitors in DC this summer!

After Denny Cerkvenik and I won the District NAP final we were asked by Jonathan Cohn and Andrew Clements of Omaha to team up for the GNT final.  What the heck; these guys are solid and we're not gettin' any younger.  We said “OK” and took some expected grief back home for our decision.

So the qualifying Swiss starts and after 2 rounds we are something like 14th out of 15 with only the top 4 qualifying for the 2nd day KOs.  None of us felt like we were playing poorly - but you can't argue with oh and two.  It was what it was.  Now in the bottom round robin, we won two matches but not by a bunch, resting 11th at the break.

The Omaha boys remained optimistic.  Denny and I?  Perhaps not so much.  We catch the Henson's and Weiman's after the break and lose another one.  Sitting about 12th with three rounds to go, we seemed destined for the Sunday (consolation) Swiss.  Then bing, bang, bong ... we leap over a pile of teams with 3 solid wins ... no blitzes ... to finish 3rd.   Totally crazy.

Sunday the 4 of us had a good day.  We won both KO's.  We are proud to represent District 14 at a National grass-roots final, the 7th time for Denny and me.

We'll give it our best.

Bill Voedisch

Grand National Teams - 2015-2016

Grand National Teams competition for 2016 will be at the Summer NABC in Washington DC.

Conditions of contest may be found at District 14's website.  More information on this excellent event as it becomes available!

GNT 2015 - Final Four

Congratulations to our final Superflight, Flight A, Flight B and Flight C Grand National Team winners!

Please visit this link at District 14 to read about the teams that will represent us at the Chicago NABC in August for GNT.

Hiawatha Sectional - GNT District Finals

A big weekend April 10-12th in Rochester!

Great events for those wishing to compete in our spring sectional at the Rochester Event Center. Super competition for all District 14 teams looking to earn the right to represent their flight in the Grand National Teams this summer at the Chicago NABC.

The flyer for the weekend can be found here. 

Grab your favorite partner and teammates and head to Rochester!

GNT - 2015

Mike Cassel, our Grand National Team coordinator, has a head's up about our April District 14 Finals in Rochester.

The competition will be April 11-12, in conjunction with the Rochester Sectional.

Players in all Flights - Open, A, B and C, are eligible to compete. Your team can win a subsidized trip this summer to the Chicago NABC!

Mike has supplied all the details below. Put together your team and you might be the players representing your District 14 flight in Chicago!

District 14 Grand National Team Finals 2014

A different format on May 26th provided 4 excellent teams to represent District 14 in Las Vegas this July!

Congratulations to:

Superflight

Tony Ames - Judy Nassar, Minnetonka MN; Bruce Boje, Chanhassen MN; Terrence Lijewski, Hudson WI; Vern Swing, Minneapolis MN

Flight A

Kerry Holloway, Bloomington MN; Michael Howland - Joseph Rice - Brian Crossley, Minneapolis MN; Harry Sapienza, Minnetonka MN

Flight B

William Cummings, Monticello MN; Brian Weikle, Robbinsdale MN; Jon Weinberg, Minnetonka MN; Maryanne Conter, St Paul MN

Flight C

Thomas Prin - Leonard Gaer, Edina MN; Amy Dutton, W St Paul MN; Jolene Gust, Mendota Heights MN

We will be cheering you on as you compete against your peers this summer!  Best of luck to all!

Gopher 2014

Sometimes, in addition to working tirelessly for us, our tournament co-chairmen are able to play bridge, too!

Today is the last official day of the Gopher Regional 2014. We're looking forward to a great turnout for the Swiss events - and hope that all of you have enjoyed the many events and excellent hospitality throughout the week.

A bit "thank you" to tournament co-chairmen Patti Stuhlman and Sue Jackson and all the great volunteers who worked both at our tournament and long in advance to make the Gopher special.

Of course, Mike Flader and his fine directing staff deserve a round of applause for their efforts throughout the week - along with our pleasant and speedy caddies. Mike Cassel, along with Cathy and Bob Sigafus were stupendous with our daily bulletins.

And, we are especially grateful to Cindy Balderson and Carole Miner. After their exceptional bridge experience in China, their creativity brought Lynn Deas and Disa Eythorsdottir to the Gopher for lessons, dates and much more.

Finally - thanks to all of you for choosing to play at the Gopher. It's always a treat to see old friends - and welcome new ones.

Have a great time today in our final events!

And, of course, we do hope that many players here will continue on through Monday for the District 14 Grand National Team finals! Compete against your peers in your flight - and - win a subsidized trip to Las Vegas in July!

Gopher 2014

Tuesday, May 21st. New team events, pair events, new winners, great hospitality!

Today we have the continuation of the morning Swiss Team - along with a whole new line up of excellent events for everyone.

Mike Cassel's daily bulletin has all the details - plus much more!

GNT 2014 - Pre-Registration

Mike Cassel, GNT Coordinator for District 14, has lots of information for the 2014 competition.

District 14's Board will decide on district subsidies for teams prior to the final competition. If they see strong pre-registration turnout for the event, that may help raise the amount of the team awards.

For various reasons, pre-registration is a good idea. Planners will be able to judge how much lunch to prepare, the table set up, other refreshments and the like.

Should you not yet have a team, Tony Ames and Mike Cassel can assist with team formation - irrespective of your flight.

Those teams competing in Flights B and C will have preduplicated hands. This should eliminate the more random effect of shuffling, where some matches will have flat boards and others more swingy. Hand records will be available for competitors after each session. 

 

Scoring will be the new continuous VP scale; every IMP is worth something. All flights will be scored using this scale.  Copies of the scoring table can be found at these links - and will be available on game day to assist you with scoring.  

 

http://moot.typepad.com/files/district-14-gnt-coc-2013-2014-1.pdf

 

Lunch is generously sponsored by Units 103 and 178; no charge to players.

 

Entry fees are $100 per team for the day. Participants who did not play in a Unit Final will pay a surcharge of $11 per player.  (Please note that MN did not hold Unit Finals this year.) 

 

Questions?  Mike Cassel [email protected].  The pre-registration form can be found below.

Different From All Other Years

2014 heralds a number of changes in the District 14 finals of Grand National Teams.  If you're not sure what they are - or what to think about them - Steve Gaynor shares a number of fine ideas with us.

Please read Steve's column below - and - please come in play in this excellent event at the end of Gopher 2014!

GNT 2013-2014

Mike Cassel, District 14's GNT Coordinator, is already busy planning away for this coming season.

Irrespective of your level of ability, this is an event you do not want to miss!  Given that there are some significant changes to the event this year, please do visit our District 14 website for an overview of what those changes are.

Then put together your team and perhaps you will be heading to the Las Vegas NABC, summer 2014!

GNT 2013 Round Up

Please check out this post at the District 14 website for a round up on this year's GNT Finals!

Many thanks to our District coordinator, Mike Cassel - plus all the others who contribute to a fine event!

 

2013 District 14 GNT Representatives

Our thanks to Mike Cassel for his hard work in organizing and promoting our GNT competitions.  You can find the results from this past weekend's District 14 Finals at the District 14 website.

Our congratulations to everyone and best wishes to beat the rest of the field in Atlanta!

Special Sectional & GNT District Finals

Tomorrow is the start of the the Special Sectional in New Brighton - along with the Saturday/Sunday competition for the District 14 GNT Finals.  

Both events should be challenging and fun.  And - for those who win their flights in GNT, the bonus of a trip to the Summer NABC in Atlanta, a chance to compete against peers from around the ACBL - and a subsidized trip!

Check out the schedule and do plan on attending!

GNT - Unit Finals

Saturday, April 6th, the Bridge Center of St. Paul hosted our Unit Finals for GNT.  Players had the opportunity to win masterpoints and "green points" - as Mike Cassel, GNT coordinator, likes to refer to them.

Mike has a report on the winners in Flights A, B and C - along with more promotion for the Big Finale April 27th and 28th to see which teams will be representing District 14 at the Summer NABC in Atlanta.

Congrats to the winning teams this past weekend - and good luck to all in New Brighton!  We hope that many teams will compete.  The District Finals are an excellent opportunity to play against your peers - and have the opportunity to earn a subsidized trip to the Nationals, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GNT 2013

Mike Cassel has once again been very busy making GNT 2013 a great event for all of us.  Those interested in competing at our Unit Finals in MN should review the materials Mike has prepared for us.  They are posted below.

Additional information about GNT 2013 can be found at our District 14 website.

GNT - 2012-2013

Want to win a trip to the Summer NABC in Atlanta?  Time to get qualified!

The Grand National Teams is a super way to compete and earn a subsizied trip to the Nationals! 

You can find all the details from our District 14 coordinator, Mike Cassel, over at our District 14 website.  Follow the links, get qualified and try to be the team in your bracket that goes for the gold!

GNT District 14 Finals

Mike Cassel, dedicated GNT Coordinator!

Our District's GNT Finals are complete - and - we have excellent teams representing our district in Superflight, A, B and C.

Please check out this post at District 14 for all the details!  Congratulations and good luck in Philadelphia this summer to all our winners!

District 14 GNT Finals

They're almost here!  Check out this link for all the details!

GNT 2012 - Unit Finals

 

Saturday, March 10, 7 Flight A, 5 Flight B and 3 Flight C teams battled away in our Unit 103 and 178 finals for GNT.  Winners in each flight receive free entries to the District 14 Finals on April 28-29 at the New Brighton Community Center.

The team of Cindy and Bob Balderson, Paul Meerschaert, Carole Miner and Peg Kaplan seized Flight A.  Flight B honors went to Bill Heyer, Dave Hoffman, Brian Weikle and Bill Cummings.  The top Flight C squad was Nicholas Erpelding, Tony Ames II, Noel Muller and Lloyd Arntsen.  All of Saturday's results can be viewed at these links:  Flight A & Superflight, Flight B, and Flight C.

The event was organized by our hard working GNT coordinator, Mike Cassel.  Direction was ably provided by Kim Hayward.  Our thanks to them, and to the Bridge Center of St. Paul for its hospitality.

 

 

 

Do remember; you need not have played in the Unit Finals to be able to compete in the District finals in April!  Everyone that is interested in vying for a subsidized trip to the Summer NABC in Philadelphia should definitely bring their team to New Brighton!

And - one more note of caution.  More than one player went to the wrong venue for the

unit finals!  Please do take care to make certain that you have the correct location and time for the event!  Organizers will also try to make certain that this information is more clear and prominent.

See you next month at the District Finals in New Brighton!