01:45 25 March 2014 Dallas North American Bridge Championships by GS Jade Barrett, CsbNews correspondent
“But I think a life of raising prize cattle, going shooting two or three times a year, fishing in the summer, and interspersing the whole thing with some golf and bridge — and whenever I felt like talking or writing, doing it with abandon and with no sense of responsibility whatsoever — maybe such a life wouldn’t be so bad.”
Letter, DDE to Alfred M. Gruenther, 11/2/56 [The Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Volume XVII – The Presidency: The Middle Way, Part XI, Chapter 22]
As I look around the playing area I see many faces that have appeared in newspapers, magazines and television in capacities that have nothing to do with the game. There are so many lions of industry and Wall Street in attendance that if it were not for the tables, chairs and cards you would think that a major international economic conference is taking place in Dallas, Texas.
There are former professional athletes, famous doctors, lawyers, judges, engineers, inventors and innovators; musicians, artists, writers and an Academy Award winner; farmers, orchardists, scientists and politicians – there is not a walk of life that is not represented here. They come together for ten days to challenge each other on one of the premier stages of the bridge world.
Equipped with their unique styles, bidding systems and personal strengths, they will take on most of the best athletes alive in the bridge community today, expecting to succeed despite the long odds. New champions will be crowned for the first time, others for their tenth time or more.
The thrill of a job well done, rewarded and verified by the title “North American Champion” never grows old.