~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A player called me asking for a time extension due to being legally blind. The player appeared to be playing without any other accommodations. I had taken a call from this player in a previous round and had noted a time extension on the match slip, but had not further inquired. A quick investigation revealed that at the beginning of each round, he called a judge and requested an extension, which the judge granted. Unsure of how to handle the situation, I asked the player to wait a moment while I asked the Head Judge about the appropriate time extension.
Eric responded by saying that while we make reasonable accommodations for players with disabilities, we could not offer blanket time extensions each round. The potential impact on the tournament of those extensions is too large. He took the time to explain his reasoning to me carefully, then asked if I was comfortable explaining that to the player. My trepidation stemmed from the fact that the player had received them each previous round, but I appreciated Eric's confidence in me as well as his taking my comfort level into account. I agreed to handle the explanation and to my surprise Eric remained nearby while I did so. He ensured that I had the support I needed for what could have been a contentious player interaction, but he allowed me to complete the call I had taken, building both my credibility with the player and my confidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Saturday I served on Steven Briggs' pairings team. He assigned me the task of waiting next to the printer and catching the sheets as they printed, then handing each letter range to a waiting judge for posting. To accomplish this task, I stood on the edge of the stage facing a sea of judges at the beginning of each round. As we awaited round 4's pairings, L3 John Carter, the logistics team lead, hopped up onto the stage and yelled at the assembled judges about putting match slips in their pockets at the end of rounds. His explosive outburst left the assembled staff and the players behind them shocked, to say the least. My unique perspective from the corner of the stage showed me expressions of bewilderment, anger, fear, confusion, and remorse. Eric calmly walked up behind Carter mid-tirade. As Carter sensed his presence, he stopped and Eric quietly said, "Carter, we need to talk." A quirky grin on Carter's face followed by a "Yep!" demonstrated that Carter knew he had overstepped his bounds. He quickly followed Eric off the back of the stage.
Eric's handling of the incident demonstrated several things about his leadership. He observed, and quickly assessed the situation. His first priority was to get the event back on track. Next, he trusted his people. When he left with Carter, he didn't feel the need to issue instructions to his team leads or make an announcement to the staff as a whole. He simply handled the incident and let everyone else continue doing their jobs. Finally, he criticized in private. I don't actually know what was said, but since Carter issued a public apology before the next round, I'll assume that Eric didn't condone Carter's initial approach. Overall, Eric was clearly in control of the situation, but used a low-key manner to diffuse the tension and move things along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While sweeping for slips, I took a call from two obviously agitated players. Alex was searching a library and showed me that the openings of the sleeves did not all face in the same direction. After a few quick questions I learned the library belonged to Neal and Alex had cast Pithing Needle. I took the deck and looked through it noting that there did not seem to be a pattern to the upside down cards and it appeared that the deck had been mash-shuffled. Alex continued to hint that he thought Neal was cheating, that Neal had done it on purpose, etc. Neal, clearly annoyed at Alex, snapped back after several of Alex's comments. Seeing the obvious tension at the table and knowing the round would end in a moment, when Alex said that I should get the Head Judge, I agreed.
Despite the fact that I hadn't finished delivering a ruling, the situation was escalating fast, time was short, and it looked like I would be getting Eric one way or another. Luckily, another judge walked by sweeping for slips and I quickly stopped her and asked her to watch the table. On my way to fetch Eric, I dropped off the match slips she and I had collected with another judge who took them to the stage. Eric saw me approaching purposefully and he immediately joined me on the walk back to the table. I explained the situation as we went, and he chastised me for not completing my ruling.At the table he looked at the library in question, then turned to the players. He explained to them that their behavior towards me had been inappropriate and that he had found the exact same thing that I had. He quickly corrected the cards in the library and instructed the players to resume playing. Alex demanded to finish searching the library.
By this point, time in the round had ended. Their match slip showed the players already had a previous time extension. Alex took his pen and lifepad and began writing notes about Neal's deck. He rudely asked Eric how much extra time they would receive. Eric let him know that he would not have enough time to write the entire contents of the library and encouraged him to move the match along. As play resumed, Alex and Neal continued to snipe at one another making pointed comments about minute details. Alex, clearly angling, queried, "How much of a time extension do we get for this?" Eric pulled out his phone, set a timer, dropped it on the table next to Alex and stated flatly, "You have 5 minutes." Alex looked to Eric and sneered, "Can we get a table judge for the rest of the match?" Eric and stood a bit taller looked right at him, and put his hands on his hips saying, "I'm not going anywhere." I could feel the switch flip and that Eric had reached his nonsense-limit. He didn't need yelling or threats to convey his displeasure, his presence spoke for itself. Neal mostly quieted down to continue the match, but Alex grumbled a bit more. Eric's proximity seemed to quell things enough that the match could proceed. After five minutes and five painfully long turns a member of the EOR team grabbed the slip and took off.
Eric and I walked back to the stage together at a good clip. He looked at me and said, "You were right to come and get me when you did." Surprised, I turned and he continued, "That wasn't going to stop." On some level I had sensed that at the table, but to hear the HJ validate my decision made me stand a little taller.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During round 9, I wondered if we should do something to prepare the pairings boards for the following day. With this being my first time on a pairings team, I was unsure of all the tasks for which our team was responsible, so I asked Briggs. He directed me to ask Eric. Eric thought about my query for a moment, then he asked the other pairings team lead to join us. Our trio relocated the pairings boards and prepared them to post the next day's player lists which would be printed after round 9.What struck me about Eric in this interaction is that he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty; he grabbed a board and began dragging it into position. He balanced his role as a HJ with the concept that we're all responsible for the needs of the event. An appeal claimed him for a bit, but he later returned to verify that our task had been completed. Seeing him work alongside us reminded me that while each person has a specific role, at the end of the day, the we're all on the same team and share the same goals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Towards the end of the weekend I approached Eric to thank him for being so accessible. I noted that his presence on the floor had made finding a burgundy shirt fast and easy. He thanked me for the feedback, then pointed out that Appeals Judge Jeff Morrow had been the source of their accessibility and asked me to let Jeff know that I appreciated it. He balanced accepting my feedback and giving credit to the proper person.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment