Dear Readers,
I sincerely believe that Zero Tolerance polices should be scrapped. They are a load of bollocks. Why since they've been introduced at my club, the atmosphere and buzz of the place has completely gone.
Most of my friends have been forced to behave like Sistine monks , going around politely smiling but fearing to speak, in case of saying anything untoward , politically incorrect or off-putting. Even when they encounter opponents they know to be irritatingly slow , or cheating dogs, it has become necessary for them to feign bon hommie and engage in making banal platitudes.
Yes, these ZT , nit-picking , over protective policies , which target out-spoken , up-front, totally honest players , who only have to do or say the wrong thing , have led to an avalanche of petty minded complaints and disciplinary hearings. Heavens above..... I'm up for my third disciplinary in a month for telling a pompous , obnoxious , lying cheat what I thought of his underhand unethical behaviour at the table , only for the committee to crack down hard on me as the one guilty of inappropriate behaviour !
However, what really gets my gander up about these ZT policies is the way colourful , witty , entertaining , larger-than-life characters have been driven out of the clubs, or reduced to empty, lobotomised , mere shadows of their former selves. It's too horrible to see . Visions of " One flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest " quickly come to mind.
But what also gets up my craw is the hypocrisy of it all , because zero tolerance as a concept smacks of complete and total intolerance . It targets those who are rightfully intolerant of those cunningly quiet, weaselly devious wrongdoers, the subtle but highly provocative players , who are oh-so-skilled in below-the-parapet unethical tactics .....simply because they respond and react instinctively to condemn such behaviour . Sadly, It is the emotionally reactive players who are singled out as the cardinal sinners , while the proactive instigators and needlers walk off scott free , forever pleading their innocence and non-involvement .
If clubs focused more of their efforts in curbing the proactive instigators then the problem of reactive and explosive outbursts would go away. Zero tolerance policies , in my view, simply provide a huge protective blanket for the real sinners to continue their dark practices , comforted by the fact that disciplinary action will only be taken against those who attack them. How many times have we seen foot-ballers sent-off because they have been duped into retaliation by very clever, cunning, cheating opponents.
Yours believing it's right call a spade a spade , candidly Rood
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