In August of 2012, Tom Carmichael and I spent 12 days together in Taicang, China. Tom as the non-playing captain (NPC) of the USA1 Under 21 team, and me as the executive producer of a documentary film with the working title Lost in the Shuffle. We decided to focus on Tom's team owing to the appeal of the players on it and their chance to win the first ever medal for the US in the Youngsters (Under 21) Series. This conversation is eight years in the making.
As an outside documenter, it's fascinating to hear Tom talk about the dynamics between his fellow NPC's and how they discussed and learned about which teams and players were good. Tom earned silver medals as both a player and NPC in junior bridge and has represented the US in The World Mind Sport Games.
For all of the junior bridge players out there, Tom and Joel Wooldridge's partnership started when they met at the junior reception at a Summer NABC. You never know where you might find your world class partner!
Episode highlights:
1:35" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:35- How Tom got into bridge
3:55" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 3:55- Parents met at a bridge club
12:15" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 12:15- How Tom met Joel Wooldridge
14:20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 14:20 - System development with Joel Wooldridge by mail. Joel became ACBL youngest Life Master in 1990 at the age of 11 years 4 months and 13 days.
18:20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 18:20- Bridge spans across generations
21:30" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 21:30- Tom believes it is awesome how bridge allows you to compete even against the world best
25:40" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 25:40- Tom's interesting relationships with ACBL Youngest Life Masters
26:50" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 26:50- Atlanta Junior Bridge, Atlanta Super Sectional hosted first ever Youth NABC in 2010
29:20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 29:20- Tom's memories of the 2012 World Youth Team Championships (the event covered by Double Dummy)
40:15" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 40:15- The competitive pressure and emotions of the game
47:10" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 47:10- Serious Pie Neapolitan pizza in downtown Seattle
48:05" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 48:05- Tom's wife Jenni won the 2016 Reno NABC Mixed Pairs with Greg Humphreys.
50:05" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 50:05- Tom's system with Joel Wooldridge
57:15" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 57:15- Tom's attitude towards Joel's success in bridge
1:00:40" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:00:40- Shireen Mohandes' site http://www.barbu.co.uk/barbu.htm
1:06:45" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:06:45- Tom's history with Atlanta Junior Bridge
1:10:00" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:10:00- Tom's story of kibitzing his team as NPC and how he handles the non-bridge aspects of NPCing
1:20:00" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:20:00- Celebration of Justin Lall's Life
1:25:30" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:25:30- You need to be able to move on from losses
1:31:00" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> 1:31:00- Deal on which Tom won the IMP Pairs + other crazy hands