Spades or any online game or activity doesn't generally make one's top priorities list and to be honest it shouldn't be there. If a tourney slot isn't filled or you accidentally get dropped from a tourney, life doesn't stop. You find something else to fill the void for a couple of hours and move on.

It would be nice to have enough staff to fill every slot during the 24 hour day but that probably will not happen or hasn't happened in the 7 years I have been here.

A small number of our staff work hard to provide tourneys on a regular basis. We have 20 members on our staff who have volunteered to direct tourneys when they can do so. However, in November a mere 5 of those staff members ran over 50% of our tourneys. Hardly seems fair does it?

If you play regularly in Stargazers I urge you to consider doing 2 things for the league.

1) Praise those who direct tourneys with a "tyft" or some acknowledgment of their volunteered time. Let them know you appreciate what they do. Try to refrain from petty bickering or negative comments.

2) Consider volunteering to be a TD. Even if you can only direct 2-3 tourneys a month, that's a contribution. We have over 200 active members. If only 20 more of you volunteered for staff, that would take 40-60 tourneys off the load our current staff carries. No prior experience is required and you can make a difference.

Keep your priorities in order but when you take some time to play Spades, please remember others are donating their time to make that happen. You can be a part of it.

Terry