KCC-9-1-2014

MONDAY

September 1, 2014

KCChronicle.com

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TOILET TEAMS Toilet Bowl Challenge an event for whole family / 2 LOCAL NEWS

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Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg are seen at Hotel Baker in St. Charles / 3

Oswego scores a last-second touchdown to knock off Batavia, 40-38, in football season opener / 4

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| NEWS

2

Flush with fun Toilet Bowl Challenge a family affair at Maple Park Fun Fest

By CHARLES MENCHACA cmenchaca@shawmedia.com MAPLE PARK – Before the start of the 10th annual Toilet Bowl Challenge on Saturday, Jon Ausbury made sure his team completed a practice run on the race course.

Ausbury said he wanted to make sure his partners, daughter Bridgett, 19, and fellow Maple Park resident Hazis Azemi, could make turns on the team’s toilet bowl on wheels without tipping or falling over. The strategy worked because the team, aptly named The Turdles, won the event Saturday.

The Toilet Bowl Challenge was held on Main Street during the annual Maple Park Fun Fest. The Turdles

raced five times in multiple heats to win the championship, which included a $100 prize. The two other entries in the challenge were named Minecraft and Dr. Poo and the Turdis.

Spectators filled the sidewalks on Main Street between Kennebec and Pleasant streets where the challenge’s race course was located. Each team has one person sit on the toilet while the two other members push the entire creation around several cones.

Teams are required to switch drivers at the halfway point of the course.

Brenna Miller, 9, of Maple Park said her nervousness before the event was replaced by excitement as the races continued. She participated

in the race this year for the first time to compete against her brother Jack, 11.

The Millers each rounded out their teams with two other sister-brother pairs; Madeline, 14, and Owen Bogathy, 12, of Cedar Lake, Indiana, and Delilah, 8, and Carter Askew, 11, of Maple Park.

The sibling rivalry ended on a good note for both teams.

The all-boy Minecraft team won second place and $50, and the all-girl Dr. Poo team won $100 for most original racing commode.

“We definitely have more bragging rights than when we just had third place,” said Madeline Bogathy, whose team also took home $25 for the No. 3 finish.

All three toilets used in

Mary Beth Nolan for Shaw Media

The Dr. Poo and the Turdis team (from left) Delilah Askew, Brenna Miller, and Madeline Bogarthy, nearly tips while negotiating a cone while competing in a toilet race Saturday at Maple Park Fun Fest. the race have made appearances at previous races. The Turdles were sponsored by the Maple Park Lions Club, of which Ausbury is a member. The Lions Club keeps the toilet and changes the theme every year, Ausbury said.

The Dr. Poo team toilet used to be entered under different themes in years past

by Chuck Miller, Brenna and Jack’s father. Their mother, Beth, one of the Fun Fest’s organizers, used to race with the toilet from the Minecraft team entry.

“They’ve been passed down through the generations,” Madeline Bogathy said of the toilets, with a smile.

Crowds show up for sheriff’s car show

By AL LAGATTOLLA alagattolla@shawmedia.com ELBURN – Tim McMillan stood near his shiny red 1990 GMC Suburban fire vehicle, offering a simple reason for why he had acquired the vehicle he was showing off Saturday at Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez’s annual car show.

“How many people do you know, besides the fire department, that have one?” asked McMillan, 46, a Sugar Grove resident.

McMillan was among the estimated 140 participants at the show, the last that Perez will present as sheriff. Perez is not running for re-election.

Republican Don Kramer and Democrat Willie Mayes will vie for the position in the November election. Both were at the event.

Perez said he will be retiring after his term ends, but he said he intends to continue putting on the car show each year. It is a charity event, and

“It’s a way to look at the way things were made back then, compared to now.”

Brenton McCuan Sugar Grove resident had limited the number of participants and spectators.

He said the car show is a good event to stage near the end of his term, adding, “I always wanted to end on a positive note.”

Al Lagattolla - alagattolla@shawmedia.com Those at the show were A line of cars is shown Saturday at Sheriff Pat Perez’s annual car and able to check out the vehicles motorcycle show in Elburn, including a green 1953 Chevrolet pick- parked at the farm, as well as up truck owned by Sugar Grove resident Brenton McCuan, and a red purchase food and drinks and 1990 GMC Suburban fire vehicle owned by Tim McMillan of Sugar participate in a raffle.

At the show, McMilGrove. lan said the fire vehicle he proceeds benefit a different about 120 cars participating brought was unique among cause each year at the Martin in the event and about 20 mo- his collection. He has eight Family Farm. On Saturday, torcycles. But he said it was muscle cars that he also will Make-A-Wish Illinois was the most exciting that the specta- bring to such events. He said tors lot was full. In the previ- he has been collecting cars designated charity.

Perez said there were ous two years, rainy weather since he was 14 years old. He

said he got the fire vehicle from Kentucky.

Sitting next to McMillan was another Sugar Grove resident, Brenton McCuan.

McCuan, 22, had a green 1953 Chevrolet pickup truck, which he said he drives quite a bit.

“It’s just a fun truck to drive,” McCuan said.

The vehicle McCuan had at the show had corner windows, something he said was optional. He said the windows create a bit of a blind spot.

McCuan said he had been interested in classic cars for a long time. He said his father gave him a 1962 Buick Invicta when McCuan graduated from high school. As crowds of people walked through the display of vehicles, McCuan explained the appeal of such cars, at least for him.

“It’s unusual,” he said.

“It’s a way to look at the way things were made back then, compared to now.”

3

By CHARLES MENCHACA cmenchaca@shawmedia.com

Charles Menchaca – cmenchaca@shawmedia.com

The Gregory Hyde Band performs Sunday in the Peg Bond Center at the Batavia Riverwalk during the 2014 Batavia Block Party.

Block Party provides food, fun on both sides of river

By CHARLES MENCHACA cmenchaca@shawmedia.com

Kane County Chronicle photo

Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg are seen Friday afternoon entering Hotel Baker in downtown St. Charles. curity presence outside Hotel Baker all weekend. A couple from Wauconda that declined to give their names planned to head into the Rox City Grill for a drink Saturday afternoon, but they were refused at the door.

They said they were told by one of the men standing outside that a private event was being held inside with no further details.

Security continued to intensify on Sunday, when the sidewalk on the north side of Main Street was closed off from the east end of the Main Street bridge outside the St. Charles Municipal Center to right before the northeast corner of Main and Second streets.

Two St. Charles police officers flanked the east and west sides of the hotel, and St. Charles police squad cars continually moved up and down Main Street in front of the hotel. An black unmarked squad was parked near the west end of the bridge most of Sunday afternoon.

Cathy Skinner of Elgin said she and other onlookers were on the north sidewalk before they closed it off at about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, about 10 minutes before Shepherd’s arrival. Jordan Knight, one of Wahlberg’s New Kids on the Block bandmates, was outside the hotel at about 2 p.m., Skinner said.

Skinner heard about the

wedding from her friends who had been outside the hotel on Saturday, then she read about it in the Sunday papers.

Skinner was near the hotel for about five hours Sunday, ready to take pictures of any possible celebrities with her iPhone. She was joined on the south side of Main Street by several other people and cameramen from two different Chicago TV stations.

The activity also was great for surrounding businesses in downtown St. Charles. The outside dining area of Zaza’s Italian Steakhouse, located across Main Street from Hotel Baker, was noticeably full nearly all weekend.

Keaton O’Connor, a server at McNally’s Traditional Irish Pub across from the hotel, couldn’t figure out if the increasing business was from the holiday or the wedding. He said guests from the wedding, some with recognizable and often-photographed faces, patronized the pub all weekend. He declined to give names but said they obliged when other patrons asked to take photos with them.

People like Wells sat inside McNally’s next to the windows Sunday afternoon in the hopes of seeing someone famous across the street at the hotel.

“It’s fun,” Wells said. “What else are you going to do on a holiday weekend?”

BATAVIA – Sue Fricano knew the Batavia Block Party on Sunday was a hit when all 500 drinking cups were sold before the end of the event.

“It was probably our biggest year,” Fricano said at the end of the party.

Event organizer Batavia MainStreet had to sell unused cups from its previous block parties to accommodate everyone, said Fricano, who is the assistant to Joi Cuartero, Batavia MainStreet’s executive director.

The Batavia Block Party offered a range of food, live music, and a children’s play area hosted by River City Church and other activities.

This is the second straight year the party has been held on both sides of the Fox River. The west portion was held at the Batavia River-

walk and included live performances at the Peg Bond Center, lawn games and $2 tastings from 10 different businesses. The east portion was held on North River Street and included tasting from three more businesses, an ongoing twist and hula hoop competition, a pie bakeoff and a Classic Car Show by Old Gold Cruisers.

Chuck Compton started his Block Party outing at the Car Show and a dine-in meal at Pal Joey’s, 31 N. River St. in Batavia. He and his wife Sheila moved to Batavia about 1 1½ years ago.

“We like going to festivals ... so we just had to check it out and see what it was all about,” Compton said. “It was worth it.”

Besides Pal Joey’s, another one of the Comptons favorites was The Range Grill & Tap, which also sold food in a booth at the event and in its restaurant, 35 N. Water St.

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• Monday, September 1, 2014

ST. CHARLES – The area of downtown St. Charles near and outside Hotel Baker was filled with onlookers for most of the weekend as word spread of a celebrity wedding with some celebrity guests in St. Charles.

Many news outlets reported that entertainers Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg would be married over the Labor Day weekend in New York.

But then the couple were photographed walking into the Hotel Baker in St. Charles on Friday.

The weekend continued with more celebrity sightings and candid photos, including Wahlberg’s mother, Alma, on Saturday on the First Street Plaza and Sherri Shepherd, McCarthy’s former co-host on “The View,” on Sunday, said Sharon Wells of South Elgin.

Wells said Shepherd was dropped off about 2:30 p.m. Sunday outside Hotel Baker.

The Kane County Chronicle could not independently verify the account of Wells and other sources, but their sightings were corroborated by other onlookers who also took photos of the same people.

Shepherd had indicated on her official Instagram account that she was catching an early flight to attend McCarthy’s wedding. She later tweeted from the wedding on her Twitter account.

Wells first got word of a local McCarthy-Wahlberg wedding Thursday from two of her co-workers at St. Charles-based SmartSource. Her co-workers attended a sales meeting at a hotel on St. Charles’ east side, and heard from some hotel staff members that their building would serve overflow guests for the celebrities’ wedding.

Wells said she even saw the bride herself on Saturday night from outside one of the Rox City Grill windows.

“You could see Jenny [McCarthy] though the window,” Wells said. “The security kicked us out ... we were right up against the glass.”

There was a noticeable se-

NEWS | Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com

Residents spot celebs, McCarthy and Wahlberg

Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com • Monday, September 1, 2014

| SPORTS

4

Sean King for Shaw Media

Oswego players rejoice while Batavia is in shock after Joseph Hennessy’s game-winning touchdown reception with no time left on the clock Saturday at Bulldog Stadium in Batavia.

OSWEGO 40, BATAVIA 38

Batavia on wrong end of staggering finish

By JAY SCHWAB jschwab@shawmedia.com BATAVIA – The only thing harder to maintain than the lead late Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium was perspective.

Somehow, Batavia quarterback Kyle Niemiec managed.

After a staggering ending that packed quite the emotional wallop, Niemiec embraced the brilliance he had just been part of, heartache and all.

Batavia and Oswego scored two touchdowns apiece in the final two minutes. The Panthers’ final score came with no time on the clock, a 24-yard TD pass from Steven Frank to Joseph Hennessy to give the Panthers a 40-38 win as wild as they come.

“Sure, we would have loved to win this game, but what happened on the field tonight was amazing,” Niemiec said.

“And it just shows the potential we have throughout the

season.”

In the first game for Batavia since last year’s IHSA Class 6A state championship conquest, fans were treated to maximum entertainment value – especially since no admission was charged in the aftermath of Friday night’s lightning postponement.

Batavia senior running back Noah Frazier stomped in from 5 yards out to give Batavia the lead, 31-27, after Howie Morgano’s extra point with 1:49 to play in the fourth quarter. The crowd rejoiced, many assuming the play would stand as the game-winning score.

Not this night. Not even close.

Frank, a junior Division I prospect for the Panthers, needed only two passes to cover 64 yards for a rapid Oswego response, including a 13-yard TD connection with Ryan Hennessy, and the Panthers led, 34-31, with 1:05 to play.

Starting field position near

midfield allowed the Bulldogs to swiftly surge within striking distance for last-minute theatrics. A pass interference call – a frequent nemesis for Oswego on the night – put the ball at Oswego’s 37, and the Bulldogs crept within Oswego’s 17 with 29 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Niemiec fired to junior Canaan Coffey (13 receptions for 172 yards), who was wide open after an Oswego defender in front of him stumbled.

The Bulldogs were back in front, 38-34, and the Bulldog Stadium crowd howled their approval.

“As soon as I released, it just worked out well,” Niemiec said. “Canaan, I knew that I could trust him. I’ve always trusted him, and luckily [the defender] fell down and made it easier on Canaan. I knew he was going to make the play.”

After the ensuing kickoff, only 20 seconds remained, and crazy as the game was going,

it seemed unthinkable that Oswego had time to conjure another score, especially with the Panthers forced to start from their own 20-yard line and the first play of the sequence an incompletion.

But two Frank completions and a critical face mask penalty after the second catch afforded the Panthers one final, untimed play with the clock entirely drained from Batavia’s 24-yard line.

“I’m sure there was a penalty. There must have been.

They were a good crew,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said.

“It was just disappointing to have the game won, it’s over, he’s tackled, it’s done, and then to have a penalty there.”

On the last play, Joseph Hennessy jostled his way through heavy traffic in the front of the end zone and squeezed the decisive touchdown pass. Frank said he thought his final pass would wind up shy of the end zone,

but instead, it was a play that will go down in Panthers lore.

“I don’t even know if I will sleep tonight, to be honest with you,” Frank said. “It was crazy. I’m about to go watch some film when we get home.”

His coach, Brian Cooney, said there is no game he’d previously been part of that packed the drama of what unfolded Saturday.

“I’ve only been at this 17 years as an assistant and three as a head coach,” Cooney said.

“Guys that have been here a lot longer, they may have seen something different … I never have. It was unbelievable.”

The breathtaking finish distracted from a respect-earning outing from a new crop of Batavia skill players. Lefty QB Evan Acosta played the first half and the first series of the third quarter and Niemiec took over from there, with both making compelling cases to remain in offensive coordinator Mike Gaspari’s plans.

GENEVA 41, WEST AURORA 23

St. Charles North defense dynamite in opening win

Geneva opens up with comfortable win

By JAY SCHWAB jschwab@shawmedia.com

Novotney (21 carries, 68 yards) was North’s leading rusher.

His varsity debut at QB was more of a mixed bag in the passing game, though he connected with receiver Jayson Reckards on a thirdand-8 play from Elk Grove’s 22-yard line for a 21-yard gain that set up a 1-yard touchdown on a QB keeper, providing the back-breaking score with 1:55 to play in the fourth quarter.

Reckards hauled in the catch despite tight coverage from Elk Grove’s Daniel Larucci.

“I kind of knew he’d make a big play for us at some point if we have him the opportunity, and he didn’t disappoint,” Pomazak said of Reckards.

“Jayson is a real special football player, and he comes from a football family. We expect big things.

“And again, he’s a junior, so this was a great game for our juniors to kind of whet their appetite, and I think they gained some experience today.”

On Friday night – when many more fans, not to mention the band and cheerleaders, were present – North struck immediately on the game’s opening kickoff for a return touchdown from Nathan Didier.

The North Stars had a pair of touchdowns taken off the board because of penalties, giving the coaches an obvious point of emphasis as North prepares for a second straight nonconference foe Friday, when North visits Plainfield Central (0-1).

The win undoubtedly was appreciated all the more by Pomazak considering Elk Grove, where he previously was defensive coordinator, defeated North in overtime last year in his North Stars debut.

“I think it’s a different score if we could keep the yellow flags off, but I like where we’re at,” Pomazak said. “I think we’re in good position to have a good season.”

By JARED BIRCHFIELD editorial@kcchronicle.com AURORA – A combination of efficient offensive playmaking and big defensive stops gave Geneva a 41-23 victory over West Aurora Saturday.

The Vikings made maximum use of the 48 plays they ran, 12 fewer than the Blackhawks, scoring on six of their nine possessions.

On defense, a fumble recovery, an interception and a denied fourth-down conversion halted West Aurora drives.

The teams played Saturday as their Friday night season opener was postponed by inclement weather.

Time ran out on Geneva before it could complete the last series of the first half, but the team only punted twice, both times in the fourth quarter.

Mike Huck made the first defensive stop when he recovered a West Aurora fumble at Geneva’s 27-yard line in the second quarter with Geneva holding only a 14-3 lead.

Justin Taormina picked off a pass from Blackhawk quarterback Johnathon Doyle to derail West Aurora’s opening drive of the second half.

On the Blackhawks’ next series, the Geneva defense held as the Blackhawks tried to convert on a fourth-and-2.

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Geneva’s ground and passing games evenly split the six touchdowns.

Quarterback Daniel Santacaterina completed 12 of 18 attempts for 169 yards, including TD strikes to Pace Temple (five receptions for 82 yards), Taormina and Max Woodworth.

“We got a lot of talent on the outside,” Santacaterina said about his receivers. “All those guys are really capable of making plays.”

“Their kid [Santacaterina] is just as good as anybody and they got so many receivers,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “I was very impressed with them.”

Woodworth (six carries for 87 yards) and Taormina also scored rushing touchdowns. Justin Nebel (10 carries for 53 yards) scored the third ground TD. “It was a good start. We got the passing game going early so that opens up our running game,” Temple said. “We’ve got a lot of different guys who can hurt defenses.”

Geneva running back Liam Burns left after the first series of the game because of a hamstring injury. “[Burns] was having trouble with it in camp,” Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. “He will probably be day by day, game by game.”

Wicinski is confident his other running backs will be able to pick up the slack.

• Monday, September 1, 2014

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles North football players spent much of the layover from Friday night’s lightning postponement to the resumption of their season opener against Elk Grove on Saturday together.

“We all wanted to stay together and stay focused, so after the game we went to a teammate’s house and everyone was there, we had pizza,” North junior cornerback/receiver Brendan Joyce said.

“Woke up early this morning, got here early. We stayed focused and stayed together the entire time, so it wasn’t a big deal for us.”

With a game to play the next afternoon, the North Stars had to keep their pizza intake modest. North looked light on its feet once action resumed as the North Stars kept Elk Grove’s offense bottled up throughout North’s 13-2 victory.

North led, 6-0, after the first quarter when play was halted by lightning Friday night. Neither team managed offensive points until less than two minutes remained Saturday, though the North Stars had more prime chances.

North junior safety Jake Spaniol turned in a pair of crucial plays late in the third quarter to keep the Grenadiers at bay.

With North protecting a 6-0 lead and Elk Grove facing a fourth-and-10 at North’s 20-yard line, Spaniol made a sound, 1-on-1 tackle in space on a pass in the flat from Elk Grove quarterback AJ Lorenz to Michael Babiarz, limiting the gain to four yards and prompting a turnover on downs.

A poor offensive sequence

by North followed and resulted in a safety when North quarterback Kyle Novotney was sacked in the end zone, supplying the Grenadiers their lone points and a jolt of enthusiasm.

But on the first play of Elk Grove’s subsequent possession, Spaniol intercepted Lorenz near midfield to quickly turn field possession back in North’s favor.

“We felt like Joey Gatziolis, who plays the X receiver for us, had the advantage over there,” said Elk Grove coach Larry Calhoun, whose team rotated a pair of new QBs during the game. “I probably should have put us in a different formation because the safety got over the top of that. We were just going to try and throw it up to Joey but the safety got over the top, and we didn’t make a good throw.”

North coach Rob Pomazak said Spaniol might be the team’s best all-around player.

“You could put him anywhere and he’s going to excel,” Pomazak said. “He’s a true football player. I’ve had my eye on him since the moment I walked into the building, knowing two years ago, that kid’s going to play for us at the varsity level. I’m not surprised. He goes about his business like every day’s a Friday.”

Offensively, Spaniol rushed 11 times for 37 yards as North spread the carries around in the absence of featured back Dom Sidari.

Sidari and standout linebacker Carson Schmitt both played in the first quarter Friday but were held out Saturday after suffering what Pomazak said were minor injuries that wouldn’t sideline them long.

The win was especially impressive for North considering the absences of Sidari and Schmitt plus cornerback Tyler Bell and safety Nick Zamecnik, who are expected to bolster an already impressive-looking secondary when they return.

“We all really trust each other, and plus we’ll be having Tyler Bell come back and Nick Zamecnik come back, so we’ll be even tougher and deeper,” Joyce said.

5 SPORTS | Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com

ST. CHARLES NORTH 13, ELK GROVE 2

Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com â&#x20AC;˘ Monday, September 1, 2014

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COMICS Arlo & Janis

Garfield

Big Nate

Frank & Earnest

Crankshaft

Soup to Nutz

Stone Soup

The Born Loser

Dilbert

Rose Is Rose

Beetle Bailey

Blondie

Pearls Before Swine

Real Life Adventures

DEAR ABBY Jeanne Phillips on the chance that the parents are clueless, what you have observed should be reported.

Dear Abby: I have a friend, a contractor working for the U.S. government, who thinks he’s in love with a Ukrainian girl. The pay is really good. He recently came back from a visit to see this “girlfriend.”

He has been sending this girl almost all his money for the last nine months. He was never alone with her, and she showed no emotional or physical attraction to him. In fact, a male friend of hers asked him for $800 to give as a bribe so he wouldn’t be drafted into the Ukrainian military.

We believe this male friend is, in fact, the girl’s real boyfriend.

My friend paid $300 to send flowers to her for their nine-month anniversary, for which she expressed no thanks or appreciation. What advice can you provide us here?

– Friend in Afghanistan

Dear Friend in Afghanistan: Your friend’s “romance” seems suspicious to me, too. That he is giving all his money to someone who appears to be so emotionally distant is worrisome I also have to doubt that $800 would keep an able-bodied man from being drafted into the Ukrainian military since the country is now involved in military conflict.

It appears your friend is being treated more like an ATM than a suitor, but he may have to arrive at that realization on his own.

• Write Dear Abby at www.dearabby.com.

• Monday, September 1, 2014

The Argyle Sweater

Dear Abby: My neighbor has a registered day care business, and every day I hear her screaming at young children and infants. They are all 4-yearolds and younger. We live in a rural area outside a small town. She uses profanity and says mean things to them. It makes me want to cry when I think of how scared those kids must be.

Who do I contact with this information? I could record her with my phone if evidence was needed to shut down her business.

This woman has a really bad anger management problem. She also knows I can hear her because we have spoken about how our voices travel.

I don’t think she is being physically abusive, but her words must be damaging to those kids.

Please help me find someone to tell. I’m afraid the local police won’t be able to do anything. I can’t even take my own child in our backyard because she swears so much. – Day Care Drama in Indiana Dear D.C.D.: Ideally, you should try to tell the parents what you have been hearing because they should be aware that their trusted caregiver loses control of her emotions and takes out her frustrations on their children. If the situation is as ugly as you describe, those kids must be terrified of her.

If that’s not possible, Child Protective Services should be notified because the environment is not emotionally healthy for little children.

P.S. By the age of 4, children usually have started to repeat the language they hear around them.

I’m surprised these parents haven’t noticed the change in their vocabulary and questioned their little ones about where they heard those “bad words.” Nonetheless,

COMICS AND ADVICE | Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com

Day care operator needs a time out

7

Kane County Chronicle / KCChronicle.com • Monday, September 1, 2014

8

PUZZLES SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

BRIDGE by Phillip Alder

Answers to Puzzle

From the social side of bridge

SOLUTION

CELEBRITY CIPHER

Lillian Eichler Watson said: “Don’t reserve your best behavior for special occasions. You can’t have two sets of manners, two social codes – one for those you admire and want to impress, another for those whom you consider unimportant. You must be the same to all people.”

Similarly, don’t reserve your best bridge for special occasions.

You must play the same against all opponents.

The deals this week occurred during a social game of bridge, but all four were trying to play their best.

What do you think of the auction?

The first seven calls are fine (although if North-South had been using the support double, South could have doubled one spade to show three-card heart support and any point-count).

With nine points and three spades, West should have raised to two spades. Yes, partner was a passed hand, so game was impossible, and West’s hand was as flat as a pancake, but he ought to have made life harder for North. To bid two spades on the next round gave his opponents a fielder’s choice because North had been able to describe his hand.

Finally, South should have passed out two spades because he also had a pancake. True, that contract can be made, but three diamonds had no chance. South lost two spades, two diamonds and two clubs to go down two – luckily, but understandably, not doubled by West.

Bid your hand immediately and be cautious with 4-3-3-3 distribution when not in no-trump.