Board that went missing at Bg Live in London '04

[MikeMadMonk]

A public statement by Michael Main (aka MikeMadMonk) of Backpacker Backgammon regarding his David Naylor Backgammon Board that went missing at Backgammon Live in London 2004.

I gather that there has been a lot of talk on Fibs regarding my missing board and that many people are unclear as to the exact details. Iââ,¬â,,¢ve heard that people have told other people this and that who have told other people that and this and Iââ,¬â,,¢m sure what was in the first place quite an incredible series of events have grown in the telling into much larger and inaccurate rumours. Iââ,¬â,,¢ve also had a number of emails asking me for my point of view, some telling me they have been ashamed of their fellow Fibs players and some telling me Iââ,¬â,,¢m quite wrong in the action I have taken in this matter. The object of this statement is to tell everybody what really happened and to make my position clear to all involved and to those who are interesting.  

I run the annual Backgammon Live in London events to promote live backgammon to players coming into the game. The entire ethos of the weekends is to show players how live tournaments work, to help players improve their play and to provide players with a social weekend of backgammon fun. I do not make a profit from what I do in backgammon. I expect players that come to events that I organise to behave in a civilised manner and to contribute to the good vibe of the events.

For events like Backgammon Live in London I have a number of extra backgammon boards available in case less than 50% of players turn up at events with boards. Some of them are not the best boards in the world but at least they are boards. I own a David Naylor Backgammon Board. For those of you who do not know of these boards they are considered by many as the crème de la crème of backgammon boards. Mine cost Ã,£600.

I was the Tournament Director in the 64 player Singles Knockout Tournament at Backgammon Live in London 2004 and as such would not actually be using my board. Though the generosity of my heart and in keeping with the vibe I wanted to create I made available my David Naylor Board to players.

At 12.00 oââ,¬â,,¢clock when the Tournament started various players asked for boards. They were pointed to the pile of 10 or so boards and told to help themselves. kambiz was one of those players and asked if he could use my David Naylor Board. I said he could.

When players completed their matches they came to report their results to me at the T.D. desk and I told them who they were due to play next. One playerââ,¬â,,¢s opponent was missing, I had a good idea where the opponent would be but said I was sure he would be back in 5 minutes or so. Then another playerââ,¬â,,¢s next opponent was missing; I gave the same indication. When a third playerââ,¬â,,¢s opponent was missing and 20 ââ,¬â€œ 25 minutes had passed by I took action. I knew exactly where the missing players would be. They were all mates and would be round the back of the Pub having a joint. I left my T.D. desk (not good to have a T.D. absent when numerous other players need to report their matches) and went outside to find ââ,¬Å"The Fibsters Gangââ,¬Â. Sure enough they were outside. I told them in no uncertain terms that they were to stalling the entire tournament (which was already on a tight schedule) and to get back upstairs and play their matches. To soften the blow I also said that in future if they were gonna go out for a smoke it was to be a quick one and that I wanted some too. They accepted that and happily went upstairs to play.  I too was happy enough and thought I had them back in control.

At 3.30 I called players to complete the games they were playing and go outside to the front of the Pub where we had a fleet of cabs ready to take them all to the Boat that would take us up river to see the Fireworks Display. The Tournament would continue on the boat so I told players to bring boards with them.

I was pleased to see some of ââ,¬Å"The Gangââ,¬Â were some of the first players outside the front of the Pub. Great I thought, they were defiantly back in order and where I needed them to be. A stoned kambiz was there with a board and stoned gogogiz was there too. kambiz went in a cab but gogogiz was undecided as to weather he should go on the boat or leave to attend to his ailing Grandfather. Getting all the players into cabs within 15 minutes or so is no easy task but Iââ,¬â,,¢m a Cab Controller by trade so Iââ,¬â,,¢m well used to this sort of task. At 3.50 gogogiz was still undecided about going with us or going home so I had to tell him his decision time had run out because the boat was leaving in 10 minutes. He elected to leave. Ok ââ,¬â€œ no problem I said as I jumped into the last cab with my laptop so I could continue running the Tournament on the boat.

What I didnââ,¬â,,¢t realise then was that kambiz had put my board into the boot of gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car instead of into a cab. Gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car was by the door of the Pub and the cabs were further away ranked up with drivers in a few yards from the Pub. I gather kambiz knows gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car so he could not have mistaken it for a cab.

It was not until midnight when we left the Pub for the YHA that I realised my board was missing. I searched the Pub and the YHA and let it be known to players that my board was missing. I didnââ,¬â,,¢t make a song and dance about it ââ,¬â€œ I still had many players present and tournaments to organise. The needs and wants of players came before my own troubles.

On the Sunday my board was still missing. Iââ,¬â,,¢m sure there was quite a bit of talk between players as to who might have it, numerous players asked me if it had turned up and some of them suggested it might be ââ,¬Å"The Gangââ,¬Â. I had to agree that they were candidates. I spoke with Diane who is a Fibs T.D. who also agreed they must be candidates. She said she was disgusted, would look into it and do what she could.

On the Monday I was the last person to leave the venue. Before I did I made a final check of the Pub and YHA. Still no board. I phoned the Cab office, the Hotel where the boat had docked and the boat company. Still no board.

On the Tuesday I put a notice up on my website letting all know that a board was missing and providing a method whereby it could be returned anonymously. I also received an email from Diane letting me know that Eric (zdoc) had told her he thought he knew who had the board. I emailed him.  

I got no reply from Eric. I can't say I was overly surprised by that - I've met him about 4 times now and always found him a very strange and unfathomable person.

However kambiz phoned me and said he though gogogiz had it because he seemed to remember putting my board into the boot of gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car. I carefully took gogogiz's telephone number down. But I got no reply for days and days. kambiz also told me that gogogiz's Grandfather was still in hospital and that was pre-occupying gogogiz's mind.

kambiz phoned me a number of times over the next few days. Neither of us could get though to gogogiz. Meanwhile I was unable to do or think about anything else at all. The report on the weekend was due to be written and published and sponsors written to and thanked. I could not get it out of my head that I had organised a full weekend of backgammon for 60 something people and my thanx was that my board was missing presumed stolen. I was snapping at everybody. I also decided (unjustly as it turns out) in my own mind that kambiz was giving me a load of flannel to cover his mate.

A full 10 days after the board went missing I spoke to kambiz yet again and this time double checked the telephone number I had for gogogiz. A digit was wrong. I called gogogiz and got though straight away. The conversation went something like this:
 
"Oh hi Mike, how ya doing ? Great weekend by the way. Cheers" said gogogiz.

"Grant a question, you got my backgammon board?" said I in the most composed voice I could muster.

"Oh yer mate, it got put in the boot of my car by mistake. I ain't got back to you ââ,¬Ëœcause my Grand-Dad has been having a real rough time of it and it's really thrown me outo' sorts."

I didn't say "not as half as bad as the time you've been putting me though these last more than few days you ****ing ****bag." Instead I managed to swing into Cab Controller mode and (having ascertained that he was indeed at home) ask for his address and told him that I'd have a Cab there within 40 minutes to pick it up.

I can accept that he might be seriously troubled by his Grandfather being in hospital but cannot accept that he could have a Ã,£600 backgammon board in his possession for 10 days and not pick up a phone to let the Tournament Director know about it.

Next he had the audacity to ask me if there was a reward for the return of the missing board. Again I wanted to yell at him but though better of it and just asked him to give the board to my driver when he arrived.

"But Mike" says gogo****ingjerkgiz, "something really important...... I did tell you I wouldn't be playing on in the Last Chance and Diane wouldn't let me play in a Fibs Tournament the other day 'cause she thinks I just ****ed off from Live in London without saying so. Please, please can you put the record straight and tell her I did 'cause she won't let me play in her tourneys."

I was amazed and proud of my self control as I managed to say "yer, yer, I remember now - no worries - no problem mate - I'll sort it. The Cab will be a Green Audi Estate, the drivers name is John and he'll be with you in 20 minutes max. Just give him my board will ya."

As you will Iââ,¬â,,¢m sure understand my interest at that moment was to get my board into a GLH cab asap. All other matters could wait. 20 minutes later I got a call from GLH letting me know they had my precious on board. Later again I took re-delivery of my board. All the component parts are there though there is what looks like a glue mark on the outside cover. Iââ,¬â,,¢m not overly concerned about that; I have my board back and I donââ,¬â,,¢t expect my board to look brand new forever but Iââ,¬â,,¢m left wondering why gogogiz would have an unclosed glue container in the boot of his car. Gogogollumgiz can now as far as Iââ,¬â,,¢m concerned go to hell and stay there.  


My conclusions and decisions:
I usually have no problem with people drinking or even taking recreational drugs. The weekend was designed as a leisure weekend and as such I anticipate that players will do so. But when people lose the plot I do have a problem with that.

But now that one of them managed by mistake (he says) to put a Ã,£600 backgammon board in to boot of his friends car, his friend left the event with property that was not his, didn't have the decency to phone up saying he had it, was unapologetic when ten days later spoke to him, asked for a reward for something he had to all intents and purposes long ago stolen, rattled on about not being allowed to play elsewhere, caused me so much angst for so long and made me consider if every player present at the weekend was a thief..... what does anybody expect me to do ?

Therefore because gogogiz had my board for 10 days, made no effort at all to contact me and asked for a reward for itââ,¬â,,¢s return he is banned from all future tournaments I run. I never want to see him again. As if that is not enough I am also aware that he left the event while under the influence of drugs and driving a car. That too is unacceptable behaviour in my book and as such Iââ,¬â,,¢ll do nothing to help a person who does that. I gather that some time ago gogogiz also lost a leg in a car accident yet he drives recklessly. What is he trying to do ? Take his revenge on all others on the road and pavements ? He also made an extremely derogatory comment (which has since been removed) on Fibsboard regarding the excellent Inter-Nations Tournament and I gather has made some racist flooding remarks on Fibs. In my book this man is a menace to society.  

I am also banning kambiz aka mrbond. By his own admission it was he who put my board in the boot of gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car. kambiz has spoken to me since my board has been recovered because he was fearful that I was going to take punitive action against him. He considered that this would be unfair because it was he who helped me recover my board. He has a point and I told him that I had not decided what course of action I was going to take regarding him as yet. However kambiz shot himself in the foot by going on to say that if he knew action was going to be taken against him he would not have helped me recover my board. So his loyalty lies with his friend rather than doing the decent thing. It might not quite apt, but the expression "as thick as thieves" springs to mind.

I also have to consider other players security at future events I organise. The Fibsters group was very much a gang at MSO Cambridge in May, London Fibsters Meeting in August and Backgammon Live in London November 2004.  I have a duty to provide a secure and comfortable environment for the players that attend events I run. I cannot possibly ask players to come along if there is a considerable risk that their property might go missing. I really do not want to have to stand up at the beginning of an event and tell players to keep an eye upon their property - that would put them on their edge and thus they would not relax and enjoy themselves as much as I want them to do. I do not want to have to employ a security guard - while some might find that reassuring others would find that intrusive and wonder why the organiser felt there is a need for that.  

I want to send out a clear message that bad behaviour is unacceptable in my live backgammon world. Therefore I am banning from all future Backpacker Backgammon events the entire ââ,¬Å"Gangââ,¬Â. Other players are already viewing ââ,¬Å"The Gangââ,¬Â as one and as such my best course of action is to ban the entire ââ,¬Å"Gangââ,¬Â. gogogiz, kambiz ââ,¬Å"mrbondââ,¬Â, alex "scardy", rufus helm, oday, and Eric "zdoc" (who did nothing to right a wrong he apparently knew about) are the players banned.

Iââ,¬â,,¢m sure the above will be seen as harsh treatment by some people. I really donââ,¬â,,¢t care. Backpacker Backgammon is not a public organisation that is obliged to accept all comers. Iââ,¬â,,¢m a one man band doing what I can to advance backgammon and I see this ââ,¬Å"Gangââ,¬Â as a threat to what I am trying to achieve.  

Other Fibs players that were present at Backgammon Live in London 2004 (Diane and Jon Kinsey) should not be tarnished with the same brush just because they play on the same Internet server and as such are very welcome to come to other events I organise.  
Live Tournament Directors tend to stick together on subjects such as this. Thus I have also informed other Live T.D.s of this. It is up to them if they follow my path.

I considered long and hard before I made the decisions I have now made. They were not taken lightly. I hate to ban any player but the interests of unquestionably honourable players must come first.

Others will of course come to their own conclusions and Iââ,¬â,,¢m sure there will be a good deal of debate on this matter. As far as I am concerned Iââ,¬â,,¢ve now made my statement and I have no further wish to enter into further correspondence on this matter; Iââ,¬â,,¢ve other and better things to be getting on with.


Michael Main
Backpacker Backgammon
http://www.backpacker-backgammon.com/LiL04/The_Gang.htm


N.B. Round about the same time 13 other David Naylor Boards were stolen from The Fox Reformed and Davidââ,¬â,,¢s storeroom in Stoke Newington, London. There is NO EVIDENCE to suggest that these thefts are related in anyway to my board going missing.  

[mrbond]

Dear Mike,

In response to your email, allow me to point out a few issues that has been conveniently omitted, whilst your mind is clouded over by your missing backgammon board, or misinformation fed to you by well intentioned people who have no clue. After-all Mike, there are enough rumours circulating about, without you having to add to it with your unfounded and ridiculous statements.

Point No.1: Quote:  "kambiz was one of those players and asked if he could use my David Naylor Board. I said he could". At no stage in the tournament did I use your board, and on the occasion I did request for a board, I was asked to take one from a small pile situated near the projector. I played my match with ozgit on a tiny black leather board with green and red surface. My only game on a Naylor board was with Uldis, which I believe belonged to him.  

Point No. 2: "Fibsters Gang" missing. You have run enough tournaments to appreciate that not all players finish their games at the same time. Only myself and gogogiz and Alex (scardy) were from this supposed "unruly" gang. I can tell you for a fact Mike that I was downstairs playing my game with ozgit, furthermore, I know that gogogiz, had been waiting upstairs for his opponent as he hadnot finished his game.  I am aware of him being outside later, as you asked me if I had seen him as I came out of the toilets. Alex (scardy) was also playing against his opponent upstairs at the time. Other players that I had invited, do not play on fibs, and had come to the game because of the love of it. So tell me exactly Mike, who the hell was outside "behind the bicycle shed".

Point No. 3: A stoned kambiz was there with a board and stoned gogogiz was there too. There you go Mike making false accusations, it must have been one heck of a joint to have had so many people "stoned" out of their heads, specially as I didn't even part-take.  

Point No. 4: "What I didnââ,¬â,,¢t realise then was that kambiz had put my board into the boot of gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car instead of into a cab." No Mike you didn't realise that at all, did you? The fact is I told you that I had taken the care to pack the board away and bring it downstairs with me, when it was left upstairs in an empty pub. The fact is Mike, I honestly didnot realise that I had put it inadvertently in the boot of gogogiz's car, as I was carrying 2 boards with me. Both of similar size and colouring. You perhaps know the other board as well, as you had sold it to gogogiz at a previous gathering.

Point No. 5: I got no reply from Eric. I can't say I was overly surprised by that. For your information Eric is away in America and may have not had the opportunity to look at his emails.

Point No. 6: On the Tuesday I put a notice up on my website letting all know that a board was missing. Tell me Mike, was it not on Tuesday I called you up with regard to your board? The first time I was made aware of the disappearance of your board was from the website and I contacted you straight away. That makes it in 3 days after the event. So get off your high horse for a moment and stop brandishing 10-12 days as the time for the recovery of your board. During this time I kept you fully informed and gave you both my telephone number and gogogiz's number too. Furthermore Mike, a digit was not wrong, but you failed to take down the number correctly by missing the last digit yourself.  You had my number to call me, also numerous messages, that if I can be of any further help to let me know. It begs the question as to why you didn't call me back to confirm the phone again. How hard were you really trying to recover your board Mike? When did you actually speak with gogogiz? He was not aware that your board was in his boot, and when I had spoken with him, my instructions to him were to check to make sure that I hadn't by mistake put both boards in the back of his car. And believe it or not Mike there are certain things more important to someone whose grandfather is dying than a frigging poxy backgammon board!! Do you understand??

Point No. 7: Next he had the audacity to ask me if there was a reward for the return of the missing board. A "thank you" wouldn't have gone a miss either. If somebody had rescued my precious bg board, I certainly would have offered them a reward. But you are so obviously blinkered by what you have been told that you can not see good from evil.

My intentions were honourable as I had packed the board away for safety reasons and my conscious is clear as I did all I could to help with the recovery of your board. At no time was your board intentionally removed, and gogogiz knew nothing of it until I had contacted him to ask him to check his boot.  

Point No. 7: kambiz has spoken to me since my board has been recovered because he was fearful that I was going to take punitive action against him!  Firstly, "fear" doesnot come into my vocabulary Mike. I am not that shallow to be concerned about bloody backgammon tournaments my friend. You further contradict yourself here by saying I called you because of any reprisal by yourself. You know that was not the case for my call Mike, but to see if you were going to actually say "thank you kambiz" and to clarify what you had said to me a few days earlier. By your admission you say you hadnot considered taking any action at the time, so why the hell would I be calling you in fear of any punitive action!!

Clearly no gratitude is forthcoming from you and I am confused by your inability to look at the facts as they are, without the influence of a scheming Diane feeding you information that is far from the truth. Do tread very carefully my friend if you want to brandish defamatory statements about myself and other people.

Final point to make here Mike, is that I suggest you post my reply to all other people who have received this ill-thought out of a public statement from you.        
Thank you.

[diane]

Mike will not reply to this - he stated he will not return to this site and get involved in ongoing disputes over this and that.  

The day was extremely hectic - especially for Mike - who had 64 people to organise - some of who were sooooo stoned they wandered off with a very valuable board. So- it is possible some of the events are not exactly in sequence - but since you have all stated you were stoned - I know whose version I am leaning towards - and I agree wholeheartedly with snowflakes on this - I wanted to come along and do things with teeth of a painful nature.  I couldnt - and had to take a back seat for fear of the board never going home.  

Let me relate a little tale from the event - this you should recall.

When I left the boat - I was last off - and left behind there was a board and a bag - I asked the staff on the boat if the bag belonged to them - it didnt - so I brought it with me.

I left the boat and rejoined the party - with both the bag and the board held aloft - and shouted 'whose is this bag amd whose is this board?'  There was no answer - so I carried both back to the YHA - taking good care of them.  When I got there I placed them both on the stage and told the organisers they were there.  By the end of the evening - the owner of the board had found it - and the bag was still there.  One of the organisers checked the contents of the bag - found a contact number for the owner and phoned them up - they made arrangements there and then for the collection of the bag.  IT WAS THAT EASY!!  No 10 days of worry and stress - just done!
Perhaps you need lessons in this - I call it common sense and decency.

Did I put the board in gogos car - NO - did I disconnect his phone so he couldnt call - NO - did I give the wrong phone number to Mike - NO -SO DONT BLAME ME!!!!!
You all brought this upon yourselves - and do not say I caused it because I did not - I merely tried to help a dear friend regain a treasured possession.

And all things considered - it will be nice to know you will not all be at any future events - you are more trouble than you are worth.

Oh yes - and I saw the board gogo purchased from Mike - you could only confuse that with a David Naylor board if you had had way way way too much of the whacky backy!! (and even then you would be hard pushed!!)

For information - I had not told Mike of any other events on fibs - nor commented on his character - I merely relayed that zdoc knew who had the board.  Guess someone else must not like gogo much - hardly surprising the way he treats most people.

Also it is worth noting that in 10 years of Mike organising backgammon events - never ever has anything like this happened - then you lot came along.....

[socksey]

Here is most of my conversation with kam from the evening of 28 Nov 04 by msn messenger.  We had been chatting briefly in Fibs chat and then switched to messenger.  I offer this for what it's worth:

socksey says:
hi mr b.  it's socksey here ; )))
Kambiz says:
hiya babe
socksey says:
can you please tell me what is going on and what happened?
Kambiz says:
not sure really socksey
Kambiz says:
theres been a tiff with diane and gogo
socksey says:
well, if you don't mind too much, please give me your impression of what happened.
socksey says:
i'm aware of the tiff.  i have had much input from diane but none from gogo and i can't accept what diane has said without more substantial evidence.  
Kambiz says:
what has diane said
socksey says:
the jist is she first said gogo stole a bg board, then, she said gogo asked to borrow the board and then returned it after much to do.
socksey says:
i asked how he could steal something he asked to borrow and it has gone on from there.
Kambiz says:
i really cant believe that s**t
Kambiz says:
that is total c**p
Kambiz says:
it was me who had taken the board
socksey says:
wow
Kambiz says:
i was upstairs at the time when we were all being asked to go downstairs to catch taxis
Kambiz says:
i asked several people whose board was that
socksey says:
has diane spoken to you?
Kambiz says:
i then packed it up as there were no one else apart from a few people upstairs and brought it down with me
Kambiz says:
i chatted to a few people then helped Amy put her rocksack in grants boot
Kambiz says:
mike was rushing people to get in the cabs and i thought i had put the board in the back of the taxi
Kambiz says:
it was only when i had browsed on mad mikes  website to read and see pix of the tourney that i came across the lost board
Kambiz says:
and i called mike immedieatley
Kambiz says:
although at the time i had genuinely no idea that i had inadvertently put it in grants boot
Kambiz says:
i called grant and asked him to check his boot when he got a chance
socksey says:
you mean the trunk of his car?  boot?
Kambiz says:
but as you know he has been busy with his granddad
Kambiz says:
yep
Kambiz says:
trunk
socksey says:
yes, i know about gramps.
Kambiz says:
i called mike up on friday
socksey says:
and is he angry?
socksey says:
or did he understand?
Kambiz says:
was he angry???
socksey says:
yes, was he?
Kambiz says:
i was
socksey says:
but was he?
socksey says:
did you straighten this out or are both of you still angry?
Kambiz says:
i did all i could to locate his board and decent enough to have taken the care to contact him and didnt even get a thanks
Kambiz says:
i kept him informed to the best of my knowledge all thru out
socksey says:
well that sucks!  on his part.  how rude.
Kambiz says:
i can appreciate him being anxious and concerned about his board but i really had no idea i had put it in g's car
socksey says:
had you all been drinking?
Kambiz says:
first thing that passed my lips that day was alcohol
socksey says:
aaaaaaaah  lol
Kambiz says:
but  the thing is i asked numerous people if this is their board!!!!
socksey says:
who did you ask?
Kambiz says:
diane was even standing next to me when people were clearing up
socksey says:
yes, well, who did you ask about the board?
Kambiz says:
the board was behind her
Kambiz says:
be honest with me now.... please
Kambiz says:
do you think that i or grant try to steal this board?
socksey says:
no, i don't think any of you would.
socksey says:
of course not
socksey says:
why would you admit you had the board if you meant to steal the d**ned thing?
socksey says:
what you have said sheds much more light on the subject.  what i am wondering about now is, why was whats his face....mike.....angry?  is he some kind of nut?  does he not see you were merely trying to protect his property?
socksey says:
the reason i asked about the drinking is the uncertainty you had about putting the board in the taxi or in the back of gogo's car.
Kambiz says:
and i am thinking here to myself, if it had been my board that had been packed away by someone responsible and honest enuff to contact them, I would be chuffed to bits
socksey says:
chuffed?
Kambiz says:
pleased
Kambiz says:
happy
socksey says:
i'd be thrilled someone took care of my board.  yesssssssss
Kambiz says:
yep
socksey says:
how would you feel about my posting this conversation on fibsboard?
Kambiz says:
grant also has a similar size board which is brown too
socksey says:
i see
Kambiz says:
mike i think is p**sed off b'cos he says it has been over 10-12 days since the event and why hasnt grant called
Kambiz says:
i had given him g's number doh
socksey says:
how long was it before you knew?
Kambiz says:
i think it was tuesday after the event
socksey says:
and you called grant when?
Kambiz says:
weds
Kambiz says:
when i called mike
Kambiz says:
he was at hospital at the time
socksey says:
to tell him where the board was?
Kambiz says:
to ask him if he could when he gets the chance see if i there happens to be 2 boards in the back of his trunk
socksey says:
ok
Kambiz says:
he didnt even know about no missing board
Kambiz says:
gonna hit ma bed now socksey, have a good week hun
socksey says:
ty sweetie and may i use what you said here for fibsboard?
Kambiz says:
mmmm
Kambiz says:
what do you think?
socksey says:
i think it all needs to be said in public.  diane has made her threats public.  i think they need to be answered in public forum.
socksey says:
i intend to say what i think there.
Kambiz says:
at the end of the day i told mike exactly the score, so my conscience is clear, my intentions were totally honourable
socksey says:
so, do you mind if i quote what you have said here?
Kambiz says:
only if absolutely neccessary in response to any allegations
socksey says:
i feel you are gogo's most important witness to his innocence.
socksey says:
and i feel your words are needed to counter allegations.
Kambiz says:
repeat what you like socksey and tell anyone that if they have any further querys to contact me
socksey says:
thank you, sweetie, and i will do that.  ))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

socksey



"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice." - Abraham Lincoln

[socksey]

This is an email I sent to MikeMadMonk before he posted his statement to Fibsboard in the hopes of dissuading him from doing so.  Since he chose to post the statement as was anyway, I will share my letter with you also.   Here it is:


Mike,

Let's see.  This is what you want to report:

1.  That players in your tournament engage in illegal activity that
you want to join in next time.

2.  One of the players chose to leave the event to take care of a
pressing family matter with a bg board in the boot (trunk) of his car
of which he was unaware.

3.  You recieved a call from kambiz telling you where he thought he
had put your board.

4.  You either took down the phone number of gogogiz or it was given to
you wrong and therefore you weren't able to contact him.

5.  Your missing backgammon board was of more stress to you than the
stress of gogogiz's possible life-threatening experience with his ill
grandfather.

6.  You took gogogiz's joking remark about a reward for the board he
hadn't known he had, offensively.

7.  You lie to gogogiz by saying, "yer, yer, I remember now - no worries - no
problem mate - I'll sort it.", making him think all was well, when, in
fact, it wasn't all well with you.

8.  You assume the spot of glue or whatever on your board was the
fault of gogogiz without actually knowing how the mark got there.

9.  You condemn someone for not returning something in 10 days that
they didn't know they had.

10.  You air in a public forum personal details of gogogiz's life.

If I were gogogiz, I would certainly never want to see you again and I
would be seeking an attorney for the purpose of suing you for slander.

Just being myself, I will never choose to put my life on the line by
joining any of your tournaments.

I ask you to think again what you may be perceived to be doing.

socksey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[diane]

2.  One of the players chose to leave the event to take care of a
pressing family matter with a bg board in the boot (trunk) of his car of which he was unaware.

5. Your missing backgammon board was of more stress to you than the stress of gogogiz's possible life-threatening experience with his ill
grandfather.

9.  You condemn someone for not returning something in 10 days that they didn't know they had.

mrbond and gogogiz are incredibly good freinds - I am sure no one would dispute this.  Yet gogogiz did not get or take any of the phone calls from him to tell him he had the board, hmmmmmm ok. Maybe because he was not around to answer his phone - because he was at the hospital with his grandfather?
BUT - he wasnt - was he - a large proportion of the time he was on fibs - and some of it at the same time as mrbond I will bet - so mrbond could send a tell or leave a message here - could he not?

I do not buy this story of him not knowing he had he board - sorry!

And he left the tournament with unplayed matches to attend an ailing grandfather - I repeat - ask amy about that - she was in shouts the following monday or tuesday telling us how he was in their hotel room searching for what he thought was a vibrator!  Clearly a very pressing family matter!

[mrbond]

Dear Mike,

In response to your email, allow me to point out a few issues that has been conveniently omitted, whilst your mind is clouded over by your missing backgammon board, or misinformation fed to you by well intentioned people who have no clue. After-all Mike, there are enough rumours circulating about, without you having to add to it with your unfounded and ridiculous statements.

Point No.1: Quote: "kambiz was one of those players and asked if he could use my David Naylor Board. I said he could". At no stage in the tournament did I use your board, and on the occasion I did request for a board, I was asked to take one from a small pile situated near the projector. I played my match with ozgit on a tiny black leather board with green and red surface. My only game on a Naylor board was with Uldis, which I believe belonged to him.

Point No. 2: "Fibsters Gang" missing. You have run enough tournaments to appreciate that not all players finish their games at the same time. Only myself and gogogiz and Alex (scardy) were from this supposed "unruly" gang. I can tell you for a fact Mike that I was downstairs playing my game with ozgit, furthermore, I know that gogogiz, had been waiting upstairs for his opponent as he hadnot finished his game. I am aware of him being outside later, as you asked me if I had seen him as I came out of the toilets. Alex (scardy) was also playing against his opponent upstairs at the time. Other players that I had invited, do not play on fibs, and had come to the game because of the love of it. So tell me exactly Mike, who the hell was outside "behind the bicycle shed".

Point No. 3: A stoned kambiz was there with a board and stoned gogogiz was there too. There you go Mike making false accusations, it must have been one heck of a joint to have had so many people "stoned" out of their heads, specially as I didn't even part-take.

Point No. 4: "What I didnââ,¬â,,¢t realise then was that kambiz had put my board into the boot of gogogizââ,¬â,,¢s car instead of into a cab." No Mike you didn't realise that at all, did you? The fact is I told you that I had taken the care to pack the board away and bring it downstairs with me, when it was left upstairs in an empty pub. The fact is Mike, I honestly didnot realise that I had put it inadvertently in the boot of gogogiz's car, as I was carrying 2 boards with me. Both of similar size and colouring. You perhaps know the other board as well, as you had sold it to gogogiz at a previous gathering.

Point No. 5: I got no reply from Eric. I can't say I was overly surprised by that. For your information Eric is away in America and may have not had the opportunity to look at his emails.

Point No. 6: On the Tuesday I put a notice up on my website letting all know that a board was missing. Tell me Mike, was it not on Tuesday I called you up with regard to your board? The first time I was made aware of the disappearance of your board was from the website and I contacted you straight away. That makes it in 3 days after the event. So get off your high horse for a moment and stop brandishing 10-12 days as the time for the recovery of your board. During this time I kept you fully informed and gave you both my telephone number and gogogiz's number too. Furthermore Mike, a digit was not wrong, but you failed to take down the number correctly by missing the last digit yourself. You had my number to call me, also numerous messages, that if I can be of any further help to let me know. It begs the question as to why you didn't call me back to confirm the phone again. How hard were you really trying to recover your board Mike? When did you actually speak with gogogiz? He was not aware that your board was in his boot, and when I had spoken with him, my instructions to him were to check to make sure that I hadn't by mistake put both boards in the back of his car. And believe it or not Mike there are certain things more important to someone whose grandfather is dying than a frigging poxy backgammon board!! Do you understand??

Point No. 7: Next he had the audacity to ask me if there was a reward for the return of the missing board. A "thank you" wouldn't have gone a miss either. If somebody had rescued my precious bg board, I certainly would have offered them a reward. But you are so obviously blinkered by what you have been told that you can not see good from evil.

My intentions were honourable as I had packed the board away for safety reasons and my conscious is clear as I did all I could to help with the recovery of your board. At no time was your board intentionally removed, and gogogiz knew nothing of it until I had contacted him to ask him to check his boot.

Point No. 7: kambiz has spoken to me since my board has been recovered because he was fearful that I was going to take punitive action against him! Firstly, "fear" doesnot come into my vocabulary Mike. I am not that shallow to be concerned about bloody backgammon tournaments my friend. You further contradict yourself here by saying I called you because of any reprisal by yourself. You know that was not the case for my call Mike, but to see if you were going to actually say "thank you kambiz" and to clarify what you had said to me a few days earlier. By your admission you say you hadnot considered taking any action at the time, so why the hell would I be calling you in fear of any punitive action!!

Clearly no gratitude is forthcoming from you and I am confused by your inability to look at the facts as they are, without the influence of a scheming Diane feeding you information that is far from the truth. Do tread very carefully my friend if you want to brandish defamatory statements about myself and other people.

Final point to make here Mike, is that I suggest you post my reply to all other people who have received this ill-thought out of a public statement from you.
Thank you.  

[diane]

I have a strong sense of deja vu  

Still - it all adds to webrunners page count    

[mrbond]

Thank you for your considerable input diane. The more I read your comments and mad mike's, the more I realise the similarity between the two statements. Did you write it together?

Kangroo Court is in session, so please dont bother to sit down, we have already sentenced you.

Rather disappointed at mike, if you claim he will not be replying to my response to his statement! He clearly has a lot to say when accusing people, but little to offer in terms of backing his argument.

[scardy]

Hey im in a gang    they take drugs and are thieves   get

banned from events   What the hells going on here then? what a load of

bullshit hahahahahahahahah





HOPE MY MUM DOESNT READ ALL THIS        

[socksey]

As to the gogogiz stuff.. Someone else told me that Diane is actually telling the truth.. a person i regard as highly trustable (as that even a word?).
Maybe she could be a bit more subtil about it, but then again.. when was Fibs ever subtil? 

Who is this person and may we hear from him/her?  I'm sure we would all like any input from persons who actually were there and saw anything first hand.

socksey



They can focus the mind on shadows where, in truth, was all light. - Collette De St, Vallier

[gogogiz]

Diane

first of all i'd like to thank you for giving
wallenstein my password so he could log on from parlor
play and imitate me and also remove vouches to a lots
of fibs friends and then make complaints to them and
then change password so i can't use my account! as
well as shout a lot of rubbish in shouts!
you had heard what had happened on the weekend of live
tourney but you refuse to accept that and instead you
are just twisting and lying to suit yourself.
maybe its because i hang the phone up on you that nite
when you called me to scream and rage at me.... do you
remember me saying shhh diane you will wake your
neighbors, you said they know what I'm like and you
continued screaming at me down the phone-line and i
couldn't get a word in and i said diane if you
continue then Im hanging up... and you just howled
and screamed more,  then i said sorry diane I'm
hanging up and hung up! do you remember also the
threats you made to me also!
you seem the one to be telling all the lies and
telling everyone what to say including influencing
mike.... mike knew i had the board and my number and
so did you!  so why didn't you call me or give it to
mike as well?
all you talk about is how great this guy is and that
the sun shines out of his bum and then just talk about
me like I'm a piece of dirt! why?.... because you don't like me full stop! and will go to any extreme to
bring me down!
i have thought that if you had an axe then you would
use it, i guess you haven't so are trying this way.
i never stole a bg board and when kam called me to let
me know about it, he then let mike know! so mike knew
he's board was safe and i was also busy but that
wasn't good enough for you, you were still out to get
me!
i'm sorry if i never rushed to the phone to ring mike
and said oh sorry mike..your the greatest! i love you!
your wonderful, a) because kam said mike will ring
you, i never had mikes number!  c) i was busy with
important, private things which i am not happy about
you and mike letting the world know about!
im also sorry that i don't live on fibs board like you
diane! and don't know whats going on, but you know the
truth but not admitting it! instead you are just
trying to get at me bigtime!
all you do is chat a lot of big words diane to try and
make it look like we are bad...but all i can see is
lies and craftiness diane and you brought it all here!
to fibs!
if you want to sort this out diane then lets meet up
for coffee and then speak face to face but stop lying
and posting about me and my personal life in fibs..
and can i have the new password to my gogogiz account
so i can remove the complaints to my friends..ty

[gogogiz]

i will post again shortly....i was letting off steam above( much needed)

[gogogiz]

hello all

you can see from kams post what had happened and the error
the board was put in my boot by kam, i had to leave and said to mike, i have to forfeit for personal reasons, which he knew of. i went off and never returned to there. If i knew i had the board in my boot i would have gone back with it.
during the week kam is on mmm site and sees the advert and calls mike and tells him what may of happened and then again to confirm! mike is given my number and he is told of my schedule. over time kam asks has mike called yet, i say no call yet....and i never thought anything of it as i was busy. now all i know is that mike will call. so i think alls fine and mike will call when he wants too. days later i get the call from mike and we say hello like normal and mike asks have you got my board there and i say yes its here with me, and i make a joke by saying is there a reward to him. I never made it sound like i was asking him to give one.  and we both laughed and thats all it was..a joke. mike said can i send a cab. i said yes and gave my address and (we were both polite and talked as normal people talked) it was a short conversation as mike would call me back to tell me when cab was on way, which he did. when the cab came i gave the man the board and i rang mike back to say the cab had been to me and was heading back. mike says cheers and i do to and thats the last we spoke. i never saw a problem!
A few days later i hear from kam that mike has banned us for various reasons. I was disappointed but wasn't going scream about it.
if mike couldn't get hold of me on the phone then why didn't he say that to kam. that the
numbers wrong or ask you even diane. you could have also given mike my number.

then a chain of events happen
my last login as gogogiz was on friday evening.
on saturday i get an email saying i am not to host Fridays3 anymore because of the board incident.
on sunday night  i go to log on as gogogiz and i get access denied. i try a few times but can't login. my first thought was i have been banned from fibs.
mrb rings on phone and tells me to log in. i tell him i can't get on fibs...(he's already on there) and he then asks me if i had left him a message in fibs. i said no and he said well i got a message from you saying about password for user xxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx has been left in my boot or something like that!
it turns out that a few fibsters got this message from me. but i hadn't been on and didn't think nothing of it until i heard about saying this and that in shouts too. i instantly thought my accounts been hacked and passwords changed!
i managed to get hold of the shouts for sunday evening and couldn't believe my eyes. someone had been on using my nick and was shouting things in the shouts all referring to the board and stealing it. they had also removed lots of vouches to my friends and replaced them with complaints. they also changed my account passwords because i get access denied each time. i have since found out that fibs passwords can be changed.
when the fake gogogiz was on(wallenstien) there were only two other people that seemed to be getting the fake gogogiz to respond as he wasn't saying hello to anyone who was saying hi, just shouting with referral to the shouts from diane and bushsucks. the fake gogogiz wasn't on that long and they used parlor play to hide ip address.
if needed i will post the shouts here.

now the whole time that i haven't been able to get on fibs i hear that dianes been saying this and that, smearing me anyway she can

mike was told the truth about what happened and circumstances. i never knew i had the board. kam let mike know i had it. the board was safe. and waiting to be collected. after its collected all the nastyness happens and is still happening!

[diane]

I have never had the password to the gogogiz account - I do not know how anyone who did not know it would get it - as far as I am aware - passwords are not retrievable from fibs - one of the improvements discussed was a way around this.  So as to who has your password - you will have to look to someone else you upset I guess.  And stop harrassing Wallenstein - he hasnt a clue whats going on - and doesnt understand you anway.

And as for the phonecall - that was my reaction to your shouts - I wanted you to have a practical demonstration of how unpleasant name calling can be - since you were so gleefully engaging in it.  That was my 'venting'.

As for the coffee idea - get real - I never want to lay eyes on you again, face to face or 'over my shoulder'.

[gogogiz]

im very sorry that i jumped the gun and accused wallenstein with regards to my nick and apologise again to wall...i am truly very sorry about that...also people did tell me that it wasn't wall but i never listened..so im sorry about that wallenstein...

but i still see you behind it and i think you know who it is so tell us diane. who used my nick to log on and imitate me in shouts over the weekend!
you know who it was don't lie anymore diane!
sort it out!

[diane]

Well I do feel that if whoever it was was changing vouches into complaints - they might have changed your complaint against me to a vouch!!

[gogogiz]

which part of the above do you not understand! i know you have trouble seeing the truth

WHO WAS IT LOGGED ON FROM PARLORPLAY AS GOGOGIZ to happily answer yr questions in shouts!

now how easy can it be...name pls!

or can you not still admit the truth!

[diane]

Well I originally thought it was you - which is why I was pretty nasty to them - now I dont know - and havent seen them since the weekend - but it does make me giggle!

To quote what you said to Wallenstein..

theREALgogogiz says: awwww.....annoyed are you

[lewscannon]

Can I get the film rights to this soap opera? I'm trying to find a title, but it seems that 'Much Ado About Nothing' is already taken. Please, a little perspective. Put this up against what Joe Tamargo has gone through.