Nice Hank I don't mind playing in the upper bracket, but some of my team members do. I just don't see any gain for bridge by forcing players to play up, because a lot will choose to walk away.
Here's a simple thought, if you don't have enough teams for the first bracket, let them move into the pairs game. But of course their paying clients wouldn't care for that. :)
I skipped Gatlinburg and will be skipping all tourneys but the nationals. I hate getting stuck behind slow players, it ruins the day for me. I enjoyed the fast pairs in Memphis so thats all I will play in the future.