implicitcd for bash?

[Dan Nicolaescu]

In tcsh (and zsh) the "set implicitcd" is extremely useful when you
get used to it. 
It allows on to type just "DIRECTORY_NAME" instead of "cd
DIRECTORY_NAME". At first it might seem like a minor difference, but
after getting used to it it's quite helpful, especially when you do a
lot of cut and paste... 

It would be nice to have the same option in bash too. 

It seems that a patch to implement and document this was even
submitted some time ago:
http://osdir.com/ml/shells.bash.bugs/2004-09/msg00016.html
but there was not reply to it.

What is the status of this, was it rejected, or it simply fell through
the cracks? 

Thanks
        --dan