Subject: Re: A New Pro Tour Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 17:11:00 -0400 From: Elliott White III To: "Frank Kusumoto" Hello, this is in response to The Mad Hatter's original message about the Pro Tour with particular emphasis to Roland Schaer's mention of a correlation with golf ... I am a magic player that has been around since The Dark & 3rd were disappearing from the shelves and Fallen Empires was flooding them. Back then, and for a while after that I was an avid player, and really loved the game, I went in played in some tournaments here and there and had a great time playing them, heck, even won some packs of cards at times. But I disappeared from the Magic scene (due to marriage and other similar factors) for a while just before HL came out. I recently have gotten back into playing the game, and for the last 3 months or so have been reading avidly all that I can on the web about the current state of Magic. So now that you know who I am, Let me tell you what I am thinking. I agreed alot with Roland's golf correlation. I think that in any sport you need a good solid separation from Pro's and Amateurs. But that separation shouldn't be 'Amateurs don't play in tournaments' A good example of this would be Basketball. Everyone knows who the basketball 'Pros' are. But there are still 3-3 tournaments often in many cities, as well as full blown 'leagues'. And these are all for 'non-professionals' You would never see Micheal Jordan playing in a cities 3-3 tournament, because Pros arn't allowed. Now the question arises as hwo to determine when someone is a Pro and when they arn't. I think the golf metaphor should be taken farther, and that it makes alot of sense. In golf, all tournaments are designated as Amateur or Pro. (Exceptions are the 'Pro-Ams' which are actually Pro tourneys). The deciding factor in golf as to whether you are a Pro or a Amateur is very simple: 'Have you ever won money'. In golf everyone starts out as an amateur. As soon as you win a tournament in which you receive money for the prize, you are no longer a Amateur by official PGA rules. And therefore no more playing in Amateur events. It seems this same idea would work well towards Magic. The idea is that ANYONE can enter a Pro tourney. Just as in golf, you can go sign up and golf in a Pro Tourney while an amateur, and if you win, you are now a Pro. But only Amateurs can play in amateur events. Now perhaps the line instead of being drawn at: 'Has won Money' maybe should be drawn at 'Has won more than $500 at a single event'. Or something similar. But I hope you get the idea. That way the people who deserve to be Pros, are Pros, and can now only play in those events. Leaving the Amateur events 'Pro-free' so that they can enjoy the 'friendly' competition. Also just as in golf, someone who didn't want to give up their Amateur status can simply decline the prize (I have seen it happen in golf), and tournaments for Amateurs can give cards & packs as prizes, thus keeping the status safe. Eli White