Subject: Re: Post on the Dojo
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 07:46:34 -0800
From: ejkmcsm@arctic.net (Elizebeth Moeller)
To: 04mcsmithson@bsuvc.bsu.edu, fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Hi, thanks for your response.  My little rant wasn't intended as a knock on you
personally; heck, I don't even know you. So no need to get personal (how do you
what kind of a judge I am?)   It was definitely intended as a knock on the system.
I'm sure that you and Charlie Catino applied a proper penalty, within the
guidelines, and of course after checking with the tourney organizer.  No one whose
posts that I have read has suggested otherwise.  The penalty guidelines (which I
have now read, BTW :-)) are the problem, because they permit cheaters to plead
"mistake" and stay in the tournament.  I definitely question what the drafters of
the penalty guidelines were thinking when they drew them up.  Perhaps they'll join
the discussion.
I should add that I have heard some pundits defend the penalty guidelines along the
lines that most concern me:  "if they  disqualify people for cheating without being
really, really sure, they won't come back to the next tourney."  This may have some
validity when you're talking about an 8 year old kid who screws up his decklist,
but to a player of Mike Long's calibre?  At high level events, I think that WOTC
should be more concerned about the effect of giving the game a bad rep.  This is a
lesson that Las Vegas casino owners learned a long time ago.  Go have a card under
your leg at a blackjack table & see what happens to you.

One thing in your email concerns me the most, though, and frankly illustrates the
problem with the system.  The penalty was checked with the WOTC tourney organizer,
and only then imposed, consistent with the best interests of the Magic community?
This, in my opinion, undermines the integrity of the game.  It adds the financial
perspective of WOTC to the penalty equation in a neutral competition.  I don't
think that I want to buy a $700 plane ticket to play cards only to have decisions
made about a rules violation double-checked from a "don't rock the boat"
perspective.

If my challenge to the system makes me a "bad judge", so be it.  One last thing
about real judges:  they are supposed to work to improve the system.  I am
perfectly capable of applying the rules, but that doesn't stop me from bashing
them.

PS Mistakenly accusing someone of a crime is not a crime.  It is only civilly
actionable if you are negligent about the facts and unprivileged.  Umpires ejecting
someone from a sporting event are privileged.

04mcsmithson@bsuvc.bsu.edu wrote:

> Jeff,
>
> First off, your post on the Dojo, although seeming informed, was completely
> off base in many aspects.  First off, I found the card under Mike's leg.
> Second of all, I am only six years your junior, at a nice 26 years old.  I am
> a Level III DCI Certified Judge, and I have been in M:TG since the beginning.
> I AM the type of judge that calls over others to make a ruling when a friend
> or comrade is playing in the match in question.
>
> Charlie Cantino is the Level 5 Judge that made the call, and issued the
> penalties.  This was done after consulting with the DCI Tournament Manager,
> Andrew Finch.  The descisions made were debated and discussed, and the best
> possible choice in the matter was made.  Not only for DCI and the player in
> question, but for the Magic community, as well.
>
> You, as a lawyer, should know that falsely accusing someone of a crime is a
> crime itself.  Finding a card in someone's lap is not enough evidence to
> discern that the player was cheating, which would have then resulted in a
> disqualification.  But it was not determined that he was cheating.  So,
> instead, he was ejected.
>
> Practicing the law, and being a judge in our US courts is much different than
> being a DCI Judge at M:TG tourneys.  Perhaps you are a good lawyer, and that is
> fine.  But it is apparent from your post that you are not a good M:TG judge,
> and let your personal feelings (your words in the last couple of paragraphs)
> get in the way of judging impartially.
>
> I am not friends with any of the top PT players.  I am not friends or even
> close aquaintances with any WotC employees.  I made the card, and we all
> collaberated with the evidence presented to make a ruling and issue a
> proper penalty.
>
> I do not want anyone to think that I take cheating lightly.  Cheating is a
> serious offense, but accusing someone of this, without proper evidence, is
> just as serious an offense (in DCI Tournaments).  Cheaters are banned from
> any event that I run.  I have caught a few.  But I did not catch Mike Long
> cheating.  I found a card outside his deck that could have gotten there in
> many different ways.
>
> Thanks for your patience through this long email.
>
> And good luck with your continued DCI judging endevours.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mitchell Smithson
> DCI Level III Judge