Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 05:19:10 -0400 From: Worth Wollpert To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi all, In light of the recent event at Nationals, I figured this post was long overdue. I'll try not to make this too much like everyone elses, and I certainly will try not to lapse into incomprehensible babble even though this is a subject that I am pretty passionate about; and therefore emotional as well. No offense to the non pt-players out there, as they obviously have a right to be heard, but I felt it was time I added another pro player's opinion to this discussion. First off, for those of you who don't know, or perhaps more importantly, know Brian Hacker, his post was made in humor/outrage/frustration. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously, Brian is one of the GoodGuys. Speaking of the GoodGuys, I had a long chat tonight with Mario Robaina (formerly of PCL fame) and we both concluded that what Pro Magic really is coming down to is a side for Good and a side for Bad. Strange as this may sound, it rings fairly true. There are a growing number of people that are known one way or another. I like to think of myself and my teammates as players who stand for integrity, and many share my opinion, but the DarkSide is growing in numbers. People that I myself have never in my life thought would be cheaters have been seen doing if not blatantly illegal, then most surely sketchy things on the PT, Chinnock is the example I'm referring to here. On one hand, I have sympathy for the people that have to enforce the (already lax) rules that exist right now governing professional magic. On the other hand, those same people have the ability, although perhaps not the desire, to change those rules. Maybe not instantly, but I=m certain that Andrew Finch has the power to influence changes in the Floor Rules over time. This actually is, I think, the biggest problem. The rules as they stand now are way too vague. They need to be polished, sharpened and honed. The DCI meeting at Origins was fairly uneventful until the last 45 minutes, and even then I felt like we were getting fed a bunch of bureaucratic hoopla, that skirted up, under, over and away from the problems at hand (the fact that regardless of intent in match 12, Mike *seriously* compromised the integrity of the tournament with the card in lap thing). I know this process of making the rules the right way could take some time, and along the way perhaps some innocent, or even undeserving people, would be punished, but it is a necessary evil and a means to finally coming close to respectability (at the pro level) in a game we all love to play. In a discussion that I, Chris Pikula, Andy Wolfe, Jon Finkel, Lan Ho, and various others (sorry I forgot some names here) had with Skaff Elias after the Aofficial@ DCI meeting had concluded, we all found out that we were of mixed opinions on many of the ways in which we could rectify this problem. What nearly all of us finally did agree on however, was that the penalties for rules infractions need to get harsher. Even for mistakes that may be accidental, such as possibly dropping a Cadaverous Bloom onto your lap during/after a Natural Balance, the penalty should be ejection. Now, this seems harsh when you consider the fact that along the way this may well negatively affect more than one person who really did accidentally draw an 8th card cause the sleeve stuck, or a person who accidentally dropped a card, side boarded an extra card, etc...but at a certain point you have to step back and look at your surroundings. There are a few rules that shouldn't carry a penalty of ejection obviously and I won=t go into my opinions on specifics, but we play for as much money as teachers make in one whole year at EVERY pro tour, that in itself seems surreal to me at times. Shouldn=t there be some penalties for mistakes, even honest ones? I would happily be ejected from a PT should a judge/player find an extra card on my side during a game, as long as I could take solace in knowing that the same thing would happen to EVERY player, and this is important here, *regardless* of reputation/fame/like-ability. Of course I wouldn=t be happy, but rules are rules. There are rules that some deem frivolous that govern many different areas of our culture today, but they are necessary. Consider the NBA in this regard...If there is a fight on the court, and you are on the bench, and leave your seat and ONE foot hits the playing floor, you are fined and suspended for at minimum one game. Seem excessive? Probably, but I'll tell you one thing, the NBA doesn't have to hand down many of these fines per year relative to the number of times it comes up. Why? Because it=s burnt into the players' heads that it is the wrong thing to do. At any rate, I thought I would voice a few of my views in the forum, and see what happens. The rules need to get much tighter at the professional level, that much is sure...the question is, who has the balls to do it? Worth Wollpert Team Deadguy