Subject: A Players Response to David Wintheiser
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 12:01:09 -0400
From: "Nicholas C.I. Todd" <ntodd@iwaynet.net>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Wouldn't it be something to have an award for sportsmanship, despite
winning or losing?

        I'll be honest. I play Magic, or indeed any game, for fun. I tried the
tourneys, and I still hang around and watch them, but I don't play in
them anymore. Why not? Not because I'd win or lose, but because of the
seemingly prickish way people in tournaments act when they win or lose.

        I'll give you an example. It was a few years ago, and a local store had
a tournament with a hefty $25 entry fee. First prize was a complete set
of Arabian Nights, and this was around the time of Homelands, so it was
a nice prize. One of the guys there always chose as his table one in the
corner, and he never got up from his spot. However his girlfriend was
milling about the room, whispering in his ear scouting reports. I don't
think she ever looked over the shoulder of the person he was playing,
but he did have advanced info anyway of what they had in thier deck.

        It was my turn to play him. I don't think he was prepared. I won game
one easily. Game two, he was on the ropes, desperate to try anything. I
was playing my own creation, a hand/land denial deck. I had two Hypnotic
Spectors and an Underworld Dreams on the table, and had him down to 7
life... when he casts a Wheel of Fortune.

        "What?" I calmly ask, in semi-disbeleif.
        "Wheel of Fortune. Discard your hand and draw seven."
        "Yes, I know. Okay." We both discarded our hands. He drew his seven, I
drew mine. Then I pointed to the Underworld dreams. "Did you take your
damage from this?" He looked at the card, then looked over at his life
total, then realized what he had done.
        "Would you let me take that back," he asked. His girlfriends' hand on
his shoulder. I guess she missed scouting me, I wondered.
        "Ummm... no, I'm afraid I can't." While it may have been sporting to
give him another chance, there's only so much one can do, especially in
a tourney.

        At other sports events, there is this tradition of congratulating the
winner, even before you head to the locker room. In football, everyone
heads to midfeild and shakes hands with each other, for example.

        So I extend my hand across the table for a friendly handshake. He not
only refuses to shake my hand, he shoves the table towards me, pushes
his chair back, picks up his belongings from the table, and he and his
girlfriend leave the store. No sportsmanship, I think to myself. What a
jerk.

That was my third tournament. I went on to play a few more. I watched
the weekly tournaments at a few other stores and played as well, and
found a lot.. a LOT.. of players out there who won and jumped up to run
to the report center without so much as a 'Good game, Bob.'

Disgusted with the display, I quit. Tournaments, that is. I find players
and get into large group games (I think the largest I've been in was a
14 player Grand Melee... fun.) and build and actually PLAY theme decks.
Every once in awhile, I play a sanctioned sealed deck, and I like the
pre-release as well, but there are still scrubs there, too.

Couldn't you just see a DCI ruling that says players must shake hands
before and after the match, like a martial arts thing? Maybe it will
bring back sportsmanship among Magic players. Maybe then I'd consider
playing again in a tourney setting... but right now I'm working on judge
certification. So you never know what will happen when you stand up in a
disgusted rage when I'm judging....

Nicholas Todd