Subject: Professionalism in Magic
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:13:16 -0800
From: Sharon Command <smcommand@yahoo.com>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Dear Frank,

I wanted to add my 2 cents to the situation that has been discussed ad
nauseum.  I am appalled that these so called Magic Pros have the nerve
to call themselves professionals.

If these same people were to act as they do in the business world, they
would be thrown to the sharks.  No one would tolerate such immature
behavior, snottiness and irresponsibility.

If I as a representative of my company acted in the manner that they
represent Magic, I would no longer have a job.  If I were to go to a
meeting, show up 30 minutes late, act as those nothing was wrong with
it, whine, complain, make excuses for my poor performance, surely that
would reflect badly on me as a professional and reflect badly on the
company I am representing.  Do you really think this behavior would be
tolerated for long?  NO WAY, I would be in the unemployment line faster
than I can say, what no paycheck!!!!!

As a professional magic player, there is no excuse for forgetting a
phase, dropping cards, showing up late, being rude, etc.  These
guys/gals are supposed to be the BEST magic players!!!!!!   They are
supposed to represent us all, so when people see the performance of
these professionals, how are they going to judge us, the rest of the
magic world...are we all going to be labeled cheaters, whiners, bad
sports?  Are we the Magic community going to allowed this continue?
We talk about it on the Dojo, we talk about with our friends, but the
questions is What are we going to DO about it?  Write letters, get
pissed, rant and rave, what is that going to accomplish.

If it were up to me they would certainly be terminated from the job of
magic professional. I agree that there should be stringent rules set to
cover cheating, behavior etc.  I agree with Ken Lignelli that the
penalty should be the same whether intentional or accidental.  If I
accidentally insult a client, my penalty is the same...no business.

I have played a few pros at pro tour qualifiers, most of my experiences
were good, these guys played flawlessly, were personable and showed good
manners.  Then there was my experience playing a Pro, whose girlfriend
hung out at the table, talked to friends as they passed by, made a lot
of noise, constantly butted into the game and was generally a pain in
the ass. Yet not one judge came by and asked her to leave. The same
qualifer...my husband and I both playing, I dropped after going 3 and 2,
he was still playing.  I went up to the table to ask him for the car
keys, so I could get lunch and a judge jumped all over my shit, saying I
couldn't talk to him until the game was over, as I was a distraction to
his opponent.  GO FIGURE!!!

As long as Magic continues to use double standards, one for pros and one
for the rest of us, we will have these situations.  If this is allowed
to continue, I hope Wizards can survive on having only 50 or so people
(the so called Magic "professionals") buying their cards.

I hope this can be resolved because I sure love the game and hate to see
it sullied in this manner.

Sharon Command
"Off with their heads"