From: Graham Thomson
 Sent: 30 April 1998 13:21
 To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com; 'A jumped-up country boy'
 Subject: RE: Sportsmanship for beginners

 Mark, I hope Frank posts your reply to my article, here is my initial
 response:

 > Let us consider what the introduction of large sums of money has
 > done to people's view of Magic. A couple of years ago, nobody much (in
 > England anyway) would take the game very seriously at all

 That would explain why the Scottish players did so well when we came down
 to your premier Magic tournaments like Mox a Month in those days.  Get
 real Mark, you may have not taken it seriously (were you even playing
 competitive Magic two years ago?), but the likes of Anthony Goh and Oliver
 Schneider were dead serious and I am sure that this was the case
 worldwide.

 > However, Graham says that "I do not like being on the receiving end of
 > cheating...." Let's assume that I want to win a game of Magic. I could
 try
 > to lower my opponents life total, or alternatively they could cheat, I
 > could call a judge over and win that way.

 Call me a bluff old traditionalist, but I prefer the first method.

 > Unfortunately many people seem to think
 > that the middle of a tournament game is a great time to chat to friends
 > and glance around the room.

 Opps, you mean have fun!  I have even heard of people drinking during
 tournaments - disgraceful!

 >>Cheating is obviously unacceptable, but there are still those, even at a
 >>high level who believe it is OK if you can get away with it.  In my
 >>opinion the only way to cut out this cancer is to heavily penalise the
 >>persistent offenders by short or long term bans as appropriate.

 > Well, I agree with you in this respect then Graham.

 Thank god for that, I was starting to worry.

 > Trash talking is not
 > usually designed to cause real offence, it is just designed to throw
 your
 > opponent off his game, make him a little edgy, and give you some
 advantage
 > because of this. It is perfectly legitimate, and ought to remain so.

 If you don't believe you can win on skill alone, maybe should take up a
 different sport.

 > There can be no question whether stalling is gamesmanship or not.
 Stalling
 > is not gamesmanship, it is cheating. There is a little section "players
 > shall complete their turns in a timely fashion....." in the DCI floor
 > rules. As such, it is covered by what is said above.

 Oh how delightfully naive.

 >>Intimidation is bullying, pure and simple and as such is socially
 >>unacceptable

 > Bullying as in, "You're shit. Why do you play this game. I'm gonna beat
 > you down" ? Is this bullying? I'm sure most people have grown up enough
 > not to pay over much attention and take it to heart. I can honestly say
 > that I've never seen a Magic player sat crying in a corner because I
 said
 > he was rubbish.

 No, but I know of world class players who have given up playing because of
 this kind of shit.

 >>Human nature is to learn from experience, if all the players in a
 particular
 >>community scorn cheats and despise gamesmanship, a new player
 >>is unlikely to exhibit these vices.  On an individual level if you play
 >>fair and with good sportsmanship, slowly but surely so will the people
 >>around you (if they don't already).  This applies equally to local clubs
 >>and the Pro Tour circuit.

 > Yes, if you play like this, all the new players will become just as bad
 as
 > you will be. Also they will come to a tournament, and somebody will
 trash
 > talk them, and because they've never met it before, they'll react badly,
 > and their play might suffer as a consequence.

 Jeff Donais prior to joining WOTC was accepted as one of the best Magic
 players in the world and exhibited the highest level of fair play and good
 sportsmanship.  He didn't need to use the kind of crap second rate players
 resort to because he was good enough not to have to!

 >>On the Internet chat groups treating others as you would like them to
 >>treat you, is really a matter of simple courtesy.  If you have a
 personal
 >>beef with someone then in the first instance take it up with them
 >>personally don't just plaster it across a news group.
 >>
 >>If you must make personal comments on the Internet about individuals,
 >>rather than discussing game mechanics and strategy, then make certain of
 >>your facts before you slander someone because you may have misheard or
 >>misunderstood what went on.  It is not big and it is not clever.

 > Here Graham says "treat others as you would like them to treat you."
 Well,
 > let's see what Brian Weissmann says about this. Apparently, Graham, who
 > does not know Brian any better than I know him, went up to him and said
 > "Are you still going out with the ogre" with regards to Cathy Nicoloff
 who
 > Brian defended earlier on the dojo. I see that this is the way that
 Graham
 > would like himself to be treated, so next time I see him I'll call his
 > girlfriend an ogre.

 Bless you Mark, you have made my point more eloquently than I could have
 myself.  To set the record straight, I have never called Cathy "ogre" and
 Brian has already apologised for misquoting me.  Your reference to Brian's
 posting without knowing any of the facts is priceless, thank you.

 >>If you must make personal comments on the Internet about individuals,
 >>rather than discussing game mechanics and strategy, then make certain of
 >>your facts before you slander someone because you may have misheard or
 >>misunderstood what went on.  It is not big and it is not clever.

 > Sometimes it's quite funny though ;)

 Unless you hurt someone, or is that funny too?

 > when I started playing I had fun building theme decks and
 > having fun in general with the game.
 > However, the fun that now exists in Magic for me, is accurately summed
 up
 > by Shawn Regnier's reaction after the first Pro Tour. "I do play fun
 > decks, a fun deck is a deck that wins". And I agree entirely. If you
 want
 > to have a bit of a laugh, don't play a Magic tournament, well, don't
 plan
 > to win one anyway.

 I have fun and I win Magic tournaments, damn must be doing it wrong.

 > Why not go down the pub with your mates, play football
 > in the park, or do something else? Tourney Magic is a competitive
 > endeavour, and those that win the money have all the fun. I guess you
 > could call me a cynic.

 I will continue going to the pub with my mates.  McSorleys in New York was
 brilliant and I must have been born lucky to get picked up by a hen
 (bachelorette) party both nights, don't believe me, ask Rob Salmon and
 Gary Campbell they were both there as well (funny the same thing happened
 in Chicago, ask Robin McCandless and Dougie Anderson).  I will also
 continue to play rugby, ski in the French Alps, play tennis for my club,
 compete at the Cowes sailing regatta etc.

 "Those that win the money have all the fun" - if you say so, Graham.

 ----------