A Different Perspective on The NaNiwa Controversy - Page 7

On December 15 2011 20:43 Krogan wrote:
Well I am glad Alex is honest enough to say that Naniwa should learn to lie for the good of money making. Otherwise to say that what Idra has done in the past is not as bad as what Naniwa did just doesn't hold up as his argument was mostly that gom is a bigger stage and the match was more important. However from Naniwa's point of a view a placement match at MLG is far more important then this match vs nestea as it has implications for future tournaments, this match didn't.

For me as a fellow swede raised in a culture that teaches us to never ever lie I see what Naniwa did as little different to Jinro swearing or Thorzain being chill and not showing much emotion, these guys are not playing a game with you, they are not putting up any fronts its just how they are, no fluff as you Americans like to say (yeah what Nani did is actually no fluff where as a 4gate would have been fluff.).

I don't mean to sound pro swedish or anti American or whatever but this post from alex very clearly shows that mental difference between how we think and most of the world. Honesty for us is not something that is based on how much money is involved. Naniwa was just being honest and that is what other countries will just have to learn to deal with.

For me personally what Nestea did at the blizzcon finals was MUCH MUCH worse then what Naniwa did and neither do I have any interest of watching players that pretend to care about a game, that is just insulting to my intellect. Next season of GSL will be the first time I do not buy a ticket as I choose to vote with my wallet as I quite simply feel unwelcome now, swedes are going to be honest as its hardwired into our very core, learn to deal with it.

On December 15 2011 21:09 nttea wrote:

the views and opinions expressed by some swedes and claimed to be "swedish" does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of all swedes, or even the majority of swedes. Honesty is not hardwired into our very core, even if we would be more honest on average (which i have no reason to believe) the individual differences far outweigh any such increased honesty.

PS. you are embarrassing.

On December 15 2011 20:53 Timerly wrote:
Let me first and foremost say, I agree that Nani's actions are unacceptable for all parties involved. However, I do not agree with you in a couple of points and pointing at Nani alone is pretty short sighted and shrouds the issue of GOM and others making mistakes, too.



The difference is that every major professional sports league has a much better rule set than GOM, better precedence to be cited for single decisions and most importanly a 99% chance that games are actually NOT meaningless.

Be it B-players playing for an A-spot, international standings used for seeding, different monetary rewards (placement / wins) or some other thing. In this instance Nani had close to no motivation to play a good game except his duty to perform for his fans as well as the businesses involved. There is no A-team spot to play for as he's already among the top of the foreigner scene, there was no monetary reward, there was no standing implication. There have to be incentives and they have to be made clear to the player by teams, leagues and preferrably some form of association. Professionals often times (and the best ones at that) focus on exactly one thing: winning. Nani was not willing to put effort into this game because his mentality is one of playing 100% to win tournaments, nothing else matters to him. That in itself is admirable because it makes him practice like few do. Yes, he should be aware of his duties outside of this but I argue that these duties have to be made clear to him by somebody else if there is a chance he won't realize it himself. That way he can focus on his game but one could avoid this kind of situation entirely. This could have been done with better rules, coaching him on the issue or any other way but I do not agree that players are solely responsible here. There are reasons why teams have coaches and management and this is one of them. Again, look at major sports. There are many examples where exactly these guys take care of that.

The whole All Star match point I won't even argue about because show matches and matches in a competition are not even remotely related.

Here let me just ask: why? How is PPV access a better model than advertising and sponsorship revenue? E-sports as a growing market will happen a lot faster if people get free access to it. The whole internet revolves around free, ad financed things growing, from Google to League of Legends. Freemium or not, getting everything you want without paying actual money (obviously you pay in different terms like time etc.) means people pick it up a lot more quickly. I can't even show my friends a set of GSL VoDs without paying GOM for it, how am I going to get them into it with a broadcast schedule that makes it close to impossible to follow it live for many parts of the world?

You may not like to rely on sponsors but again there's a reason why this happens in major sports.

Obviously, that doesn't change your point in Naniwa hurting business, be it GOM subscribers not getting their money's worth or sponsors instead, it's really more of an issue of splitting the damage between leagues and teams instead of just letting the leagues take the hits for player actions, making them a lot less lenient. Obviously, this way teams have an easier time but again my question is, is that actually a good thing?

On December 15 2011 21:07 Ninjahoe wrote:
You are certainly a very smart man and this is very well written.
However, if the team you support have NO CHANCE at all in winning their final game of MLB (unless their opponants are equally unmotivated, wich would only generate a really poor match), will you go watch it? Would you really want to see a game, where you know that your team won't stand a chance, because their competitive morale is so low from the past seasons poor results?

I know I wouldn't, and that's why I don't feel betrayed or upset about what NaNi did.

On December 15 2011 21:24 don_kyuhote wrote:
This was a great blog.
Have you ever seen a football team that just sit on the grass and let the other team score 100 goals non stop on them just because they cannot advance to the knockout stage and they're pissed?
That was pretty much what naniwa did in my eyes.

On December 15 2011 21:15 Eineez wrote:

I agree, there are many dishonest Swedish people. Don't see how that is a good thing though. :/

On December 15 2011 21:20 z0nk wrote:
Dear Mr Garfield:

Your argument is all about professional behavior, put a smiling face on and delivering a good game to the industry and the audience.
But I question your definition of sports. Does sports necessarily have to involve industry, merchandising, franchises or any broadcasts or audiences? No! Sports in its core sense is competition between two or more parties, involving physical and/or mental accomplishments. Sports does not necessarily have to be broadcasted to be sports.

With that being said, I ask you. Does being an athlete automatically imply, that you have to be a clown to entertain the audience? No it does not. Because being an athlete does not per se involve the need to have fans nor to please them.
You can be a professional athlete who gives a **** about fans. As long as you do not harm anyone in your surroundings, it is your right to choose and ignore people. Sure that's bad for you reputation but that's another story.

Where would sports end up, if an athlete would be forced to play games just to please some random audience. I personally used to believe that athletes do what they do for passion and sportsmanship. There are plenty of sportsmen/women who do not have twitter and give a **** about the audience. They play for achievements. They play for relaxing, They play for amusement. But why do they have to play to please the audience? Why do they have to put on a smily face and play along? It is the choice of the athlete to please or not to please the audience.

Naniwa has not agreed to any obligation of entertaining anyone whatsoever. He was invited as an athlete who might be able to climb up the throne of esports. However, he was not contracted as a clown to just please the audience. And he can not be forced, neither can he be held responsible for not playing along the sunny boy.

I personally appreciate honest players showing true passion and feelings not giving a **** what others think of him/her, than some made up fake emotional half-hearted hyped game.