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ESFI had the chance to talk with Youn-Sang Choi, the head coach and manager of MVP, and he wanted to weigh in on the current controversy surrounding the withdrawal of Korean teams from NASL.
As MVP did not participate in NASL and Coach Choi was not privy to the negotiations between the Korean teams and NASL, but he wanted to give his own opinion on how the Korean players became disillusioned with the league, from his third party perspective and based off what teams and players had told him about the NASL event.
He also talks about what he would need to see from NASL before he would consider letting MVP compete in the league.
You can read the full article at ESFI, but below is an excerpt.
MVP has not competed in NASL and has no plans to currently, but Coach Choi might reconsider if NASL fixes a few issues with their league, including clearing up the problem of the deposit.
He listed the things he would personally like to see from NASL before he would let his team participate.
"[NASL] should first release an apology about what happened," he said, "The Korean Teams feel that NASL is only trying to cover up their mistakes and blame the Korean teams. NASL posted their opinion on Team Liquid and not through official channels, causing not only the five Korean teams in question but also the rest of the Korean teams to feel that they lost their reputation. This is seen as extremely amateurish in Korea."
"Second, they should fix the poor operation of NASL, in both the online league and finals," said the coach, "Making the players wait for such a long period of time like that greatly affects their conditions and their performance.
"Finally, because I’m answering what NASL should change in order for MVP team to participate, NASL should take better care of the players, including pick up from the airport, accomodations, and scheduling, instead of focusing only on the broadcast. If NASL want the tournament to grow, the players’ convenience should be the first priority in order to create great matches so that the fans will become enthusiastic."
Coach Choi hopes that his comments will not cause controversy, as he wants both sides to reach an amicable conclusion to the disagreement.
"I am not saying these things because of ill will towards NASL," added Choi, "I have no reason to hate NASL. I simply wish, as a fan of major tournaments, that NASL will be able to fix their mistakes in order to improve as an event."
Update:
Coach Choi wanted to emphasize the fact that the language barrier and time difference makes communication difficult and hopes that all sides will work together to prevent arguments like this one from occurring in the future.
I think the biggest problem is the difference in traditional values and language barrier, more than anything else. Because of the different time zones, communication doesn't precede right after the other. So I believe that instead of just speaking of one’s opinions, it will be an important step to have open mind and listen closely to what each other has to say, and try to compromise if there are any differences in opinions. As people who equally love Starcraft 2, it will be good to reduce unilateral announcements or manipulating the media, and instead publish suggestions at the same time after both have reflected their opinions.
Check out the full article at ESFI.
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Thank you for posting this! Will read now.
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... and would it kill you to lay out some red carpet!!!
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very nice , I'm glad to read what the koreans say about NASL, and I kinda agree, it is amateurish to post on TL before talking to all of them / working something out with them, I totally feel how the korean teams are feeling at this point in time.
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Finally someone telling it how it is. I fully agree with this and hope the NASL is taking notes. I want the NASL to succeed, and will support it. Hopefully this mess will blow over soon.
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"Finally, because I’m answering what NASL should change in order for MVP team to participate, NASL should take better care of the players, including pick up from the airport, accomodations, and scheduling, instead of focusing only on the broadcast. If NASL want the tournament to grow, the players’ convenience should be the first priority in order to create great matches so that the fans will become enthusiastic."
Sorry, but this is bunk to me. If you have to be wined and dined to compete, tough. NASL should focus on the production and the broadcast, since that's what the fans care about.
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why cant nasl rent a car and pick them up from an airport....
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On August 17 2011 12:50 ThreeActPlay wrote: "Treat us like the rock stars that we are, OK?" I'm sure they want free steak dinners and limo service thrown in too.
When YOU are in foreign country, it would be nice if your host picks you up from the airport. They just want to be treated like a guest, not a rock star. So please dont insult their simple request...you are only insulting your own intelligence and manner.
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I'd be pretty pissed off too if a tournament greets me at the airport with an $80 bill for transport.
What the hell...
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I can understand why the koreans should withdraw from NASL. Waking 4am and then long delays of 1-2 will sure screw up your performance when GSTL starts.
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NASL was poorly ran and executed. No excuse about it. They sound even more amateur by trying to blame the Koreans on their incompetence...
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Fair enough. But its missing the whole point - signed contracts were violated. If you think a tournament is not up to standard, don't compete. Don't sign up for qualifiers and then pull out
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On August 17 2011 12:51 ninjamyst wrote:Show nested quote +On August 17 2011 12:50 ThreeActPlay wrote: "Treat us like the rock stars that we are, OK?" I'm sure they want free steak dinners and limo service thrown in too. When YOU are in foreign country, it would be nice if your host picks you up from the airport. They just want to be treated like a guest, not a rock star. So please dont insult their simple request...you are only insulting your own intelligence and manner.
Fair enough point - requesting that travel from the airport to the tournament be taken care of is fine. Most of the Korean pros don't have great English skills, and they're all going to be really tired from the flight. At the same time, I'm not sure how much money NASL has to throw around at this sort of thing, and it would be fairly rude to make accommodations for Koreans and not for the European pros. I'm not entirely clear what happened with season one travel - it seemed to me as though NASL had footed that $80 bill before, and now it seems like they didn't.
As far as the article's points: Reducing technical issues, wait time, and generally increasing the level of professionalism at NASL events are obvious musts that need to happen as NASL continues on. I can't imagine what else they'd do, though - it's not like anyone at NASL is sitting there thinking, "Boy, we loved having all that deadtime at the finals! Made it really exciting, you know?"
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As an business decision I can totally understand due to effects on GSL/GSTL performance, possibility of losing money, and wasting 9 weeks of effort for nothing; though still wrong to go against the contract after going through qualifiers.
On August 17 2011 12:50 ThreeActPlay wrote: "Finally, because I’m answering what NASL should change in order for MVP team to participate, NASL should take better care of the players, including pick up from the airport, accomodations, and scheduling, instead of focusing only on the broadcast. If NASL want the tournament to grow, the players’ convenience should be the first priority in order to create great matches so that the fans will become enthusiastic."
Sorry, but this is bunk to me. If you have to be wined and dined to compete, tough. NASL should focus on the production and the broadcast, since that's what the fans care about.
The problem is that the fans care about game quality and the Koreans bring the quality of games to a new level and to keep the Koreans well...
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On August 17 2011 12:55 Azzur wrote: Fair enough. But its missing the whole point - signed contracts were violated. If you think a tournament is not up to standard, don't compete. Don't sign up for qualifiers and then pull out
In addition to this, there is a point where it is a mutual relationship: the Koreans seem to make it out to be they are doing a favor to NASL, and not getting much in return. Lest we forget, 40$k is up for grabs, in addition to the whole 100$k prizepool. NASL shouldnt hae to wait hand and foot in return for something the Koreans are benefiting from.
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On August 17 2011 12:50 ThreeActPlay wrote: "Finally, because I’m answering what NASL should change in order for MVP team to participate, NASL should take better care of the players, including pick up from the airport, accomodations, and scheduling, instead of focusing only on the broadcast. If NASL want the tournament to grow, the players’ convenience should be the first priority in order to create great matches so that the fans will become enthusiastic."
Sorry, but this is bunk to me. If you have to be wined and dined to compete, tough. NASL should focus on the production and the broadcast, since that's what the fans care about. While his demand's are a bit extreme, fans also care about the players. Also NASL focusing on the production and broadcast is a bit ironic, considering most of their problems are with the production and broadcast.
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They really need to set a certain schedule to play. Telling koreans to wait at 3 am till 6 am really hurts their schedule.
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Just a quick note: it wasn't Choo-Suk when NASL announcement came. It was, however, a 3-day weekend with Monday off as a national holiday in Korea.
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I'm starting to lose a lot of respect for both the korean teams and nasl. They seem to release childish articles taking potshots at each other. Furthermore what the hell are the official channels? Nasl released their piece on TL, the site for english sc2. Where else would they post it?
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