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I think the blow of what's happened to BW has been inappropriately softened. We received months of foreshadowing by Milkis who I didn't want to believe because he refused to reveal sources. Even now it's not clear where Milkis got his information or if it was just a lucky guess.
What's happened this past season of proleague is treacherous. If the allegations in Coach Ju's interview are true, that BW players have been practicing StarCraft 2 in anticipation of a new league, this is a disgusting realisation. One of the reasons match-fixing in sports is so offensive is that it makes a mockery of competition and honesty with fans. How can they send players to go on stage while pretending that they have given their 100% to the game, when their attentions have really been split?
Just like the match-fixing scandal, before the truth was revealed fans made many excuses for the players. There was the stress of the past years events, the loss of several teams, the long break between leagues and the general 'uncertainty' of the scene (or maybe it was only uncertain to the fans).
Coach Ju's interview requires a bit of caution, admittedly. When he says other teams have been practicing SC2, it doesn't necessarily mean their A line ups have been. It could be B teamers or new players brought on just for SC2. What dissuades me from believing that is that he's gotten Jaedong to play SC2, and admits without remorse that he is having his team, which hardly has the manpower to be competitive in BW, to play SC2. Is it a gamble by Coach Ju? Is Coach Ju even a smart man? I'm starting to get the impression he is all image and no substance, but I still can't imagine him lying about this.
It's not really necessary to say much more about this. This time it's like everyone in the league was 'Savior'[1]. Everyone is guilty of desecrating the image of honest competition in youth sports. And yeah, they're doing it for money, so how is it any better? If we found out about this all at once, it would be much more devastating. But at the tail end of a series of misadventures and betrayals, with months of hints and advance warning, it gets tucked under the rug as if it were nothing.
It's not nothing, is it?
[1] to use the name most commonly associated with match-fixing, even if he didn't throw his games himself.. let's not argue about this
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United States8476 Posts
I don't see what's wrong with this.
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So the only honest way to transition from 1 game to another is to completely stop playing BW, and then play SC2 for 100% of the time instead? Seems like a very stupid way to go about it and the clan would suffer for it. Of course they need to practice SC2 if that's the direction the clan is heading.
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They seem just as confused as you are. Everyone will learn to move on and figure it out. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
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:<
it just makes me really sad that this is how it's going to end. it's like slowly waking up from a good dream.
I think people need to look at this from the fans perspective: it's just very disappointing to hear that your favorite players aren't giving their all for the game the fans enjoy watching them play.
This also explains the shitty quality of games this proleague season >
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Forgiving that real sports don't have sequels which necessitate a transition phase, yes it's still dishonest. They were not upfront about it because less people would have watched if they knew the players were only playing in their spare time and the league was being phased out. They kept it a secret because they didn't want to lose viewers who would see the league as a farce.
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On April 08 2012 00:57 Chef wrote: Forgiving that real sports don't have sequels which necessitate a transition phase, yes it's still dishonest. They were not upfront about it because less people would have watched if they knew the players were only playing in their spare time and the league was being phased out. They kept it a secret because they didn't want to lose viewers who would see the league as a farce.
so they made a smart business decision, welcome to the real world
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Comparing not playing 100% to match fixing... If you seriously treat these two things as the same then I question your sanity. Cheating, and being pragmatic is what this can be boiled down to; putting them on the same level is ludicrous.
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On April 08 2012 00:59 Coramoor wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2012 00:57 Chef wrote: Forgiving that real sports don't have sequels which necessitate a transition phase, yes it's still dishonest. They were not upfront about it because less people would have watched if they knew the players were only playing in their spare time and the league was being phased out. They kept it a secret because they didn't want to lose viewers who would see the league as a farce. so they made a smart business decision, welcome to the real world
how would you feel if your favorite SCII players were going to cut their practice and jump ship for the LoL scene? sure you would still (hopefully) support your players but it would still feel pretty shitty.
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No, they're not exactly the same, but they both cheated the fans out of honest competition. That's not acceptable imo.
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I'm not sure where you get this sense of entitlement. We've been given free BW action for years, if players see the need to practice SC2 to help the transition then so be it. It's sad to see the end so near, but I don't feel like the players owe us anything.
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On April 08 2012 01:03 DKR wrote: Comparing not playing 100% to match fixing... If you seriously treat these two things as the same then I question your sanity. Cheating, and being pragmatic is what this can be boiled down to; putting them on the same level is ludicrous.
Chef didn't say it was "as bad as match fixing". He's explaining that the leagues are being shifty and covering it up for as long as possible. Plus it really hurts the image of the young passionate gamers who give their honest effort in every game.
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I guess in your world Stork (rocking dat WoW) is the big bad Savior.
You know what I think should be the biggest and last BW scandal:
Idra mentioned on ITG recently that Kespa was aware for years that progamers are taking mentally-enhancing drugs and was covering it. He didn't cite names and I doubt he would testify it in court, but to me as a fan that's a huge blow on the integrity of this sport. http://soundcloud.com/hashbaz/inside-the-game-37 @1:55:50 - Has Kespa ever done any drug testing at all? - Kespa was the teams and the Korean players did use them so...
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Yeah, playing part time BW and part time SC2 does not equal match fixing. Sorry big guy.
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On April 08 2012 01:07 figq wrote: I guess in your world Stork (rocking dat WoW) is the big bad Savior. No. Stork playing WoW is like an NHL player playing basketball once in awhile. What happened is more like an NHL play's practice time being cut in half the whole season because he's practicing for when there's no more hockey and it's just basketball, even tho the fans are coming to see him be good at hockey. No, it's not as bad as deliberately throwing your games, but when the whole league does it, the whole league becomes a sham. This is something that was taken very seriously for a decade, with players grinding out 10 hrs/day because they were professionals. That's what proleague has come to mean, so if you suddenly stop doing that but don't tell the fans, you are deceiving them. I don't care about 'law' or 'smart business' decisions, most of us were taught dishonesty is bad / we shouldn't like people who tell lies to us Long term, it destroys credibility, even in business.
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On April 08 2012 01:05 drag_ wrote: I'm not sure where you get this sense of entitlement. Not liking something is not the same as entitlement.
Is disliking savior for what he did 'entitlement', because we shouldn't get to expect professionals to be professional? fuck no.
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On April 08 2012 00:52 Sablar wrote: So the only honest way to transition from 1 game to another is to completely stop playing BW, and then play SC2 for 100% of the time instead? Seems like a very stupid way to go about it and the clan would suffer for it. Of course they need to practice SC2 if that's the direction the clan is heading.
Agreed.
Allowing the BW pros to play SC2 in their spare time is not a scandal. It's certainly not Savior-level. I think we need to relax on the accusations lol.
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Explains the season long poor play from players. If that's where the money is then that's what people will play, kinda sucks.
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I don't like it, and I agree it's shifty. That being said, as long as the players are trying their best ingame I think it's still a legitimate competition. Just not that prestigious. Kind of like seeing Steven Hendry play snooker. It's still beautiful and I'm sure he still puts in a ton of practice but it's not quite the same it used to be.
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On April 08 2012 01:14 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2012 00:52 Sablar wrote: So the only honest way to transition from 1 game to another is to completely stop playing BW, and then play SC2 for 100% of the time instead? Seems like a very stupid way to go about it and the clan would suffer for it. Of course they need to practice SC2 if that's the direction the clan is heading. Agreed. Allowing the BW pros to play SC2 in their spare time is not a scandal. It's certainly not Savior-level. I think we need to relax on the accusations lol.
It's not about their spare time. I'm sure it's coming out of their practice time. I mean, Jaedong used to practice BW 10 hours a day 7 days a week. I'm sure the last thing he'd want to do in his spare time is learn a new game at a high level.
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