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by Lickquid Steroids for Magic Note: In this article, I make constant reference to the "Mike Long incident" of the National Championship. This is only because it is an incident from a recent big tournament that demonstrates my concerns. All my information of the topic came from the Dojo, and if it is incorrect, I apologize to Mike Long. I'm not trying to get on anyone's bad side; I'm just reflecting an observation and a concern. Magic is entering the mainstream. It's been on ESPN2, is on its 4th World Championships, has professional players all over, and is in the Guiness Book of World Records (Tom Champeng, youngest player to ever win the Magic World Championship.). So, why is it that the top players in the world, the pros, cheat? I'm sure that whomever you ask, you'll get quite a few different answers, the vast majority of which have been posted on the Dojo. I guess Frank likes them ore something... Anyways, here's my two cents on the topic. Richard Garfield's dream is to make Magic as big as the movies, or at least as big as other sports. Now, does cheating exist in other pro sports? Sure it does. Is it discussed nearly as much as cheating at Magic? No way. Does anyone wonder why? I sure don't. It's for the same reason that Mike Long is playing his sport and Pete Rose isn't: the commissioners of the NFL, MLB, and so on enforce their rules, which happen to be more strict than those of Magic. Cheating at Magic gives the player an unfair advantage, much like the use of steroids in football. Can anyone tell me what would happen to, say, Barry Sanders (AWESOME running back for the Detroit Lions) if he were to be caught using steroids? He sure wouldn't be making TD carries anymore. Now what would happen if, say, Mike Long drops the key card of his deck in his lap at the National tournament of Magic? He gets a lousy match loss. That's like giving the Detroit Lions a game forfeit if Barry used steroids. I mean, any Magic player caught cheating at a PT should at least forfeit the rest of their matches in the tournament. All Mike Long lost was a few ratings points and the last shred of respect some other players had for him. If Magic is going to be as big as football or baseball, the pros need more regulation. My idea of a fair punishment for Mike Long getting caught cheating at a PT (that is, at least if the stories I hear of his being caught 5 or 6 times are true) is the following:
Another thing that needs to happen is that the DCI needs to at LEAST enforce their current punishments. There is no reason that Mike Long should have even been permitted to continue playing in the PT, given his rumored history. Absolute bottom line: The DCI needs to toughen up their regulations at PT events and enforce these regulations. The DCI has never been known to exact full punishment on the cheaters, and the problem gets worse. My guess is that if even one player gets banned from a PT for cheating, the other cheaters would shape up. The DCI needs to do something about these "steroids".
Lickquid started playing Magic because he was no good at organized sports, but that was probably because he never took steroids.
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