RyanF

Agree with you 100%, and a slight change in verbiage would probably clear that up. Aside from anyone reaching out and actually hitting the reset button on the console, what was "intentional" or not, will always have to be decided on by someone. Maybe the rule could say something like "if a game reset occurs due to any action from a player, whether intentional or unintentional, a disqualification will occur for the imposing player", or something to that effect, whatever is fair. I don't think you're trying to blame your loss on me Eddy. But to set some of the record straight, I wasn't plastered. I was laying into Eric like I always do, after all, he deserves it for being a male nurse. Dug his own grave with that one, he did. He's also hit me in the face before, and he hits like a girl, so I can't say I was really worried about that. In fact, him slamming his hand on the table was the hardest I've ever seen him hit anything in my life. Too bad the NES took the brunt of that one. Seriously though, If my antics distracted you, sorry. That wasn't my intention in the least. I wish you would have said something to Eric or I at the time and I would have left you two to it. Brilliant idea in retrospect, however, I can claim to be neither a Tecmo player, nor an adult, so that's my excuse. Not sure about everyone else! I agree here, and I can cut Ben some slack. It's kind of funny now in retrospect, and all of us flaming on each other on a Tecmo thread (guilty as charged) doesn't really advance the situation in a positive manner (although it adds to the hilarity, in a slightly sadistic way). Eric did his thing and Ben did what he thought was right in a delicate situation. Nobody wants to be put in that situation and the whole thing shouldn't have happened. Maybe some wording changes in the rules or some other tactics for the consoles could help keep stuff like this from happening, who knows. I vote that we get David Blaine next year to come and levitate the console during the championship so Eric can't screw it up again (if he gets there). Or maybe if Chip Lohmiller finally shows up we can have him do special "guest honors" and hold the console. Laces out! Better still, I vote that Eric should have to tie one hand behind his back while he is playing so he can't slam it on the table anymore. Maybe then I could actually beat him... That is pretty amazing. What is it that they say, even bad publicity is good publicity, or something like that. Everyone's gonna want to come next year to see some drama! Huntin' Shack better get ready!

The end of this tournament was handled atrociously (big word, I know - but it means really, really badly). Eric G made a mistake by hitting the table, but Ben made an even bigger mistake handling it the way that he did. Ben claimed that his rules stated that any intentional reset of the game would be a DQ. Makes perfect sense and I agree, but it was vividly clear to anyone watching that there was NO intentional reset of the game. It was still the first quarter when Eric missed the field goal and was only down by 7 against someone he has beat before. Why on earth would he reset the game??? It makes no sense, especially if he knows the rules say an "intentional" reset would DQ him. Think about it. It was clearly an instant emotional reaction, there was no time for there to have been an intentional game reset in the 3 seconds this happened in. So the problem, and where the mistake was made, was with the discretion which was used to determine if it was in fact an intentional reset. This responsibility lies solely with Ben, since he made the rule this way. Eric hit the table and within about 10 seconds of the game resetting Ben had already made up his mind that Eric intentionally reset the game. Here we are at the most important game of the day, we all waited 8 hours to see it, and Ben just ends it after taking a whole 10 seconds to think about it. And when I tried to interject an unbiased opinion and viewpoint to Ben, he quickly and sternly told me to drop it, and reminded me that he was in law enforcement and clearly what he says goes around here. If anything was schoolyard immature, I think that takes the cake since it had no bearing on anything... So that was it, over just like that. Ben was judge, jury, and executioner without even taking any amount of time to think about this important decision. As a tournament director at such a crucial juncture, you should take time to consider all of the facts and the scenario and the impact of your decision. That clearly failed to happen in this insta-DQ. And it's clear by his posts here that he is looking for support from his 14 emails and 6 phone calls to try and justify that he made the right decision. Usually, obviously correct decisions don't need this kind of moral reinforcement... As for Bill's game play and the way he handled the situation, it sounds like scared grapes to me. If you're that good, and the matchup is an even one, why were you so scared of resetting the game with where it was at and playing an actual game for your win? Instead you tucked tail and ran with the money. Where is the sportsmanship and class with that? In an attempt to bring some constructiveness to this mess, why don't you invest a few bucks in some pieces of foam to put the systems on, or better yet don't keep them on the table? It's perfectly reasonable and understandable for someone in a competition to get frustrated and lose their cool and slam their fist or kick the wall or whatever. You see it in sports all the time. If you're going to write the rules to put yourself in this situation, maybe you can employ some techniques and strategies that will keep these things from happening, and maybe the next time you are faced with a crucial decision you can make the right one. Good luck with your tournament Ben and your asterisk, Bill. Ryan