Non-Professor wins Professor Cup!

[losjackal]

"Elitist" is most often used in a derogatory context. Maybe the poster could have chosen a better adjective, but if people want to take this opportunity to criticize the Professor Program, let's examine the definition for a moment.

elitist - a person who believes that a system or society should be ruled or dominated by an elite.

The Pokemon Professor program can't be considered "elitist" because:

1. Professors clearly understand they don't "rule" anything that they don't organize themselves. The official Judges are in charge of the big Premier Events, and the employees of TPCi are in charge of P!P.
2. While some excellent players are Professors too (Kettler & Fulop are the ones I know because I personally played against them this year), many Professors who organize or judge a lot admit that they aren't better than competitive players because they don't have the time to play as much. That's why a regular player crashing the Professor-only tournament is so foul.
3. Professors are committing to be held to a higher standard than the average P!P player when it comes to Spirit of the Game and the add-on Professor Core Values, when interacting with others and especially when serving in an official capacity.
4. If you violate the Spirit of the Game or Core Values, you could permanently lose Professor status and eligibility.
5. It requires taking an annual, timed, and somewhat difficult test on game knowledge.
6. It's voluntary. Anyone who is eligible is welcome to try become one.

Professors are the official ambassadors of the game. It's a privilege, not a right...so the poster who said Aydan was "almost" a Professor isn't seeing the whole picture.

 

[espeon200]

Glad that you can call him names sir. I mean I know he did something dumb, but that is no reason to call him something based on one action he did. How would you like it if you went out got drunk and got a DWI? Would you want people to judge you based on one decision you made?

I'm trying to stay out of these threads from now on, but I just can't not respond to such an inadequate simile.

To fix the simile you used here, it would be like going out and getting drunk when you were a few months underage. Your friends were going, and you just went with them to pass the time never thinking you'd have more than a few drinks or that the barman would even serve you. So you get really buzzed and decide to drive home. You get home and think no one was hurt. You even picked up a few choice bottles of various types of drinks for free, and have sold them off or given them to your friends. A few weeks later you're watching the news and a story comes on about a hit and run that happened near the bar to a regular patron of that bar. You remember hitting something on the way home, but thought you were just imagining things because of your buzz. You figure out that you hit the person, and just didn't realize it until now, but instead of going to the police you write a blog post about the whole experience, how you got in, what drinks you imbibed, how you thought there were no consequences, and about selling a nice bottle of whiskey you picked up there too-- because you need money to replace Grandma's kidney. Should you be off the hook?

In your example there you make it sound like he was caught and is being judged for committing the crime. The fact of the matter is he wasn't caught (though he would have been when TPCi did their tournament reviews after Worlds). He wrote a tournament report. He could have at any time written to TPCi and come clean, but instead he decided that he should write about it on a Web site that is viewed by a lot of the people he hurt. I honestly think that if he had contacted TPCi first instead of writing his article that it would have shown greater remorse and more growth. It would still have stung for the professors he hurt by participating in the event, but there wouldn't be as many "OFF WITH HIS HEAD" posts.

But that's neither here nor there. It's too late to think about what would have happened. It's between TPCi and AA now. There's definitely going to be a ban of some sort, and he'll likely be required to return the prizes.

 

[Monkeylad]

He may have been an ineligible player, but he still beat everyone in a straight up game of Pokemon, by the same rules everyone else played by. He crashed an elitist party, and beat them at their own game. I understand both sides of the story, but honestly, anyone crying "I deserve to win because he was ineligible" really doesn't understand the spirit of the game either. Call the whole thing off and donate the prize to charity.

Except he didn't play by the same rules; he broke them when he entered the tournament.
Regardless of being the better player, he doesn't deserve the trophy, or any of the other rewards. It's called the Professor Cup, not the I'm not a Professor, hope I don't get caught Cup!

 

[Patsfan112892]

I'm trying to stay out of these threads from now on, but I just can't not respond to such an inadequate simile.

To fix the simile you used here, it would be like going out and getting drunk when you were a few months underage. Your friends were going, and you just went with them to pass the time never thinking you'd have more than a few drinks or that the barman would even serve you. So you get really buzzed and decide to drive home. You get home and think no one was hurt. You even picked up a few choice bottles of various types of drinks for free, and have sold them off or given them to your friends. A few weeks later you're watching the news and a story comes on about a hit and run that happened near the bar to a regular patron of that bar. You remember hitting something on the way home, but thought you were just imagining things because of your buzz. You figure out that you hit the person, and just didn't realize it until now, but instead of going to the police you write a blog post about the whole experience, how you got in, what drinks you imbibed, how you thought there were no consequences, and about selling a nice bottle of whiskey you picked up there too-- because you need money to replace Grandma's kidney. Should you be off the hook?

In your example there you make it sound like he was caught and is being judged for committing the crime. The fact of the matter is he wasn't caught (though he would have been when TPCi did their tournament reviews after Worlds). He wrote a tournament report. He could have at any time written to TPCi and come clean, but instead he decided that he should write about it on a Web site that is viewed by a lot of the people he hurt. I honestly think that if he had contacted TPCi first instead of writing his article that it would have shown greater remorse and more growth. It would still have stung for the professors he hurt by participating in the event, but there wouldn't be as many "OFF WITH HIS HEAD" posts.

But that's neither here nor there. It's too late to think about what would have happened. It's between TPCi and AA now. There's definitely going to be a ban of some sort, and he'll likely be required to return the prizes.

good luck making him return the prizes especially since the trophy is on ebay

 

[Naki Feralkin]

The guy says he runs his own league, albiet not offically, he is very close to a Professor. To be honest it was the event holders for not checking properly. Also he guy beat all of you Professors, what dose that say?

I smell jealously to be honest, i can understand it a bit if you were in top 8 and the guy beat you, but lets face it, he didn't do that too you, so just let it be.

Next time event organizers only accept people with a Professor ID or something, no exceptions.

GZ to the player who beat the professors at their own game, sort of shows you something, I won't point it out for fear of massive flame.

I like how you said he beat "all of you" professors. He didn't beat every single professor in a match, he played a good deck, probably the best choice in the entire cup (Don't believe me? Check Europes results) and had good matchups throughout the entire tournament.

I don't see where you're getting Jealousy from. Theres nothing jealous about someone illegitimately getting into a tournament he didn't belong in, going against the core values of a professor that worked their way to get into said cup.

So, how exactly did he beat us at our own game? He never "joined" the game to begin with. Where's his judging history? His status? Running a league is all good and such, but a title's a title. He has to be a professor in order to get in. Are you implying that all professors are inferior to players? News flash. Chris Fulop was playing in the professor cup (LEGITIMATELY I MAY ADD, as Mr. Fulop has been judging a lot of tournaments this past season, including a major regionals and quite a few cities.) as well. Are you trying to imply that one of the best players in the history of the Pokemon TCG who illegitimately got himself into a tournament has more class and skill than a man highly respected by the entire community?

Now I'm pretty sure he is a league leader and yes, thats good enough to get in, but if you're not a professor, you shouldn't be in or killing the chances of others to play silly games. Your jealousy statement paints you just as badly as those who posted on 6P to attack Ms. Cunningham, since every single one of them pretty much called her a baddie and directly insulted the poor girl because she was "Not acting mature" for feeling disgusted about someone who she thought was legit.

I ain't flaming you, but theres two sides to a coin, I suggest you look at both carefully.

 

[EpicWin]

I really think all this hating, ranting, bashing, and trolling should stop. Aydan realizes what he did was wrong. So just stop bickering between each other. We all have the right to our opinion, so don't call other people out for it.

 

[Monkeylad]

I really think all this hating, ranting, bashing, and trolling should stop. Aydan realizes what he did was wrong. So just stop bickering between each other. We all have the right to our opinion, so don't call other people out for it.

If he was sorry he wouldn't have done this in the first place. There were many other things to do that day.
He also wouldn't have gone onto 6p and posted the article looking for attention for what he had done. He would have defended Cecily, and forfeited the title as well as the prizes if he was sorry.

It's not a matter of opinion, what he did IS wrong, and shows his character, or lack of character, as a person.

 

[Jaeger]

I am by no means trying to encourage people to bash Mr. A.A.

But I feel it potent to mention that he did in fact state the trophy money is to make it to grinders HERE.

Make of it what you will.

Yea well he also said he was going to take the trophy down and return the prizes...kids full of crap. God I don't even know how to write in this thread without ending up with infractions anymore. Oh and I thought he was selling the trophy because his family needed money and school was expensive? He can show up to Worlds all he wants good luck to him getting to play haha.

 

[SuperWooper]

To the mods here at the gym: I'm glad that you kept this thread somewhat troll-free. If you'd like a list of the IP addresses of the people flaming, please contact me, but if not, I understand, as technically 6P is not your site.

Big Brother is watching.

 

[PokeDaddy]

With all due respect Steve, do you really think Figaro's post warrants the removal of professor status? It does not negatively impact the Pokémon brand in any way, and it would be petty of TPCi to strip someone of professor status for a post like that. As the 'Professionalism' section of the 'Professor Core Values' prohibits statements that hurt the Pokémon brand, Figaro's post was in no way in violation of those 'Values.' He is right as well that people looking for a win via disqualification are NOT in fact upholding the SotG.

I don't agree with Figaro but to squelch harmless posts in support of Aires by waving around the banhammer doesn't reflect well on TPCi.

Kev -

By putting that little Professor status under your name here on the gym, you are representing yourself as a Pokémon affiliate. Those are the facts.

By supporting and agreeing with what is clearly a very bad thing that this kid did, you are saying you OK with them. For those of you Professors who support this kid, think of it this way.

When you become a member of a group that has defined upstanding principles, (police, fire, medical (and don't debate the analogy please)), you represent that group. That would be like saying that, as a fireman, you agree with someone who does arson. Would you want that guy working for you? No.​

Therefore, when Figaro openly supports this kid's bad actions, what does that say about him as a professor?

You are a master debater Kev. We can continue this at Worlds if you would like. I will say that your view of what is "harmless" is a very liberal view of things.

And Politoed666, I was a mod previously. I am not one now.

 

[SD PokeMom]

http://www.pokescoop.com/2011/08/04/interview-aydan-aires/

doesn't sound too "sorry" to me...

PokéScoop: You've said you feel guilty about what happened, would you still have played had you known the reaction?

Aydan: In all honesty, I probably would have.

[snip]

Right now, I'm attempting to keep the prizes but I'll most likely have to return them to Pokémon.

take special notice of the 'have to'...not 'want to, because it's the right thing to do'...

'mom

 

[BlastBurn]

I agree with this guy. As a representative of some orginization, no matter what it is, your job is to uphold the standards and belief system. Now I am not bagging on anyone, just saying PokeDaddy has a very valid and important point.

Kev -

By putting that little Professor status under your name here on the gym, you are representing yourself as a Pokémon affiliate. Those are the facts.

By supporting and agreeing with what is clearly a very bad thing that this kid did, you are saying you OK with them. For those of you Professors who support this kid, think of it this way.

When you become a member of a group that has defined upstanding principles, (police, fire, medical (and don't debate the analogy please)), you represent that group. That would be like saying that, as a fireman, you agree with someone who does arson. Would you want that guy working for you? No.​

Therefore, when Figaro openly supports this kid's bad actions, what does that say about him as a professor?

You are a master debater Kev. We can continue this at Worlds if you would like. I will say that your view of what is "harmless" is a very liberal view of things.

And Politoed666, I was a mod previously. I am not one now.

 

[PheonyxXx]

Kid keeps flip flopping worse than John Kerry when he ran for president. First he's selling the trophy to go to worlds, then to help out his family's financial situation. Then he's taking the ebay listing down and plans on returning everything to pokemon, then he says he's attempting to keep it all. Kid needs to make up his mind.

 

[OldMan_GG]

Also, I think Pokemon should make their decision about this case public because of how it affected and split the whole community.

 

[Aron Figaro]

That's an interesting take on what representing Play! Pokemon means. Disagreeing on certain persons' stances on what the true meaning of the spirit of the game is definitely does not constitute any breach of my code of ethics as a professor. Also, by my code of ethics as an engineer, I am required to make professional statements on matters of logic.

PokeDaddy, your use of the word "clearly" is incorrect here - there has been no public verdict. P!P has committed disciplinary errors in the past and it will be up to the history of the community to decide who the real bad guy is. As someone who is very interested in how degraded the right to property has become in the United States (studying law is a hobby of mine), I'd be curious to see what happens if he tells P!P to go away.

 

[Gym Leader Blaine]

Kid keeps flip flopping worse than John Kerry when he ran for president. First he's selling the trophy to go to worlds, then to help out his family's financial situation. Then he's taking the ebay listing down and plans on returning everything to pokemon, then he says he's attempting to keep it all. Kid needs to make up his mind.

Im sure he is trying his hardest to keep the trophy just so he can complete the ebay auction and get money for it.

 

[losjackal]

"Spirit of the Game" really isn't subject to interpretation (except perhaps during a game by a Judge when the situation doesn't quite match the established Penalty Guidelines), because it's tenets are clearly spelled out here:

http://www.pokemon.com/us/organized-play/about/#spirit

At a minimum, Aydan violated these two:

• Fairness: Games cease to be fun when players break the rules to achieve victory. A player should prefer to lose a game than to win by cheating.
• Respect: Players, spectators, and staff should be treated with the same respect that players would expect for themselves. Distracting an opponent or a judge to gain advantage shows disrespect to everyone involved in a Pokémon TCG event.

Aydan broke the Tournament rules, entering to try to win a Kindle.
He also disrespected the staff by deceiving them.

 

[Mac Sting]

He didn't enter to win the kindle, he entered to pass some time since his ride wasn't leaving for a while.

 

[PokePop]

That's an interesting take on what representing Play! Pokemon means. Disagreeing on certain persons' stances on what the true meaning of the spirit of the game is definitely does not constitute any breach of my code of ethics as a professor. Also, by my code of ethics as an engineer, I am required to make professional statements on matters of logic.

PokeDaddy, your use of the word "clearly" is incorrect here - there has been no public verdict. P!P has committed disciplinary errors in the past and it will be up to the history of the community to decide who the real bad guy is. As someone who is very interested in how degraded the right to property has become in the United States (studying law is a hobby of mine), I'd be curious to see what happens if he tells P!P to go away.

He can certainly tell P!P to go away.
I imagine that their response would be exactly the same. Permanently.
I also doubt that they would sue over this. Bad enough it's being discussed on fan sites.
However, choosing that path would be a one way street.

As for Pokemon and how they handle the Prof program, you can argue with Steve all you want. Lots of Professors have been stripped of their professorships for expressing opinions online that P!P feel were not in line with what a representative of Pokemon should be saying.
And that is how they look at Professors, like it or not.

 

[PokePop]

To the mods here at the gym: I'm glad that you kept this thread somewhat troll-free. If you'd like a list of the IP addresses of the people flaming, please contact me, but if not, I understand, as technically 6P is not your site.


~Zack "Yanmega Guy" Ayello
~6P Forums Mod and FP Mod

Thanks for the offer, but we have no interest in being the outsourced moderation for a site that chooses not to do it for themselves.