amphyrules
New Member
Anyone who has wasted time in this thread victim-blaming, talking about the need to watch one's items or simply not carry valuable belongings to tournaments, talking about international law (or any other law-related tangents), etc. is guilty of completely missing the point of the actual issue here, which is TPCI's refusal to properly deal with a documented thief/cheater. No one asked for your advice on what to pack, or not to pack, on tournament day. It's irrelevant. Any discussion of the law is also irrelevant here, and by that I mean that it doesn't matter what law enforcement did or didn't do in this situation. It isn't as if TPCI has to follow the lead and model of some bigger punishing body or otherwise sit there thumb-twiddling. TPCI has its own disciplinary system, and it can and should act autonomously and unilaterally in a situation like this. Gino didn't steal from some stranger in a Wal-mart parking lot, either -- he took a Macbook from a fellow Pokemon player in the hotel that TPCI put Mees up in during Worlds weekend.
As Mees pointed out in his OP, TPCI is hiding behind technicalities to avoid dealing with this incident. If this had happened during the top cut, on the Worlds floor, then would we even be having this discussion? No. Does the action itself change at all? No. Hypothetically, Gino could bring the stolen Macbook with him to Regionals and tell everyone he scored a computer from the Netherlands while posting round-by-round updates that include admissions of palming, and apparently that isn't going to change a thing because he has already been officially pardoned for these and all other sins.
This is such an absurd situation. I think we need a recap.
- TPCI sees the evidence that Mees posted in the OP
- TPCI stashes this away in the files of Jon and Gino, so the evidence must have compelled TPCI
- TPCI says they will be sending Jon and Gino each a warning letter; further evidence that the evidence compelled them
- TPCI does not ban anyone. I guess TPCI could only be compelled so far.
So what exactly did the warning letter say? "Hey Gino, sorry to bother you, but we recently got word that you stole an international player's Macbook at the Worlds hotel and then fled to America where the law can't be bothered to reach you. Oh, and we can't really be bothered either. No more Macbook stealing though, you hear? Or we might have to send you another one of these oh-so-unpleasant warning letters. Or maybe we'll bar you from being a Pokemon Professor. But WE REALLY DON'T WANT TO DO THAT!"
TPCI's lack of action in this situation is not "approval" in an active sense, no, but you're just playing meaningless semantic games if you try to argue that their do-nothing stance is anything other than an ignoble cop-out. To do nothing is basically to give a shrug rather than a thumbs up. What is the difference between those two gestures here? It's a case of tacit approval versus explicit approval.
Oh, and what about all of the cheating allegations that have been thrown at Gino in this thread, especially those from Rahul? What does a player have to do to get banned around here anyway?
Another thing: it isn't cool to defend Gino as an abstract victim of mob-mentality hatred (nothing about this is abstract, he is not a victim, etc.), or play more semantic games over the meaning of words like "thug" or "gangster". There is evidence left and right of Gino doing things that merit his removal from organized play. The random people defending him remind me of the high school kids who wear Che Guevara shirts but have no idea who he was or what he stood for. Gino's not a cool meme nor does his face belong on your T-shirt.
Awesome post, absolutely nailed it.
