We are all human beings. What do we have in common? Well, we all make mistakes. And, we also make biased decisions because that is human nature. Unless anyone here is a judge, and I don't think anyone is, we are all subject to bias. To start, I will bring up past rulings that were made since the new directors took over. Some staff and the directors claim they wanted to make a decision without tarnishing the tournament. I can see that way of thinking, because AieL was the leader and favorite to win the tournament. However, a similar situation occured over a year ago in Chosin (SOCOM tacmap). Upon the final meeting before the playoffs, UF staff and directors learned that TNU was behind the development of Chaos Tactics. They learned about this Sunday night. Before the semi-final match between 101 and TNU, which was on Monday night, TNU was removed and banned from Urgent Fury because of a conflict of interest. As many of you all remember, this created a schism between the community for a little bit. Clans argued that the decision tainted the tournament, while others supported it. However, in this case there was no written rule at the time. It was sort of an implied rule based upon what happened previously between UF and CT. After the ruling, rules were created and publically posted for all to be aware of. If the staff and directors didn't want to kick AieL out because they did not want to tarnish the tournament, what was the reasoning behind booting out TNU within 24 hours of learning of the information? I have a hunch, and it's because Chaos Tactics is in direct competition with Urgent Fury and directly effects the directors's business. Now, if you look at the people arguing against the ruling today, aren't these pretty much clans that are in the heat of the tacmap race? That kind of sounds like bias, doesn't it?
Another ruling was in the final BLACK championship match on SOCOM: Confrontation. We were playing ScK for all the marbles, and after the match, their leader confirmed they had a ringer playing under his name. He openly admitted it, kudos to him and their clan. As a result, they were banned for I believe 3 months. He claims he did give out his password, but it was not for the intent to war. Even still, they were banned for 3 months of play.
The thing that bothers me the most here, is that there was a specific ruling created over a year ago that fits this situaton to a T. Bandit and staff created this rule and posted it in pretty much every single board on UF. They have a zero tolerance policy with rent a players. When the staff is presented with material that clearly demonstrates rules were broken, they failed to follow through with their own rules that they have created. To step aside for a moment, Shane I really don't understand your reasoning behind, "...throwing the tide." Are you really serious about this statement? As someone mentioned earlier, did they have to be MVP of the match for it to be considered game altering? It's like saying, "He only tested positive for steroids once, so only a few home runs were tainted." Come on now, that is an illogical thought.
Anyway, I will end with enforcing the theme of this response. We are subject to bias. However, as staff members and directors of a tournament site, it is their responsibility to act in an unbiased mindset, as stated in their code of conduct. However, in my honest and humble opinion, I clearly believe they did not uphold their responsibility.