Alex being Alex

[Danktrees]

I met Alex tonight for the first time. He was in Toronto for a short vacation and he gambled 2 sets with Johnny Morra. I felt like Im watching a TAR match only live. Before they start playing Alex said that he is really tired and wants to sleep. They broke even after 2 sets and Alex said he wants to sleep. However, for the next 20 minutes he spent time taking pictures, signing autographs and all that. You could see he wasnt thrilled about it but he gave his best. It was a nice experience.

alex has been sick all week. he was sick on wednesday when i talked to him, thats probably why he didnt want to play.

either way, i dont see why everyone is ragging on alex and saying he's not allowed to forfeit and that he has to play. if he paid his own entry and wants to forfeit then he can do just that. i dont see anyone complaining about people that lose during the main tourny at dcc or us open because they're late for their match. it might not be the same thing but i find it more offensive that a guy doesnt know when he's supposed to be playing than someone who forfeits.

he shouldnt have shown up drunk but i think people are misunderstanding the situation. from previous posts it seems as if people are under the impression that he decided he wanted to play the match drunk. but if we follow the events chronologically this is probably what happened.
1)he lost out on the master of the table
2)he got drunk
3)didn't want to play any more and wanted to forfeit the tournament
4)realized he couldnt forfeit and had to play
5)played the match

steps 2 & 3 are interchangeable but the main idea is that he got drunk before he realized that he absolutely had to play that match and wouldnt be allowed to forfeit. if he had known that he wouldnt be allowed to forfeit he probably wouldnt have gotten drunk. and i dont see how his assumption could be wrong since im under the impression that anyone is allowed to forfeit their match in a tournament if they so choose to so long as they have paid their entry and are not getting it back.

regarding the strickland forfeiting the tar match example, i believe that earl can forfeit all he wants. so long as he sends his 10k into the pot and he isnt getting paid a percentage of the tar pay per views then he should be allowed to forfeit. however if justin is paying him a certain percentage of the ppv or dvd sales then he is obligated to play. i dont know the details of how the match is set up but it's mainly just 2 guys gambling. if i were gambling and someone decided to film me then thats their choice and no one should complain if i forfeit as long as i pay up. but obviously if he and tar had an agreement of some sort (and im sure they did) then that changes everything. but the situation is not the same for alex as i highly doubt he signed any sort of an agreement for the tournament.

 

[gordml]

I met Alex tonight for the first time. He was in Toronto for a short vacation and he gambled 2 sets with Johnny Morra. I felt like Im watching a TAR match only live. Before they start playing Alex said that he is really tired and wants to sleep. They broke even after 2 sets and Alex said he wants to sleep. However, for the next 20 minutes he spent time taking pictures, signing autographs and all that. You could see he wasnt thrilled about it but he gave his best. It was a nice experience.

Now, talking about that night at the DCC, for me, it feels that the money spent to watch that game were better spent than the money I paid for the TAR race between Shane and Mika (no disrespect to JCIN & TAR - you guys pulled together an amazing event). Mika was out of line with his cues swapping, trying to shark Shane and so on. Was there any drama about it ? I might be wrong but I only remember seeing a line or two about that. Hwever, watching Alex play Daz was fun, entertaining and different. Rarely you see a final as casual and friendly as that one. Sure, he played bad but I like both players and Darren put on a solid performance.

From a sportsmanship conduct POV, Alex was out of line. However, it's one of those things that happens or happened to all of us. To act stupid in a situation where you really shouldnt. Thats what it comes down to for me. Not that its a pool tournament or a money match or you're Ben Johnson and you just got caught.

We're all human beings, we all screw up at times, give the guy a break. Watch his race with Shane from DCC 2008. Best match ever (thanks JCIN & TAR for that).

Hey Vladmin.
Im in Toronto. Which room was he at - Shooters?
Do you know if hes going to be around this weekend?
(I knew him years ago , when we played here)
Thanks
Thanks