Yeah,I attended also and the day was ruined for me and many others by the actions of one individual. Lets say that a very nice young player who's dying to participate shows up at 11:00 a.m. to watch the players warm up. This same young man has won his entry into the Jr. Nationals,but lacks the $150 to play against some of his idols in this event.A local player/benefactor who is playing in this event pays the young man's entry and the excited young fellow begins to warm up with some of the players. Now, this event is limited to 64 players and they only get 50 players,so they have 14 'byes' written in. They randomly draw the names and the fifth player pulled draws this young fellow,who really wants to play his best and advance as far as possible for all his home room friends and fans. They write in the table assignments, copy the pairings to a yellow legal pad, make the name cards and call the matches. The tournament was suppossed to start at 1:00 p.m. but they started a little late (around 1:25). After awhile, the young man's opponent hasn't shown up and he (plus many others) wants to put him 'on the clock'. It seems that he's running late (though everyone else managed to get there) and the TD won't put him on the clock. The TD decides to put another match on the assigned table and wait for this late 'Pro',who showed up to play at 2:30.This 'Pro' wouldn't never have waited for this young man to show up. When I asked this 'Pro' about this he said,"they made a mistake and shouldn't have called me until the second round." Well, that's not the way the names came out. He was drawn and his table/match called.A clear case of the TD wrongly showing favortism to a friend and high profile 'Pro' player who is very full of himself.Even the TD's assistant thought that the matter was handled incorrectly. He thought that the best action would have been to advance the young man to the next bracket and let the missing Pro buy into one of the remaining 'bye' slots at the very least,while most everyone else that knew what was going on thought the 'Pro' should have been forfeited.I left early yesterday and didn't go back today.I understand from a close friend,who called me after each match today,that when it was time for the finals,this same 'Pro' was not present,but had gone to eat. He was called on the phone and told that he needed to get back quickly (I mean, there WERE players and spectators waiting to watch the finals). I'm told that his reply was, "I'm eating.I'll get there when I get there." I think that the 'Pro' should have been put on the clock (in round two,they put a player on the clock). The 'Pro' didn't even bother to apologize to the young man,who he beat 7-1. I know that I'm probably burning my bridges by posting this,but I've thought about it for more than 24 hours and don't really give a damn.... I've always liked this 'Pro',but some people have outgrown their britches.. imo
