Ralf is one of my favorite players. He exudes class at every opportunity and is a professional in the truest sense of the word.
There are many sympathetic and practical reasons for a promoter or tournament director might encourage them to make exceptions to the existing rules about players being late for matches. A few of them are listed below. Some enlist our sympathies and empathy better than others.
A wreck caused by another person.
A wreck caused by the player.
A speeding ticket by the cab driver.
A missed flight.
A changed playing time and the player not informed.
A sick child.
An ailing parent.
A player with food poisoning.
An alarm clock that didn't work.
An important fan stopped the player to chat as he was returning to the tournament room.
The player fell in the bath tub and injured his leg and went to the hospital to have xrays taken.
A fire in the hotel caused the player to suffer smoke inhalation and the after care took longer than it was supposed to take.
A player's vehicle broke down and he is on the way but will be a little late.
The bottom line is the rules are the rules.
Either the rules are followed or people are allowed to make decisions based upon their judgement calls.
Onus is the word that is best defined by the following: Burden, necessity, obligation, or responsibility, especially a distasteful one. This is the word that best describes what a tournament director does when he put the responsibility of changing the rules on another player. This is a completely unfair thing to do. Corey should not have been asked if he wanted to wait for Ralf to return. It puts him in a difficult situation that he should never be in. Rules are there for a reason and they should always be followed, difficult as they sometimes can be.
When rules are not followed, (bent, made exeption of, changed etc) they put everyone in difficult situations, including the tournament directors, promoters, players, etc. Bending rules and making exceptions can
In my opinion, there can be no exceptions, as the exceptions, while they may be well-meaning and even fair-minded, open the opportunity for additional problems, causing discontent across the board, corruption, and mistakes in judgement.
I'm certainly not saying that there was any corruption as I'm sure Ralf would have no part of such a thing as corruption nor am I insinuating that the tournament director or promoters involve themselves in such things.
As this thread indicates, there are people on both sides of the fence, feeling one way or the other. This is what can happen when rules are bent, changed or exceptions made. You can't please all of the people all of the time and having the nerve to make an exception of a rule only breeds contempt.
The biggest offense in this situation is putting Corey Deuel into a position where he has to make a decision that he shouldn't be making in the first place. No player should have to make a decision, especially about breaking the rules that he has promised to adhere to.
And please let's not talk about the lowly amateur, unknown player or unpopular player whose word holds "no weight" with the decision makers.
The Sun Shines On Everyone.
? Yeah, those that we call underdogs and seem to always catch ourselves pulling for to win over the seasoned pro? The ones that have to pay the same entry fee as the "higher profile" players? The ones that don't get things paid for them through sponsorships, or ever get an appearance fee? The lowly players that no one SUCKS UP to? That's the ones you're referring to, right?
