Whistleblowing for Fun and Profit: Comments on the Fuller/Maher Situation Michael Clauss
Some things in life are totally unexpected.
I encountered one such item when reading the suspension article on Sideboard
last Tuesday (a task, by the way, which took an inordinate amount of time due to
the traffic). Actually, it was the second half of the article
which was unexpected for me. The first part, dealing with Mr. Fuller, came as no
surprise. And to be honest, my reaction was "it's about time." Everything
I have read about Mr. Fuller leads me to believe he's just a young, geeky,
card-playing punk. So I was pleased that the DCI finally punished him.
My shock was reserved for the commentary about Bob Maher Jr.'s six month
penalty. Actually, my reaction was shock followed by anger at him and the
DCI.
Why the DCI? Because six months is a joke. The people who conspired with
Mr. Maher are each getting what amounts to a lifetime banning (I mean you
have to REALLY love/be addicted to the game to ride out a five year ban)
while he gets a vacation from the pro circuit.
Now, as in previous cases, not many facts were released about the incident.
However, the information that was reported paints a very unflattering
picture of Mr. Maher.
First, there is the cheating itself. There is no timeline, so the Magic
community is left to guess when the infractions occurred. I find it hard to
believe that this all took place after his PT win. That makes the incident
seem more pathetic. It makes more sense that he did this to get (back?) onto the
pro tour in the first place. If this is in fact true, the DCI should strip
him of his PT title. For those who feel this would be unjustified, think
back to the recent flap over the new (now former) Notre Dame football coach
who had misrepresented himself in his resume. Even though he had become
a successful coach, he still had to resign because his being hired was
predicated on lies.
And I wouldn't stop at stripping his title. His rating should be reset to
their pre-fraud level. If he is a true "great player," it shouldn't be a
problem to rebuild his rating.
Second, I find it hard to believe he is a "different person now." Again, we
have no complete timeline, but it seems like this change of attitude did not
occur quickly. He seemed to be enjoying himself on the tour for the last
few years. So why did he come forward after months/years of keeping the
secret? My guess is that it has something to do with Brad Butterfield, one
of his co-conspirators. The article stated that the relationship between
Butterfield and Maher had "soured." Probably Maher got the impression that
Butterfield was going to bare all to the DCI. He then probably thought the
only way to salvage anything from the situation was to preempt Butterfield's
confession. At worst, he would get a five year ban (a penalty he almost
certainly would have gotten if Butterfield came forward first) and at best,
a slap on the wrist which is what he received. Of course this is all
conjecture, but the timing of Maher's confession and the falling out seem
very suspicious.
So what should the Magic community take away from this?
1) Affable and clean-cut does not translate into honesty.
2) Maher's infraction was as bad, if not worse, than Fuller's. They should
both be treated the same way: with disdain.
3)Cheating is normally not a one shot deal. The only difference between
Fuller & Maher is that Maher had enough sense to cover his tracks. I would
not be surprised if other shady "incidents" come to light that include
Maher.
[Ed. note: the online community has been stangely quiet with this latest set of
bannings. Got an opinion? You can let me know at scottrjohns@yahoo.com.]
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