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Some things are still bothering me and I thought I'd share.

First, the timeline needs amending. When we last gazed upon it, this is what we had:

Cheating incident -- Before Summer, 1999
PT Chicago -- 12/3-5/1999
GP Seattle -- 1/15-16/2000

And as I pointed out last time, there is a two year lapse between Maher's confession and the suspension ruling. Since nature abhors a vacuum, let's add some more events:

Kenny Crawford's Plea -- 7/25/2001
DCI Response to Crawford -- 7/26/2001
Suspensions in Crawford case -- 9/18/2001
Maher/Fuller Suspensions -- 1/28/2002

I want to talk about the Crawford case for a bit. This case broke during the much touted "crackdown" on pro circuit cheaters. The DCI had been publicizing the strict judging of Collin Jackson when Kenny Crawford, an amateur Magic player, posted on Mindripper a tale of rampant cheating in Indiana. What made the article even more unbelievable was that Crawford had attempted earlier to report the infractions to the DCI and was ignored. The article ended with him begging for assistance:

"I need help. Help from anyone....The DCI has done nothing, and I cannot foresee that they ever will. Maybe this publicity will get things moving, but I highly doubt it."

This was bad for the DCI.

It effectively brought their 'crackdown on cheating' drive into question. So the organization did what any regulatory agency would do when backed into a corner; it acted swiftly.

The very next day Jeff Donais responded publicly to Crawford's account. He said that Crawford had been contacted and that he had "already responded with detailed information." Donais then stated that "there are presently several open investigations regarding this type of tournament fraud." (We now know that at least one of these must have been Maher's). He ended with a warning that "when [the DCI has] legitimate proof of an inappropriate activity, we have no problem taking the appropriate actions to make sure that activity is stopped and the responsible parties are suspended from the DCI for long periods of time."

This was certainly true with the Crawford case.

Within two months of Donais reply, the DCI handed down suspensions. One of those penalties went to Theron Martin, a well-known Magic internet writer.

Now let's take a step back and look at some facts. At the time Crawford came forward on Mindripper, about eighteen months had passed since Maher confessed. His suspension article said that due to the whistleblower clause, Maher had provided the DCI "with 100% disclosure and full honesty" about his cheating. Essentially Maher needed to provide all names, dates and locations; the very same thing Kenny Crawford did. The only difference is that the Crawford case took less than two months while Maher's dragged out for two years. You might be thinking, 'maybe his co-conspirators were hampering the investigation.' Well according to Martin, cooperation with a DCI investigation was not required. In one of his last articles Martin explained how he did not even realize he was under scrutiny before his suspension. He said that at "no time during any of the contacts I had with Chris Zantides [DCI investigator] did he ever indicate to me that I was personally under investigation."

So the Crawford case came to an end mid-September, 2001. Four months later the DCI suspended Maher and Fuller. Now you might be wondering 'why is he even mentioning Fuller?' Well that brings me to the second thing that's bothering me.

I question the timing of Fuller's suspension.

Before I continue, I want to make a couple things clear:

1) This will be based on more guesswork. If you want all the facts PRESSURE THE DCI TO OPEN THEIR INVESTIGATIONS. Until they do that I'll keep trying to piece these incidents together with what information I have.

2) I am in no way saying that Fuller should not have been suspended. As I said in my first article, he is a punk and he got what he deserved. My concern is only about WHEN Fuller was suspended.

I started to wonder about this when I was doing background on the Crawford case. I kept on thinking to myself that it was a good thing Fuller went down when he did; his suspension probably took some heat off of Maher's predicament. Well after awhile, I went back to the suspension announcement. It said that Fuller had many infractions but the "proverbial back-breaker came when Fuller consciously did not participate in a sealed deck swap at the beginning of Grand Prix - Cape Town." I then went to the official coverage on the SideBoard. The only mention of something amiss was in the round seven match coverage of Fuller and Alex Shvartsman. The reporter said that the "match ended anti-climatically when Ryan got a match loss for not obeying a judge's instructions on day 1." Fuller went on to place 11th and win $500.00, so apparently whatever he did was not serious enough to get him DQed without prize. And while it's peculiar that the Cape Town incident was 'the straw that broke the camel's back,' what is more interesting is the timing of his subsequent suspension. It took over three months for the DCI to decide to take action against Fuller. "Big deal" you say? Well we need to again back up for a moment and look at some other recent suspensions:


PLAYER           CAUGHT CHEATING      SUSPENDED
Casey McCarrel      6/3/2001                     7/5/2001
David Williams        8/11/2001                   9/3/2001
Trey Van Cleave      11/3/2001                   11/12/2001

All these people were well-known pro tour regulars. And the time between their infractions and suspensions was about a month. Why would the DCI hold back Fuller's suspension any amount of time if they felt his record made him deserving of punishment? In the time the DCI was mulling over their decision, Fuller competed in and won the San Diego Masters event.

25K is a great parting gift for a savage cheater don't you think?

I believe their reason for waiting was to cushion the Maher announcement. Regardless of when it was released, Maher's suspension was going to generate negative publicity. But the DCI could soften the blow by simultaneously ejecting one of the "bad boys" from Magic. Fuller was perfect for their needs and his recent infraction in Cape Town provided them with the final nail in his coffin.

Still have your doubts? Probably the only way to make my point is to explain what the DCI's true purpose is. And the best way to do this is to have one of their own do the explaining:

"The function of the DCI is to provide value-added services to support Wizards of the Coast products." - Brian Rogers, DCI judge

In essence, the DCI's primary mission is to help market the game, not make it fair for all. (That's not to say that the DCI doesn't try to make the game fair, it's just not their primary goal). One of the ways they fulfill their mission is to give the impression that they are "handling" the cheating problem. At the same time, it doesn't generate positive publicity to eject well-liked people, such as Maher, from the game. And so you have the DCI:

1) Dragging their feet in the Maher investigation.
2) Allowing Maher, once they knew he was a cheater, to continue playing on the pro circuit for two years.
3) Using the Fuller suspension as a counterbalance to Maher.

(It feels like I should be pointing at a movie screen while saying "Back and to the left. Back and to the left. Back and to the left...").

I again call on the Magic community to Contact the DCI and demand they open their investigations to the public. The long-term health of the game is at risk if we can't trust the people who regulate our games.

Michael Clauss
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