I am glad to see that there is an extensive article about the double disqualification of Amiel Tenenbaum and his opponent in Wizards’s coverage of Worlds 2006. I just had the discussion with another judge on #mtgjudge, whether this should be covered and how extensive.
I think covering DQs has several advantages:
- It generates interest in the game. People like gossip. I know I do. Personally I couldn’t care less about play-by-play coverage, but I’m interested in stuff that happens at these events. I want stories. I want gossip. I want photos.
- There is a professional interest for me as judge. It shows me how people cheat or try to cheat. It shows things than can happen that lead to disqualifications.
- It shows that judges catch cheaters. If you read Magic-related message boards (and manage to keep your sanity) you will notice that many players, especially more casual ones, believe that cheating is rampant and cheaters are never caught. Making disqualifications public can help to dispell this myth. It shows that the tournament organizing staff will catch cheaters and that they will be penalized.
- Word gets around if a player is disqualified. Whether it’s in the official coverage or not. It’s better to have an informed article with interviews with judges involved or the even the players. Otherwise people will speculate and lots of false rumors are started.
On the other hand the coverage still hasn’t got enough photos. And I would still prefer a blog from a coverage reporter to the “Pro Players Blog”, which is just another form of (boring) play-by-play coverage.