So we have a new unsporting conduct policy. I like the direction were going, but I think this iteration of the policy is way too subjective to really curtail what you are looking to curtail. If you are looking to stop certain behaviors, the examples cant just be prior complaints at events that were already dealt with swiftly. Its hard to argue against making events a safer place for all, I am a big fan of that initiative. This is too much of a shotgun approach in my opinion. I look forward to new advances in this policy as sets release. Judges have a difficult time issuing USC-Minor or Slow Play and thats a warning. They worry that giving the warning will escalate the situation and a lot of times it will if they arent careful with their timing. Attaching a match loss, while completely justifiable for the reasons in this article, makes it even less likely to be unilaterally enforced. The training and education of judges on dealing with these issues needs to center on proper communication and conflict resolution. When you have something heated or harassing, there are high emotions involved and an untimely match loss can make the situation much worse than it needed to be. When you find yourself facing a situation like this where this bit of policy will come into play, please heed the advice of separating the players and allowing the emotion to run down before going into what infraction the harassing player has earned. Listen to their side of the story, allow them to vent, take a break if you get upset or it turns into an argument and then calmly explain the penalty and infraction. If the matter continues to escalate, please involve the TO. Read some articles on conflict resolution and mediation. I understand the reasons for the shift in policy, we need to band together and state that these behaviors are not only not OK, they arent tolerated at any level of play. I implore the judges reading this policy to commit to being more assertive with players before their behavior denigrates into something that you need to use this policy for. If it happens before you are able to stop it, please read the above paragraph and USE THE POLICY. Involve the head judge, involve another judge, involve the TO. Get some opinions on the behavior from a few sources while the players are separated to establish that it can reasonably fit into this policy. It wont take long to achieve the goals of safe play spaces if we commit to this. blogs.magicjudges.org/seacat/2014/07/14/updating-unsporting-conduct-major/
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 13:53:54 +0000
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