MWS Commissioner State Of The Community Address
MAY 14, 2005 -- MIAMI, FL

It seems that each year around this time we gather and discuss the flaws of the MWS, and as expected we have the usual suspects leading the critique of the community in Afro and Coach K amongst others. But in a sense this is good, because every organization needs some reflective time to assess its progress or retrogress, evaluate its goals and missions, and survey whether those have been effectively achieved.....and to survey whether or not we are on task towards developing a concrete vision. And when I look at some of these posts, that is how I view them. Reflective assessment.

I'm certainly not going to go back and forth debating issues with individuals in the community like I used to....I have just agreed to disagree with their approach and philosophies. I won't deny that there is merit and substance to some of the issues they are concerned with. However, I have not been in concert with some of their ideals which is why they are usually so critical of the leadership of the MWS and the direction of the organization. They, amongst others have intimated that I need to take a hard line stand against certain tactics, and I should not play the middle of the field and so on. I don't look at it in that manner. For just because I respect that someone else has a viewpoint or opinion that is different than mine or someone else's, that doesn't mean I'm on the fence....to me its respecting how others approach issues in the community. And if you want to call that soft or in the middle of the road, then that's cool....

Some guys want me to just ban all the young people from coming on the boards. I get mail about how the young kids don't respect the community and are always saying something ridiculous. If I had to ban everyone that entered this community spewing what is deemed as foolishness by some members of the community, we may have never got to meet guys like Afro or Soldier. Who while they may be respected or revered in some circles at this point in time, they were no more popular than the Wally B's or others like him when they first hit the community. But its not the kids or the younger ballers that we must be concerned with. Its the permissiveness of US adults. Kids only learn or understand what we teach them as adults. And it is up to us individually to set examples not just in game play, but how we should conduct ourselves, how we should post responsibly at the message board, and how we govern ourselves accordingly as individuals. If we could do those things consistently, and communicate effectively with our younger fans, they will fall in line and work within the community parameters that we set for them.

Nevertheless, while I don't agree with their viewpoints often, I respect their right to voice their concerns in an open forum in a professional and respectful manner.
It seems as though many of the vets that have been in the community yearn for the return of the characters that helped built this community. The "old heads," and so on.
The fact of the matter is, a lot of those guys are still around....they never left! They still love Madden, and they still frequent this board. For instance ....someone was asking about Lou Tillery.....well he was on the boards today as a matter of fact. And Wall street, who hasn't competed since Nationals III btw....well he checked in yesterday. Candyman...he was on earlier today, as well as Dell Barton. I think I could go on, but my point is this...The guys we keep asking about are still here, they haven't left the community. Now, they may not be as competitive, and they may not travel the tourney circuit as much, but they are still around. But because you don't see them, it doesn't mean that the demise of the MWS is near.

Also, keep in mind the MWS is the oldest community dedicated to console gaming that is still going strong on the web. I mean, nothing against some of the other site s..., which some people that visit this board hold in such high regard.......but haven't they gone through various leadership/membership changes and name changes over the year s.. But we are still here, with basically the same people? I mean, we can say that our last 5 champions (the exception being the creator) still visit the community regularly. Realist dropped in Ap. 26 by the way And Ice Ellis May 12.... Who else out there has the experience and longevity in the community as a family like the MWS? Again, lots of good sites, and they all have a great fan base within those sites, and they all have their place in the community. But I think we have something unique that most communities don't have and that is friendship and camaraderie for life. Many of these guys at the other sites don't even know each other besides by name, or seeing each other at a Madden Challenge. Yet, here, we fellowship and open our homes to each other on a REGULAR basis. How many of us here have met friends at a tourney that have become an immediate part of your inner circle? I know when I think of the friendship that I share with guys like PC, 3rd, Connie, Vince (Fruit man), Brown, Jay not too mention my PFL bruhz....that’s more important to me than whether a guy lines up his WR at TE.

So, I am proud to say we are the oldest community on the web, and we haven't changed from day 1, and we probably have more people still involved from day one than any one else. I'm not trying to say we are better than anyone else, or a perfect organization by no means....Sure we have flaws, and we have issues that need to be addressed. And I think that while over the years we have not addressed ALL issues, we have addressed some that have been crucial. Are there more out there? Sure there are.
But one of the reasons we are approaching 10 years on the web is because there are some good things this community has done. And I would like to try to keep that in the mind of those that continue to say, and have been saying for the past 3-4 years that the community is taking a nose dive for the worse. I would not agree with that assessment. I would say we have new challenges each year that must be addressed, especially this year.

But keep this in mind my good brethren ....Don't take what you have in this community for granted. It may not always be here.....For sometimes, things are neither as bad, nor as important as they may seem in the scope of things.

In closing, I like many of the ideas and suggestions that Salty made in his thread. As Guru stated, this is a similar to the vision we sat down and drew up in New Orleans at Nationals III. And in order to make it work we need WORKERS for the community. Not just members to volunteer to help out, and eventually disappear....REAL WORKERS. Unfortunately we haven't had that across the board. That’s another story for another time.

Obviously game play issues seem to be the biggest concern each year. I do agree that there are more things we can do to attempt to maintain a competitive balance in the community. Many balers are frustrated with the efforts of EA Sports and the direction that game play in the MWS is going in. I couldn't agree more with some of the sentiments out there. We need to address these. And that should be priority because what we do revolves around our love for competition. If we can compete fairly, we love it. If there are unfair advantages because of exploits in the game...we hate it. But I think in the past we have done an excellent job governing game play issues within reason. Could we have done better...perhaps....did we do bad? I don't think so. And when you think about it....to me the proof is in the pudding. When you look at the past 6 champions....well, maybe the last 5 with the exception being the cReator....you could make a legitimate argument that the guys that won the Nationals were hands down the best ballers in the Nation at that time.
Who was better than Candy man after Nationals II?
Was Lou Tiller not the best player at Nationals III?
Who was better than Ice Ellis at Nationals IV?
Was Realist not the best player in the Nation at Nationals V?
Big Game knocked off Jeff, Realist, Boy and Gooch....and proved he was top dog.
So while we have not been perfect....the governing system has allowed to us to crown the best Madden baler each year. Again, we can get better...we are not nor have been perfect. And I would like to see us go in that direction. I feel confident that the CC committee will provide us with some amicable solutions once again for this Nationals.

Some other thought s...
I still maintain that the payout's for the tourneys are still out of control and as tournament directors we should come together and develop a scale that will allow directors that throw successful events to benefit from their hard work and sacrifice. And if the players were smart....they would jump on board and promote this also. You have excellent tourney directors in Storm, Super, Kinslow, and Rod to name a few. How many times do we expect these guys to lose their shirts and keep throwing great events. We already probably lost quick 6...founder of the West Coast Championships...why? Because its just not worth the stress and strain to throw these events any more. And the guys mentioned are excellent at what they do. So what happens when they step aside? Where do the balers go? I'm sure there are others out there that can throw some quality events, but, who wants to take a chance on spending big $$$ to go to a tourney thrown by an unproven director.
Also, we must be united on eliminating gambling and wagering from these events. PERIOD. There is no place in the game for it. Lower the grand prizes and spread more money across the field and maybe we won’t feel like we have to hustle at every event to make a dollar as a player. We are one unfortunate incident from ruining what we have as we know it.

Again, I would like to pursue some of the things that Salty suggested in his post. But we need that are really committed to working. Not just those that talk about it....but those that can be about it. Complaining without solutions is simply WHINING. And if you are serious about restructuring....get to Miami 2-3 before Nationals and lets have some meetings of the minds and make it happen. Otherwise, it ain’t going to happen from our couches, computer desk or cell phones.

I will make time in the Nationals schedule for some MWS meetings if we get enough people to not just come and give suggestions, but leave with a purpose and a job to do.

So for all my critics out there that want to see reform, don't just talk about it....be about it. Get on the team and make a change!