Sports Fandom and Utter Delusion, E-Sports Edition

(BLOGGER'S NOTE:  The moderator of The Rift Herald, Pete Volk, contacted me about his concerns.  I have removed reference to him other than to explain what he said to me and why I was warned.  However, there are many in the e-sports community willing to blindly defend the person involved, so the post stays up and the venom goes their way instead.)

It boggles my mind as to the amount of delusion and suspension of reality required to be a sports fan these days.

I'm going to go “long form” as an example here, in the form of what was (see note above and note below) an open comment to the moderators of the SB Nation blog “The Rift Herald”, the League of Legends blog.

I am about to be banned from my second SB Nation blog – the first being a professional wrestling blog because one of it's mods has a hard-on for a porn star masquerading as a WWE superstar wrestler who is dangerous and unfit to be anywhere near a wrestling ring – yeah, I'm looking at you, Eva Marie and Gene Mrosko.

I was warned on Thursday night (and made a “Last Warning” on Friday when I called the mods out on it) for using the comments section to make what the mods believe are unfounded and baseless criminal accusations against League of Legends personalities.

I was 99+% sure that they are talking about my statements about Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles. (The only other one I could think of is an investigation I'd like to see against the European champions of this year, G2, but that's on professionalism and integrity grounds -- and that's what it was.)

Yes, this goes back to the May 8 Rulings banning Mykles from everything but casting League of Legends for one year, as well as other penalties, including the first lifetime ban in the history of the sport to Chris Badawi.

I state then what I state now, and I will state it to address the moderator of the site personally:

To those who continue to believe there is no basis: To state that the accusations I have made that Christopher Mykles engaged in criminal conduct with Christopher Badawi, as stated in the May 8, 2016 Competitive Ruling, are baseless either means you have refused to read the Ruling, refused to research California law, and/or believe that Riot Games is engaging in criminal and civil misconduct of their own against Mykles and Badawi.

(BLOGGER'S NOTE:  Pete Volk, the head moderator, contacted me after I sent him this situation, and said that the warning was that I was stating that G2 was throwing matches.  I was accusing G2, the European champions, of unprofessional conduct -- though I would *NOT* rule out them throwing matches in the current e-sport reality.)

I have done so once before for this blog, but, as an example of the level of disconnect you have to be to be a sports fan these days, I will do so again.

First off, here is the relevant May 8, 2016 Competitive Ruling, handed down by Riot Games, regarding two different North American League Championship Series and Challenger Series teams, removing both from professional League of Legends, as well as one person permanently (Badawi) and three others for at least one year (Mykles and the Shim brothers).

Criminal Charge One: Grand Theft Through False Pretense (California Penal Code Section 532 (a))

From the Ruling:

“We have been provided with evidence that current Renegades owner Christopher Mykles had a deal in place with suspended former owner Chris Badawi that would grant Badawi a 50% stake in the team once his suspension had expired. Per LCS rules, any present or future right to ownership is considered a firm ownership stake regardless of the date of effect, which makes any such agreement reached with Badawi during the term of his suspension to be a direct violation of League rules. Further, Mykles failed to disclose this arrangement during the LCS team vetting process, which we consider to be an intentional and material omission apparently designed to circumvent the clear and public ban of Badawi. For the avoidance of doubt, had Mykles openly disclosed this ownership arrangement, Renegades would not have been accepted into the LCS.”

These are Riot Games' words, not mine. (Under the heading of “Team Ownership”, in case you need to find it.)

The key takeaway points:

• Christopher Mykles and Christopher Badawi engaged in an agreement to circumvent the previous banishment from League of Legends of Mr. Badawi, through the evidence presented to Riot Games that Mykles had agreed to give Badawi half-stake in Renegades once the suspension was over. This is illegal under the rules.
• Mykles then lies to Riot Games about the relationship during the team vetting process, which needs to be successfully completed, or Renegades is forced out of the LCS and to dissolve.
• Hence, Riot Games concludes that, had Mykles told the truth of his relationship with Badawi, Renegades is not in the LCS for the 2016 Spring Split.

Hence, any monies or other value provided to Renegades, by Riot or any other party, have been gained illegally and through the lie that Mykles told to Riot Games.

From the California Penal Code:

532.  (a) Every person who knowingly and designedly, by any false or
fraudulent representation or pretense, defrauds any other person of
money, labor, or property, whether real or personal, or who causes or
procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth or mercantile
character, and by thus imposing upon any person obtains credit, and
thereby fraudulently gets possession of money or property, or obtains
the labor or service of another, is punishable in the same manner
and to the same extent as for larceny of the money or property so
obtained.

Which would make it Grand Theft under the state of California, where the North American LCS is based.

Crimnal Charge Two: Stalking/Harassment and Possible Violations of the Civil Rights of a Transgender Person, Possible Conspiracy or Accessory if not Direct Actor. (California Penal Code 646.9, the Unruh Civil Rights Act of the state of California, EEOC protections of transgender individuals, California Penal Code 182 or 32, as applies)

From the Ruling:

“Throughout the past split, we have heard testimony regarding various player welfare concerns involving Renegades, primarily around Badawi’s conduct while serving in a non-ownership capacity during his suspension term. These allegations, corroborated to Riot by multiple sources who have had close contact or affiliation with the team, included confrontations between management and players, refusal to honor payment and contract provisions, and failure to maintain a safe environment for all team members. Allowing an unsafe environment to exist for players is the responsibility of the entire Renegades management, and is a failure to meet the professional standards we expect of LCS owners and team representatives.”

These are, quite seriously, the most damning allegations of criminal conduct regarding Badawi (since the Rulings indicate that the actions surround Badawi's contact with the team without being owner, it can easily be assumed Riot believes Badawi took part), but, because of the fact that Badawi is not involved in the team without Mykles lying to Riot Games regarding his involvement with Badawi (the alternative being Renegades is folded by Riot Games forcibly), Mykles is also criminally actionable. The only question is to what extent.

“Failure to maintain a safe environment for all team members” basically infers that someone on Renegades (and the Rulings appear to implicate Badawi) threatened one or more members of the team.

That is stalking under California law. California Penal Code 646.9:

646.9. (a) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly

follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who
makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in
reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her
immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking, punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a
fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that
fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison.

As for Mykles, the question becomes the amount of contact he had with Badawi. The answer being “none” (which, by Riot Games' belief of him being a “remote owner” in the same Ruling) does not absolve him.

He very easily could have been a direct actor in this as part of the aforementioned “management” in the Ruling above.

He could've consulted with Badawi to have Badawi commit these acts, which makes him a co-conspirator (California Penal Code Section 182 (a (1)) – simply put, it is a crime for two or more people to conspire and consent to commit one.

Failing either of these, because his place as owner of the team and of Badawi “near” the team only comes from the fact that Badawi lied to Riot Games with respect to Badawi's involvement, makes Mykles an accessory to the crime under California Penal Code Section 32.

If Mykles tells the truth, none of this happens. He has aided and abetted Badawi (as well as other unnamed “management”, should that apply), whether he is directly involved or not. That means he is criminally actionable under California law.

And note that none of this takes into account just who, on Renegades, was being harassed. It is one of the poorest-kept secrets in the League of Legends community that one of the targets was, almost certainly, Maria Creveling, the first transgender top-flight League of Legends player.

The only speculation here is whether Creveling was actually being harassed. It does not change the criminality of Mykles on the basis of the events stated in the Ruling – it only adds serious criminal and civil penalties to them!

For if Creveling were one of the players for whom a safe environment was not maintained, you now have violations of several state and Federal laws regarding the protection of a transgender person in your employ.

From the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing...

“Under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, all persons are entitled to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments, including both private and public entities. The Unruh Civil Rights Act protects all persons against arbitrary and unreasonable discrimination by a business establishment (Civil Code section 51).

This law provides protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California, including housing and public accommodations, because of: […] Sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, gender, gender identity and gender expression)”

The EEOC has similar guidelines on the Federal level.

Criminal Charge Three: The Illegal Co-Mingling of Resources Between Dragon Knights and Renegades Could Constitute Sports Bribery, if E-Sports are Seen as Sports Under the Law. (18 US Code Section 224 (a))

From the Ruling:

“We have also found that Renegades and TDK have deliberately misled League officials with respect to their corporate relationship. While handling trade requests between the two teams leading up to the Spring Promotional Tournament, League officials made repeated direct inquiries of the team owners regarding independence of the two organizations, terms of the trades, and status of players and payments. Both teams assured officials that their businesses were not linked in any fashion, and that the trade was in the mutual interest of both teams independent of any additional relationship or agreement. Subsequently, League officials received evidence that indicated that some of the players were compensated and/or housed by their former teams even after the trade was completed, including payments for the month following the trade. As part of the trade approval process, REN and TDK had submitted a document which was represented to be the summary of the trade agreement, but it included no provisions beyond simple assignment of the contracts, and did not establish cause for the former team to continue payments to the now-traded players.”

We know that, subsequent to this, actions were taken to “stack” the Renegades team to attempt to shore it up (almost-certainly after the actions in Criminal Charge Two to get rid of dead weight, in the eyes of Badawi and other “management”) and ensure it's advancement to the Summer Split after a poor start.

We also know that, eventually, Renegades and Dragon Knights eventually played a promotion-relegation contest after the Spring Split, with the winner advancing back into the North American LCS and the loser having to play another match, promotion or relegation.

Renegades won that match 3-0.

Given this information, one must then ask the question as to whether a pre-agreement had been made in this context that Renegades, if the two teams faced each other, would be arranged to be promoted back to the LCS, given the financial arrangement and trades between the two teams.

This would constitute, if e-sports were considered “sports”, Sports Bribery under US Federal Law:

(a) Whoever carries into effect, attempts to carry into effect, or conspires with any other person to carry into effect any scheme in commerce to influence, in any way, by bribery any sporting contest, with knowledge that the purpose of such scheme is to influence by bribery that contest, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

This involves Badawi, Mykles, and the Shim brothers.

–

The entire point of this exercise is to indicate that the May 8, 2016 Competitive Rulings, not my own personal speculations or belief systems, indicate that Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles and other parties engaged in a significant criminal enterprise under cover of at least one professional League of Legends team.

Your only recourse, should you continue to believe these allegations unfounded, is to find a damned good lawyer for Mykles and sue Riot Games out of the business of not only sanctioning e-sports contests, but continuing to make League of Legends entirely. You would have to sue them into bankruptcy.

–

It continues to disturb me; the level of utter delusion of how much one has to lie to themselves to be able to enjoy sports (e- and otherwise) in this day and age.

I'll give you one belief I now have regarding this year's World Championships, going on as we speak (and, as a means of comparison, Mr. Volk, this IS “unfounded speculation”, unlike what I put in the comments sections regarding MonteCristo's criminal conduct):

Given the nature of the results of the first almost-seven days of the World Championships in San Francisco, I would not be 100% shocked to find somebody has paid off some of the better teams to take a dive and make the group phases more interesting.

Here's one thing, in parting: If Riot Games were to be rigging the World Championships in this manner, it would NOT be against the law in the United States for them to do so. If you laugh at that, please refer to the case of Mayer vs. Belichick, New England Patriots, and National Football League.

Given the amount of corruption and misconduct in e-sports today, I cannot trust ANY result which comes out of these events which can come across as “unexpected” in a manner in which the sanctioning body and company can take advantage of.