There are a few things to consider with this forfeit.<br /><br />Before we engage on any of this, I do think there are quite a few things to look over in the rules. Here are a few key pointers I would address in such a manner:<br /><br />[i][b]In the event that a player&#039;s or team&#039;s availability changes after a game time is assigned, the commissioner can rule whether or not to move the game time to another available time based upon previously submitted availability. [/i]<br /><br />Since the game was apparently scheduled late Sunday evening, it&#039;s clear that KGB wasn&#039;t capable of making the scheduled game. This rule stated above is very broad and lacks explanation on a few levels. First off, what are the reasons for delaying the game? Second, in the event the commissioner decides delaying the game is not an option, what determines the forfeit victor? Is it who provided availabilities to begin with first, who showed the most faith in getting the match played or were the reasons for delaying the match deemed worthy of a delay. This isn&#039;t discussed or mentioned and quite frankly, in future seasons I think this should be if the board wishes to take a stance such as this while trying to set a precedent. <br /><br />The other thing is, I&#039;ve heard from several different players that the rules clearly state the team who did not wish to delay can make the call on whether or not their willing to reschedule. If they&#039;re not willing to, they get the forfeit victory. With that being said, I&#039;ve looked high and low through the rules page provided on the main page on the site and have literally not seen this expressed at any point in the rules section. What I have seen though, is that the commissioner is the one who deems it necessary to delay or not. In this case, I&#039;ve heard if Tai is looking to reschedule, he should speak directly with Nostar, which leads me to another point.<br /><br />It also says in the rules that only a captain can determine when his team is available and/or reschedule if needed. If that is the case, this would be Rus&#039; decision, not Nostars. And from what I understand, this was Nostar&#039;s decision which would make this request to force a KGB forfeit invalid since Nostar is not the captain. If he was at some point named captain and recognized in the season as the Captain of TKV, then fair enough but I&#039;ve heard no such official claim or seen it anywhere. And for something of that magnitude, it needs to be made official. If it isn&#039;t, then it&#039;s not a valid claim. This is what the rule clearly states: <br /><br />[i][b]Non-captain players cannot schedule times with the commissioner, nor can teams schedule times between themselves; captains submit availability to the commissioner, and the commissioner assigns the game time to each team.[/i]<br /><br />So, with the above rules being posted and based upon the explanations I&#039;ve heard, this would not be a valid forfeit since it is apparently up to &quot;Nostar and TKV.&quot; If this rule has changed, please point me into the direction where it&#039;s been amended and with all due respect, if it has indeed been changed, please update the rules page on the site. Nobody is trying to google IDL wiki to see the most current, up-to-date rules when it can easily be mentioned there. <br /><br />So, that sums up what should really happen. In fact, based on the rules, it&#039;s the commissioner who is left to decide. If it was Ralph who determined TKV will win by forfeit victory, there is absolutely no disputing it - whether you agree with the determination or not is one thing, but based on the rules and Ralph&#039;s ability to make the call, this would stand correct. So ultimately, depending on what story you&#039;ve heard, you can make your case for either side. The reality is, the only people who know what truly happened are the ones involved. So, there&#039;s no point in saying &quot;KGB got robbed by favoritism, blah blah&quot; even if it seems that way. Admittedly, based on what I&#039;ve seen I can understand why it would come off in such a manner. But then again, that would be the case only because it would be based on assumptive thinking which, again, nobody truly knows what&#039;s going through the mind of Ralph. You can make a case he&#039;d probably not want to see Nostar in a post-season game, so I think with that being said, you can&#039;t use favoritism as an argument. It simply doesn&#039;t apply. <br /><br />Now, onto what I believe is the more important debate: is disqualifying a team in the post-season bad for the IDL?<br /><br />Absolutely. There&#039;s no argument, whether it&#039;s a bad call by the IDL board and Commish&#039; or simply a bad track-record of showing up for games by the team. In either event, it is not good for the IDL. I would like to think a team has a week&#039;s grace period to get the game played after the original due date in the post-season simply because it doesn&#039;t look good. Again, there is no official rule giving such leeway. It&#039;s judged on a case-by-case determination by the commissioner. And in all fairness, given the circumstances of KGB and their entire season with the constant bickering and arguing and lack of on-time availabilities, I could understand such a ruling. What happens if they reschedule for Tuesday and KGB doesn&#039;t show or attempts to delay again? Then what? It&#039;s a risk but I still think whether or not this is the case, we should try as hard as we can to get post-season games played. Now, onto the truth.<br /><br />The Reality: <br /><br />Here&#039;s the reality. KGB would probably lose even if they did play. Does that mean they should automatically be determined the forfeit victim? Absolutely not. The match between SUC/EBL that went 5 rounds is what IDL-Postseason play is all about. To take away an opportunity to possibly see this again would be truly disappointing. I would say give them one more chance to organize something within this week and if they don&#039;t, a DQ is required - no questions asked. But again, this is me. And again, you have to balance things out. Is putting the entire post-season schedule on a weeks hold so early in the play-offs worth seeing one play-off match? What if it&#039;s a TKV blow-out, would you feel comfortable with the decision then? Probably not, regardless of what you think you may understand about being in the position to make that call or not. It comes down to keeping the play-offs on a routine schedule or getting them all played no matter what. It&#039;s all judgmental and no decision is easy.<br /><br />So, here&#039;s what I think should happen:<br /><br />If, in the event, Rus (the captain of TKV) has not spoken with the commissioner on the issue, I believe he should be addressed and at least try to make another time within the next 3 days or so work. If no time can be determined because KGB is not dedicated to getting the game done, a DQ is advised. If not, then schedule it and let it play out. I would hate to see such a wonderful season be tarnished by a post-season DQ. I know, that&#039;s a strong statement but I really would much rather see the match get played. We all know the MB will probably get delayed anyway - it pretty much seems to every season. So give them one last chance, if not, oh well - they&#039;ve had their opportunities. 