Cedric Phillips

Cedric Phillips recently had a bad day  During the time period between his first post about being in tears at the events of the day and the second post explaining his position, I found myself defending him in various discussions with other Magic players. I did my best to explain what I thought his position was to these people. I didn't want to put words in his mouth, but I had a good feeling I knew what he was getting at. He does a much better job explaining his position in the Facebook post than I did, but I don't think I was very far off.

It is okay to care.

Most discussion or thinking about the meaning of life will quickly find the conclusion that nothing matters once you are dead. Some despair at this notion, some use it to fuel their apathy. People like Cedric know that they can create their own meaning of life by caring about something and working to make things they care about better.

Caring isn't uncool. Caring is what's important. Thinking it is weak or uncool to cry when you have the experiences Cedric had is really missing the point. Either you have a warped view on masculinity or can't relate to caring. Think of something in your life that would make you this upset. That level of caring is how Cedric feels about MtG and the community. It is something I admire.

Many years back, someone asked me if I knew anyone that loved Magic more than I did. At the time, in a pre-streaming, pre-podcast, minimal-content world, it was hard for me to name any names. Certain writers and many pros seemed to sell how little they cared. I didn't know many players in my area who loved the game as much as I did. But in the years that followed, Magic exploded in popularity. The opportunities for those people who cared even more than I did made it so they could have full time jobs doing something they loved. I'm not nearly as passionate or as hard-working as Cedric and the others like him who have brought about this change, but I very much appreciate it.

Cedric loves to talk about how great the SCG Tour is at promoting its players to give them these opportunities. While I may not have always agreed with this, I can now speak from personal experience that they are outstanding at it by sharing this anecdote:

This past weekend, I played in the SCG Open in Fort Worth. My team was featured on camera during round four. I've since gone back and watched the coverage - part out of vanity, part curiosity, part looking for misplays. My name is shown as Timothy Thomason. This is how it appears in the DCI system (they require you to use legal name for some reason). When my match was on camera, Cedric didn't hesitate to call me Ty. This is a guy I've only met two or three times in my life. I don't have nearly a large enough profile for my preferred nickname to be common knowledge. In the middle of the match, I'm in no position to try to get them to use my preferred name, I have games to win. Cedric not only remembered my preferred name, but even remembered the story of my previous open win (which is now almost five years ago). Maybe he didn't know it immediately or had some background info researched before the match went live, but that still requires effort that he is not obligated to do.

I don't always agree with Cedric on everything (especially Milita Bugler), but I support him and his passion for the game. Having people like him in charge makes it easier for me to spend as much or as little time with the game as I'm inclined, knowing that it's always getting better.