Hank, for those people who criticized you upping your own record, what was their logic?
The logic is usually along the lines of:
- you should let other people have a chance
- poor sportsmanship/being a bully
I've ranted before about why I feel these are nonsense, but yeah, doesn't make any sense to me either.
Hi Hank,
I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but I do know that I have previously posted on a public forum how I considered you beating your own record to be "poor sportsmanship." I used that phrase specifically, in a TG thread where a referee announced that some undisclosed player had recently improved his score. Some people suggested it was Hank, but it was still unknown if you had beaten your record. Before it was revealed that it was indeed you, I said that I hoped that it wasn't, since you already had the #1 spot, and that it was poor sportsmanship to compete against yourself in that manner.
Please accept my apologies for ever saying those things. I said them at a time where I was actively chasing the arcade record, and I didn't enjoy watching the record being pushed out of my reach. My comments were made in frustration, and accusing you of being unsportsmanlike was unwarranted and unjust. I'm sorry.
When I made those comments, I hadn't been in the DK world long enough to understand that it's "all of us versus the machine." After years of trying to finish a DK game at pace to take the record, and always falling short, I have so much more respect for your ability to knock your personal best higher, again and again. I have similar respect for all of the players that can consistently churn out million point scores.
And finally, I made those stupid comments before I met you in person. Having met you several times since then, I know that you're not a malicious person -- you're a champ.
I hope you can accept my apology. Even if you're not talking about me specifically now, two years ago I contributed to that negative mentality, and that was all because of my own insecurities.
Cheers and good luck, to whoever manages to push the record up next.
-Shaun
