Andy · @TSMReginald
31st Dec 2016 from TwitLonger
Response to Sean's reaction to my interview:
In the wake of my interview with Thorin, Sean has once again made a post that suggests I was not telling the truth. He made three basic points in his post (http://bit.ly/2ihJegz).
Sean’s contract with TSM took effect on December 16, 2016 (five days before Smith’s open letter was published). Sean has repeatedly stated that his contract was signed on November 28, 2016. This is true. However, the very first sentence (http://bit.ly/2irwDbi) of the contract makes it clear that it did not commence until December 16th. A contract can be signed before the parties’ obligations to one another actually begin, as was the case here.
Sean’s agreement clearly gives TSM the right to select the competitions in which the roster will compete. This is stated in multiple places in Sean’s contract. Sean apparently sought a clarification of this right with our VP of Operations, Derrick Truong, who explained that in the past we have threatened to exercise the right not to let a team compete in an event because an organizer had a history of not paying. He further stated that “our goal is to play in the most competitive leagues.” Both of these statements are factually accurate. Derrick never stated that TSM’s rights are limited to these situations, and Sean did not ask us to make any changes to the contract. As signed, TSM clearly has the right to select competitions. Sean doesn’t dispute this fact. Even though I would not force the CSGO team to drop EPL for the PEA league in this instance - which Sean would have found out if he ever bothered to ask me - our contractual rights are crystal clear here.
The negotiation here was very simple. We sent Sean a draft contract. He raised five points about that contract via email; 2 related to financial terms and 3 that weren’t. We caved on both of the financial terms. The language relating to our right to select competitions was not changed. Sean knew this, and he chose to sign. This is why I said in my interview with Thorin that Sean focused on financial considerations, instead of other terms (such as our right to select competitions). I’m not sure why he is claiming this didn’t happen.
Also, I’m not sure why Sean tries to act like I wasn’t involved in these negotiations. While Sean is correct that Derrick was the primary point of contact on these emails, Derrick made it clear to Sean that he needed my sign off on everything. Here (http://bit.ly/2hDVlW0) is a screenshot of Derrick communicating this.
We are in agreement on this point. Sean and I mutually decided it was best to part ways. I’m not sure what specifically he was objecting to in my interview.
In order to be fully transparent, below are screenshots of Sean’s negotiations with TSM as it relates to his contract. Here (http://bit.ly/2iPow90) are Sean’s questions, and here (http://bit.ly/2hBZTux) are our responses to those questions (in red). As can be seen, Sean raised very few issues and primarily focused on financial terms.
NOTE: I apologize for blacking out certain parts of the negotiations. They involve confidential terms of the contract that Sean has not yet disclosed, and since I’m asking him to stop revealing confidential information I don’t want to do so myself.