It is a big deal.
Imagine worlds 2024 comes in and YYF is banned because head of CLYW and direct competitor Steve brown is on the IYYF.
Not saying this would ever happen but it’s a similar situation optics wise right now.
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Where does the speculation from “Rival” companies come from? Documentation?
At this point - Its Conspiracy Theory?
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From the thread that was deleted. Taka said it himself on an ig story
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I guess the question is whether you think a week of silence means the plan is to turtle. Say nothing and just hope people don’t ask about it. Personally, I don’t (yet). Steve’s communication to date just makes me think he was wrong about how long it might take to sort out what happened and put together a statement about it.
If it was some wrongdoing on Taka’s part, that’s gonna take some time to make sure is crystal clear before making a public statement about it. If it was being banned because of conflicting business interests, that also needs to be clear and have some discussion of changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That stuff takes time. And if it’s not totally clear what happened, that actually just takes longer.
So, I’m willing to give it some more time before breaking out pitch forks and demanding answers. Yes, that’s also why turtling works as a media strategy. Personally, I’m willing to give it a month before really wondering why something hasn’t been said. Partially because on my list of worst work nightmares is putting together a public statement that needs legal review under multiple countries to make sure there isn’t risk for something like libel.
Again, I think the worst mistake was promising a statement by the end of worlds and it not materializing.
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Yes. This was also one of the aggravating factors.
Hello king of drama I am king of waffles nice to meet you.
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As a dude with a giant blue avatar arrow across his back, I can’t even be mad. Except that I don’t have a platypus bear.
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The more I think about it the lack of transparency with this whole thing is pretty strange.
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Taka’s side of the story is that he was banned “for political reasons” relating to the Japan Yo-Yo Federation. One of Taka’s biggest competitors runs the JYYF and was an organizer of this year’s WYYC in Osaka.
Taka also stated that there were some other players who were prevented from attending this year’s WYYC. Has that been confirmed? Taka is a legend in this community. He is creative, friendly, and very professional. His innovations have helped push the yo-yoing world further, and I know he wanted to attend this event. It sucks to see him pushed out of a hobby he’s had so much influence in.
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The part I can’t fathom is expecting people to not speculate on the reason behind the ban. A very prominent and famous member of the community was banned from WYYC 2023 with no prior warning or sign. Even if the reason behind the ban does turn out to be mundane and boring, how can you expect people to not speculate?
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and the others that were silently banned/the big JP brands that didn’t come in as sponsors 
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What does banned mean? Can’t even come in to watch?
Is this like bad behavior at a bar, or is it can’t sell or compete?
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Cannot enter the venue.
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Harsh
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Note: there have been two incidences of someone being banned from worlds before.
One was a player who used the computers to stream adult videos, and the other, a player who was drunk and exposed themselves to show off a piercing nearby where kids were.
Even the big controversy of the whole Yomega at worlds scandal did not result in a ban so I’m very curious what warranted this in the case of Taka
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This comment made me laugh so much, I had to explain the whole Taka situation to my relatively disinterested other half, just so that I could read it to her.
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Odds of next klondike drop on rewind happening before worlds statement?
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#FreeTaka
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#freetaka
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