I'm coming in a little late and there's internet drama about, but now's my turn to rant...
First off, and most importatly, I don't side with anyone. Not Utah, not Idaho, not the hosts. There's been some mild flak within just Utah before, but nothing to the extent of what's going on right now. That said, I support and respect FtS since he's basically my local goto man for everything Smash, and also Gojira who's definatly second in command from my perspective (no offence ment to you there, Gojira). Even if you guys think they're onery ******* ****tards, these two guys are basically the only reason there's a scene around here at all.
I think all tournaments should be open to all members wishing to attend them. As such, any I'll ever personally run will be as such. At the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with FtS/Gojira/Utah/whomever wanting to run a 'locals only' tournament, even though it may be a little elitist. I don't think Yammer, BattleChrist, and (to a slight extent) Buzz should be getting upset that they're not wanted at one local tourny. I also don't think Gojira and FtS should be getting upset that OOSers dislike not being able to attend, it feels like a **** move even if it isn't ment as such. Gojira, you should have been a little more prepared for the coming flames, and everything should have been explained in a calm manner. Don't say Utah backs you up when most of them don't even post on here, and Yamer, don't be saying everyone else wants OOSers to come for the same reason.
I have a hard time with names, and I see all you in person extremely rarely, so I have a tough time remembering who's who, but if Yamer has been causing any drama at one of our tournies I don't see anything wrong with banning him. I'm not saying he has been, I really don't know, but if anybody was getting out of hands at one of my tournies I would instigate a ban as well, but everyone's been great at the two I've run.
There will be Utah only rankings, no matter what. There's no way Idaho will ever be considered in that roster. At the same time, I'm totally down with Utah/Idaho rankings as well, and would probably look to those more often to place myself. I feel Idaho is just another county of Utah, and they're unquestionably a big part of our Smash community. Besides, things seem a lot less active up there, and they could really use the help of Utah to keep things going.
Idaho is a big part of Utah's Smash community, and I feel that's why they're so upset about being left out of a tourny. I really don't want to see things go sour between our two states, so I think everyone should just grow up and appoligize. Maybe Gojira wants a higher ranking, maybe Yamer likes knocking Utahns down on the Utah rankings, who the **** cares? I like to play Smash bros, so lets ****ing play some.