It's hard to say something about this withouth knocking a few teeth out from someone, but I will try anyway.
Right after the final vs Sander (Vo0) I opped the idea to the ESWC Holland tournament admin that a second Dutch player COULD be allowed to go if he paid for his own travel+accomodation.
As an example I told him that they did it like that in Poland.
Right then and there he told me he would look into it and apparantly I was right and so they gave Vo0 the opportunity to pay for his own expenses.

You could call it lame, since beforehand it was announced that only 1 spot was available for Quake3. But I don't think lame is the right word. The guys who run ESWC Holland just didn't know about this possibility and if they would have, I'm sure they had set 2 spots for Quake3 with only the first place expenses paid.

Anyway, I personally think they made the right descision but on the other hand I feel sorry for forever.
I also read a comment from Menendez about him showing up if there was a second spot. But as far as I know he didn't only not show up but let's not forget he didn't even let ESWC know he wasn't coming, so we were all waiting for him to show up.
Forever on the other hand, did. He also was friendly enough to wish me luck trough someone else's mobile phone (GEO's) and afterwards he congratulated me with that same mobile with my victory.
Seeing I hadn't talked with him for quite a long time I found that worthy of some respect. Plus it showed sportmanship, even though he didn't attend himself. The fact that he didn't attend himself might have been a self-confidence issue. I know the feeling; if you feel you are not strong enough to win the qualifier it's very tempting not to show up to avoid losing some respect (you can argue about that, since by not showing up you lose respect from some as well).

Anyway, it's happened. The spots have been given and no matter how much you whine about it, this can't be changed! Now let's hope Vo0 will have enough money to pay for his own trip *wink*.

Oh, and let me take this opportunity to enlighten you about my Masters absence:

I tried to get the days off from work, but my company's administration denied the request. They say they already gave out all the available days in July.
It's not worth to quit the job over this, so I just have to accept the fact that I can't go.
To be honest, I was really looking forward to the ESWC Masters.
Even though I for sure wouldn't have won it, I would still have enjoyed the fact that I was part of such a great tournament.

Besides, the sole reason I came back to Quake3 was to win the ESWC Dutch qualifier for the trip to the USA. I have never been there before and I am really looking forward to it.

To all the guys who say I don't stand a chance there, I say: I don't care! It's been nearly four years since I quit and I've taken a very different perspective on life itself I guess in that time. I am gonna enjoy myself there and wether I lose all my games or not, it really won't matter a dime to me .. atleast I can say I've been there. :)