Wherein the protangonist ponders the morality of league play

So, as my previous entry states, I joined a league.  Now, one of the many reasons I've avoided joining a league was the variety of stories involving sandbagging.  Well, to make a really long [and familiar to anyone who's ever played in a league] story short, this came up on my first night in a league.

Since I'm new to the league, I started at a "non-rated 4" - which means that each week my rating will go up and down based on my performance of the previous week. My team has two 7's, a 6, and three 5's - then me.  They're wanting me to stay around a 4. I should be a 5 for sure, based on watching the other 5's play and how I played against them while waiting for my own matches.

Even if I was only a 4, I wouldn't mind so much because I can still play - and play to win.  Apparently, the majority of this season, I need to try and stay around a 4.  That means losing more than winning.  Now, if I'm playing other 7's and whatnot, losing will probably come naturally; but in the case of last night - a bunch of 2's - losing is hard to do. 

I joined the league to play - and play well. Not play badly so that I/we can do well in the finals.  What does it matter if we're all high-ranked?  okay, okay, so there's a limit on the number of 'good' players you put out there for each round, but we have two 7's, so just about any combination of players works for each round.  I just fail to see how 'staying under' benefits anyone.

I made it clear, from the first time they talked to me that I wasn't comfortable with dogging things on purpose - so being asked "do everything you can to lose" doesn't sit real well with me.  The guy said this was a very, very rare situation - having such a bad team of opponents.  So... we'll see how it goes.

I said I'd come back next week, but if I'm asked to play down every match, I'm walking.

Where's a BCA league when ya need one?  C'mon St. Louis isn't that damn small, we need a real league here.  The APA is riddled with the same bullshit.

And for the record, I won both of my matches last night.  I even tried to leave easy runs, easy shots, hell I even found ways to foul - but you can't depend on a 2 to make any shot. *sigh*