Changing divisions at the last minute and TD's pre reg'ing big name touring players whom they haven't contacted about the event and/or have no real intention of attending are different things.
Switching divisions at the last minute can be a legit attempt to "right-fit" your self into the appropriate level of competition (especially if you pre-reg well in advance and you're on the cusp betweeen divisions), or it can be a smarmy bit of gamesmanship to stack the odds in your favor. To others, the result may be the same, but it's really more a matter of intent. I guess the only way to tell is see if a pattern develops.
But false pre reg of big name players is just plain slimey. I get that sometimes players really do have to back out for reasons beyond the TD's control, but to pre reg big name touring pros who you haven't reached out to or haven't contacted you about attending is false advertising.
If you're a local pro looking to compete against touring pros, and you reg for an event based on the existing names only to find these folks were never really going to attend, I can see how you'd feel screwed. Maybe you'd have elected to play a different event, but now your stuck.
Maybe Ams registered and fans attended just to see the big names. It's completely misleading and underhanded. Let the quality of your event speak for iteself and let people make informed decisions about which tourneys to go to, not misinformed choices based on smoke and mirrors.
Any TD who does this loses credibility in my book.
