Fitz, you're right that its ok if the whole clan is new, and they are working on their recon and teamwork. (since they don't know better) But there are clans like ur, 1311, and I think sq who choose Air1 or similar maps at times, which doesn't allow for improvement (or enjoyment)
Also, there's no excuse for teams who pick up a new player and say, "he doesn't know any other maps" to play boring maps. I'll admit when I first got into CC I wasn't experienced at strategic maps like carp, renoir, pforest, etc. and it was a cap-fest on me. (don't worry, we still never lost) But that's the only way I could learn them and improve. But once I learned how to play and recon those more complex maps, I learned how easy it was to move and recon through all the complex maps. Once players learn those kinds of maps, its easily adaptable to all of the maps. Meaning that once you learn to effectively play a few complex maps, you can comfortably play any map and any new released map without getting confused by paths or recon.
Also for clans who pick up new players, and the new player doesn't know their recon (or doesn't know better), all the clan does is yell at the new player. They don't even let him figure out where what is. If you do that, all they'll do is quit, and the clan scene will lose another player. CC told me where to go and what to do by spec'cing me if I was the only one alive, and when I got better, I understood and knew better. Then they were able to laugh at me whenever I did stupid stuff. But before the times of laughing at me, they made sure I knew better.
And 1 more thing for the players who claim they don't know the maps or strategies, spec people that play them in matches, or watch their demo's. That's how I learned quite a bit from CC before I even joined them, I would spec their matches (and listening to what they were doing on Ventrilo). It helps you understand teamwork and what to do at certain times.
/end newbie testimony