Team Ben a Year as a Professional Gamer

8/16/2019 Team Ben a Year as a Professional Gamer

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Team Ben:A Year as a

Professional Gamer

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Prologue

ookin at a picture of Ben"amin #assilie$, aperson can%t help but notice that his features do nota ree &ith one another. 'e has eyelashes much toolon for a masculine face, but a "a& line too s(uareto allo& it to be feminine. 'is lon hair sits styled in

a &ay you mi ht describe as pretentious, if his lipsdidn%t rest naturally in a smirk that seems to mockhimself as much as the person lookin at him. 'e isthe funniest person )%$e e$er met.

) mo$ed into Ben%s nei hborhood in the * th radeand &e immediately became best friends. +eclimbed trees, talked about irls, beat the crap outof each other, and enerally did the thin s boys do&hen they ha$e lots of time on their hands. +e&ould or ani e ames of "ail break &ith thenei hborhood and run around in the dark untilsomebody called the cops and &e had to o inside.-ummers to ether &ere endless fun for us, and someof the fondest memories ) ha$e.

Ben had a &iry frame, but his posture &asintimidatin to me and ) al&ays had the impressionthere &as a lot of po&er hidden behind the t shirtsthat hun off of his shoulders. ) liked to be aroundBen because he made me lau h, and because he &assomeho& mysterious / he seemed to kno& thin sabout life that ) didn%t.

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+e spent all of our time to ether durin thosemiddle school summers, and &anted for nothin . Butthen hi h school came, and ) think it &as lonely atfirst for both of us. ) kno& that most days ) ate mylunch by myself1 ) ha$e clear memories of sittinoutside readin -lau hterhouse Fi$e. The &orldsuddenly seemed much bi er, and Ben and ) didn%than out as often. #ideo ames &ere our constant,but that time &as threatened by school and bye2tracurriculars / and &hen Ben &as the first of usto et a irlfriend, it became the only thin &edidn%t ha$e in common.

3aroline &as her name, and ) had set the t&o ofthem up, if some&hat by accident. -he had $ery paleskin, and li ht blond hair &ith li ht blond freckles to

o &ith it. They &ould hold each other in thehall&ays as thou h he &as about to ship off to &ar,&hich &as surprisin for me because )%d ne$er seenhim look like a t&at before. But he &as lost in her,and that &as that.

'i h school brou ht out a broodin , artistic side

to Ben"amin, &hich &ould ha$e been more annoyinif he &eren%t also suddenly so talented. 'e be an&ritin books and dra&in portraits1 he acted insho&s at school1 he enrolled in a martial art called4umdo. 5ne day in his li$in room he be an casuallypickin out son s on the piano, despite ha$in ne$er

been tau ht to play, and ) remember noticinsomethin else that separated us / ) had ne$er feltcreati$e or artistic like him. And despite all thesene& hobbies, Ben someho& found the time to be

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e$erythin to e$eryone. +e &ere the best of friendsin that Good +ill 'untin , )%d lay do&n in front of atruck for you kind of &ay, but his feelin s for3aroline &ere of an entirely different color. 'e&anted nothin more than to make her happy.

)ncidentally, 3aroline had taken in a charity caseof sorts in another classmate of ours called 7yan.7yan &as a sad and troubled boy, and became (uiteattached to 3aroline. 'e &ould spend time &ith her,thou h in$ariably melted into the back round &henother people came around.

3aroline felt bad for 7yan, and so fre(uentlyasked Ben to include him. Ben obli ed fairly often,but ) &ould typically make myself scarce &hen thathappened. To put it plainly, ) had no patience tospend time &ith someone &ho didn%t interest me.But here a ain &as somethin that separated Ben and) / he had a &orldliness about him and a entleunderstandin of thin s that did not narro& hispassion.

-enior year of hi h school &as so perfect it felt

like a parody of itself. ) had come into my o&n, doina lot of theater and finally datin someone. Ben and )hun out e$ery day, alon &ith his little brother 8rik9&ho "ust started as a freshman and our other oodfriend 4e$in 9&hom &e snuck into our school byfakin residency at my parents% house . 8ach mornin

4e$in &ould come pick me up in his ridiculous station&a on, then &e &ould pick up Ben and 8rik and rideto school blastin ;) Get Around< throu h open&indo&s.

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The four of us &ere inseparable at school, too.+e had classes to ether, ate lunch to ether, andthree ni hts a &eek Ben and ) &ould dri$e to theschool for play practice 9he &as the 5beron to my

ysander . 'e and ) &ere also meant to perform>onty Python%s ;?ead Parrot< routine at the sprintalent sho&.

5n Friday, @anuary 6 rd, 0 6, the four of us leftschool to ether as usual. +e stopped at * 8le$en, asusual, then &ent back to Ben and 8rik%s place, asusual. 82cept on this day, Ben &as ha$in 7yan o$er,so naturally 8rik, 4e$in, and ) had plans to clear outas soon as that happened. +e &ere practicin our acappella routine for the talent sho& in the kitchen&hen Ben told us that a last minute chan e in plans&ould ha$e him oin o$er to 7yan%s house instead.-o around =: he left, said oodbye, and that &asthe last thin ) e$er ot to hear him say.

)t &as "ust a small amount of cyanide, &hich 7yanhad slipped inside a can of 3oke, that ended Ben%slife. @ust a sip is all. )t is remarkable, ) think, ho& a

life can be lost, or rather taken, so effortlessly,&ithout any screamin or bleedin or anythin . @ustali$e one moment, and not the ne2t. All thememories, the thou hts and opinions, the plans forthe future, "okes, son s / all erased by a chemical ahi h school student can research and then purchase

on the internet.Ben &as flo&n to @ohns 'opkins, but there &as

nothin to be done. The doctors and the police askedtheir (uestions, but no one had any ans&ers. 'e &as


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o$er and he &as one. Ben donated his or ans, andhe sa$ed three li$es. +e &ere told someone e$en othis eyes. 'e &as C*.

+hen ) found out the doctors &ere i$in up onBen ) &as out in the fallin sno&, in the street. )tsno&ed more that &inter than it had in * years.

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BeginningsA Grassroots Community

>y $ery first $ideo ame tournament e2perience&as at a run do&n old house in Ale2andria, #A. >yfriends and ) found out about a tournament beinhosted for the ame &e all played in our free time,-uper -mash Bros. >elee, and &e thou ht &e &ould

o "ust to check it out. +e may ha$e been oinpartly for a lau h, ) can%t recall, but ) kno& that )&asn%t e2pectin much to come of it. -o it isastoundin , then, ho& dramatically the course of mylife chan ed that day, despite &hat a crap factorythe e$ent itself turned out to be.

The house &as at the end of a cul de sac, in anei hborhood about as poor as you can find inEorthern #ir inia, &hich is one of the richer areas ofthis country. There &as a pit bull on the porch, and ashoppin cart in the front yard. The &hole scene &asdirty / the nei hborhood &as dirty, the house &as

dirty, and the people . . .)t &as like enterin a different &orld. There &asa musk / maybe not a stench but the air (uality &asdecidedly different / of body odor. The house &ascro&ded, but nobody seemed to be talkin to eachother1 there &as "ust the sound of buttons clickinand the symphonic music of the ame. +e paid ourmoney and be an to sidestep around the room,takin it all in. ) noticed slumped shoulders, matteddo&n hair, ill fittin t shirts &ith &ords on them. Eot

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a irl in the &hole house. )n a &ord, it &asdepressin . )n a color, it &as bro&nish yello&.

)t sounds cruel to offer such a bleak assessmentof this situation, but to be any kinder &ould be false.'o&e$er, ) can unabashedly say that ) found someincredible friends in this community o$er the ne2t Cyears, people ) &ill ne$er for et. ) e$en considermyself lucky to ha$e met those &ith &hom ) couldn%tmake a connection. )t broadened my hori ons, and,more importantly, it tau ht me the importance ofdi$ersity.

-peakin of di$ersity, the first person ) playedthat day happened to be one such friend, 3hristopher>c>ullen. 'e &ould ha$e been CD at the time. 3hris&as Asian, despite his o$erly )rish name, ande2ceedin ly shy. 5$er the ne2t fe& years &e &ouldbecome ood friends and teammates, and he &ouldmake a name for himself as one of the reatestplayers of all time.

'e &as kno&n as the ;>aster of ?i$ersity,<because he could play all 0D characters in the ame

&ith e(ual skill, somethin no one before or sincehas been able to accomplish the &ay he did. 7atherthan learn the ins and outs of one character at atime, the &ay the rest of us did, he "ust . . .understood it all. 'e must ha$e seen the amedifferently than other players, at a fundamental

le$el. 'e did this &ith other ames too, casually andhumbly earnin nation &ide top scores on pu le orracin ames. )%ll $enture that he sa& most of lifethat &ay, &ith a hei htened sense of clarity.


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'e &as eccentric, too, if you took the time to etto kno& him. -tran e &ould be another &ord for it.+hen &e &ent out to restaurants, and ) don%t kno&&hether it &as the shyness or the eccentricity thatled him to do this, but rather than orderinsomethin off the menu he &ould "ust ask one of usto et t&o of &hate$er it is &e &ere ettin .

'e made thousands of dollars from tournaments,but he "ust let the checks pile up on his desk. 'etreated them like parkin tickets: you can%t reallythro& them a&ay, but &ho feels like dealin &iththem

'e didn%t sleep / if you &anted to o o$er andpractice &ith him you had to brin a friend in hopesthat the pair of you could keep up. ) &ould dri$e tohis house &ith 4e$in1 &e &ould play for hoursto ether, then ) &ould take the first sleep shift frommidni ht to =am &hile 4e$in played him. Then he%d&ake me up and say ;okay, it%s your turn to play, )%llsleep for a &hile.< )%d hobble out of bed, onto thecouch, and play until the sun came up.

3hris also had an incredible sense of humor,thou h his shyness often kept it hidden. And he ne$ercomplained, not about anythin .

-o, back in the bro&n yello& house in #ir inia, )had no idea &hat ) &as up a ainst, sittin do&n toplay &ith 3hristopher >c>ullen, >aster of ?i$ersity.

8ach match he played that day, he &ould ;ditto< hisopponent, meanin to pick the same character 9muchthe &ay he &ould ditto your order in a restaurant .+hile this &as certainly not his intention, it &as

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particularly insultin to be beaten &ith your o&ncharacter. 'e danced circles around me, beat mehandily, and ) think ) made some sort of superiorremark to him as ) left. Eerd.

>y first foray into competiti$e amin &as adisaster. )t &as embarrassin "ust bein there, letalone not &innin a match all day. ) &as de"ected.The best part of my day &as han in out &ith the pitbull, &hich turned out to be a pretty s&eet do . )learned that the do , like the amers, shouldn%t ha$ebeen held to stereotypes.

IIIII

There &as no radual pro ression into the ne2tphase of my life. Eo shades of ray. ) think it &as thetaste of failure that really set me off, but ) alsobecame immediately interested in this subculturethat ) ne$er kne& e2isted1 after that tournament )&ent home to find another. ) started to practice. )&ould o to another tournament, do "ust a little bit

better, and et moti$ated all o$er a ain. Acompetiti$e spirit inside of me had been stirred andthere &as no oin back. ?o the research, &atch the$ideos, learn the tricks.

The ame is simple. T&o players 9or four in adoubles match are put on a sta e and i$en four

li$es each. The ame is t&o dimensional, and so thesta es ha$e an ed e on each side and typically a fe&platforms. A player attempts to et his opponent offthe sta e and keep him off, thereby takin his life.

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The first player to take all four of his opponents%li$es is the &inner. Tournaments are held in a doubleelimination format, &ith pools beforehand forseedin into those brackets. 'i h le$el matches arebest three out of fi$e ames.

)ts simple nature makes -mash Bros. >elee areat ame for parties, and a common reaction &hen

) tell people about my ame of sport is ;ohhhhh,yeah, ) played that one all the time in colle e!<Admittedly, it%s also reat for kids. But the ameactually pro$es to be a ridiculously deep &ell ofsubtle tactics and technical skill. The ame, at aprofessional le$el, looks different each year than theyear before, and the champions of pre$ious yearsoften look silly &hen measured a ainst modernplayers.

)t is my &ish to share &ith the reader some of thecomple2ities of ad$anced play, because this &asmuch of the allure for me &hen ) first started.'o&e$er, in an effort to maintain readability, ) ha$esplit that educational material up into t&o parts 9the

second included much later on .Ad$anced >elee is built around split second

timin . -o much so that it cannot be played on mostflatscreen T#s, because there is a delay of about halfa second in con$ertin the ima e from the system tothe screen. +hen a player is e2ecutin maneu$ers

that a$era e si2 inputs a second, a half second delayis disastrous.

The first subtlety of >elee one needs to master isspeed. This is not simply a matter of mo$in faster,

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pressin the buttons faster, or bein a ressi$e. Tobe more accurate, the first subtlety of >elee oneneeds to master is learnin &hen a character iscapable of mo$ement, and this is not ob$ious. Partlyit re(uires payin $ery close attention to yourcharacter, and partly it re(uires manipulatin the layour character e2periences 9 lag is e2perienced anytime your character is unable to mo$e, usually due toa pre$ious action .

To become a serious contender in this ame, )kne& ) had to speed up.

First, learn to L-Cancel. By pressing the L buttonat the exact moment an aerial move hits the ground,lag following the attack is reduced. o it !"" timesin a row without missing.

Place second to last at a tournament in a hi hschool ymnasium in Trenton, E@ / need morepractice.

#ext, learn to short hop. $ress and release the %ump button extremely &uickly and your characterwill %ump half the normal height. 'hort hop !""times in a row without making a mistake.

?ri$e to a small tournament in a rec center in

Pennsyl$ania. A church in +est #ir inia. A shoppinmall in 5hio. 3annot break into top CD.

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#ow learn to dash dance. (old the %oystick tothe side and your character will run ) but if he runstoo far he won*t be able to turn around and run theother way without skidding first +which creates lag .(owever, run back and forth within a specifieddistance and the turnaround is swift, giving yourcharacter flexibility in movement. here*s a rhythmback, forth, back, forth. Close your eyes and do itwithout visual clues, %ust feel it. Back, forth, back,

forth ) dash dance without stopping for / minutes.

-pend a &eekend in >anhattan / ) start brin ina notebook &ith me, and take careful notes on &hat )see.

$iece it together. he following maneuver shouldtake less than ! second short hop, down air, fast

fall, L-cancel, shine, wavedash, short hop again.

?ri$e C6 hours throu h the ni ht to ansin ,>ichi an. -leep on the floor of somebody%s

basement. 8arn C* th place J ettin better. Then )be in to build on the successes / th place atBaltimore, = th at 3herry 'ill, Ee& @ersey. +ithin ayear of be innin my trainin ) be in placin top Cat local tournaments.

The first tournament ) &on &as in #ir inia. ) &asplayin &ell, to be sure, but ) &as outmatched in thefinals. >y opponent had been around lon er and &as&holly more talented, but ) had the element of

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surprise on my side. To tell the story, the readerneeds to kno& that ) played one character / Peach.>y team partner, 4e$in, played one character as &ell/ >arth. Typically, >arth is Peach%s most difficultmatchup, but endless hours of practice had made mean e2ception to the rule. ) ate up >arths like halfpriced appeti ers.

>y opponent in the finals could play se$eralcharacters, but ) kne& )%d only really stand a chancea ainst him if he played >arth. uckily for me, hefollo&ed con$entional &isdom and chose >arth first.A minute into the first ame ) kne& ) had him. ) couldtell ) &as &ay more comfortable than he &as, so )"ust played &ith him a little, sort of tirin him outthe &ay a bo2er mi ht. ) let him et the better ofme, and dropped the first ame intentionally. )n thisbest three out of fi$e set, ) had room to lay out myplan.

+hen he beat me ) cursed, and started thesecond ame ri ht a&ay. Then ) proceeded to dropthe second ame, at &hich point ) turned to 4e$in in

fake frustration and said, ;) don%t kno& &hat to tellyou / he%s doin different stuff than you do, ) don%tkno& ho& to et around it.< Then ) &on the third

ame by a small mar in, and made sure to do thesame &ith the fourth. Eo& the match &as tied at t&o

ames apiece, and my opponent had a decision to

make. The first t&o ames he crushed me, so &asn%t>arth his best bet +hy challen e con$ention 'etook a lon time to decide, but ultimately decided to

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stay >arth for the fifth ame of the match. Bimistake.

) re$ealed &hat ) had been hidin : anunprecedented understandin of the Peach $s. >arthmeta ame. ) played on my instincts and soundly &onthe match and the tournament. First place! )f myinitial failure playin >elee didn%t do it, my first real$ictory certainly tipped me o$er the ed e. ) made adecision in that moment to become a nationallyranked top ten player.

IIIII

The tournament ) had &on &as simply a local9&hich is smaller than a re ional, &hich is smallerthan a national , &hich means that it took place insome kid%s basement. ) can tell you that my $ictorylap &as cut a bit short &hen, upon lea$in , ) had tothank the host%s parents for lettin us come o$er . . .but ) had rander plans. 5ff to Te2as.

>y first national &as in ?allas, in @anuary of

0 . )n fact, this &as technically an international,markin the first time 8uropean players came to theK- to compete. The Eetherlands and -&eden &ererepresented at this e$ent, as &ell as talent from bothcoasts and >e2ico. )t &as the bi est tournament todate &ith C0* attendants, and for me an incredible

&eekend.>5A-T 9>other of All -mash Tournaments &as

not only my first ma"or e$ent, but my first time offthe east coast and my first plane ride. ) &as CH years

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old and had mana ed to ne$er ha$e been on a plane,and the first thin that ot me in the air &as a $ideo

ame tournament. ) also learned a thin or t&o aboutthe kindness of stran ers, southern hospitality, and

race in $ictory.By this time, -mashers 9as &e affectionately

called oursel$es had already formed a stroncommunity, e$en if it &asn%t that bi yet. Primarilythrou h online forums, a person could find a smasherin any part of the country and secure a place to stayfor a fe& days. And so for >5A-T ) simply ot online,indicated ) had three people in my party, and as easyas that ) had a home in ?allas for a &eek. But )suppose a detour about these three people isnecessary before oin any further . . .

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Team BenCreating an Identity

Back at my first tournament, &ith the pit bull andthe shoppin cart, ) &as asked &hich ;cre&< ) &as&ith. ) learned that ha$in a cre&, usually re ionallybased, ensures you &on%t meet your teammates earlyon in competition and &as common in competiti$e

>elee. ) &asn%t prepared for this (uestion, but )ans&ered &ithout missin a beat or lookin to myfriends for confirmation / ;+e%re Team Ben,< )replied.

+hat else could it be +hat else &as there Atthat time Ben &as all &e thou ht about, all &e dealt

&ith. Ben%s life, Ben%s death, Ben%s family.3eremonial e$ents and court proceedin s took up notonly our emotional reser$es, but also our days. Theuna$oidable rief and the drama &hich accompaniedit &ere all consumin . From the moment ) ot thefirst phone call, my &hole &orld chan ed.

) keep a "ournal / ) ha$e since ) &as a kid. 'a$ina "ournal is nice because readin it can really putthin s in perspecti$e for you. Perhaps that time inyour life or the relationship you &ere in really&eren%t as perfect as you thou ht they &ere, fore2ample. But rereadin the entries leadin up to@anuary 6rd, 0 6, a sentiment from TheFountainhead comes to mind / it is positi$elyindecent for a person to be this happy. 8$erythin inmy life &as oin "ust the &ay ) &anted. And &hat

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really iced my cake is that ) had "ust met a irl. At CDyears old she completed my picture ofcontentedness, and ) don%t ha$e to consult my"ournal to remember the afternoon of @anuary 6 rd.

Ben, 4e$in, 8rik and ) left hi h school that daylike &e &ere fuckin T Birds. ) don%t kno& ho& )could ha$e felt hi her. ) hun out &ith Ben 8rik and4e$in after school as al&ays, until Ben &ent to oo$er 7yan%s house. 'e said oodbye to us for the lasttime, and 4e$in, 8rik and ) ot to practicin our sonfor the Fall talent sho& / the aptly chosen +eird AlYanko$ic a cappella son , ;-ince You%$e Been Gone.<

ater that ni ht ) recei$ed a phone call fromBen%s mother. Eo& she &as somethin of a &orrier,so &hen she asked me to come to 'o&ard 3ountyGeneral 'ospital ) fi ured it &as due to some rosso$erreaction. But &hen ) ot to the hospital and sa&the looks on e$eryone%s faces, the ra$ity of thesituation set in. ) &as (uickly ushered into a room&ith Ben%s parents, all of Ben%s close friends, t&opolice officers, and a doctor. They &anted to kno&

&hat dru s Ben &as takin that caused him to berushed to the hospital. They said, ;+e can%t sa$ehim if &e don%t kno& &hat%s &ron .<

And that%s &hen he &as murdered a second time.Because 7yan &as there in the room &ith us, he satthere &ith his arm around 3arolyn and said he had no

idea &hat happened. 'e had a chance to confess andsa$e Ben, but his silence murdered Ben for thesecond time in one ni ht.

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5ut in the lobby 4e$in and ) tried to &ork it allout. The four of us hadn%t had so much as a drop ofalcohol bet&een us, so &e couldn%t ima ine Bentakin any dru s J &illin ly, at least. +e had oursuspicions, but &ho listens to emotionallycompromised hi h schoolers Eo one, and probablyfor ood reason. -o &e &aited in the hospital for aslon as they &ould let us, until e$entually &e had to

o home and Ben had to be flo&n to @ohns 'opkins. )rode home shoulder to shoulder &ith 7yan in thebackseat of a car, rubbin up a ainst . . . it%s sounsettlin that ) can%t brin myself to narrate it.

To i$e credit &here credit is due, 'o&ard3ounty%s finest confirmed 4e$in%s and my suspicionsalmost immediately. Ben%s heart &as still beatin&hen 7yan &as arrested. They learned it &as cyanidethat &as destroyin Ben%s body, and traced it to7yan%s house, but it &as too late / his brain &asalready dead. )%m thankful that Ben had parents &hobelie$ed that &ithout the thou hts in his head, theblood pumpin in his heart meant nothin . The

doctors kept him ali$e lon enou h for us all to sayour oodbyes, and to rescue as many or ans from himas possible, but no lon er.

) can remember only flashes from the ni ht it allended, and my life chan ed fore$er. ) &as in Ben%shouse a&aitin ne&s &hen a family friend told us

there &ould be no tomorro& for Ben. Go to thehospital to say your oodbyes no&, she said. ) ran outof the house, and into the street. )t &as sno&in , )remember that, and after about feet ) "ust fell to

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my knees and &ept openly. 8$entually a pair of armslifted me up 9to this day ) don%t kno& &hose andbrou ht me back into the house.

)t%s ama in ho& clichLd acts don%t feel clichLdat all &hen real life drama happens. Eo part of me&as secretly en"oyin the cinematic color to myactions. ) hid myself in my arms for a lon &hile,until ) couldn%t hide any lon er. 4e$in and ) &alkedthrou h the hea$y sno& to my parents% house and &e&oke them up and told them.

;Ben is dead. )t%s 0am. +e ha$e to dri$e to thehospital and say our oodbyes no&. Yes, )%m okay.<

There is only one more part of this a&ful ni ht )&ould like to share, and ) do it only out of hope thatit &ill i$e the reader a sense of that ni ht and &hatBen meant to us. 8rik, Ben%s baby brother and onlyC= at the time, ot me alone to let me kno& hehadn%t i$en up on Ben. ;) kno& e$eryone else thinksit%s o$er,< he e2plained to me in a hushed $oice,;but ) kno& Ben can still pull throu h. ) ha$e hope.< )don%t remember &hat ) said to 8rik, but ) kno& that

&hen ) said my oodbye to Ben that ) promised him )&ould al&ays take care of his little brother for him.

IIIII

7i ht, so cre& name Team Ben. That &as already

our cre& e$en if &e didn%t yet call oursel$es that. )&ish more than anythin that 8rik &as &ith us thatday, and that he spent the follo&in decade &ith usas a part of Team Ben, but the competition factor

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al&ays turned him off. )t "ust &asn%t his style.)nstead, Team Ben be an as me, 4e$in, and >anus5%?onnell the * th .

>anus looks more than a little bit like Ben, andhe &as Ben%s ood friend before ) met either ofthem. 'e, Ben and ) all &ent to the same middleschool, but then >anus &ent to a different hi hschool and ) lost track of him. )n fact ) didn%t reallykno& much about >anus pre tra edy1 Ben%s deathhad the unforeseen conse(uence of brin in all of hisfriends and ac(uaintances closer to ether. )n >anus%case, he &ould become one of my best friends foryears to come. -omethin ood comin fromsomethin a&ful, it mi ht be said.

)f Ben &as the funniest person )%$e e$er kno&n,>anus is undoubtedly the smartest. 'e%s cle$er as all

et out, &hich also makes him hilarious, but mostimpressi$ely he is a spon e of information. 'e soaksup facts, made more impressi$e by the &ay he ne$erbra s about them. But ask him a (uestion and it%slike a Goo le search result in .06 seconds. >anus,

ho& far a&ay is -aturn >anus, &hy don%t the back&indo&s in my car o all the &ay do&n >anus, &hycan%t &e time tra$el 4e$in and ) &ere incessant &ithour (uestions. +ell, 4e$in &as incessant &ith his(uestions, and ) "ust en"oyed e in him on.

4e$in is in many &ays the opposite of >anus.

+here >anus is tall and lanky, 4e$in is short andmuscular. +hile >anus a$oids confrontation at allcosts, 4e$in &ill ar ue &ith you about the color of

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the sky, if you%ll let him. 'e once said he didn%tbelie$e in 'elen 4eller.

)%$e kno&n 4e$in since = th rade ym class, and bythe time &e started competin &e had &ritten a

ood deal of history. +e had performed to ether,&orked to ether, re& up to ether. -tartin &ith myfirst recess fi ht in elementary school all the &aythrou h Ben%s death, there &as a lot &e sur$i$edonly by bein a team. Eo& ) can also recall a lot oftimes &hen he &asn%t there, but he is someone )%$ecalled my best friend at more than one time in mylife, and all &e%$e been throu h has created a trulyimpressi$e syner y bet&een us and an e2ceptionalability to communicate. +e &ere the competiti$edoubles team for Team Ben, and &e &ould o on tobe one of the best kno&n teams to playcompetiti$ely.

-o that &as us / Team Ben. )t &ould later ro&,to four and e$entually si2 people, before shrinkindo&n to "ust 4e$in and me, after >anus decided heno lon er &anted anythin to do &ith the scene, for

reasons )%$e ne$er truly understood. But durin theyears that this under round community be an to takeshape, &e benefited from his humor and perspecti$e.

3ompetiti$e >elee came at the absolute perfecttime for the three of us, pro$idin an outlet for allour stress, and also brin in >anus close to 4e$in and

me in a &ay that ) don%t kno& anythin else couldha$e. +e became a team, and still are today. As ofthis &ritin ) can%t say ) am (uite as close &ith eitherof them as &hen &e &ere competiti$e, but &e

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established a solidarity that has lasted throu h theyears.

IIIII

-o the three of us arri$ed in ?allas &ith no idea&hat to e2pect from our first national, or from theperson &e had ne$er met &ho &as trustin enou h toin$ite us into his home for se$eral ni hts. 3orey &ashis name, but ) don%t remember much more abouthim than that. 'is mother on the other hand, her )remember. +hen she came home from &ork, she &asappalled to hear that &e hadn%t eaten andimmediately started to &ork on dinner. 5$er a nicemeal to ether, she learned about us and &e learnedabout the &hole family J 3orey, his sister 3ali, andhis brother @ordan. )t &as such a &onderful, lo$elye2perience breakin bread &ith total stran ers. -oendearin .

)t only took a couple of days to feel at home. 5nour second day there @ordan took us to see the place

&here @F4 &as shot, and on our third day, &e dro$etheir car and picked up 3ali from school. 5n the eastcoast, around +ashin ton, ?3, it%s not safe to trustpeople J and certainly not &ith your car or yourchildren. But thin s are different in Te2as / thatmuch &as clear "ust by the &ay stran ers talk to one

another. This &as all entirely no$el to me, and it &asfar from the last time my hori ons &ere broadenedby an opportunity i$en to me by competiti$e

amin .

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Te2as &as &onderful. The &eather &as perfect,plenty hot but refreshin ly bereft of ?3 humidity,and the nei hborhood in &hich &e stayed &asbeautiful. ) fondly remember spendin time "ust&alkin around the area by myself and countin thepeople &ho said ;hello< to me. And for those &hoha$e ne$er been to Te2as, e$erythin really is bi er.From the people and their personalities, to theircars, and to the stores. Team Ben $isited a +almartthat &as the si e of a small to&n and &e spentalmost an hour there "ust runnin around andmar$elin at its si e and scope.

+hen &e arri$ed at the tournament it &as asimilar feelin . )%d ne$er seen so many T#s my life,lined a ainst the &alls and s(uee ed to ether ontables fillin up e$ery inch of the $enue. And )%d alsone$er seen such a collection of nerds before! )t &asse$eral hundred people in one rand amin center9people &ere there for other ames besides >elee ,and it &as ripe for people &atchin .

The champion from 3alifornia 4en 'oan &as

there, and if this story has a $illain, &e surely meethim no&. 4en &as the undisputed best in the &orldfor many years / to see him lose at all &as (uiterare. 'o&e$er, 4en &as not humble, or really a niceperson at all. 'e had a palpable air of smu nessabout him, and not "ust concernin the ame at

hand, but people in eneral.4en is my a e 9&hich &ould make him about 0 /

00 durin the timeline of our story , #ietnamese, and&ore a persistently sour look on his face. ) fail to

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describe him better than this: to me he al&ayslooked like he &as in the middle of eatin somethinreally terrible. 'e not only made it on the Gabonseason of -ur$i$or, but actually made it to the topfi$e 9the cle$er bastard . -o if anyone sa& thatseason of the sho&, ) trust they kno& &hat ) meanabout the smu ness.

But he &as immensely talented. 'is ameplayitself ne$er impressed me, &hich &as &hat &as soimpressi$e about him. You could ne$er put yourfin er on e2actly &hy he &as so dominant1 he "ustkne& ho& to cut throu h people and et ri ht to the&in. ) admired that, the &ay ) admire pro&ess in anyfield, and 4en certainly had that. 'e &as undefeatedin doubles play &ith his partner, )sai, and $irtuallyundefeated in sin les play.

4en &as my ri$al, not only as a result of mutualdisdain, but also because of the characters &eplayed. 4en &as another >arth player to my Peach,&hich meant by definition ) &as not afraid of him. )nfact, ) sa& it as my destiny to beat him at a ma"or

tournament.>y chance came in Eo$ember of that year, at

>a"or ea ue Gamin %s 0 0 D playoffstournament in Atlanta, GA. )t &as a bi day in mycompetiti$e career. >y first match of the day &asa ainst my lon time mentor, the person after &hom

) modeled much of my Peach playstyle, >ike G. ) hadlost to him at least three times in pre$ioustournaments, but here, on this day, the &inner of ourmatch ot to face 4en. -o ) did &hat ) had to do and )

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bested >ike that day and it &as nothin short ofmomentous for me. >y strate y &as simple: ) kne&by then ) &as mature enou h to understand histricks, e$en if ) &asn%t as ood as he &as, and so )tried a different tactic &ith him. ) &atched hischaracter $ery carefully durin our ames, asopposed to &atchin my o&n, and basically did mybest to mimic his mo$ements, and tried to "ust stay abit ahead of him.

>y strate y pro$ed effecti$e enou h, and &ith ahandshake and my heart in my throat, ) preparedmyself for &hat mi ht be the bi est match of mylife. 4en kne& damn &ell ho& epic it &ould be, but&hen ) approached him to say M54, letNs do thisM allhe could muster up &as a sort of roan ofackno&led ment. 'e &as playin &ith a friend, andsho&ed no intention of ettin up, so ) stepped infront of the T# / ) had &aited years for this and )&asn%t in the mood to &ait any lon er.

+e plu ed in and started the first ame up, andri ht a&ay he started to &ail on me. 'e took my first

t&o li$es before ) took his first, and )%m sure toonlookers ) looked like "ust another of 4en%splaythin s. But the truth &as that ) felt cool as acucumber. Eothin he &as doin &as surprisin me1 )felt completely in control. -o ) let my instincts takeo$er and made the comeback. C .

But then, in the second match, 4en came backhard on me &ith his counterpick sta e. )ncompetiti$e >elee, the loser ets to pick the ne2tsta e, and so 4en chose the sta e on &hich >arth has

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the reatest ad$anta e. 'e didn%t reali e that>arth%s best sta e &ould also be my best sta e, andfoolishly set himself up for failure. Game t&o alsore(uired a comeback, but ) didn%t break a s&eat. 0 .

82cept at this point it da&ned on me that ) &asone &in a&ay from bestin both my Peach idol andthe best player in the &orld in si2 consecuti$e

ames. The &ei ht of all this started to set in, andthat%s &hen ) started to et ner$ous.

4en then s&itched from >arth to Fo2 and tookame three from me, althou h it &as $ery close.

Then he s&itched back to >arth and someho& tookame four as &ell. Then ) started to et really

ner$ous. This &as the most hi h profile match ) hadplayed up to that time, and ) &as not e(uipped tohandle the pressure. >y hands started to shake andmy breath started to catch.

Game fi$e be an and ) came out stron . There&as no back and forth, but rather ) found a &ay tostay consistently ahead. The ame &as near an end&hen 4en had only one life and ) had t&o. But my

mind &as miles a&ay / ) &as playin out in my head&hat it &ould be like if ) &on, and &hat it &ould belike if ) lost. 'e be an to close the ap little by little,but ) remained ahead. All this time ) &as oin cra yin my head: ;4en is ready to die, he%s ready to lose.)%ll be the first player to take a ma"or set from him.

@ust one more hit and the match is mine.< But )simply / could not control / my character. Peach&ould not do &hat ) &anted her to do, not &ith myshakin hands.

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)n the end ) couldn%t hold on and ) lost. Thedefeat hit hard and ) didn%t handle it racefully.

That ame has nearly C , $ie&s on YouTube,and ) can tell you none of them are mine / ) canNtbear it. ) often think ho& my entire competiti$ecareer &ould ha$e been chan ed had ) beaten 4enthat day.

) ne$er a ain ot the chance to play him intournament.

IIIII

7appers ha$e probably "ust one thin in common&ith competiti$e $ideo ame players: they ha$epseudonyms. There are those rappers &ho abstain,&ho "ust use their real names, but more common arerappers &ith names like 8minem, or )ce 3ube. Puff?addy. 3ent. -noop ?o / -noop ion. Thesenames sound ridiculous by themsel$es, but it%ssomethin &e enerally "ust accept J and a personcalled Puff ?addy can sell OC concert tickets.

And so it is &ith amers. They ha$e names like>ana3loud, or Tink. ?#-. 7ock 3rock. Take thenames out of the conte2t of a ti htly knit subcultureand they sound silly, but inside of the bubble theydon%t sound stran e at all. The names take on ameanin of their o&n, and they can carry a lot of

&ei ht or be intimidatin . But sadly this is somethinthat doesn%t translate into the real &orld1 peoplelook at you &ith somethin short of en$y &hen you

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tell them you beat ?r. Peepee, e$en thou h theyshould be damn impressed.

) came up &ith my pseudonym before oin to mysecond tournament, and ) sa& it as somethin of a"oke. ) had no idea ) &ould be creatin an alternateidentity to &hich ) &ould become permanentlyaffi2ed. ) played Princess Peach, and instead of thetrademark pink, ) al&ays chose the &hite costume. )took a look at the irl in the lon &hite dress andthou ht . . . +ife.

There%s a $ery talented player out of 4ansas&hose pseudonym is ?arkrain. 'o& cool is that?arkrain. )%m +ife. >y team partner 'usband, ofcourse, and our team &as The Ee&ly&eds 9this &aspartially a ton ue in cheek reference to Eick and@essica%s sho& on >T# at the time .

+ife. )f ) could o back and choose morecarefully, yes, ) &ould. )f ) kne& the name ) picked&as oin to appear in ne&spaper articles, and on apla(ue han in in my apartment, it most assuredly&ouldn%t be +ife. )f ) someho& could ha$e kno&n

that more people &ould kno& me by my amer namethan the one my parents a$e me, that people &ouldreco ni e the +ife alias in 3anada and 8urope and@apan, ) could ha$e picked somethin cool andintimidatin . ) could ha$e sa$ed myself ha$in toe2plain t&o million times, ;Eo, )%m not ay. Yes, )

kno& ho& it sounds.<And ) could ha$e sa$ed myself a lot of

embarrassment, but )%m lad for it. )%m lad fore$ery time ) had to tell someone from the real &orld

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that ) o by +ife in another &orld. )%m rateful fore$ery time that my secret became kno&n, e$enthou h ) tried to hide it, like &hen ) &as outed at&ork by one of my employees &ho happened tofollo& competiti$e >elee. 'e kne& about Team Ben,and e$entually one day in the office he put it allto ether and e2claimed, to my horror, ;oh my od,&ait / you%re +ife!!<

Another time a local ne&spaper &anted to &ritean article about 4e$in and me. After he met &ith usand ot his inter$ie&, ) started ettin an2iousbecause ) reali ed my irlfriend%s family, and&home$er else, mi ht read it. ) didn%t feel confidentenou h to admit to my alter e o, and ) &ent so far asto call the reporter and ask him to omit ourpseudonyms from the article. 'e did.

)%m ashamed that ) didn%t ha$e the coura e too&n up to somethin as inconse(uential as a name.+hat%s in a name But ) &as shallo& enou h and selfconscious enou h to be embarrassed, and that &astruly the emasculatin part. Thankfully, )%$e since

found in myself the inte rity and the sincerity tokeep my chin up and my $oice clear &hen ) talkabout my time as a competiti$e $ideo ame player /e$en the nomenclature.

-idebar: +hat is 4en%s pseudonym, you ask 'edidn%t ha$e one1 he "ust &ent by 4en. This tells us

t&o thin s about him. The first, it tells us that he%sborin . The second, and you ha$e to i$e him creditfor this, it tells us that he &as such a po&erhouse

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that his common first name &as enou h to create areputation.

The upside to ha$in a pseudonym is theopportunity to create a second personality. 'o&many people et to say they%$e had that chanceBecause &hile ) &as $enturin into the &orld ofcompetiti$e amin , ) &as also maintainin a9relati$ely normal life at colle e: ) &ent to parties, )had a fe& non amer friends. )t seems someho&unfair that ) so freely chose one &orld to call the;real< &orld and one set of people the ;normal<people, but that%s the perspecti$e &hich seemedine$itable. )%$e certainly prided myself on my abilityto &alk in these t&o different &orlds, but if e$er )&as bein honest, ) &ould admit to my preference forthe &orld of competiti$e amin . +ife%s &orld.

And the reason is ad$enture. 3ompetiti$eamin &as one bi ad$enture / one &ith heroes and

$illains, unchartered territory, and traininmonta es. )t seemed like e$eryone in the real &orld&as li$in sli htly different $ersions of the same

story, &hile in my secret &orld ) &as constantlyapproachin ne& frontiers. +ho could resist that

And yet one &orld &as real, the other afantasy. -tatus (uo is a po&erful thin , and sofollo&ed t&o astoundin ly separate people. 3hris &assilly, humble, and aloof. +ife &as a ressi$e,

intense, and a leader. ) al&ays liked +ife better / )fi ured he had it in him to be more successful than3hris. 'e "ust needed the ri ht sta e . . .

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MLG New YorkSeason Opener

By 0 D, there &as a $ery stron little communityin place. There &as a kinship bet&een players allacross the country, and, despite little ri$alries,people seemed to act like they &ere members of onebi fraternity. )n fact a ne& mentality &as ainin

popularity around that time, one of camaraderie andood faith / &hich ) happened to think &as bullshit.

This ne&ly found brotherhood e2hibited itself in ane& kind of tournament format, also bullshit, &hichplaced a reater emphasis on pool play. 7ather than"ust thro& e$ery entrant into a double elimination

bracket and &ish them luck, tournament or ani ers&ould boast ;more matches for your money.< Andslo&ly but surely, the community at lar e becamesoft.

To anyone &ho &ould listen, ) &ould e2poundupon the $irtues of traditional competition and the

cut throat competiti$e spirit that ) started out in.+hile ) empathi ed &ith the dra& of inclusi$ity, ) sa&it as a threat to the competiti$e spirit that dro$epro ress1 ) liked it better &hen the only &ay a playercould earn respect &as to produce results. Then, tomy horror, a trend de$eloped &here the remainint&o or three players in a tournament &ould consentto splittin the &innin s and claimin a tie for firstplace.

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Bullshit. Eot only did ) not subscribe to this hippy,free lo$in mantra, ) became more and morea ressi$e in an attempt to combat it. At atournament in Philadelphia, ) &as playin in the

rand finals for doubles, &ith the odds se$erely in myteam%s fa$or. +hen ) plainly refused to a ree to splitthe pot, one of my opponents said, ;come on, ) ha$ebills to pay.< ) fired back, ;&ell then ) uess youbetter play your best.<

This attitude of mine, shared by 4e$in and to alesser e2tent >anus, earned us a reputation for beinelitist 9&hich &e probably &ere . )t be an toseparate us from the community, especially our localone, &hich &as a shame. -till, &e belie$ed pro ressto be of paramount importance, and &e belie$ed>elee a or eous and structurally perfect ame. +esa& no reason &e couldn%t make a career out of it.

The >elee community suffered perhaps itsreatest step back&ards as tournaments became so

centered around sociali in that people startedbrin in alon alcohol. 3ompetiti$e >elee &as

re ressin into somethin that resembled an e$eryother -unday ultimate Frisbee lea ue, &hen ) &astryin to turn to into a le itimate sport. -o &hen>a"or ea ue Gamin 9> G pro$ided a $enue tomake this happen, all ) needed to kno& &as &here tosi n.

-e$eral upstarts had tried to turn competiti$eamin into a mainstream sport, the &ay it is in

4orea, but the first to ain the attention of theeneral public &as > G. Team Ben had attended

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many of its 0 / 0 D season e$ents, but there&ere far rander thin s promised for the 0 D / 0 *season. This season &as announced to encompassse$en e$ents in ma"or cities around the country /fi$e re ular season e$ents, playoffs, and thechampionships in and unannounced location. And lotsof pri e money. The company &as already aininmomentum, but &hen it &as a&arded OC million in$enture capital in February of 0 D, > G suddenlybecame positioned to dramatically and permanentlychan e the face of competiti$e amin in the Knited-tates.

IIIII

5n April C*, 0 D, > G announced its tele$isionseries. ) &as at &ork &hen ) ot &ord of the T# deal,and ) "ust read and reread the press releases, unableto make any sense of them. There is no apropos &ayto beha$e &hen a fantasy comes true, e2cept tosuspect you ha$e misunderstood the ne&s you ha$e

been i$en. ) learned there &ould be se$en episodes,co$erin each e$ent of the season, and it &ould airon K-A, &hich &as the most &atched cable net&orkat the time.

The story &as picked up by The +all -treet@ournal, Forbes, the Times, the Post, and all of the

ma"or ne&s net&orks. 3EE called it ;a ne& type ofentertainment . . . takin $ideo ame playin to a&hole ne& le$el,< and the 'olly&ood 7eporter said

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the series &ould ;brin professional $ideo amin toa broader audience this holiday season.<

Eot only did the idea of cameras and li hts andspectators make me iddy &ith e2citement, it alsospoke to my desire to see competiti$e aminproperly packa ed, moneti ed, and sold. ) sat at mycomputer, at my desk, &ith my eyes &ide and mymouth open like an idiot. ) &anted nothin more thanto be brou ht to a lar er audience this holidayseason. > G, ho& did you kno&

7euters hi hli hted the brand ne& sponsorshipsfrom Boost >obile and -cion, &hich meant a lot ofmoney comin in. >oney dra&s competitors,competitors dra& spectators, and spectators dra&more sponsorships thereby attractin morecompetitors. ) let my ima ination take competiti$e

amin to mainstream le$els, &here star playerscould be household names. As then 385 >atthe&Bromber liked to say, ;9competiti$e amin is&here poker &as t&o years a o, or EA-3A7 C yearsa o.<

Fo2 ne&s e$en called competiti$e amin ;aserious sport for professionals.< Eo&, ) had been to alot of tournaments, and there &ere $ery fe& people )had met &ho deser$ed the descriptors serious orprofessional. )t suddenly occurred to me that thecommunity mi ht not be ready for somethin like this

/ but there &as no time to &orry / console aminhad its first nationally tele$ised e$ent in "ust fi$edays, and ) intended to be ood and ready.

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IIIII

At H: am on -aturday, April 00 nd, at the>eado&lands 82position 3enter in Ee& @ersey, theline of amers &rapped around the buildin . Becauseof my rankin from the 0 / 0 D season, ) &asenterin the first e$ent &ith ;pro player< status. Proplayers, ) learned, are not sub"ected to &aitin inline. After bein brou ht ri ht to the re istrationdesk, a staffer a$e me my credentials, asked me tosi n a &ai$er for K-A, and finally presented me &ithmy pro player )? bad e. )t &as pretty and it &aslaminated and it made me feel important.

-teppin into the $enue &as surreal, in no smallpart because of the rand scale. There &ere do ensand do ens of 60%% T#s, lined up in neat ro&s,separated by red $el$et ropes. 3ameras on iantcranes lided abo$e the arena, 0 feet in the air. )remember bein surprised to see so many peoplemo$in around &ith purpose, &hich a$e a $erydifferent feelin than the fan run tournaments ) had

been to. There &as a Toyota -cion parked ri ht therein the $enue

The centerpiece of the arena &as the main sta e,&here the most prominent and e2citin matches&ere to take place. The sta e &as spotli hted &ith&arm blue and purple li htin , &ith ei ht T#s set up

and ro&s of bleacher seatin for spectators. Behindthe players% chairs hun "umbo screens to broadcastthe match to the &hole arena.

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) &andered around in a&e for a &hile, takin itall in, until ) came upon the Pro Players loun e. Thisis a roped off area, entrance to &hich is offerede2clusi$ely to players boastin ;Pro< status. At this,my e o heart re& three si es. There &ere redleather couches, a refreshment area &ith drinks anda full spread of food, and classic arcade machines.There &as e$en a security uard standin outside tomake sure no riffraff ot in.

) loaded up on some snacks, then laid do&n onone of the couches and closed my eyes. +hen )opened them there &as a photo rapher takin mypicture as ) lay there. And ) remember clear as daythinkin to myself, ;This is it. This is &hat you%$ebeen &orkin for. 8n"oy this.<

The lamor suited Team Ben (uite nicely, and )played on point that day. The Ee&ly&eds &ere onfire, burnin throu h teams ) &ouldn%t ha$e thou ht&e could beat, includin a ri$al team from 3rystal3ity, Te2as. 5ur team made it all the &ay to&inner%s bracket semifinals, &here &e &ere pitted

a ainst a top ranked team from Ee& York 3ity.EY3 fans and players ha$e a reputation for bein

ro&dy in the &orld of >elee "ust like in the real&orld, so &e kne& &hat to e2pect. And bein ontheir home turf, at the first e$ent of the season,meant &e &ere sub"ected to lots of shoutin and

trash talk. Eormally ) &ould "ust keep myheadphones in and tune e$erybody out, but &ith thecameras on, thin s &ere different for me. They

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brou ht out an alto ether fearless $ersion of +ife,and ) didn%t &ant to miss a thin .

The match &as tied up at t&o ames each, and as&e headed into ame fi$e ) found myself actuallyshoutin do&n our opponents &hile ) played. All thecommotion brou ht more spectators, and thespectators brou ht more cameras. 5ut of the cornerof my eye ) noticed the producer callin for morecameramen to come o$er, and the boom micoperator ed in closer to me J all of &hich ) s&earimpro$ed my play. +hile &e didn%t pull out the &in,it &as one of the most e2hilaratin e2periences of mycareer.

IIIII

The main e$ent of any tournament is the sin lescompetition, and the > G season opener did not failto deli$er. 4en, predictably, made it to finals, but hisopponent &as a bit of a surprise. )n the other corner&as a player called P3 3hris, named for his

hometo&n of Port 3hester, EY. P3 3hris, real name3hris - y iel, is honestly "ust a reat uy, the kind ofperson &ho is e$eryone%s friend. 'e &asapproachable, humble, and talented in the inherentkind of &ay. The story is that P3 didn%t e$en o&n the

ame, and yet played it like he had been practicin

all his life. 'e &as already earnin a name forhimself in the Tri state area, but to say he &as theunderdo in the match to determine first place &ouldbe a ross understatement, as 4en%s title of

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champion &as only e$er seriously challen ed by oneperson: 3hristopher >c>ullen, our master of di$ersityfrom 3hapter C, &ho &ill henceforth be referred toby his ta , ;A en.< A en unfortunately had onemissin as of late, and besides, the li hts andcommotion of this tournament &ouldn%t ha$e suitedhim &ell at all.

-o 4en &as the o$er&helmin fa$orite oin into> G Ee& York, but came upon (uite a surprise in P33hris. P3 had a stylish playstyle &hich in$ol$edsimplifyin the ame do&n to its basics1 he "ust made&ise and patient decisions. ) mar$eled at the &ay he&ould spend up and slo& do&n durin any i$en

ame, &hich made him hard to predict and alsodisrupted the rhythm of the match. -omeho& P3%sstyle &as "ust too much for 4en and the iant, toe$eryone%s shock, fell. The ames &ent back andforth, but ultimately P3 3hris ed ed out 4en for the$ictory, O0, in pri e money, and > G and -mashBros. history. )t made me feel better about losin tohis team.

The Ee&ly&eds earned a = th place finish at theseason opener, &hich is a respectable placin and adecent paycheck, but more importantly ) had otten&hat ) truly came for / the sport.

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MLG allasT!e Sport

For the 0 D 0 * season, > G introduced a ne&competition format. By introducin ;amateur< and;pro< brackets, players ranked top CD &ere onlyre(uired to play in the final half day of competition,rather than &adin throu h a fe& hundred

participants to et to the crucial matches. This didt&o thin s: first, it made our competitions more likea mainstream sport. Professional athletes don%tcompete for t&o days nonstop, and they certainlydon%t bother playin opponents &ho are out of theirlea ue 9speakin literally, not fi urati$ely . -econd,

it freed up committed players like me to double ascommentators, officials, and coaches Jcharacteristics trademark of a most popular sports.By > G ?allas, the number one (uestion on my mindis, ;ho& can ) transform our buddin pseudo sportinto somethin out of &hich ) can make a career

Because one thin Ns for sure, ) don%t &ant to o backto a life &here )%m not a pro amer.< -o let%s et to&ork.

First, commentary. +hat professional sport hasno commentary Thankfully, > G &as prepared &iththe resources, and &e &ere able to set up a beautifulcommentary station &here my co commentator and )could &atch the match on a separate screen andoffer player analysis. This commentary &as not only

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recorded, but also streamed out to fans &ith asubscription to > GPro.com. Brilliant.

Ee2t up, coaches. +hat is an athlete &ithout acoach Team Ben championed the mo$ement tointroduce coachin to the ame, and &e insisted onha$in another member of our cre& nearby to talk usthrou h each match, like a coach &ould do for abo2er. ;That%s it, in and out, in and out. +hen he

oes after you "ust fei n out and then in, don%t lethim catch you standin still.< 'alf&ay throu h theseason > G decided to make coachin le al onlybet&een ames, &hich must ha$e had somethin todo &ith our antics.

Ee2t, sponsors. A true athlete isn%t &orryinabout ho& to buy his plane ticket, because he hasTide or some other company payin him to &ear theirlo o. +hy should amers be any different -o )&orked for months to et us a sponsor / ) must ha$e&ritten to o$er t&o hundred companies, e2plaininthe benefits of the e2posure they &ould et. ) had anuntapped market, ) &ould e2plain in these letters.

8$entually ) found our sponsor in none other than+hite 3astle1 they paid for T shirts &ith our namesand their lo os on them, and co$ered our tra$ele2penses. Bin o.

Publicity / ) scored an article in my local paperas &ell as in an online amin publication, to et the

Team Ben name out there. 7ankin s / ) helped foundand operate an independent rankin system thata re ated the opinions of top players from eachre ion of the K- to create a list of the top 0 players

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in the country. Trainin camp / 4e$in and ) be anofferin lessons for O0 Qhour to train the ne2t

eneration of pro players. Then ) be an lookin intothe future:

-pectators They%ll come in time. Kniforms Eo,people aren%t (uite ready for that yet. 3elebrities+ell, &e mi ht be dreamin a bit bi there.

) in$ested all of my time and ener y into thesepro"ects. ) felt an o&nership o$er competiti$e >eleeand ) &as committed to helpin it ain momentum soit could be the reat sport ) kne& it could. Thishobby &as ro&in into somethin more, and itoffered all of us in Team Ben an outlet for all of ourener y and frustration . . .

IIIII

ife back in the real &orld &as difficult, to offeran understatement. ) &as tryin to put the piecesback to ether, &hich &as made e$er more difficultby the seemin ly endless parade of nonsense related

to Ben%s death. ) had lost lo$ed ones before, but inmy e2perience there hadn%t been more to do than

rie$e, cope, and e$entually mo$e on. But in thecase of a $iolent crime, there is oh so much to do,for years to follo&.

Firstly, there &as the trial. ) had mo$ed a&ay to

colle e at this point, but &as obli ed to come backto my hometo&n not only for the trial itself, but forother necessities like meetin &ith attorneys aheadof time to practice testimony. The days of the trial

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coincided &ith my e2ams, and ) had to reschedulethem. -o instead of partyin the day after finals likee$eryone else, ) packed up early and ser$ed as a key&itness in a C st de ree murder trial. -uch thin s canmake a person bitter.

But the trial &as "ust the start. There are alsoappeals / so many appeals / &hich consist of a manin a cheap suit &ho cannot pronounce Ben%s lastname correctly tryin to ar ue that his murderer isready to be released back into society. The samesociety in &hich my little brother li$es. -uch notionscan make a person sick.

Then there are the little thin s one &ouldn%te2pect. ike the media, di in up the &hole messfor a ood human interest story. 5r e$en stran ere$ents, like &hen some clo&n, ha$in ne$er met anyof us, decided to &rite and sta e an off Broad&ayplay about the e$ents surroundin Ben%s murder. 'ein$ented his o&n drama, in &hich &e &ere allcharacters, and used each of our real names &ithoutso much as a &arnin 1 ) found out about it on

Facebook. +ho are these people &ho do this sort ofthin -uch (uestions can make a person tired.

Then there is the simple fact that you know amurderer . This chan es e$erythin . You catchyourself thinkin &hat you%d do if you sa& thatperson in the supermarket one day . . . but ) di ress.

-uffice it to say, there &as plenty to run from in thereal &orld, and ) had found a mercifully separate&orld in &hich to escape.

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)t &asn%t that the amers &ho occupied this other&orld didn%t kno& about my situation, but that noone cared. Gamers don%t really make small talk, andthey don%t feel obli ed to do thin s like ask (uestionsto &hich they don%t &ant to kno& the ans&ers. )fforced to mention that ) missed a tournament to oto a parole hearin for the murderer of my team%snamesake, a amer mi ht (uietly consider this for amoment and then "ust lea$e it be / &ithout theo$erly sympathetic eyes and the furro&ed bro&, and&ithout se$eral unpleasant follo& up (uestions.

The competiti$e >elee subculture is made upmostly of nerds, many of &hom are indeed $erysocially a&k&ard, but to me this makes themblissfully easy to spend time &ith. Eo one tries toimpress each other, there aren%t really cli(ues, andsilence is okay. ) like silence. )f players don%t feellike talkin they "ust don%t, because the ame isenou h communication by itself.

-o escapin to > G ?allas for the second e$ent ofthe 0 D 0 * season &as all ) could ask for. ) &as

rateful for the comfort of bein around other nerdsand "ust lettin my uard do&n, complemented bythe lit and lamor of > G%s rand $enues andperks. ) &as chuffed to learn that for my fourth placefinish in doubles at the season opener, ) &as i$en astipend to spend on airfare and hotel

accommodations.) had a reasonably ood sin les run, beatin my

lon time local ri$al 3hu ?at, and The Ee&ly&edsplaced th in doubles. Plus it &as "ust fantastic to be

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back in Te2as. For this tournament ) $olunteered as astaffer, helpin to run the e$ent and deli$ercommentary. And, as e2pected, the rematchbet&een 4en and P3 3hris &as the clima2 of thetournament.

'ere &e see the difference bet&een the t&oplayers: P3 played mostly on instinct, &hereas 4en&as a more conscientious player / the kind &hoplans ahead. 4en hadn%t planned, ) don%t think, forthe contin ency that &as P3 3hris at the seasonopener, and P3%s uni(ue and difficult to follo& styletook him off uard. 'o&e$er, he used the time inbet&een e$ents to study the $ideos and prepare fortheir rematch.

-omethin in those $ideos inspired 4en to dustoff an old mo$e called the ;counter,< &hich &asrarely used in tournament play. +hen e2ecutedproperly, >arth%s counter takes his opponent%s attackand turns it into a hit of his o&n, sort of like his parryas a s&ordsman. 'o&e$er, if >arth uses this mo$eand it does not connect, he is e2posed by a

considerable amount of la , &hich is &hy it &asrarely utili ed.

-o oin into the first ame, P3 3hris &as assurprised as the audience &hen he ot counteredo$er and o$er a ain. The tactic &as beautiful, as itused P3%s a ressi$eness a ainst him. 4en%s in enuity

really impressed me, and it made me think that hecould be a ood coach one day. P3 3hris &as not ableto find an ans&er to the counter before the match&as o$er, and 4en reclaimed his cro&n.

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MLG Ana!eimLo"e o# t!e Game

The first t&o e$ents of the season &ere a dreamcome true. The bri ht li hts and the bi screensseemed to be put there "ust for me, to spotli ht the

ame ) lo$ed so dearly. To date, and ) kno& this iscontro$ersial, but to date ) think it%s the best ame

e$er created.) think it%s better than football. There, ) said it.) think the ame holds a beauty that is

unmatched by other sports. ) think the ame / &henplayed at its hi hest le$el / is a &ork of art, more sothan sports like olf or baseball. 'i h le$el matches

are e2tremely fast paced, &ithout breaks of any sort,and they appear to be choreo raphed like some kindof dance.

Kndoubtedly, the point opponents of my theory&ould make first is that football players are athletes.Players &ho ha$e physical pro&ess on the field tend

to create a&e in the rest of us. But professionalamers are athletes too, "ust of a different kind.They ha$e some skills they are born &ith, some theyspend years craftin .

)n 0 D, a silly little ame &as floatin aroundonline that tested a person%s reaction time by ha$inhim click a lar e dot as soon as it chan ed colorsfrom red to reen. There &ere thousands of peopleplayin this ame, but the top names on the rankin

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chart &ere some of the hi hest ranked players incompetiti$e amin .

The difference bet&een an amateur footballplayer and a professional one are easily seen in hu elats and shockin displays of force, &hereas a

amer%s skill is measured in fractions of a second,&hich makes their talent harder to reco ni e andappreciate. )n an effort to brid e that ap, let usto ether e2plore some of the nuances of competiti$e>elee.

The speed and efficiency of a player%s characteris paramount, and it rests on his ability to utili ee$ery frame a$ailable1 pressin do&n at .6 secondsas opposed to . seconds after lea$in the roundcan separate a reat player from a spectacular one.)t takes a lon time to become comfortable enou h&ith the fin er mo$ements re(uired to mo$e &ithspeed and adaptability, &hich is the first thin a ne&player needs to learn. But once speed is attained,there are &hole other &orlds of technical skill to bee2plored.

To be in &ith, there is directional influence 9or?.). . ?.). is the sin le most important technical skillfor a player to possess, thou h it necessarily comes&ith e2perience and not "ust practice. This re(uiresan understandin of &ei ht, ra$ity, and percenta e.To e2plain:

+hen a character is hit 9or thro&n , the amecalculates the distance and direction the character&ill fly throu h the air, and this is dependent on thestruck player%s percenta e. 8ach time a character is

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hit, he ains a predetermined amount of percenta e1the hi her the player%s current percenta e, thefarther the character flies.

Therefore, an e2perienced player &ill need toanticipate ho& far his enemies &ill be fly &hen hit,so that he mi ht predict &here they &ill land, so thathe may follo& up &ith another hit to create a comboor to apply pressure. Throu h e2perience, he learnsho& far >arth &ill thro& Peach at 0 R, 6 R, H R,C= R, etc. And this is different than ho& far >arth&ill thro& 0ario at 0 R, 6 R, H R, C= R.

8asy enou h so far, but here%s the trick: a playercan influence &here his character is sent by holdin acertain direction on the "oystick. This ser$es t&opurposes: the first is to a$oid combos, and thesecond is to a$oid losin a life.

To understand the first purpose of ?.)., ima inethat the sta e is a bo2 9a rectan le, to be precise ,and that you need to stay inside this bo2 / if you flyoff the ed es you lose one of your li$es. -o if you arehit by somethin po&erful and o flyin , you%ll &ant

to use the "oystick to influence the direction in &hichyour character is hit so that &on%t happen. )f yourcharacter is threatened to die off the top, try toinfluence his direction left or ri ht1 if your characteris threatened to die off the sides, influence yourdirection up&ards. )t is (uite difficult to a kno&

e2actly &hich &ay e$ery mo$e &ill hit you and banticipate &hich mo$e your opponent &ill do,because there is a $ery small &indo& of time for acharacter to apply ?.).

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And there are more subtleties still, if &e del$edeeper. There are shades of increasin ly impressi$e?.)., &hich often inspire a&e in educated onlookersas they &atch characters sur$i$e seemin lyimpossible scenarios. Also, a player can et a ;po&er?.).< if he inputs the direction at the e2act momenthe is hit. But the real key to spectacular ?.). isaccurately influencin your character%s direction tothe optimal de ree. For e2ample, if your character ishit to the left, hard, your only hope to sur$i$e mi htbe to uide your character to the deepest nook ofthe upper left corner, &here there is the most roombefore the bo2 ends. This re(uires e2treme precision,as &ell as spatial a&areness.

To understand the second purpose of ?.).,ima ine that you are playin a ainst a >arth9&hether it%s 4en or 'usband or A en, that%s up toyou . The >arth rabs you and thro&s you up&ards,and &hen he does so, you ha$e the chance toinfluence your direction. -o there you are, up in theair, and >arth is &aitin belo& you &ith his s&ord /

&here do you &ant to be +ell, you could try and?.). in front of >arth as far as possible to et out ofran e of his up&ard attack, e2cept then he mi ht usea po&erful and far reachin for&ard attack to catchyou, and &hen he does you &ill be holdin a&ay, andso &ill fly farther a&ay from the sta e. -o you could

?.). behind >arth instead and try to et behind him,e2cept that then he mi ht "ust turn around and rabyou a ain. )t depends on &hat this >arth is e2pectinyou to do. And your character. And your percent.


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And, for that matter, ho& talented your opponentand ho& stron his spacin . )t is a battle of &its andtechnical skill alike.

Another key element to ad$anced ameplay issomethin called spacin . -pacin is puttin theoptimal amount of space bet&een you and youropponent &hen you attack, and at its mostelementary this means the ma2imum amount ofspace. This makes sense fundamentally: you &ould&ant to be as far a&ay as possible from youropponent to land your hit, so that retaliation &ouldnot come as s&iftly if you missed. 'o&e$er, thin s

et more complicated &hen mo$es ha$e differentproperties &hen used at different distances1 a ain,&e look to >arth for prime e2amples of this.

-idebar: ) belie$e >arth to be the epitome ofhi h le$el >elee. ) do in fact belie$e him to be thebest character 9thou h this theory is not &idelyaccepted , but more importantly ) feel he "ustrepresents the best of the ame. Aesthetically, &hocan match him 'e has a flo&in cape, an ele ant

s&ord, and he%s manly enou h to &ear a headband totame his &ild hair. Functionally, he lides all o$erthe sta e and makes his combos look effortless. Toeducated readers, ) say to you that >arth is the best,because if played perfectly he &ill ne$er be hit. Tonon educated readers, ) encoura e you to find in

>arth the essence of intricate, e2actin , stylish $ideoamin .

But back to spacin . The $ery tip of >arth%ss&ord beha$es differently than the rest of it, and

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players must position themsel$es so that theiropponents are hit &ith the area of the s&ord thatthey desire. 5n the round, &e see the tip sendopponents flyin $ery far, &hile the rest of the s&ordis much &eaker. )n the air, &e see the tip of thes&ord send opponents up&ard, but the rest of thes&ord sendin them for&ard. 3hoices, both for the>arth and for his opponent, because each decisionthe >arth makes must be anticipated by his opponentif there is to be proper ?.).

And it is not until a player has a firm rasp oncomple2 skills such as these that he may truly be into implement &hat &e call ;mind ames.<

The one on one format of the ame is bestcompared, ) think, to fencin . A sport in &hich theposition of your feet or a tilt of your head mi htinfluence your opponent%s choices, and the fi ht isone for control. )s your opponent easily shaken, and&ill a ressi$eness thro& him off balance 5r is heimpatient, and &ill start makin mistakes if you &aithim out

>ind ames encompass decisions like this, butTeam Ben and other eccentric players implementedmore uncon$entional strate ies too. For e2ample, )made a habit of consultin &ith a coach bet&een

ames simply to break momentum, if ) felt myopponent &ould suffer for it. )%d "ust lean o$er and

&hisper about lunch plans. 'usband san &hile heplayed, a habit &hich he &as perfectly a&are dro$ehis opponents nuts. ) kne& a player &ho &ouldactually manipulate the noises his controller made,

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in case his opponent &as consciously orsubconsciously makin decisions based on thosesounds.

Gainin influence o$er your opponent%s actionsthrou h pressure and mind ames is a skill &ith noceilin . 7eaction time and skill &ith the controllercan theoretically be mastered, but ) don%t think>elee has seen any ;masters.< )%$e been &atchinthe ame for o$er C years as of this &ritin , and )%$enot seen the ceilin , e$en as far as technical skill

oes. 8ach year the players not only look faster, butare e$en inventing ne& maneu$ers.

And on top of these 9some&hat accessible tacticsare a myriad of technical maneu$ers that &ould betoo much to e2plain in a book meant to hold anarrati$e of some sort. >aneu$ers such as&a$edashin , chain thro&in , platform cancelin ,"ab reset, pi$otin , and The Gentlemen, each of&hich are used to reduce la , enhance mo$ement, oren a e your opponent. This list of comple2 tricks Jsome of &hich &ere put in the ame by the

desi ners, some of &hich are litches forced intoe2istence by the players J ro&s e$ery year. And thenthere is style J >elee is a ame &ith so much style.

5ften times a player%s personality is reflected inhis form1 in other cases, like mine, a person mi htha$e a style that is completely contrastin to his

personality. ) &as a pretty nice and unassumin uyin real life, and particularly in 0 D ) &ould ha$emuch rather listened to a con$ersation than startedone, but my Peach &as hyper a ressi$e. )n fact, )

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don%t kno& that anyone played Peach like me / sheis supposed to be a reacti$e character, anddefensi$e. But &ith me it &as al&ays o, o, o. Pureoffense. ) think ultimately it held me back as acompetitor, but ) "ust couldn%t find pleasure insteady, measured mo$ement / the "oy came fromplayin Peach like she &as Tom 3ruise in the last 0minutes of a >ission: )mpossible.

God ) lo$ed that ame. ) mean ) still play it no&,but &hen ) &as 0 years old ) really, really lo$ed that

ame. ) think my then irlfriend &orried ) lo$ed itmore than her, &hich is &hy she fou ht it so much.-he hated &hen ) &ent a&ay to tournaments. Butthat%s silly, ri ht +ho &ould lo$e a ame more thana person

7i htBut ) di ress . . .-uffice it to say in 0 D >elee &as coursin

throu h my $eins, and to ha$e these rand e$ents inthese beautiful cities &as more than ) could ha$easked for. > G Anaheim &as the reatest e$ent yet

/ 3alifornia culture &as clearly present in thedesi n, as it &as simpler than other $enues and $erystylish. And si htseein around the area felt $erycool:

;+ant anythin from ?olce S Gabbana Because1*m going to swing by 2odeo drive before my video

game tournament .<But best of all, before the pro bracket started up

on -unday, &e &ere asked to participate in a charitye$ent called Gamers Gi$e Back. ?isad$anta ed

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children from the area &ere brou ht to thetournament to et auto raphs and play &ith theprofessionals. Perhaps our profiles &ere built up a bit&hen this idea &as initially marketed, but for thekids &ho attended &e must ha$e seemed like bonafide celebrities.

There &ere children &ith both mental andphysical disabilities, ran in in a e from to C0. )t&as "ust a free play scenario, &here e$eryoneroamed around and picked up ames &ith &home$er.) ot to "oke around and ha$e fun &ith the youn erkids, and o o$er some ad$anced techni(ues &ith theolder ones.

The amers in the smash community are, by andlar e, the la y and irresponsible type. Eot tomention the fact most of them don%t o to bed at anykind of reasonable hour. This is &hy ) &as so touchedto see so many players $olunteer their time at H: inthe mornin , the mornin of the final day ofcompetition, to be a part of somethin like that.That remains one of my fa$orite >elee memories of

all time.

IIIII

> G Anaheim &as the first time ) really sa&>elee become a spectator sport. P3 3hris and 4en

fou ht throu h the most challen in bracket to date,(uellin talented underdo s like -ilent-pectre 9&hobeat me and 4orean?@ 9&ho beat him . For them tomeet up in the finals for the third tournament in a


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ro&, after their record &as tied at one tournament&in a piece, &as a perfectly dramatic clima2 for themain sta e.

The rafters abo$e &ere lit up in blue and purple,and the sta e itself really looked like an arena. TheT#s &ere in the center, &ith plenty of space ropedoff around the players1 this a$e the competitorsbreathin room, but also had the effect of creatin asort of battlefield. The tech cre& created a setup&here each player in a C$C match had his o&n T#,&ith "umbo screens behind them broadcastin theaction to the cro&d. Bleachers surrounded the sta eon three sides.

At the season opener &here he beat 4en, P3 3hris&as in his hometo&n, and &hile perfectly mildmannered himself, P3 3hris% fans &ere relentlessa ainst 4en, the champion from the +est 3oast. At> G Anaheim, ho&e$er, it &as the opposite, &ith4en playin the role of the hometo&n hero. All thehype for the match really ot 3alifornia%s fansamped, and durin this match &as in fact the only

time )%$e seen a cro&d et in a fren y o$er old 4en.The players% appearances contrasted (uite nicely,

&ith 4en in an ill fittin s&eater and a face that,&ell, didn%t e2actly benefit from a lady killer smilelike P3 had. P3 &as sportin a raphic tee and aBieber flip, before such a thin e2isted. Both players

&ere near silent as the ames ticked by.P3 3hris had upset 4en at the season opener, but

4en had come back and embarrassed P3 in ?allas,sendin him to a 6 rd place finish. For their third

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encounter, no one &ould doubt that 4en &as themore prepared of the t&o. 4en had "ust returnedfrom se$eral &eeks in @apan, playin &ith the C=year old prodi y Bomb -oldier, &ho had one of thebest Falcos in the &orld at the time. +ith P3 likelychoosin Falco a ainst 4en%s >arth, the odds &erenot in his fa$or.

The match is a best of 6 out of ame series, butsince P3 3hris &as comin from the loser%s bracket,he had to defeat 4en t&ice. +ith a lon er series likethis, the audience ets to better e2perience thepo&er of momentum and also ets more opportunityto influence the outcome of the match.

4en came out of the ate &ith a $ictory, butbarely so. P3 3hris &iped his hands on his "eans in acustomary attempt to rid them of s&eat and chosehis counterpick sta e. -omethin chan ed for him, orchan ed for 4en, as he crushed 4en the ne2t ame.3rushed, meanin he lost only one of his four li$es.+ith that the momentum s&in , P3 3hris briskly &onthe ne2t t&o ames and the first best of fi$e set.

'ere, the reader should remember that 4en &as&innin tournaments before P3 3hris &as e$en areco ni able commodity. P3 3hris, &hile inherentlytalented, is undeniably standin on the shoulders of

iants, &hereas 4en invented most of the stuff he&as doin . 'e e$en has a mo$e named after him. The

second set sa& the momentum mo$e back in 4en%sfa$or, and ) suspect e2perience &as keepin 4entethered to the round, &hile P3 3hris% &orld mustha$e been spinnin .

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4en be an the second set solidly, &hile P3 3hrisot a bit o$er ealous and allo&ed 4en to take ame

one e$en after ettin started &ith a lead. P3 3hrisa ain &iped his hands on his "eans. At fan runtournaments &here he ot his start, especially inEe& York, P3 &ould ha$e his friends in his ear i$inhim ad$ice. 5n this finals sta e, ho&e$er, his closestfriend &asn%t e$en &ithin earshot, so he "ust kept hiseyes on the T#. 4en claimed the second ame of thesecond set soundly, and all the &hile the cro&d &asbe innin to o &ild o$er 4en%s impendin $ictory /"ust one more ame.

-till, P3 3hris rallied and took the third ame,then the fourth, by turnin up the a ression. Thematch &as no& ei ht ames deep, &ith the ninth andfinal ame decidin the &inner. The cro&d &as oin&ild. ) &as oin &ild. Team Ben screamed for P3,but 4en%s fan%s dro&ned us out.

The final ame &as back and forth, back andforth. +hen either of them &ould ain a lead, theother &ould take it a&ay. The ame clima2ed &ith

each player desperately clin in to his last life. 4encomboed P3 3hris across the ri ht side of the sta e,"ust bouncin him around. But P3 3hris escaped bydoin a ;&all"ump,< &hich is e2actly &hat it soundslike and not $ery common in competiti$e ameplay,to sur$i$e. 'e comboed 4en ri ht back, no& across

the left side of the sta e. Both players &ere oneood hit a&ay from first place &hen 4en e2ecuted his

namesake maneu$er / an aerial combo endin in aspike, &hich finished the match.


59/95

The commentators% $oices disappeared in thecro&d%s cheers. P3 3hris immediately sho&ed 4en hisbroad and racious smile, al&ays the ood sport andprobably relie$ed that the match &as o$er one &ayor another. The players shook hands as the cro&drushed do&n from the bleachers. 'ere, and ) couldn%tbelie$e this &hen ) sa& it, here the cro&d actuallylifted 4en up on their shoulders and chanted hisname. And then e$en ) smiled, in spite of myself,o$er&helmed by the randeur of it all.

H


60/95

MLG C!i$agoemons

> G 3hica o &as a dark tournament. ) dro$e C6hours by myself, stayed in a terrifyin ly cheap motel,and &as probably the cause of The Ee&ly&edsplacin Hth , our lo&est doubles placin of the season.) could s&ear the $enue itself &as e$en dark and

drab, thou h that could "ust be my memory col

Team Ben a Year as a Professional Gamer

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