shrEd Gein
01-22-2011, 10:39 PM
shrEd here. This is my blog recapping some of my PvJ experience. It really would be inhumanly possible to write about everything that happened that weekend. But here are some of my favorite moments, and things that I figure some people might want to know. I have never written one of these bad boys before so please forgive the structure. I want to thank anyone who may read this and feel free to let me know what you think. Message me with questions you may have for things that I might not have touched on. Also the shoutout's are probably going to be the largest part of this. Because if it weren't for the mentioned people involved, none of this could have been possible or been nearly as awesome.
I. Foreword -
Where do I start? How can I say something that has been said thousands of times over? Is it even possible at this point to express appreciation toward the Pennaccio family without sounding cliche or redundant? That was hardest part of thinking about all of this. I spent a majority of my flight back to New Jersey and the next two days after Pro's vs. Joe's just trying to put my thoughts into words. My brain was just overloaded with new information and outlooks on Halo, family, friends, life, and even death. No topic was off limits, we talked about everything we possibly could.
Now this experience has changed a few aspects of my life. It made me a better person for sure. I met some incredible new people that I can now call my friends. Halo was our common ground, but I feel as if this group of "Joe's" could have been doing anything else, and it still would have been an amazing time. Such a diverse and fun group of people to share a great experience with. It was an honor to meet all of you and to be able to spend a few days together.
II. Adventure! -
Arriving in Chicago and after a little bit of waiting I was picked up by a cheery Mr.P and the now infamous Brad Sears. I had previously met Mr.P back in August at the Raleigh event so that eased a bit of my nervousness. Despite being in a city I had never been to before with people I have only gamed with online may seem like a pretty overwhelming thought and worry some people, but their was never a moment of feeling out of place. We exchanged our hello's and circled around the airport a few times waiting for Shelly and Distopia to call. After scooping them up we had one more person to squeeze into LunchBox's car before we made our way to the Gaming House. Unfortunately we had no idea how to get to the bus terminal he was at (sorry Mayhem lol.) After some trial and error and a GPS that I think sabotaged us, we finally tracked him down. So we did a little re-arranging and all piled back into the car.
The ride over to the Gaming House went so quick and before I knew it, we were pulling up to a very quiet looking house tucked away on the end of a cul-de-sac. After opening the front door the house sprung to life. We were greeted by T2 in the front room who was seemed just as excited to see us as we were to see him. People were hanging out in the kitchen, watching movies in the family room and the familiar sound of a Halo LAN was coming from the basement. Their was just a very positive welcoming atmosphere in that house. At all times too, I later learned that in the Gaming House their probably won't ever be a point where everyone is asleep.
We were given a tour of the house and all it had to offer aside from just LAN stations. A bit later after settling down we were brought down into the basement, the new heart of The LAN Network. The pictures that are going to be subsequently posted and the "Cribs" video that is surely imminent will not do this place justice. It really needs to been experienced to be appreciated, because believe me when I tell you their is nothing like this anywhere else. All of the effort that has gone and is going into every little detail is just incredible.
After rounds of high fives and hand shakes, we all got ready to game. We set up to do a round of FFA and random 4v4 match so the pros could observe us. It was eerily silent when the pros watched us do the FFA so it got just a little bit nerve racking. However the pros watching wasted no time in throwing in their two cents. Tips that were just helping right from the get go, those guys are so keen in knowing what needs to be worked on. After that we did the random 4v4 so they could see how we played as team, that was a blast and it felt way more natural.
Afterwards the pros congregated upstairs and had their draft. I was picked for Team ToTz and was super psyched. Being a member of this site since it was called LAN'sNow I have been listening to his game play for quite a while now. And although I hate giving players roles I.E: (Main Slayer, Support, Sniper) there really is no arguing the communication Antz brings to any team he is on. Just an overall great attitude and good eye on teamwork. We did a few warm ups and then kicked off the first series against Fear's team. And it ended up being so close! I think we won the first few games pretty handily, but lost the next ones. It was looking like we were going to lose the series, but we held it together to tie the series at 5-5. Before we knew it we were about to fire up a TS on Countdown to see who would take the series. It was a back and forth game that ended up being 50-49. Fear closed the game out with a pretty nasty snipe too. Anyway it was nice to know that we could maintain composure even after we let a few games slip away.
Overall on Saturday our team didn't do so well. But we did give the other teams a run for their money. We never made it easy for them which was nice. But we did give up games that we could have easily won. With each game I played and watched I was learning more and more on how to play this game on LAN.
Sunday was a brand new day, and was also the tournament! After some motivating words from some of the pro's and people at the LAN some of the pressure eased off. After our placement round, we were knocked into the Losers Bracket to play what ended up being Roy's team. That was a solid last stand, and we actually ended up taking them out of the tourney and that felt pretty damn good. You guys do not have to look far to see that Roy is going to be a force to be reckoned with in Reach. He may very well be part machine.
Due to the lovely Chicago weather, my flight ended up getting delayed from Monday night to Tuesday morning. And as always the Pennaccio's came to the rescue and were more than accommodating and understanding to everyone who had travel delays and cancellations. Mr.P even took several trips back to O'Hare to pick people up who's flights had been cancelled at the last second. It was pretty awesome cause all of us that stayed got to watch Instinct have their GB match against Second Nature. Instinct is so intense and have already progressed 10 fold from the 4 Team Kickoff LAN. As I type this they are doing a pretty solid job against Final Boss too.
Monday night Brad screwed me out of LAN'ing with some people -_- lol. So I ended up just kicking it in the little lounge area with ToTz, Mr.P and Bert. I loved every minute of listening to your stories and hearing your outlooks on things outside of just gaming. You guys never made me feel as if I were talking your ear off either, you all had a general interest in getting to know people and it was so easy to have a discussion with you guys. But 3:30 AM came pretty quick and Mr.P was coming back to the Gaming House to pick up Benjak, Brad and I to take us to the airport at 7. Running on little to no sleep and being exhausted from the weekend we left for the airport. Even after spending just about every waking moment together with these guys, we still found new stuff to talk about on the way to the airport.
III. Result -
By nature I'm a competitive person and love the feeling of progression. Now odds are I won't ever be a pro gamer, nor does it seem like the right path in my life to go compete as a player on a professional level. Don't get me wrong I really do want to go to events and game, but it would be more of a fun thing for me to do with friends. I mean I have a great career lined back up and have a wonderfully supportive girlfriend that I would not trade for the world. But I still want to game as hard as I can whenever I possibly can. Knowing that I will still improve, if not for anyone else but myself.
But who knows life has thrown me crazier curve balls, and sometimes when the conditions are right you can knock one straight out of the park. To anyone wanting to make a career of it, God bless and I wish you all the best of luck. Everyone starts from the bottom and it may seem like a daunting task but if you stay positive and have the determination you really accomplish anything you want to in life. And I suppose that may be the underlying beauty in it all. Before I give my shout outs I want to thank everyone involved with the first Pros vs Joe's for creating memories that I will carry with me.
IV. Shoutouts -
To the Pro's:
Mr.P - I already messaged you about how I felt with my PvJ experience, but I need to thank you first and foremost here. We had some great conversations together and found out we have a few of the same OCD's lol. Keep in touch and may the force be with you my friend.
Mrs.P - The work you put into this thing can not be measured on any scale that I know of. You are the bond that is holding so much of this together.
Ken - You sir are one hell of a guy for all you are doing, even being given the title of a saint by some of us at the LAN. Thank you so much for the Pro's vs. Joe's shirts, that was way too nice. Best of luck to you and Coby this season.
ToTz - I had a blast teaming with you bro. You really do not get enough credit for what you do as far as gaming. It was awesome talking to you about everything inside and outside of gaming. I wish you the best with your career in MLG and all of your future endeavors.
TSquared - After all of these years you are still killing it. It motivates me to see how motivated you get when your gaming. You are one of an elite few that has been doing this from the beginning and it is truly inspirational.
Roy/Lunchbox - I really wish I could have gamed with you guys a bit more, Just from watching your screens alone I picked up so much. You guys are very kind and I appreciate all the help and pointers you guys gave.
FearItSelf - Your sniping and reaction time is just off the wall and you have such a raw talent for this game. Best of luck with Final Boss and your 2011 season.
To the Joe's :
Brad - You are literally one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life (and I met Norm McDonald on a few occasions). It was good times rooming with you and Mayhem, best Canadians ever. I still think you explaining to me what your friend thought of Inception was one of the most hilarious things I have heard in a while. And still chuckle to myself when I think about it.
Mayhem - I was so pumped to know you followed the battle scene as much as I do. I totally made ToTz watch the Soul Khan vs QP battle. You silently killed it at the LAN and I can't wait to get some games in soon!
Itchy - One genuinely nice fellow if I do say so myself. You are an awesome guy Shelly#2. And we had some pretty awesome high fives too. Wear the Red Button up shirt with pride comrad. And make sure we keep in touch.
Distopia - Nando! It was cool seeing how much we had in common when we gamed. Rocking the same settings and doing the same things when we 1v1'd in the FFA's. Mirror Match! You took some great pictures this weekend too. Keep it up, you have an eye for it.
Coby - You are a damn savage. Its becoming typical for people to say it at this point. But for anyone that doesn't know Coby is the real deal. Fun times in the Objective Playlist buddy "Tank respawns in 4 minutes...stay in the base guys." lol. And we definitely ran that Reflections TS game like champs!
Bilalian - Someone get this kid a team. He knows how to play the game for sure. It was a blast teaming with you and I can't wait to see what you do this season.
Shelly - Don't coach! Keep playing! Your 1v1 vs Sheldon on Zealot will be kept a secret I promise lol.
Alumnite - Although we didn't get to kick it too much it was hilarious listening to you and T2 get hyped when you were gaming.
Kwame - Unfortunately our paths didn't cross too much at PvJ but your a heck of a guy and I'm looking forward to gaming with you one of these days.
Forefront - I don't know what to say aside from, you better keep that RnB voice solid! Good times singing the Lion King theme with you ToTz and Bilalian haha.
Benjak - It was great how mad you got at yourself when your voice cracked haha. Don't worry it eventually will happen when your gaming 16 hours a day. Next time your down in Monmouth County let's cruise some of the bike trails.
Premeire - I forget what Kassidy had on but I remember you rapping over it one morning and it was freaking great.
Evaydur - That crouch strafe you have is nasty, and your a super aggressive player to top it all off.
Rambo - Your knowledge of fitness and nutrition is unparalleled! I will be hitting you up for some advice one of these days. Also fair warning to anyone gaming against him, do not let him get hot with the sniper he will take your head off.
To the unsung hero's of the TLN
Towey - Thank you so much for helping us Joe's get set up and answering all of our questions. It couldn't had a smoother kickoff without you.
Kassidy - For those of you who don't know, Kassidy is the gentleman who took pictures after every game and uploaded every stat into the website for the Fantasy Teams. Thank you for tediously updating everything and getting no sleep...then still ripping people apart in the playlist.
Killboy - Well even though Killboy was not at the LAN, he asked me to shout him out. So a big shout out to him for being "Nice, cute, and smexy." You have changed a bunch since you first showed up and thats great, its good to have you here. Good luck with BabyKillboy!
I. Foreword -
Where do I start? How can I say something that has been said thousands of times over? Is it even possible at this point to express appreciation toward the Pennaccio family without sounding cliche or redundant? That was hardest part of thinking about all of this. I spent a majority of my flight back to New Jersey and the next two days after Pro's vs. Joe's just trying to put my thoughts into words. My brain was just overloaded with new information and outlooks on Halo, family, friends, life, and even death. No topic was off limits, we talked about everything we possibly could.
Now this experience has changed a few aspects of my life. It made me a better person for sure. I met some incredible new people that I can now call my friends. Halo was our common ground, but I feel as if this group of "Joe's" could have been doing anything else, and it still would have been an amazing time. Such a diverse and fun group of people to share a great experience with. It was an honor to meet all of you and to be able to spend a few days together.
II. Adventure! -
Arriving in Chicago and after a little bit of waiting I was picked up by a cheery Mr.P and the now infamous Brad Sears. I had previously met Mr.P back in August at the Raleigh event so that eased a bit of my nervousness. Despite being in a city I had never been to before with people I have only gamed with online may seem like a pretty overwhelming thought and worry some people, but their was never a moment of feeling out of place. We exchanged our hello's and circled around the airport a few times waiting for Shelly and Distopia to call. After scooping them up we had one more person to squeeze into LunchBox's car before we made our way to the Gaming House. Unfortunately we had no idea how to get to the bus terminal he was at (sorry Mayhem lol.) After some trial and error and a GPS that I think sabotaged us, we finally tracked him down. So we did a little re-arranging and all piled back into the car.
The ride over to the Gaming House went so quick and before I knew it, we were pulling up to a very quiet looking house tucked away on the end of a cul-de-sac. After opening the front door the house sprung to life. We were greeted by T2 in the front room who was seemed just as excited to see us as we were to see him. People were hanging out in the kitchen, watching movies in the family room and the familiar sound of a Halo LAN was coming from the basement. Their was just a very positive welcoming atmosphere in that house. At all times too, I later learned that in the Gaming House their probably won't ever be a point where everyone is asleep.
We were given a tour of the house and all it had to offer aside from just LAN stations. A bit later after settling down we were brought down into the basement, the new heart of The LAN Network. The pictures that are going to be subsequently posted and the "Cribs" video that is surely imminent will not do this place justice. It really needs to been experienced to be appreciated, because believe me when I tell you their is nothing like this anywhere else. All of the effort that has gone and is going into every little detail is just incredible.
After rounds of high fives and hand shakes, we all got ready to game. We set up to do a round of FFA and random 4v4 match so the pros could observe us. It was eerily silent when the pros watched us do the FFA so it got just a little bit nerve racking. However the pros watching wasted no time in throwing in their two cents. Tips that were just helping right from the get go, those guys are so keen in knowing what needs to be worked on. After that we did the random 4v4 so they could see how we played as team, that was a blast and it felt way more natural.
Afterwards the pros congregated upstairs and had their draft. I was picked for Team ToTz and was super psyched. Being a member of this site since it was called LAN'sNow I have been listening to his game play for quite a while now. And although I hate giving players roles I.E: (Main Slayer, Support, Sniper) there really is no arguing the communication Antz brings to any team he is on. Just an overall great attitude and good eye on teamwork. We did a few warm ups and then kicked off the first series against Fear's team. And it ended up being so close! I think we won the first few games pretty handily, but lost the next ones. It was looking like we were going to lose the series, but we held it together to tie the series at 5-5. Before we knew it we were about to fire up a TS on Countdown to see who would take the series. It was a back and forth game that ended up being 50-49. Fear closed the game out with a pretty nasty snipe too. Anyway it was nice to know that we could maintain composure even after we let a few games slip away.
Overall on Saturday our team didn't do so well. But we did give the other teams a run for their money. We never made it easy for them which was nice. But we did give up games that we could have easily won. With each game I played and watched I was learning more and more on how to play this game on LAN.
Sunday was a brand new day, and was also the tournament! After some motivating words from some of the pro's and people at the LAN some of the pressure eased off. After our placement round, we were knocked into the Losers Bracket to play what ended up being Roy's team. That was a solid last stand, and we actually ended up taking them out of the tourney and that felt pretty damn good. You guys do not have to look far to see that Roy is going to be a force to be reckoned with in Reach. He may very well be part machine.
Due to the lovely Chicago weather, my flight ended up getting delayed from Monday night to Tuesday morning. And as always the Pennaccio's came to the rescue and were more than accommodating and understanding to everyone who had travel delays and cancellations. Mr.P even took several trips back to O'Hare to pick people up who's flights had been cancelled at the last second. It was pretty awesome cause all of us that stayed got to watch Instinct have their GB match against Second Nature. Instinct is so intense and have already progressed 10 fold from the 4 Team Kickoff LAN. As I type this they are doing a pretty solid job against Final Boss too.
Monday night Brad screwed me out of LAN'ing with some people -_- lol. So I ended up just kicking it in the little lounge area with ToTz, Mr.P and Bert. I loved every minute of listening to your stories and hearing your outlooks on things outside of just gaming. You guys never made me feel as if I were talking your ear off either, you all had a general interest in getting to know people and it was so easy to have a discussion with you guys. But 3:30 AM came pretty quick and Mr.P was coming back to the Gaming House to pick up Benjak, Brad and I to take us to the airport at 7. Running on little to no sleep and being exhausted from the weekend we left for the airport. Even after spending just about every waking moment together with these guys, we still found new stuff to talk about on the way to the airport.
III. Result -
By nature I'm a competitive person and love the feeling of progression. Now odds are I won't ever be a pro gamer, nor does it seem like the right path in my life to go compete as a player on a professional level. Don't get me wrong I really do want to go to events and game, but it would be more of a fun thing for me to do with friends. I mean I have a great career lined back up and have a wonderfully supportive girlfriend that I would not trade for the world. But I still want to game as hard as I can whenever I possibly can. Knowing that I will still improve, if not for anyone else but myself.
But who knows life has thrown me crazier curve balls, and sometimes when the conditions are right you can knock one straight out of the park. To anyone wanting to make a career of it, God bless and I wish you all the best of luck. Everyone starts from the bottom and it may seem like a daunting task but if you stay positive and have the determination you really accomplish anything you want to in life. And I suppose that may be the underlying beauty in it all. Before I give my shout outs I want to thank everyone involved with the first Pros vs Joe's for creating memories that I will carry with me.
IV. Shoutouts -
To the Pro's:
Mr.P - I already messaged you about how I felt with my PvJ experience, but I need to thank you first and foremost here. We had some great conversations together and found out we have a few of the same OCD's lol. Keep in touch and may the force be with you my friend.
Mrs.P - The work you put into this thing can not be measured on any scale that I know of. You are the bond that is holding so much of this together.
Ken - You sir are one hell of a guy for all you are doing, even being given the title of a saint by some of us at the LAN. Thank you so much for the Pro's vs. Joe's shirts, that was way too nice. Best of luck to you and Coby this season.
ToTz - I had a blast teaming with you bro. You really do not get enough credit for what you do as far as gaming. It was awesome talking to you about everything inside and outside of gaming. I wish you the best with your career in MLG and all of your future endeavors.
TSquared - After all of these years you are still killing it. It motivates me to see how motivated you get when your gaming. You are one of an elite few that has been doing this from the beginning and it is truly inspirational.
Roy/Lunchbox - I really wish I could have gamed with you guys a bit more, Just from watching your screens alone I picked up so much. You guys are very kind and I appreciate all the help and pointers you guys gave.
FearItSelf - Your sniping and reaction time is just off the wall and you have such a raw talent for this game. Best of luck with Final Boss and your 2011 season.
To the Joe's :
Brad - You are literally one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life (and I met Norm McDonald on a few occasions). It was good times rooming with you and Mayhem, best Canadians ever. I still think you explaining to me what your friend thought of Inception was one of the most hilarious things I have heard in a while. And still chuckle to myself when I think about it.
Mayhem - I was so pumped to know you followed the battle scene as much as I do. I totally made ToTz watch the Soul Khan vs QP battle. You silently killed it at the LAN and I can't wait to get some games in soon!
Itchy - One genuinely nice fellow if I do say so myself. You are an awesome guy Shelly#2. And we had some pretty awesome high fives too. Wear the Red Button up shirt with pride comrad. And make sure we keep in touch.
Distopia - Nando! It was cool seeing how much we had in common when we gamed. Rocking the same settings and doing the same things when we 1v1'd in the FFA's. Mirror Match! You took some great pictures this weekend too. Keep it up, you have an eye for it.
Coby - You are a damn savage. Its becoming typical for people to say it at this point. But for anyone that doesn't know Coby is the real deal. Fun times in the Objective Playlist buddy "Tank respawns in 4 minutes...stay in the base guys." lol. And we definitely ran that Reflections TS game like champs!
Bilalian - Someone get this kid a team. He knows how to play the game for sure. It was a blast teaming with you and I can't wait to see what you do this season.
Shelly - Don't coach! Keep playing! Your 1v1 vs Sheldon on Zealot will be kept a secret I promise lol.
Alumnite - Although we didn't get to kick it too much it was hilarious listening to you and T2 get hyped when you were gaming.
Kwame - Unfortunately our paths didn't cross too much at PvJ but your a heck of a guy and I'm looking forward to gaming with you one of these days.
Forefront - I don't know what to say aside from, you better keep that RnB voice solid! Good times singing the Lion King theme with you ToTz and Bilalian haha.
Benjak - It was great how mad you got at yourself when your voice cracked haha. Don't worry it eventually will happen when your gaming 16 hours a day. Next time your down in Monmouth County let's cruise some of the bike trails.
Premeire - I forget what Kassidy had on but I remember you rapping over it one morning and it was freaking great.
Evaydur - That crouch strafe you have is nasty, and your a super aggressive player to top it all off.
Rambo - Your knowledge of fitness and nutrition is unparalleled! I will be hitting you up for some advice one of these days. Also fair warning to anyone gaming against him, do not let him get hot with the sniper he will take your head off.
To the unsung hero's of the TLN
Towey - Thank you so much for helping us Joe's get set up and answering all of our questions. It couldn't had a smoother kickoff without you.
Kassidy - For those of you who don't know, Kassidy is the gentleman who took pictures after every game and uploaded every stat into the website for the Fantasy Teams. Thank you for tediously updating everything and getting no sleep...then still ripping people apart in the playlist.
Killboy - Well even though Killboy was not at the LAN, he asked me to shout him out. So a big shout out to him for being "Nice, cute, and smexy." You have changed a bunch since you first showed up and thats great, its good to have you here. Good luck with BabyKillboy!