The 60 players and 6 General Managers who spend their time in Los Angeles, playing and competing for the Region 1 Championship, as well as the berth in the CGS World Finals, are living a dream many never get to realize. For staffers, it's a rare and wonderful opportunity to live in the Player's Village and report on the goings on of their team. And for San Francisco, we want our fans to know not only what goes on in matches and practices, but also in their daily lives. And so, Carlos "rebound" Mercado, in addition to his match predictions and recaps, blogs on life in the Player's Village, on what it's like to live a small part of the dream that is being a pro gamer in the CGS.

June 10, 2008

I am trying my hardest to keep up with blogging, but it's tough, only because I've never actually been like, "OK, you're going to SIT AND WRITE ABOUT YOUR DAY." I think that's kind of silly, but apparently people read what I write (and have opinions on it too!) so for them, and those who just are interested in what goes on here at CGS, here we go!

So last night was pretty epic. Got up when Kat did, and finally donned the Optx T-shirt that I received. 'Twas very nice. I went to watch the team practice for their match against Core, and after their second session was done, I followed Yaz and Moe to the local Subway, where he had food. Yaz complained about not having gone to the gym, so when we got back to their room, he disappeared for a bit while Moe and I chilled and watched TV. Moe went to take a nap, and stermy^ came back, presumably from practice. Yaz got back from gym/swimming shortly thereafter, and we all shot the breeze while getting ready to go to the EA studios for the match with Core. Yaz was ESEAing to warm up his shot, and I have it on good authority that if I bring a video camera, stermy^ will let me film him doing his hair. So all you guys wondering, "Wow, how can I be cool like stermy and his awesome hair?" be on the lookout!

So since I was there with Yaz, Moe, and stermy, we definitely weren't late getting to the lobby. A couple of Core players (Phantom, the General, Offbeat) and Dolven were already there, as well as Renji, so we just chilled and waited for everyone. And as usual, traveled to the EA studios to get ready for our match. While I was in stermy's room, we watched belle ALMOST get her first win of the season, and I'm very much proud of saying I was rooting for her. So we get to the studios, and shockingly enough, there's no projector on in the back for us to watch the match, so we all sneak in through the curtains to watch the end of the CSS match between LA and Chicago. Tough luck for LA, to be honest. Well, they filed out, and I congratulated the winners (and finally met destrukt, another highlight). And then, WE WERE ON.

Rob from Coin-Op TV was in attendance, as well as an attractive lady friend, so as we watched the matches, I explained stuff to them, as Rob doesn't know too much about CGS but was very interested. My match recap will be up on the Optx site soon, so look out for it, but here's some more personal stuff:

-GREAT JOB by stermy to tie it, and then win in shootouts. I hit my head on a sign when I jumped up. It hurt.
-Vanessa did a great job taking down Mystik, and HOLY CRAP. Ninja over Offbeat 5-4. I was listening when Offbeat and Ninja shook hands after the match, and Ryan was just, "Yeah, catchgrab, catchgrab... *laugh*"
-The CSS comes together and BEATS CAROLINA. FINALLY the team is looking like a team. Friggin' winner.

So after our win, we went out with Fatal1ty, Rob, Keith (who runs the Fatal1ty Brand Myspace, or so I'm told), Rob's lady-friend, and it was off to the Terrace! I had New England Clam Chowder and Spicy Jambalaya Macaroni (delicious), and we generally just had a great time eating and talking and laughing. Jason Lake and Alex Conroy showed up shortly thereafter, and the GMs (with Fatal1ty in tow) parted ways with everyone else. I followed Miximup, paradox, and Sack back to their room to hang out some more. Grt showed up, and we all played cards and watched TV. Dark Storm from 3DNY showed up demanding his wireless Guitar Hero controller back, so Grt ended up trying (and failing) at Guitar Hero III. I also tried (and failed) at Guitar Hero III, so I called it a night at that point.

Previous Blogs

June 9th, 2008 - Rebound meets Jason Lake, plus Team Staff Adventures!
June 8th, 2008 - Mario Kart with Fatal1ty!