when i saw the WCG @ NYC SC2 Event post, i noticed who posted the info: Torbull. that name brought it all back. i came into the competitive gaming scene through the CS community around 2003-2004, at the height of Team 3D (Torbull was 3D's manager). immediately, i had to revisit:
the epicness of this moment in competitive gaming can't be understated. i sweated out the SK vs 3D live, frag by frag. SK were the swedish powerhouses, dominating everyone in their path for years. 3D had never beaten SK in an international tournament, even with one of the most amazing lineups CS had ever seen (i could write a whole blog about Ksharp, whose legendary-ness was near mythic proportions in the US CS scene). when they clashed in the semifinals, one of the best matches CS has ever seen took place, including moto's famous clutch (maybe the most famous round of CS in history), and the spot that bears his name (the moto box):
this WCG has to be one of the greatest moments in american ESPORTS, and few things can really compare (czm coming out of retirement to win CPL is close). when CGS killed the american 1.6 scene, it led me to broodwar and to TL, and i've been here ever since.
HOWEVER
the reason for this blog was something i had completely forgotten until i rewatched the first video i linked. as the nostalgia washed over me rewatching 3D's run through WCG, i got to around 9:40 in the video and... hark! who is that voice i hear? why, it's djwheat! 7 years ago! here i was getting all nostalgic about how long i had been around competitive gaming and how old i was compared to all the fresh face SC2 kiddies these days, and then it hit me: djwheat's been around even longer than my sorry ass, and he's sacrificed way more to keep these communities alive.
all of this is to say: wheat, keep on keepin' on. to the haters: respect your elders.
ye djHET is so old, and it's great to see him doing stuff for esports even so many years ago. 2003-2004 was also the first time i heard about esports, tournaments, etc. and getting to know they are so big ( i learned about wcg in 2004) how old are you btw?
soon to be 26, pretty sure i got half-life/counter-strike as a christmas present back in 2001, so that's about a decade i've been around. hope for another decade!
I just remember the WCG Grand Finals with DJWheat and Tasteless commentating. DJWheat didn't know too much about Brood War, and even admitted to it, but he would always do his best to set up Tasteless perfectly by asking him questions and kind of helping people who had never watched the game before. He knew his role and he never stepped outside of it and tried to make the show about him, which IMO is the most important aspect of a good commentator.
djWHEAT is an eSports legend. Youtube some WCG Quake Tournaments ('05 I think, maybe '06) and he is one of the casters. He doesn't get nearly enough credit.
EPT
amazingly dedicated guy. We need like a nobel prize for esports or something for people like him
