EPTFirst of all, SCREW YOU anyone who says that the NASL didn't go balls to the wall in their preparation and execution of the event:
a) the building was perfect - spacious, air conditioned, well set up rooms with great sound amplification. And let me tell you, when you're stuck in a room with 500 other people you really appreciate something as simple as ventillation.
b) the audio/video setups were unreal. I guess we have an advantage as nerds, but everything from the sound/visual effects to the actual equipment was incredible.
c) the schedule, while a little bit shaky, worked out perfectly today. Sure, the wait inbetween sets was a bit long, but I had no trouble passing the time by watching Zenio or PuMa playing practice games in the corner, getting autographs, picking up free merchandise, etc.
Second, the match-ups themselves were so much fun. Thinking back, except for the absolutely incredible last series, the games themselves weren't that great. Squirtle vs Puma g3 was pretty cool. Other than that? Somewhat lackluster I suppose. But just being in the building with a huge crowd of people who love the game as much or more than you do makes everything so much better. The crowd would gasp and scream and applaud at every small thing. Even unfunny jokes became hilarious because of infectious laughter. It's just so awesome to experience something you love along with a bunch of fanatics - and a huge live tourney is really the only place to do it, because we're all nerds and we love it.
Third, the fan-player interactions were soooooo good. The NASL, as I touched on earlier, planned pretty damn near perfectly when it came to speaking with players and getting autographs/photos. While I was disappointed that July, Moon, and Boxer were unable to give autographs (along with all players who lost Friday excluding MorroW), I was incredibly excited with what I was able to procure with a little bit of luck and ambition (staying after to talk to MC, Day9, InControl, etc). I ended up with the autographs of Puma, Squirtle, Darkforce, Morrow, Select, Sen, Incontrol, Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, and the one and only MC - all on a cool sheet of NASL paper provided by the tournament hosts. I also received a free hat, signed by Darkforce.
(I'd post pictures but I have no idea how since I just uploaded them to Itunes from my phone).
In summation, the experience was amazing. Go do it yourself.
Also, if you got this far, here are some hilarious/awesome things from the event.
1) I was successfully able to sequester Select in the corner of the room trying to get his autograph. I thought he was on the way out, turns out he was heading towards the autograph table. A few people and I successfully forced poor Select to sign maybe 150 autographs while standing in that corner the whole time.
2) Geoff Robinson and I had a nice discussion regarding weight lifting. At his peak, he maxed out on his "worst" lift - the power lift - at 350lbs. His maxed out on his best - the bench press - at SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS. He quit recently but he's going to start lifting again.
3) Artosis agreed to take my pretty funny cheerful to July (a picture of July screaming while skiing down a mountain, he looks like a green panda bear, with the caption JULY FIGHTING!!!). He probably threw it out two seconds later, but I enjoy the thought of him getting it.
4) Don't ever make a joke to Day9 about sports. I was wearing a Cal Bears sweatshirt and joked that he shouldn't hate me cause we were rivals. He had no idea what I was talking about. Nice awkward 2 minutes.
5) Day9 is actually a total badass. The person in front of me in line handed him a notebook for an autograph. Turns out the guy is an artist and he handed Day9 a sheet with a cool picture. Day9 proceeded to whisper "HOLY SHIT!" "OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK" in a super shocked voice for like three minutes. The guy's friend told Day that there were more pictures in the book, and the guy sheepishly said Day shouldn't look through it cause others were waiting, to which Day responded "I don't fucking CARE about the other people in line this is FUCKING GOOD!" I enjoyed a nice laugh.
