EPTFirst off, a very important message:
Happy Birthday captain Jaehoon! 재훈님 생일 축하한다 항상 응원할게요^^ Enjoy your 22nd birthday!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/H1Eci.jpg)
Now let's start this update with...
The Progamer Education Seminar on 7th September
Usually I pay attention to these seminars mostly for any funny pictures or stories that might emerge on Fomos or DES. But this season's second-half-of-the-year seminar (there is one in April and one in September) was especially important because of the 3 teams that officially/unofficially disbanded. Attendance of this seminar may thus be taken as an indication that the player intends to continue with progaming next season. However, there are many reasons why a player could have been absent from this seminar. Some of them were ill, some of them were on vacation, while others were simply at their hometowns and could not travel back to Seoul in time for the session. As long as they attend the make-up session, there will be no problems.
So when the pictures from the seminar were finally published by media outlets, I examined them, looking out for any MBC player. After checking, the conclusions are as follows:
Confirmed attendees:
Hyun, Sea, Tyson, Jaehoon, Saint, Sang, Lazy, Zerg[kal], Check, Wow, Gwak and Pain.
Absent:
Ruby, Tiny, Hwan and Crise.
Unconfirmed:
Mangnani (because I don't know what he looks like).
To lighten the mood, let's play...
Spot the HERO Player
Here are some pictures from the seminar. See if you can spot the MBC progamer in them, like in "Where's Wally". Answers are in the spoilers above each picture. Let me know if I missed any.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/tO6pj.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gEgPB.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/upIDM.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ebzYz.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GNQ6D.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XHlVn.jpg)
Some other pictures:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/fkGrp.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/C6sWA.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/yZje5.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RQXKd.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VSHyy.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NaHIR.jpg)
At the seminar, journalists also spoke to a few MBC players and they divulged the following information:
* Saint is currently using the off-season period to prepare for his driving license test.
* The MBC hostel will be made available to the players until the end of September. Because their practice room which is located in the Loox Center (the hostel consists of two apartments in an apartment building opposite the Loox Center) was cleared at the end of August, those players staying in the hostel practice at PC Bangs instead. While some of the A teamers have gone back home, most of the team stayed together in the hostel.
* One player who was staying at the hostel was quoted as saying:
"Although the team has disbanded, of course I still want to continue gaming. It would be great if a new sponsor could be found but if there is a situation where a draft takes place and my teammates are scattered around, I still want to continue as a progamer." "Player B from our team achieved a record greater than 50% in the last proleague season and is coveted by several teams. But my race and age puts me in a difficult situation, I'm very worried about my survival".
No names were mentioned but based on information in the quotes, this was most likely Hyun (and player B is probably Jaehoon or Tyson).
As an MBC fan, that was upsetting to hear.
Still, there are other things going on besides this. And it's always interesting to read about what the players are up to when they're not practicing.
27th August to 30th August
Check, Wow, Lazy and Samgyeopsal
On 27th August, these three rookies went out for a samgyeopsal (pork belly) dinner.
Check and Wow:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/I7ZJD.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jOF9o.jpg)
Manchester United 8 - 2 Arsenal
Like me, Lazy is a massive Utd fan and he was eagerly watching their match against Arsenal. Whenever a Utd goal was scored, Lazy tweeted his love for the player who scored the goal.
Lotte World Here We Come!
On the morning of 29th August, Tyson, Hyun, Saint and Sang set off together for a day at Lotte World, a famous recreation complex with a massive theme park, movie theatres, hotel etc.
They went to Atlantis Adventure, sat on the Viking Ride and the Gyro Swing, among others.
Pictures from Tyson, Hyun and Sang's twitters:
Sea's comment on this picture: "fashionista Seok-Dragon" (as in G-Dragon, the Big Bang leader known for his strange fashion sense). Seok-Dragon and Dong-Dragon (Saint) are some old jokes Sea once cracked at a fan meeting.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EvT9D.jpg)
Saint
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/AjeQT.jpg)
Sang
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dVODA.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7Li8p.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/e9DMq.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bNxUm.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Bg19B.jpg)
And the famous picture that made its way to Starcraft Gallery:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/TdkXw.jpg)
Jangbi tweeted to Hyun and Tyson about how much fun it looked like they were having so Tyson tweeted to Hyun and Jangbi: "next time, let's go together."
A Date With Kim Ha Neul
On the night of 29th August, Lazy, Wow and a third person went to see the Kim Ha Neul movie, "Blind". Lazy got scared out of his wits but luckily he didn't see the movie alone. Before the movie they went to Dunkin Donuts and Lazy also played the UFO game. After numerous tries, he won two toys he had been eyeing for some days.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dhtWz.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mVOPt.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kTFdP.jpg)
Lazy's Hairstyle Woes and Pusan's Fangirls
Lazy bemoaned the state of his hair on 30th August and later that evening he had dinner with Pusan. Like the celebrity that Pusan is, a couple fangirls walk to their table for Pusan's signature.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/f27bP.jpg)
This was one of the last updates Lazy provided via twitter because a few days later, after exclaiming that he had no money to buy a cap he wanted, he suddenly deleted his twitter account. He is however still active on cyworld. To my knowledge, Lazy went back home last week for the Chuseok holidays. I'm not sure if he's come back to Seoul or not, but he is still practicing regularly.
9th September to 20th September
Chuseok Holidays
Nothing much was really going on during the first week of September, besides the Progamer Education Seminar which I've covered. But between the 9th and 11th of September, the MBC players began travelling back to their hometowns to spend the Chuseok holidays with their families. Sang went back to Jinju on 9th September and met up with friends he hadn't seen for months and Lazy went back to Miryang.
Progamer Feet
On 11th September, Tiny wished his fans a Happy Chuseok via twitter and Sang replied with a comment about Tiny's foot odor.
Tiny's reply was: "Even when I don't wash [my feet] there is no smell but even when you wash [your feet] there is still a smell".
Tyson got in on the conversation: "Jaesang has foot odor?"
Sang's reaction to Tiny and Tyson: "waah slander."
Tiny and Sea
On 19th September, Tiny was asked by a fangirl over twitter about his health. To which he replied that he still needs to continue managing his health. I guess that means he still has some problems with his neck.
However, it does seem that Tiny is currently staying at the HERO hostel. Yesterday over twitter, he asked Sang, who was in the midst of a twitter conversation with Light, to help him search for his trousers.
Sea tweeted that October will be "seonsu mode" (player/competitor mode) for him. He was then asked where he'll be a player at but Sea just dodged the issue and gave some vague answer. Make what you will about Sea's reply. No comment from me.
Regardless of what has happened in the past 2 months, I do believe things are slowly getting better. I can only wish all these players the best.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ymuoo.jpg)
