EPThttp://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=278118
But now it's time to go to BroodWar stuff!
After the initial visit to a BroodWar match, I knew I had to go back every chance I got. I invested so much of my time in high school watching games rather than doing homework or studying, there was just something special about it. Sadly, as I got older, the BroodWar scene started to shrink on TeamLiquid as Starcraft 2 took over and people began creating accounts en masse. But there remained some people that still helped me to see games. Specifically, I'm talking about GTR (ohmagaw shoutout!!!!) who is pretty much the only reason I'm still able to keep up with BroodWar. I always liked just straight up watching games live and as I got older and was able to stay up late more often, I disliked watching replays on Youtube more and more. So being able to stay up late watching GTR's stream was always good. One day, I noticed a birthday thread for GTR wandering about on the forums, and noticed that the birthday fell on the same day as a BroodWar match. I then promised I would try my best to get on stream with a birthday wish.
Of course just my luck, I get there and the place is super crowded, full of Jangbi and Soo fans. On top of that, they weren't giving out cheerfuls. Myself and the two guys I was with were able to squeeze over to the Jangbi side which was really awesome because a) it had more room and b) we were rooting for Jangbi. As I was wondering what to do, I realized that I kept a small piece of paper on which I took notes in my pocket. It had writing on all sides but one, but it would have to do. It took a few games to get it noticed, but eventually a cameraman saw me and gave a bit of a weird look. I gave the same look back to him and he chuckled and then filmed me. The result is this:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=278118
+ Show Spoiler +
I've actually seen it floating around on TL here and there. Once again GTR, it was no problem. Thanks for streaming BroodWar for people like me and thank you in advance for continuing to do it. And that wasn't the best part of the night. Remember that keyboard bag thing I mentioned before? Well as I was leaving the stadium after the matches (which were quite awesome, Jangbi surprising me by winning so easily) a staffer comes up to me and hands me A KEYBOARD BAG SIGNED BY JANGBI!!!!1 I guess some RL karma happened?
http://i.imgur.com/3hZjQ.jpg
Before I move on, I should also mention that Moletrap was in the audience that night. It was cool to see him outside of an SC2 context. I didn't realize he was still into BroodWar and I got to talk to him after the games (with the guy next to me in the picture) while we waited for Jangbi to finish being swarmed by fangirls.
So then fast forward to a couple weeks later when the OSL finals took place. If you're a fan of BroodWar or are an avid blog reader, you may have noticed the blog (that was posted in a much more timely fashion) that pertained to this. I was actually in that meetup of TL people and it was a really cool experience. I hadn't really ever done anything like that before so I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but all the guys there were really cool and I had a good time. We met up at the subway near the venue, then walked all the way over to a big mall in Yongsan (about a 20 minute walk) where I showed the guys the OGN studio where all the games had been before. We then ate in that mall before walking all the way back to the place where the finals were being held. I feel bad because the other thread has way better pictures than me, but I'll try to post some of my mediocre ones.
Pre game interviews
The team tossing Jangbi in the air after his victory
Jangbi's mother and grandma(?) watched him win
Getting the pin for the win
He was only interested in one thing
Okay, maybe two things...
Maybe it was the fact that this was held in a giant, open area in front of a war monument and museum or maybe it was the fact that we saw really evenly matched games or maybe it was the fact that all the fans were so into the games. Either way, the OSL finals absolutely blew every SC2 event I've ever been to out of the water. After seeing the turnout at the OSL event, I can't believe that BroodWar is really considered to be dying. The passion of the fans was intense and I really hope they can help keep this game alive for a long time.
Well that's all for today. I'd better get a couple hours of sleep before I go. Thanks for reading!
