|
Let me preface this by saying that I love eSports professionals for two reasons: they’re superstars, but they don’t act douchey like most superstars do. For example, I go to the Ohio State University, and, until recently, we had a star player named Terrelle Pryor. He was pretty damn good, but he was an arrant asshole with no manners and who gave off a vibe that can only be described like this:
![[image loading]](http://cdn.jockpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/drunk-terrelle-pryor.jpg)
The face of a champion
Long story short, he was banned from the game for selling trophies he won by playing for the team, and he was actually just not a good person.
What does this have to do with eSports?
![[image loading]](http://www.teecrush.com/static//images/shirts/7/5b002473e2ae2e987f66836cea3af2a0/shirt.jpg)
Well I just want to highlight this because Pro-Gamers are different—at least in StarCraft. It was only very recently that non-Korean StarCraft players got any attention at all—let alone masses of fans. If you told Day9 when he started his daily podcast about Brood War that, within the span of two years, he would have 5-10,000 viewers watching his stream live, and thousands more keeping up with his VODs every day, he would have ruptured his appendix laughing so hard. This was back when “eSports” wasn’t a word—when “professional” and “gamer” were mutually exclusive terms in western culture.
But now that’s changed; now IdrA regularly gets 8-10,000 viewers on his channel when he streams. The GSL has trended globally on Twitter (I don’t actually know what that means, but I’m assuming it’s good for Elly).
![[image loading]](http://www.bestlogodesigns.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/twitter-logo-bird.png)
I just… I just don’t get it
Most professional gamers are still adjusting to their newfound level of fame. They have the same sort of fan-following as professional athletes or movie stars. What they don’t have is the profound level of ass-hattery that a lot of athletes and movie stars have. StarCraft professionals still act as if they’re just normal, non-GoSu x 2 people. This is one of the things I love most about the professional scene—pro-gamers aren’t arrogant enough to think they’re better than their fans—they still recognize that, without the support of average gamers, they wouldn’t have the following they have, and pro-gamers are grateful that they can do what they love for a living. They don’t have this irritating sense of self-worth because they still sense an inherent contradiction between “fame” and “gaming,” even though it isn’t there.
On December 9th, my good friend—a champion and a scholar, a gentleman whose wits he holds true and well as his wine, who shall remain, here, nameless, but shall belong to the ages, a man whom scholars will hold as a hero, and who women will weep to see—told me that Liquid’Ret was living in my hometown—Columbus—for a period of time. I thought he was trolling, but was excited enough to send Ret via TeamLiquid.net:
Original Message From mbr2321:
Hey there,
I'm a huge fan of yours, and I heard from my friend that you're living in Columbus now. A couple of my friends and I are fans, and rather than be all creeper-like and stalk you, I wanted to offer to buy you a meal while you stay in our fair city
Let me know if you have any interest or time.
Well, I didn’t want to scare him away with my geeky fanboyism—I was trying to be like this:
![[image loading]](http://mobile.freewallpaper4.me/320x480/983-barack-obama.jpg)
Say what you want, but the man’s got style
Of course instead I felt like this:
![[image loading]](http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/so-much-awkward-19.jpg?w=499)
I found this on the internet—I don’t even know if it’s supposed to be a boy or a girl
But to my eternal and incredible surprise, Liquid’Ret—BW extraordinaire, StarCraft II legend, Dr. Drone himself, TLAFLiquid’Ret—said this:
“Hey man, that sounds good actually. Monday would be great and ill bring my gf too if you don't mind
Thanks for the offer!!”
At this point I’m freaking out. Of course… I’ve got to play it cool. I can’t go around scaring off professional players left and right like the fucking Jigsaw—no! I will not blow this! I will not scare the living bejesus out of Ret like Amnesia did to Day9 (who, I’m pretty sure, is still in the fetal position under his bed, consuming hot-pockets and whispering “Manfred… help me Manfred… the chairs… the chairs…” and periodically screaming “UNIDEN” while Destiny pounds on his door, telling him to stop sniping him on the ladder). No… I had to be… the cool nerd.
![[image loading]](http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/9/d/4/0/global_5800256.jpeg)
Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhhhh
Eventually, we agree to meet at The Wine Bistro at 18:00 (because I don’t want to say 6:00 pm—it’s a bad pun and I’m above that). It’s a nice little place, with an enormous selection of wine and amazing food. It’s reasonably priced—something like $8-15 per entrée, and it has a great atmosphere.
![[image loading]](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/e9/8a/26/welcome-to-our-lane-ave.jpg)
My friends and I spend the day assembling our one moment of fanboyism—we’ve decided, at this point, that we don’t want to sit at a table, gawking slack-jawed at Ret and his girlfriend, periodically stabbing ourselves in the face with a fork because we miss our mouths; instead we want a nice dinner, wherein we can pleasantly make conversation, learn a bit about who Jos de Kroon is, and leave Ret out of the conversation as much as possible. We decide, however, that we will allow ourselves to proverbially shit a brick once that night—by giving he and his girlfriend an awesome Christmas present. Knowing that Ret might miss the Netherlands, we want to get him something that would remind him of home; that being said, we also want to welcome him back to America with something that screams American culture. The result: two enormous gift-baskets, one European (with a heavy emphasis on Dutch) and one American.
![[image loading]](https://p.twimg.com/AggZsHgCQAA_Tm4.jpg)
So, with gift baskets assembled, we head to the restaurant and wait, not for Liquid’Ret, but for Jos de Kroon. At about 18:10, he arrives with his lovely girlfriend, whom we later learn to be Audrey. I invite them back to the table (for we were there about five minutes before 6), and the waitress brings us some water.
The waitress comes back later with our drinks, and we order appetizers. We order a trio of fondue, which comes with French baguette slices and grilled pita, a small cheese board, and a fairly pricey Scallup Lollipop dish that is actually delicious.
![[image loading]](http://laneave.winebistrocolumbus.com/portals/wbua/galleries/ua/IMG_9028.jpg)
Delightful beyond any reasonable price
As we pass around pita, and sample cheeses, we begin to make pleasant conversation. Jos politely asks us about ourselves, and we sort of chat. Upon our inquiry, he tells us that he’s living with Audrey until the New Year, when he will be going back to Europe to compete in the Home Story Cup. He and Audrey seem curious with regards to what we do for fun in Columbus—thus far the Crossroads of Ohio has been, as it has for so many other people, a disappointment insofar as having fun goes. To be clear, Columbus is a nice city—it is as pleasant as its weather is shitty—but it really doesn’t have the night-life that New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C, Miami, Boston, Dallas, or, really, any other major city in America has. So what do my friends and I do for fun? We go to my house and play StarCraft—sometimes we watch a movie… that’s about it.
We ask Jos and Audrey what they do for fun, and they tell us that all they do is play StarCraft and Skyrim—that they watch television, and sometimes they go out to eat. Sometimes Jos will coach her in StarCraft II. We discover that Audrey is very good at StarCraft II—whether this is a result of Ret coaching her, or that she is just a great player (she works at Gamestop (the assumptions are stacking), or a blend of the two—she could, without doubt, beat the crap out of any one of us (we feel our nerd-egos shrinking) without batting an eye.
A quick word on Jos and Audrey as company: they are extremely chill people. If you’ve ever seen an interview with Liquid’Ret, you may see how relaxed and down-to-earth he seems. At dinner, Jos is equally cool as a cucumber. His manner of speaking is sort of like a relaxed southern drawl—except with a hint of a Dutch accent. Audrey, truly, is as delightful company as is Jos. She is one of those non-geeky gamers—like one of the MLG girls, except she’s not a paid actress—she’s incredibly nice, intelligent, and fun to be around— that and she and Jos are adorable together.
![[image loading]](http://www.mycuteanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/cutelilpuppy.jpeg)
This would be the Archon that Jos and Audrey would morph into if such things were real
Eventually we’ve finished with our cheeses and scallups, and I ask Jos what it was like living day-to-day in Korea. I tried to word it carefully such that it’s clear that I want to know what it was like living in Korea, not playing Brood War in Korea. He talks about how much the eSTRO house sucks to live in. Firstly, since there are no professional cooks or cleaners for the players hired by the team, the 3-4 worst players on the team would have to cook and clean for all the players. Jos had to wake up an hour earlier than the rest of the players and do these menial tasks. In addition, the training regimen was extremely strict—players had to practice in four-hour blocks, and would be told-off by coaches if they were out of game too much. He describes with an air of mild chagrin the cramped living quarters, and says laughingly that he only lasted a month there.
From there, the conversation moves to Artosis. Jos describes Dan Stemkoski in those days as the sort of rally point for the Hatchery that was foreigners in Korea for Brood War. Artosis would be the one calling everyone up to go out drinking one night; he would plan the social events and run them with the utmost precision and grace. Artosis would make sure everyone was having a good time. We hear that, in those days, Artosis was just beginning his casting career, and that he was basically enslaved by some Korean company to work for them. We can only assume that Artosis was not a happy panda about this.
![[image loading]](http://starcraftmazter.net/images/4chan/tech_games/sc2/nasl/artosis.png)
How can you not feel sorry for this face?
Eventually, we order our food. Part of the reason my friends and I picked the Wine Bistro was for its wonderful food. We have already eaten our appetizers (phenomenal, by the way), and decide to get four flatbreads. For those who don’t know what a flat-bread is, it’s essentially a large and flat loaf of bread, covered in various arrays of cheeses, meats, vegetables, and sauces. The specific kinds of flatbread were a chicken-and-pesto, an Italian-ish (various spiced meats and cheese), a shrimp-and-curry, and a veal-meatball. A quick note on veal—this is a tangent, but I think it’s important that I explain myself here. I hate the concept of veal. I don’t like how it’s made, and I hate that it’s even in existence. But damn it… damn it… it’s just… so… good. It’s so good. There is literally nothing better in meatball form than veal. The veal-meatball flatbread is pretty much a souped-up pizza, in reality. It is covered in an impeccably tangy and sweet marinara sauce, a marvelous spread of cheese, and the meatballs… oh the meatballs. They are so good.
![[image loading]](http://nhigh.winebistrocolumbus.com/portals/wbworth/galleries/worth/IMG_8978.jpg)
It feels so wrong, but tastes so right
The meal is whittled away with more talk of Skyrim (or it would have been if I hadn’t taken an arrow to the knee) and StarCraft, and soon it is time to part ways. My friends and I take the check (Jos was all for splitting it, but what kind of hosts would we be if we let him do such things?), we give Jos and Audrey the gift baskets (or is it gifts basket? o.O), and we part ways.
It turns out we parked right in front of Audrey’s car, so as we drive down the street towards the stoplight, none of us says a word. We turn at the stoplight, and immediately begin freaking the fuck out. We have just had dinner with Jos Liquid’fucking’Ret de Kroon and we didn’t fuck up horrifically. We just talked with him and his awesome girlfriend and bought them dinner. Our excitement bubbles up in us as giddiness, and I, personally, spend the next few hours tittering like a school-girl.
Over the next few hours, the adrenaline-fueled excitement I had about having dinner with Jos dissipated, and was replaced by a profound and deep respect and admiration for the man. It takes a lot of guts to take up an offer from a complete stranger—especially in a relatively unfamiliar city. Not only that, but, whether he realized it or not, by taking a couple hours to have dinner with some fans, he gave them a lasting and sustaining happiness that is unique to fickle fame.
EDIT: Special thanks to TemujinGK (ImperialFist) for skyping me even when I'm not there, PowerSniper (SentinelM) for editing and giving constructive criticism on the piece, and to Liquid'Ret for being such an awesome, mannered guy.
EDIT 2: More special thanks to TL Staff for the spotlight :3
 
|
FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Quite a cute blog^^
I enjoyed reading this.
|
Kick ass write up. Hope I'm there next time! Liquid and Ret Hwaighting!!!!!!!!
|
It's impressive how this blog became better and better as it reaches the end. 5/5
|
5/5 great blogs! I hope more people did what this man did so we can have more stories of our favorite players.
-edit-
I just dropped the link of this blog in Ret stream and he said he had a great time having lunch with you guys.
|
Hyrule19031 Posts
I got to the adorable puppy and couldn't read any further
|
niice!
would be better with pictures though.
either way great blog!!
|
Radfield
Canada2720 Posts
That was a nice read. Thanks for sharing!
|
This was great man. Cool of Ret to chill with you folks.
|
This was actually a super awesome blog  Loved it!
|
Loved it. Ret is such a chill guy.
|
On December 16 2011 09:42 tofucake wrote:
I got to the adorable puppy and couldn't read any further
Lol, tofu so mean XD
Good story, always nice to know when those we look up to are actually really good people
|
So good
|
Very cool. He posted a picture of that giftbasket on twitter, I think.
I remember when he started streaming back in 2009 before he went to Korea. Remember him watching one of his Zerg friends on HBR and making fun of his terrible macro
|
that is about the same as my dreams where I meet IdrA irl go....
super jelly
|
It is, indeed, gift baskets.
|
Glad you, your friends, Ret and Audrey had a fun evening!
|
Lol this is so nerdy... but I can't blame you guys for geeking out. Glad to hear you had a good time and glad to hear that Ret is so chill. I briefly met him at MLG Columbus when I got his autograph and he seemed pretty cool.
|
On December 16 2011 10:24 GGQ wrote:
It is, indeed, gift baskets.
Hahaha thanks. I just love turning 2-word noun plurals into things they aren't.
things like tennises shoe, chapters book, etc.
|
Nicely done boys 
It is possible that the reason Pros are so damn down to earth is they are just normal people with a passion. Plus the support of guys like you. People who are geniunely interested and willing to be polite supporters. These things work both ways.
Edit: A well deserved spotlight too.
|
This was an awesome read.
|
awesome everything! blog, bread, and puppy! :D
|
Australia8532 Posts
So glad i saw this! What a great read and the food looks awesome
Congrats on not fucking it up and drooling infront of Ret - i don't know if i could have been as composed hehe
|
|
|
Good stuff. this kind of thing should happen more!
|
Enjoyed reading this a lot )) I like the sytle!
|
That food looks so good x.x
|
Netherlands4511 Posts
Hey this is so well written and so cool of you to post this! We had a great time and the food was indeed very awesome :D
Thanks again so much for the gifts and the dinner. And it is true, we had no idea what to expect from the evening or meeting total strangers but really glad we did this cause it was a lot of fun. We will definately meet again before I leave Ohio
p.s I already ate all of the choclateeeeee :D so good! and so much cheese O_O We've been trying to fit it in as much food as possible but we're gonna have a hard time finishing all the cheese :D
|
Cool story to read about, my friends and I met Ret at Providence, he seemed like a cool dude to hang out with. My friend also offered to buy him a pack of cigs and Ret was really thankful or something for the free pack of cigs he was getting, seemed a little shocked by his fame maybe? Idk, but it made him seem really human and not take things for granted which does set pro-gamers from pro-athletes it seems.
|
" I found this on the internet " is probably the best line of all time. Great writeup, I'm sure he really appreciated your gestures
|
What the hell, ret is living in Columbus for a bit? What a small world. I live a couple miles from the Wine Bistro.
|
Great write up and thanks for sharing. I love reading about when the Starcraft community is so awesome and mannered.
|
That story was so awesome. I think it's so great that Ret took the time to do this, but I'm more impressed by your balls to actually message him.
Thanks for sharing your tale!
|
GG. GG indeed. Why must I live in BFE Kansas....
|
Not much of a Ret fan...
Until now. Mad respect. He earned my full-blown support. How nice of him.
|
This was so awesome! I'm so jealous. I would totally have loved to have dinner with Ret or any of the illustrious liquid men! Sooo cool.
|
Awesome Blog! :D
One thing though: I see one gift basket with Nutella (Germany´s most sold drug) and another one with Toblerone (Switzerlands most famous invention) and Red Bull (Austrian?) Whats the thought process behind this conspiracy? 
That food looks nomnomnom
€: Turns out, Nutella is originally from Itally. Still cant envision my childhood nor my life right now without at least one toast with Nutella a day..
|
Hey, I happen to live in Columbus, and I wouldn't say no if you invited me out to dinner; I can talk about sc and skyrim too~
|
haha awesome! Makes me want to see if any awesome progamers end up anywhere near me........
But otherwise looks fun and I'm jealous! Ret's so cool!
|
Wow, i wouldn't have been able to maintain myself in front of Ret in a normal fashion, good for you man. Ret rules.
|
Just a side comment on the beginning of your blog. What do you expect of Terrel Pryor? I mean he did go to Ohio State
Other than that great write up 5/5
Wolverines Fighting
|
So, I'm not going to congratulate you. kinda of out of Jealousy, but mostly because I think that would be inappropriately weak.
I more want to thank you. Thank you for taking this opportunity and helping to prove that we as a people are pretty neat, and that we don't need to be afraid of strangers. Thanks Ret for taking this offer, and thanks to all the repliers who are all seemingly pretty awesome dudes and/or dudettes.
eSports 1, cynical world 0
|
Hahaha I'm damn jealous. Great write-up 5/5, I look forward to when a major competition is heading in Canada...(Toronto) so I can take out Ret and Liquid Co to some great eats! <3
Mandatory Awesome Jos De Drone picture in the Official Captain Drone outfit.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/94Sat.jpg)
|
Ret is among the most manner and laid back pros when it comes to interacting with his fans imo, almost always replies to well wishers on bnet (unless ingame ofc). Nerd Baller Supreme
|
Person A earns minimum wage: has no reason to be arrogant
Person B earn luxury sports money: His/Her asshatery comes out when they dont have to be nice to get ahead in life.
tl;dr being an ass, and corrupted by good money doesn't make you a bad person. gg fanboy.
but ignoring that very nice, i love all these private experiences with players <3
|
|
|
|
|
tl;dr: i once met Daniel Lee on WCG Cologne and talked to the guy like an hour, with not exactly knowing who he was. Didnt order him a beer, though we drank some. Whats the point?
|
haha lucky! That would be so much fun. Very well written.
|
Great blog, 5/5. I'm jealous, and +1 to Ret for being such a cool guy.
|
WHAT?! You ate with Ret at the Wine Bistro?! I live in Upper Arlington literally yards from that place. That's unbelievable, you're so lucky
|
This reminds me of the good TL blogs of old
|
|
|
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo jealous!
|
Couldn't agree with the OP more. I briefly ran into Ret and Audrey at MLG Providence while watching HayprO play. He looked like the rest of us fanboys: intensely interested in the games. But he was so chill and really easy to approach. The guy behind me actually said this to Jos to which he laughingly replied, "Well I'm not exactly like Idra..."
Ret <3
|
Wonderful read, fantastically well written.Thanks for sharing! Kudos to you for having the guts to approach one of your heroes and kudos to Ret for taking time out to spend time with his fans! Brilliant!
|
Great read! I would have exploded with excitement if I had had the chance to meet Ret at a restaurant lol
|
Ares[Effort]
DEMACIA6550 Posts
Ret is pretty cool, nice blog
|
Nice blog! It's nice to hear how normal pro gamers are! I hope that doesn't change when they get uber famous... but i guess has to once there is too much fame to keep up with 
|
Eloquently written with the true spirit of a fanboy!
|
In this case, "cool story bro" is actually fitting. Nice to know Ret really does live up to the Liquid ideal that their players should be really awesome people first and foremost.
|
You guys are awesome! And ret is awesome! And ret needs to come to Cinci!
|
This is awesome! Makes me love the community even more. And way represent Ohio guys!
|
United States369 Posts
Haha, this blog is super cute. Great story!
|
Really cool story. Makes me happy to see people with a bit of fame not being douches all the time.
Ret fighting 2012!
|
Awesome! I tried to offer to buy Sen food when I visited Taiwan but he never responded :-/
|
Great story! The visuals added a lot. It's great that even though the community has expanded so much, meetings like this can still happen.
|
I will do this if one condition happens: MLG SEATTLE!!!!!
(Do it, MLG! If you ever loved me, do it!)
|
Cool job taking care of Ret. It looks like you and Ret had a great time. Also I think that picture of Terrelle Pryor and that girl makes them look like ugly twins .
On December 16 2011 14:16 Melchior wrote:
Awesome! I tried to offer to buy Sen food when I visited Taiwan but he never responded :-/
Sen probably gets asked tons of times for offers/requests. I use to hate living in Georgia because everybody in the mall close to the Master's golf tournament there would ask me if I was related to Tiger Woods back in the day. It got to the point where I wanted to hide my face because I felt like a public celebrity and I wanted to escape everyone. I'm dead serious... I feel like I understand why e-celebrities or celebrities in general sometimes stress out about all the attention they receive from others.
|
This was a pleasure to read sir, thank you very much for sharing this story. Ret has always struck me as a very friendly, down-to-earth guy and this confirms it. gl to you in the future mate
|
|
|
On December 16 2011 15:08 whatthefat wrote:
Amazing, love it!
This has made my day. whatthefat your blogs are incredible :3
|
|
|
No awesome group photo to mark the end of the blog? Awww
Great read though, Ret ftw.
|
'Enjoy while it lasts' should be the last words. Great blog.
|
On December 16 2011 16:06 Rampager wrote:No awesome group photo to mark the end of the blog? Awww Great read though, Ret ftw.
Didn't bring a camera-- and didn't think to take a picture with my phone T_T
|
So cool, great to hear Ret does this kind of things for his fans You simply have to love eSports due to people like him
|
awww this is awesome!
need more fans like you in the world :D
|
Nice read! Funny pictures!
|
Haha, Grolsch in the gift package, than you know it's awesome! Cool story bro! (No seriously cool )
|
Haha I love Ret and I love your article
|
Very nice, Ret is a boss always liked him since bw :D. Lucky guys ^_^.
|
Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51481 Posts
Holy F'n shit!!
Wow, and yes i totally agree,Ret has balls man...huge balls to take up an offer from a fan for a meal together ^_^
Kudos to you for asking him, and im glad you portrayed yourself well (maybe need to hear Ret's version of events but i dont think there will be much difference)
Nice blog aswell, very well written
(FML that dog is cute)
|
Awesome read. Inspiring to see that our own nerd-stars are still just chill, relaxed people. Excellent job. :D
|
|
|
So cute^^
Thanks for sharing the story!
|
Good read, but why did you have to include pictures of delicious food?
Im fucking starving now
|
|
|
you put "nutella" in the basket, you really must love ret. I was smiling the whole time I read this blog. really sweet.
|
Great blog. Thanks for sharing this.
|
I don't understand why so many in the sc2 community seem to think that esports hasn't been this big before and that were no such things as western pro gamers prior to sc2, the cs 1.6 scene was as huge as sc2 (if not bigger), it had a global following (which at its peak was a lot bigger than sc2 is). A lot of people here on TL seem to have very weak knowledge of esport history and seem to believe that esports haven't been in this current state before, but it has been.
|
|
|
Cool blog! Thumbs up to you, your friends, Ret and his GF. Just one thing - from your description and photo, it seems I can't find the difference between pizza and flatbread. Would you explain, please?
|
Wow really cool.
Kinda awesome that this happens.
Thx for telling this story. Good read.
|
Awesome story! Thanks for letting us know how cool Ret is personally!
|
Excellent read! Thanks for sharing
|
haha, very nice, and well written
|
Great Reading but now I'm hungry...brb
5/5
On December 16 2011 10:51 Liquid`Ret wrote:Hey this is so well written and so cool of you to post this! We had a great time and the food was indeed very awesome :D Thanks again so much for the gifts and the dinner. And it is true, we had no idea what to expect from the evening or meeting total strangers but really glad we did this cause it was a lot of fun. We will definately meet again before I leave Ohio p.s I already ate all of the choclateeeeee :D so good! and so much cheese O_O We've been trying to fit it in as much food as possible but we're gonna have a hard time finishing all the cheese :D
You are supposed to say: Challange accepted!
|
|
|
Sick story man, I had a similar experience with mOOnGLaDe ^_^
eAthletes are the best :D!
|
I talked to Ret at dreamhack and indeed he is a very nice person
|
|
|
I'm one of the newer people to teamliquid one of the new kids on the block from when starcraft 2 came around. But things like these are priceless and can only happen on tl. Thanks for the read.
|
Awsome blog. The fact that SC progamers are so, so good at the game and to some people (me) are huge celebrities but still seem like the most lovely and wonderful people in the world is one of the reasons I love this game and this community.
|
hehe thats a great story, i hope everyone stays human or at least superman like hero good XD
|
Nice read and I'm so jealous ^^
Ret is such a cool dude, hope to meet him one day!!
|
On December 16 2011 22:52 Luddff wrote:
I talked to Ret at dreamhack and indeed he is a very nice person
same for me expect it was at the Battle in Berlin. Later on had a beer and talk with Mori, Socke and Goody - everyone just so nice. awesome sport!
|
Sounds like a really good time!
|
I love your writing style. This blog was very enjoyable to read. I'm happy you had such a wonderful time with Jos and Audrey. Thank you for sharing
|
Very cool. Wonder what brings Ret here to Columbus?
On December 16 2011 11:33 Nightmarjoo wrote:
Hey, I happen to live in Columbus, and I wouldn't say no if you invited me out to dinner; I can talk about sc and skyrim too~
Hey, ditto.
|
I live in Columbus and am jelly
|
This blog was an amazing read and Ret sounds so cool in real life. Thanks for writing it up
|
sexy story indeed, gj with the spotlight. LiquidRet is a boss, and so are you guys!
|
Awesome blog ! It's really a nice story you had there !
|
This was one of the most awesome things to read right when I wake up. Just gives me a good feeling about the day :D
Jos de Kroon, you are the man!
|
Liked the pictures. Good man!
|
|
|
Cool story bro' (but in the sense of the meme, I really mean this )
I especially loved the way you approahed the situation, and the way you considered Ret at the end.
|
I would never have dared to do what you did, i think thats pretty brave.
And it really says something about what type of person Ret is when he accepts and you get to have that experience
|
Dammit, I now respect another buckeye. Either way, that is an awesome story, and I'm glad everyone had a great time. gg wp
|
Great blog post, freaking awesome!
|
nice read. except the part where ur putting essentially all other athletes in the asshole basket °_° why speak so badly about tons of other people when u just want to write about the awesomeness of ret °°_°
|
Korea (South)11577 Posts
ahh yeaaaaaa!
Ret is one hell of a guy, super smart, sweet, kind, and absolutely amazingly awesome! Your story telling was really quite good and I just smiled the entire time reading it. Thanks for the cute and fun read
|
On December 17 2011 02:53 JaQInTheBox wrote:
nice read. except the part where ur putting essentially all other athletes in the asshole basket °_° why speak so badly about tons of other people when u just want to write about the awesomeness of ret °°_°
Of course it's rude for me to generalize about all athletes with regard to how manner they can be-- I tried to highlight that e-mailing Justin Timberlake or Peyton Manning, inviting them to dinner, would most likely have been either ignored or rejected. I mostly brought up Terrelle Pryor because he showcases one reason I couldn't approach a different famous person the way I approached Jos-- that and it's funny to me to call him a douche.
|
|
|
i forsee a new show in the line of dancing with the stars: "dining with the pros" hosted by TB. (hopefully giving it a sense of classs with his britisch accent)
|
Bossmode Ret, nice. Also awesome of you guys to offer him dinner, if you're new in a city it's really nice to meet some locals to get a feel for the city!
|
This was a really pleasant and fun read, cheers for making Ret feel welcomed even more during his stay
|
Katowice25012 Posts
This is a great blog. The story is amazing, and I love your writing.
Glad you had a fun time, Ret is a wonderful person to chill with. Whenever I see him he mentions how much fun it is to hang out with his fans, I think he really enjoys these kinds of evenings.
|
This is this blog
|
Very cool. Jos is very awesome and audrey too <3
|
United States23455 Posts
The only thing I found wrong with the blog: you made me soooooo hungry with the pictures and descriptions of the food!
|
I don't mean no disrespect, but to say pro-gamers have the same kind of attention that other big time pros/movie stars is just wrong.
And to use that as the main reason on why movie stars are ''disgusting'' and pro-gamers aren't is completely biased.
|
Awesome read!
Although I think that many a progamer would not jump at that opportunity :/
|
On December 17 2011 08:10 DDie wrote:
I don't mean no disrespect, but to say pro-gamers have the same kind of attention that other big time pros/movie stars is just wrong.
And to use that as the main reason on why movie stars are ''disgusting'' and pro-gamers aren't is completely biased.
I might have gone too far with my description of Movie Stars/Athletes. I meant only that, for the most part (and I am generalizing, so this isn't unilaterally true), Movie Stars and Athletes are very guarded about the things they do-- many of them would never accept a dinner invitation from a complete stranger.
You are right, of course, that pro-gamers do not get the same level of attention as do movie stars and athletes, but I argue that they receive the same kind of attention on a smaller scale. A lot of people show fandom at MLGs (this is really good)-- they ask for autographs, crowd around them, and cheer them on like it's the fucking superbowl.
Finally, it's undeniable that I'm biased. I'm totally biased towards StarCraft-- I watch streams, follow tournaments, and post on TL. I don't watch professional sports anymore because I have StarCraft-- there is definitely bias in my opinion with regard to StarCraft and the community therein. Thank you for your constructive criticism :3
|
United Kingdom30774 Posts
On December 17 2011 04:02 B.I.G. wrote:
i forsee a new show in the line of dancing with the stars: "dining with the pros" hosted by TB. (hopefully giving it a sense of classs with his britisch accent)
TB, come dine with me team liquid style and you can be the sarcastic background voice!
On Topic: This blog made me all warm and fuzzy inside, it's nice to know that pro's can be so warm and forthcoming with their fans and especially nice to confirm my already huge love for ret! <3
and the food made me starving..............
|
This blog is so awesome <3
As for someone who lives/grew up in Columbus, I can definitely vouch for there not being much to do here =\
Jos- You could try going to a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game (even though our team sucks).
Or if you prefer basketball, go to an Ohio State basketball home game. Our basketball team is actually good, haha.
And the Columbus Zoo actually has an amazing light display during the Christmas season. If you're going to be around until New Years, you and Audrey should head to the zoo one night. It's a very girlfriend-boyfriend appropriate thing to do.
Anyways, great blog! I love it. Enjoy the rest of your time in Columbus, Jos :D
|
Sounded great... Ret Jos again proves to be a badass
|
I couldn't help but find myself smiling the whole time i read this!
|
i had a smile on my face the entire time i was reading. It was written so well and it was such a great story! I live in arizona close to EG's team house but i am WAY too scared to try something like this haha. That was so awesome that ret said yes to your invite and you guys had a great time. Makes me happy just thinking about it.
|
|
|
+1 OSU Student
I heard Ret was in Ohio but I didn't realize he was in Columbus. Going to have to check out the Wine Bistro now too.
|
|
|
That sounds like a truly wonderful experience. I hope more pro gamers treat their fans this way, it really makes supporting them all the more worth it!
|
Excellent read and an excellent-sounding experience.
|
Fantastic write up Slave artosis tickled me pink :D
|
Some fantastic wordsmithery in this blog. Major props.
|
Thanks for the writeup and for getting Ret a nice time
You're awesome.
|
|
|
cute cute!! ^^ got soooo hungry XD
|
Awww this was so cute. I remember that when i met Ret, i was speechless.
|
Great read, put a big smile on my face. Thanks for sharing. I find it intresting though how he met his gf etc. and how he manages her/his family back in the Netherlands and all his practise etc. Anyone got more info on this?
|
awesome post...great pictures, good reasoning ^5 on making an obama reference in regards to esports <3
|
Nice blog!
But major fail for not getting a pic with your guests!
|
Posts/blogs like this make me happy to be apart of esports. not only are the stars amazing people, looks like the community is as well.
|
Awesome read, really enjoyed it !
|
Thanks so much for sharing...
for any pro gamers that come to geelong, australia, give me a yell okay?
|
It was really interesting to read. Grats to you
|
Very cool write up and experience!
|
Cute n all, and I'd consider myself a Ret fan, but idk, these hero worshipesque blogposts are kinda creepin me out.
|
Nice blog - could not stop grinning the entire time.
|
Superb read.
I could tell Ret was such a cool guy the moment he replied to one of my posts a long, long time ago. You then realize that big StarCraft names do appreciate their fans!
|
My friend who was completely unknown to Ret, asked Ret to play some 3v3's with him and he did . Ret is such a nice guy
|
Great blog, mbr! This is precisely why I love TL so much, both the team and the site.
P.S. That puppy picture should be illegal for civilian use, can't handle the cuteness.
|
wow, just wow. At both you guys and Ret. Amazing!
|
Ret seems like quite possibly the most genuinely nice being on the planet
|
You guys did more for Ret than I have done for my GF in like six months.
|
Thanks for spotlighting this one, was great fun reading it!
|
Nice write-up & spotlight!
|
i always knew ret is a boss ! now its proven i guess!
BUT there is a mistake with the present baskets. there are clearly european products on BOTH of them!! good plan sir, but you cant trick a nutella and toblerone freak like me !!!
|
Wow. Not only is Ret living in my home town, but you guys had dinner literally right across the street from where I work. I'm jealous. I'll have to hit him up to go drinking some time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/W0sfp.jpg)
