EPTA good friend of mine and team-mate Tenryu is in the US Army, and he's being shipped off to Iraq. He might already be on his way, so I wrote this as a little tribute to him because he's been a good friend for almost 3 years now.
Here goes...
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This coming weekend (on August 1st), our very own Tenryu will be shipped to Iraq to serve a tour of duty for the United States Army. I thought it would be appropriate to thank Tenryu (Dan) for his service to the team over the years and to let him know that we will always be rooting for him and hope that he'll be able to come home safely!
2007...
I received a lengthy pm on ICCUP from then RandomHell asking for a chance to join the team. His pm was long and well thought out, and he expressed his desire to join another strong family-oriented team that was competing on a higher level. He seemed like a really dedicated player and I gave him a chance to be a part of the team and haven't regretted that decision. When he joined in early 2007, he was stationed in Japan, which has a pretty wide time gap between Europe and the United States. Despite the time difference, Tenryu would come to almost all of our clanwar matches (oftentimes staying up all throughout the night to play at 5-6 AM on Monday morning).
2008 ...
Tenryu joined without a real speciality, he was pretty good at both 1v1 and 2v2, but in 2008 especially he became a 2v2 powerhouse, especially after partnering up with DeA. I know I'm biased when I say this (but I stand by it), Tenryu and DeA are a top 3 2v2 team in the foreign scene (aside from Xiaozi+LJT, and Yan+his main allies). They were in large part responsible for the great year we had because we went from a team that had no stable 2on2 players to winning nearly every 2on2 we played. Being in the army AND being the most active member on the team and playing in the most clanwars is definitely something remarkable.
2009 ...
Was much of the same, and Tenryu's tour in Japan finally ended and he returned back to the United States. Sadly for us, he is one of the last US Regiments that is going to be sent to Iraq. I believe he will have internet connection, but I am unsure on his ability to be able to play BW. Most of all though, I'm not alone when I say that I wish him the best of luck in Iraq and hope he's able to get home in one piece.
Some accomplishments...
There aren't many events for 2v2 players to play and compete in aside from clanwars, but Tenryu (along with Sun) were able to place 2nd in the TeamLiquid.net's XMas 2v2 Tournament (under the team alias of Team Hap's Mom) losing 1-2 in the Grand Final to Yan+Westside. Aside from that Tenryu and DeA have only lost 5-6 2v2 matches (twice to ToT, once to NrT, once to ESC... that I can remember) in their history of playing clanwars together, and he has achieved A- rank in 2v2 almost every season of ICCUP.
So I and all of the team give a big <3 to Ten for being everything a team leader can ask of out of a player and hope that we can still see him on BW during his stay in Iraq and most importantly, come home safely!
Leave a comment here or here where he will more likely check if you want, if not... just support the troops in general because many of them are there not by choice, and many of them believe in the ideals of this country. Whatever the reason, everyone over there risks their lives on a daily basis and their commitment should be honored!
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