EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/Mantoss_najin/20120601_d225c2f0c1dfa544e74.jpg)
On June 1st, Najin e-mFire held a press conference in their Tekken practice facilities in Yong-san, with Coach Park, Najin's CEO Lee Suk Jin, along with Kim Nam Hoon, and Min Jung Hyun.
Reach, who was a progamer on KT Rolster until he retired in May, said, "Although I do not have a good understanding of LoL nor Tekken, I plan to learn with the players. More importantly, I plan on contributing to Najin e-mFire achieve results by instilling a professional mindset in the players."
Q Please tell us how you came upon this position, your feelings and future goals.
A Even before I retired from KT on May 6th, I had always wanted to live the life of a regular salary man. I wrote a C/V and cover letter for the first time in my life. I was working at a corporation up until recently, but three weeks ago, Najin's CEO Lee Suk Jin contacted me. I restrained myself from getting involved with the gaming community to concentrate on my job, but Lee appealed to why the team needed me. He asked me teach mental toughness to the team members by leading by example. In the process of thinking it through, I asked Coach
YellOw and Commentator 
TheMarine for a lot of advice, and decided to take up the position in my third meeting with Lee. I still feel very attached to the e-Sports community. Of course I made sure to part ways with my company on good terms. To give a quick comparison of BW and LoL, practice is really important. All the team members chip in to devise and prepare a strategy, but in the end it's one individual player that will be affected by the result of the match. However, in LoL, even if one person screws up one bit [during the match], it can have a massive impact on the team's performance, so performance on stage is just as important as practice.Q Your reasons for choosing to live with the teammates?
A I had no time to get to know the players and get in rhythm. In order to make up for that, I thought it would be best to live and spend as much time as I could together. Even the time it takes to commute, I could put to better use. Since I am late to join the scene I need to catch up, so I decided on moving in with the team.
Q What kind of advice did you receive from Yellow.
A I moved up to Seoul when I was 18 [16~17 American], and debuted as a progamer. During that period, I spent a lot of time with Coaches
jihoon and H.O.T-Forever, and when they heard I was moving on to a game that's not BW, they were very disappointed. I asked for advice from those I knew in the LoL scene, such as Yellow and theMarine. I asked them a lot of questions and heard that they see a lot of parallels between the LoL scene and the earlier stages of development in BW. That was what ultimately tipped me over to join the team. I said I would be leaving the e-Sports scene but returned. I felt uncomfortable going back on my words. I had said those words to restrain myself from looking back, but I had underestimated my passion for e-Sports. Q Did you tell the KT headquarters?
A I told them at their dormitory yesterday. They were very disappointed. A lot of them said "If you were gonna do that why did you leave in the first place." I told Coaches JiHoon and HOTforever what was going through my head without beating around the bush, and they respected my decision. I had tried to keep it a secret but they had already heard a bit about the news through rumors. When they had called to ask, I had told them the rumors were not true. I hope they can understand and forgive.
Q Fans are criticizing you, labeling you a traitor.
A If I could have foreseen [my returning to e-Sports], I wouldn't have said those words. I wanted to concentrate on my job, so I never even thought I would return in this manner, and when the opportunity came knocking on the door, I had a huge dilemma. I want to say sorry to all the fans of BW. If I just hadn't said those words, perhaps the impact would have been mitigated. I thought to myself to be more careful with my words in the future.
A CEO Lee Suk Jin=Coach Park did not change his mind easily. If anybody wants to criticize him, I would feel much better if they redirected their ill feelings towards me.
Q What do you want to show as coach.
A I asked Lee for full control and responsibility in managing the team. I will first try to find points to improve upon through talking to the team members. I believe it is wrong to impose your ways of doing things without getting a full grasp of the situation. Through my long career as a progamer, I trained under numerous coaches so I have picked up a lot from my experiences. I will channel all the tricks of the trade into my efforts and meld them with my team.
Q First impressions of the players?
A It felt quite like back when I joined Hanbit Soft for the first time. Nostalgia hit me like a brick wall. There is no structure in the team nor an environment conducive to practicing on your own. I will change this. A team needs structure to promote an environment that encourages practice.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/Mantoss_najin/20120601_bf8af95aa57a9a3653a.jpg)
Leader of Najin e-mFire's Tekken team, Min 'Misty' Jung-Hyun
Q How did you feel doing something other than progaming?
A I felt half excited, half scared. Nobody wanted to talk to me at first and I had to find things to do on my own, so it was pretty difficult. However afterwards the company opened up to me and treated me warmly, and they seemed a bit disappointed that I was leaving so soon. It was a short period of time but I learned alot. It was the first time in my 30 years where I experienced so much change in such a short period of time.
Q Expectations in terms of results?
A CEO Lee=Not at the moment. I don't think it's right to pressure a new coach with results from his first term of employment. Also we signed Coach Park under a long contract. I greatly respect Reach for focusing on BW and nothing else for the entirety of his progaming career. I have very high hopes for him as coach of Najin e-mFire. KT's management has always had a foundation of trust in their coaching staff, so I will adopt their policies and put the management of the team entirely in Coach Park's hands.
Q Any plans on investing more $$ into the team?
A CEO Lee=I promised the players that even if a big corporation sponsored a team, I would make sure their compensation package does not fall below their rivals'. Currently we have expanded our team greatly. If Coach Park needs a dedicated coaching staff, I am willing to expand the roster even further.
Q It seems a coach specializing in strategy devising is needed.
A CEO Lee=I won't be breathing down Coach Park's neck after I already said I will let Coach Park handle everything. If he requests, I plan on recruiting the best.
Q Anything you want to say to the players?
A Since the game requires a team effort, some may rise as the team's ace, and others may play a supporting role. I don't want to discriminate them based on that. Also I want to emphasize the importance of trust. Even in BW 2v2's, once you start criticizing the other player's faults, you no longer have trust. I will also focus on curbing the members' acting out. It's important for the players to give the best in whatever role they are assigned.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/Mantoss_najin/20120601_9ec941f649b34a41358.jpg)
Leader of Najin e-mFire's LoL team, Kim 'Hoon' Nam-Hoon
Q What was your first impression of Coach Park and how do you want him to lead your team?
A Hoon=BW was the game I played the most throughout my childhood. I really wanted to become a progamer. I was glad I could achieve my dream through LoL. So I had the opportunity to meet Coach Yellow first, and he left me in awe. I felt the same way when I met Coach Park. I hope he can clamp down on our unstructured atmosphere.
A Misty=I felt like I had met a celebrity after seeing him just on TV for such a long time. It was really cool hearing him actually talk (laughs). Since Coach Park was a progamer himself, I believe he will be able to see our team's problems in depth, and I hope to learn a lot under his leadership.
Q Anything you want to say to Yellow, with whom you spent a long time living together.
A We shared our ups and downs for a long time. We met in KT, then Airforce Ace, then KT again, and now LoL. I recently called him. He told me to learn as much as I can when I join. From a long time ago, he has always feared me (laughs). It's because I beat him in all the important matches. Even though we meet as coaches this time, I feel that he still secretly fears me deep down inside (laughs). I have a great time just talking to him. I think I have a lot to learn in the coming months.
Q Any nicknames you want as coach?
A I have been called 'horse' before and it's really funny (laughs). I sometimes think 'is my face really that long?' Once I start as coach, I hope I will gain a good nickname. If I do well as coach, I think I will get a good nickname, and if we under perform, I think I will get another crappy nickname like 'horse' (laughs).
Q A word of determination from the players
A Hoon=I am sorry that we weren't able to meet the fans' expectations during the Spring league. We have changed our lineup for the summer league, so we should perform better. We will prepare even harder and obtain better results. I have no doubt that we will all learn alot from Coach Park, such as the mindset of a professional.
A Misty=So far we've only been able to take second place numerous times. We are participating in an ongoing tournament at the moment, and I we will do our best to win this one.
Source: Daily E-sports
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/Mantoss_najin/20120601_0b9fe2af11f745d9b68.jpg)
Reach, who retired from KT Rolster, has officially been named the head coach of Najin e-mFire. Coach Park, who held a press conference in Najin's practice facilities on June 1st, will begin working as the head coach of their LoL and Tekken teams.
Many fans have expressed their contempt, and others have defended his decision to take up the position of head coach. On May 31st, the press conference was announced and there was much mud-slinging between the two sides. Those who criticized him said how dare he switch to another game not long after his retirement, while those who defended him said he has the freedom to choose his own career, and even though it's a different game, they wished him to soar in this newly emerging game.
I personally spent a decade interviewing Reach so we have moved past the simple reporter-interviewee relationship a long time ago. We have become close enough to talk about things in our lives other than progaming in a private setting.
At the beginning of 2012, Reach had a hard time figuring out when he should retire. When the news of SC2 potentially being introduced into Proleague mid-season, he spent a lot of time researching and practicing the game with his teammates. KT's ace protoss
Lizzy and zerg Acacia both spent a lot of time with Reach. However when it was announced that SC2 would not be introduced in season 1, he decided to retire. KT also put in a lot of thought into Reach's situation. They were first and foremost worried of where he would live after retirement. Reach, who was brought on in 2004 under KTF MagicN's, stayed longer than teammates
Nal_rA and YellOw and solidified his position as the KT's franchise star. So it would have been most wonderful for him to stay as a coach. When reach declined these terms, KT headquarters wanted to offer him a position in their front office, akin to CJ's XellOs, but they could not because a spot did not open up.KT and Reach fell into a dilemma regarding when he should retire. If KT had placed first in regular season, they were planning on releasing Reach as soon as the regular season was over. KT had come to respect the career choice that Reach had made [of working at a big corporation as a salaryman]. Reach had already moved out of the dormitories by March, written a C/V and cover letter applying to various companies, and landed an offer beginning April 1st.
However the younger teammates of KT did not let him go easily. KT finished the regular season in third place and delayed his retirement further and further by making it all the way to the post season grand finals. Even during the grand finals held on April 8th, Reach was watching his teammates play from the bench. Even though he was busy working full-time at a company specializing in marine transport, he spent the weekends at the KT practice facilities, helping his teammates practice so they could win. When KT lost 3:4 to SKT, he stayed late until the next morning cheering his teammates up, even though he had work that morning.
After the PL grand finals were over, he was determined to transition into a productive member of society. After living at the KT dormitories for close to a decade, he found himself a studio in Seoul. He wanted to give his new job his very best, so he didn't even pick up any calls during work-hours and purposely did not visit any e-sports news sites or communities. He also joined a recreational baseball league and played in friendly matches twice. He really put in a lot of effort to become citizen Park, and leave behind his days as Progamer Reach [also forgot MANTOSS, Legend of the Fall, sexy back].
On May 6th during his retirement interview, I asked him 'how is working at a company' and he said 'I am doing my best.' Even on May 19th, when I knew from insider information that he was going to Najin as head coach, he told me from the Azubu LoL the Champions grand finals that he still wasn't sure.
CEO Lee Suk Jin played a crucial role in persuading Reach to join Najin e-mFire as head coach. Lee, who also serves as the owner of the team, said he had become a fan of Reach when he won the 2002 SKY OSL. He met up with Reach three times around his retirement and begged him to lead the team, giving him a long-winded speech on why the team needed his leadership. Park, who was also unsure of the proposition because he didn't know much about LoL nor Tekken, was finally persuaded and brought to the reins of Najin e-mFire.
The reason why I gave such a long background story on Reach's whereabouts in 2012 is because I wanted to vindicate him from the accusations that he purposely deceived the fans and retired to move onto LoL. I had the privilege of watching him play BW as a progamer for over 10 years as a reporter, and helped him through his transition into citizen Park as a big brother. The Reach that I have gotten to know through that time is not somebody who will try to deceive and manipulate others through words. He has not an ounce of traits that would fit the label of 'traitor' or 'opportunist.'
Reach stated in an official interview that he wants to "Apologize to the BW fans and KT Rolster, who supported him for more than a decade." He apologized, even though he didn't have to, for any part of this ordeal that may have caused some to question his integrity.
Like his name Jung-Suk [정석 means the best move, contextually more in line with the phrase 'textbook example'], he has led an exemplary life, and because I know he will continue to do so, I personally wish him the best of luck.
Source: Daily E-sports
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=173966
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=42563¤tpage=3#48
Thanks OpticalShot for suggesting the articles!
