SOSPA - the Korean Afreeca Broodwar Scene - Page 22

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Hi everybody, this is Sonic. It's been a while but I'm gonna put on my serious hat once again and post an update. There were those of you who told me it was the right decision to quit the SSL, but others told me to think it over again, worried for me, and gave me some sound advice. Some even offered to lend me help if I was afraid of doing it alone. To reiterate, Shinbal farm [his company] employees and afreeca helped me put on the finals of SSL7, but that was purely because our employees were too nice to say no and afreeca was just thankful for brining in more viewers. The burden of tying up loose ends and making it actually happen always fell on me, and me alone. Of course, that also meant I didn't have to share the sense of accomplishment I got, but I had to weather a lot of harsh feedback alone at times.

On that momentous day, a certain report made me feel like somebody just lowered a hammer on the back of my head. Although I may come off as a blabbering fool who doesn't care about anything and gets into fights with his viewers, deep inside I am very sensitive. Oftentimes after I finish my stream, I get hurt by some nasty comments left by the viewers, and then get uplifted again by somebody else's comment saying it was fun to watch. Watching me go through the comments after my casts will make me seem like a psychopath. To be honest, I was afraid. What if this had happened not during some all-star event match, but the actual SSL8? What if I really did become the last hope of reviving BW and carrying its legacy, and something like this happened...? I didn't know what to do.

At first, all I could think was I'm gonna find this asshole and prosecute him, but running a business [he is the CEO of Shinbal Farm] while pursuing litigation posed a serious burden on me, and I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to manage both my business and SSL with all of its problems and baggage. After I wrote that SSL would no longer continue, I met a lot of people who told me that I had made a rash decision, that match fixing can be prevented through taking precautionary measures. Some told me that I should have spoken out if I was that stressed out. Some offered me help in the form of legal services, and some whom I never would have thought possible to work with offered to help me run the league. They also gave me some constructive criticism that was much needed. I spent about two weeks wandering around, sometimes getting yelled at by my seniors, and had a lot of time to think things through.

I am embarrassed that I am going back on my words, and am deeply sorry for the fans of BW and innocent players who were held to the public's scrutiny after the scandal, but I want to start again. I won't be able to do everything myself, but the areas I lack, if the players and fans can correct me, sometimes yell at me for being an imbecile, and support me, I want to start with SSL8 once again.

The good news I mentioned earlier is: Kim Carrier and Lee Seung Won [best commentator ever, ex-MSL caster] have agreed to help me out whenever help is needed. They will help me commentate starting from the Ro32. It will be me casting, and Kim Carrier and Lee Seung Won commentating. Even if you hate my casting, you can't deny that you want to see some BW action narrated by Kim Carrier and Lee Seung Won.

If you can please forgive me for my rash decision, I am prepared to start this up once again. I cannot apologize enough for all the fans I disappointed. Also, I want to thank those of you who offered me help, or even yelled at me for being dumb. I want to give a special thanks to Kim Carrier and Lee Seung Won, who gave me courage and advice. We will be setting strict rules regarding illegal betting, and I will do my best to make a problem-free stream. All leagues and event matches will also resume at this time. I won't disappoint you fans; I will do my very best to prepare for SSL8. I will start from scratch and look for sponsors. Also although I am still quite terrible at it, I've been trying to put on different creative content on my stream. I am trying to find ways to make my casts more entertaining, so I hope you enjoy. I'll always be putting in a 120% effort to be a better Sonic. Please cheer for me.

Everybody who left me thousands of comments, emails and messages through Teamliquid and afreeca, I'm so very sorry. I've rewatched just the finals of SSL7 dozens of times so I can gain motivation to go forward, so please cheer for me.

He used to be a caster on MBCGame before this happened. Many agreed that he was the most knowledgeable and overall 'best' caster, OGN and MBC combined, earning him the nickname of 'casting bonjwa' or 'Seung Won-jwa'

An old Fomos interview with Lee Seung Won, translated by OpticalShot.


Video of him predicting KT vs T8 proleague match


Lee Seung Won saying "Stats' best chance is to rip out his mouse plug right now, because he has absolutely no chance now, there is nothing he can do to win this game!"