"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." —Michael Jordan
Ace of Hearts by Hot_Bid TeamLiquid: Final Edits
The single greatest dramatic moment in all of Progaming is the Proleague Grand Finals Ace match. While a Proleague match is a contest of coaching, preparation, and execution, a Proleague Ace match is decided by something else entirely. Will. Force. Determination. Effort. Heart. It's a player in his purest form, stripped of everything but his competitive soul.
In that ace booth, a player is not alone. With him are the combined hopes, dreams, and expectations of his coaches, his fans, and most importantly, his teammates. He holds their happiness in his hands just as he holds the fate of his team.
With him also is a specter, an abstract thing that he never fully understood until that moment: pressure. He has prepared for this moment his entire career. This is why he became a progamer. But pressure was never supposed to feel like this. It seemed as real and tangible as the mouse in his hand, as heavy as the air he now struggled to breath, and as bright as the lights of the Shinhan stage.
Defeat
Through heavy sighs and bloodshot eyes, he concedes. The five minutes after the loss are always the toughest. His teammates and coach offer words of encouragement, but all he can think about is how he let them down. This was his job, his responsibility. Their sleepless nights, their hours of practice, their confidence and belief in him was all for nothing. It's just a tick in the loss column now. What went wrong?
He buries his head in his hands, and closes his eyes as if to squeeze out the rest of the world. He wants to forget already but his mind won't let him. A long, difficult week lays ahead of him. Next time, things will be different. Next time.
For the mediocre veteran looking to finally make a difference, there may not be a next time. For a first time ace hoping to finally realize his potential, this is supposed to be his break through. For a team's best player, this is just another missed opportunity. It's just one loss in just one match against just one player. It's nothing compared to the thousands of games played over the course of his already successful career. It's nothing, yet tonight, it's everything.
Victory
With surpressed smiles and barely contained joy, he rips off his head phones. Exiting the booth, descending the stairs, and high fiving his teammates all blend together into one euphoric moment. The sleepless nights, the effort and sweat, the aching hands, it was all worth it. His preparation paid off. He can't wait to joke with his practice partners or buy his captains a drink. For now, all he can do is laugh and smile. Be smooth, he tells himself. Act like you've been here before. But his happiness is relentless, and that smile keeps creeping back onto his face.
His coach pats him on the back. His teammates congratulate him, and his parents will call him that night with celebratory words. Practice tomorrow will hardly feel like practice. He smiles when he thinks of next week, when his name might be called again. He can't wait.
For the legend looking to recapture old glory, this is a feeling he thought he might never experience again. For the rising young star, this is a taste of pure inpiration. For a team's best player, it's just a validation of what he and his team already knew: they were going to win the Shinhan Proleague. It's just one win in just one match against just one player. It's nothing compared to the thousands of games played over the course of his already successful career. It's nothing, yet tonight, it's everything.
Very nice article XD. Wondered why you put defeat before victory though, would've put victory first because i was more engaged when reading through defeat than with victory. Loved the article though, it was sooo short =(.
Thanks HB! I needed something to distract me from my research paper for a little bit, this was perfect. (Although I wish it was longer, but at the same time I am happy it is not :D)
On November 19 2008 11:41 caelym wrote: is it me or did u not post the most emotional ace match celebration the proleague has ever seen?
youtube link
I think that when July beat oov in the finals was way more emotional than that. Not to mention hilarious because July trips over a bunch of his teammates.
Great article HB. I have been a big fan of your videos ever since your savior tribute came out.
On November 19 2008 11:41 caelym wrote: is it me or did u not post the most emotional ace match celebration the proleague has ever seen?
youtube link
I think that when July beat oov in the finals was way more emotional than that. Not to mention hilarious because July trips over a bunch of his teammates.
Great article HB. I have been a big fan of your videos ever since your savior tribute came out.
On November 19 2008 11:41 caelym wrote: is it me or did u not post the most emotional ace match celebration the proleague has ever seen?
youtube link
I think that when July beat oov in the finals was way more emotional than that. Not to mention hilarious because July trips over a bunch of his teammates.
Great article HB. I have been a big fan of your videos ever since your savior tribute came out.
On November 19 2008 10:32 Hot_Bid wrote: [...] a Proleague Ace match is decided by one singular thing. Will. Force. Determination. Effort. Heart. [...]
Awesome article, so beautiful and the videos are just perfect, transcend the emotions. I feel as if I learned something and if not yet, then I have lot to learn from them. This is the right attitude towards life and achievements, MJ quote just proves it.
Very nice article. It's a nice reminder of something I usually forget: there's always a winner and a loser. They're both human and on any given day, their roles may be switched.
On November 19 2008 23:22 Xusneb wrote: Very nice article. It's a nice reminder of something I usually forget: there's always a winner and a loser. They're both human and on any given day, their roles may be switched.
QFT. Beautiful man. Not something we didn't know, but in the context of this thread, very nicely put.
Really nice videos, and really nice sort of extended poetic desciptions of the videos ^^ I realized that Jaedong ceremonies are badass, especially when hes sort of nonchalant yet stylish, lol.
And the Airforce ACE part on the second video cracked me up, they're all saluting and suddenly theres Boxer and his sexy I-pwned-you-dance.
I just watched the videos, the one where the guy from eSTRO loses and he's crying, man that was touching. Since eSTRO is beginning to blossom as a proleague team. Great stuff.
What a touching article. I loved how you mixed up your writing with videos. I could really how the players would have felt if they lost/won in ace matches.
The "Defeat" part is how i felt when i lost my game vs OneOther.
Btw, Hot_bid : you said that there won't be any graphics, yet i saw the recording and i was put down as deus and not as deus_073. Should i start calling you Hot ?
On November 20 2008 19:08 deus_073 wrote: The "Defeat" part is how i felt when i lost my game vs OneOther.
Btw, Hot_bid : you said that there won't be any graphics, yet i saw the recording and i was put down as deus and not as deus_073. Should i start calling you Hot ?
On November 20 2008 19:08 deus_073 wrote: The "Defeat" part is how i felt when i lost my game vs OneOther.
Btw, Hot_bid : you said that there won't be any graphics, yet i saw the recording and i was put down as deus and not as deus_073. Should i start calling you Hot ?
On November 20 2008 19:08 deus_073 wrote: The "Defeat" part is how i felt when i lost my game vs OneOther.
Btw, Hot_bid : you said that there won't be any graphics, yet i saw the recording and i was put down as deus and not as deus_073. Should i start calling you Hot ?
HotBid, if you are reading this, can I ask why some of your videos are geographically restricted? For some reason, I cannot watch "You could be happy" beacuse my "location" does not allow it. The strange thing is, I was once able to watch it just fine. Whaaaa-....?
Well written article, although it does not bring anything new to the fold. Very good writing, though.
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hot_Bid/TLFE/AceofHearts.jpg)
. Maybe because he just never seems to elevate his play and he looks so bummed in the video
![[image loading]](http://antiflux.org/~tim/log/rings/rings.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://gynvael.vexillium.org/test/imgtest.png)
