EPT
[People] Ex-coach Jung Soo-yeong: "Not winning a single season is something to regret over a millennium"
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/20120528_b6d5517438592952182.jpg)
Ex-coach of KTF Magic N's Jung Soo-yeong.
Ex-coach of KTF Magic N's Jung Soo-yeong.
"No place for second place."
In the world of professionals and heated competition, second place might as well be last place. All the spotlight goes to the victor. It has been no different for E-sports. KTF Magic N's (now KT Rolster) is the quintessence of this sentiment. KTF was called the Real Madrid of E-sports and was deemed the best team to have tread the scene, but has never won it all on the big stage. KTF went on a 23-win-streak from 2004 to 2005 and set a new record for most consecutive wins, but that was about it. Their memories live on in that single accomplishment during the regular season, because they have never held the trophy up high in the grand finals.
Still, the achievement does have some meaning. During the decade of E-sports history, the record for most consecutive wins has not been broken. Some may argue that the record is not a big feat when looking at their star-studded lineup of members such as
Nal_rA, Reach, 
YellOw, 
Sync, ChoJJa, and TheMarine, which was often called the 'Galactico' [Reference to Real Madrid's policy of buying in star players]. However, it holds meaning in that no teams thereafter have come close to that record either. We met up with Coach Jung Soo-yeong, who managed the team when this record was established.Q As Proleague is switching over to Starcraft2, a lot of people seem to be forgetting the history of E-sports, so we wanted to interview you.
A Since its inception, E-sports has made its mark in history. At one point, it established its own empire, but those times are now past and I don't think they will return (laughs).
Q What have you been up to since the GomTV match director? Tell us about what you've been up to since stepping down from the commands of KTF.
A I have been preparing to launch a business in the gaming industry. You will be able to see it sometime soon. Part of it involves the E-sports scene as well. It's hard for me to divulge any information at this point.
Q Before the whole umpiring system was implemented you had the opportunity to stay at GomTV and architect a new infrastructure for monitoring games. Why did you quit.
A Of course I thought of that. But if I had carried on, it would have been against KeSPA policy. It would have been great if KeSPA did a better job. I had a lot of thoughts in my head but decided it best to give my full support to KeSPA's initiative. There would be no need for me to umpire once KeSPA implemented their own system, but there still had to be someone to settle controversies in a situation where progamers are involved.
Q KTF achieved the feat of 23 consecutive wins, but the team's accomplishments are marred by the fact that it has no ring. Regrettably, the team only won it all once Coach Lee JiHoon replaced you.
A It breaks my heart. We only won the event-matches on the side. It kills me that we were never able to win an official season final. However, I am only thankful that Lee JiHoon, who was once a player for KTF, achieved what I couldn't. When he finally led the team to victory, I could only think 'I should have done better.' It's a shame that players such as Nal_Ra had to experience such pain.
I had the opportunity to meet up with the players recently and we talked with a smile on our faces. They also said that they 'regret' it to this day. Some voiced that KT would not have won without
Flash and I agree that a team needs a 'Keyman' to win. The Chicago Bulls won three championships in a row because they had Michael Jordan. Baseball and soccer are the same. Flash was able to generate a synergy effect among KT's players. [Flash's effect on the team] is a fact and should not be understated. It breaks my heart to hear such things.Q Your pupils such as Yellow and Lee JiHoon are now becoming coaches. How do you feel when you look at the transitions?
A I believe coaches need to lead their players by example. There is no official training course for coaches at the moment. There needs to be a comprehensive course for leadership. I don't understand why there has been no initiative to start an intra-league leadership course in E-sports' 10-year-long history. As players retire, a lot of them naturally transition into a coaching position. South Korea is among the top E-sports countries, yet we have not yet developed a sound model. I believe a coach must have some prerequisite knowledge of the E-sports culture, rules, and the players' mentality.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/20120528_0a69f31f20bae40ca7b.jpg)
The KTF ballers who competed in the 2004 KTF EVER Cup.
YellOw, TheMarine, Love, Autumn, SoNiC)BlacK (CW from top left).◆"Want to change my nickname 'Baseball Bat Jung'"
KTF was the only corporate sponsored team in the early 2000's. A lot of players from non-sponsored teams were moving into KTF so they would see more action and have their talents properly assessed. In the process, the best of the best, such as
Nal_rA, ChoJJa, YellOw, NaDa, etc all came under one roof. Fans often criticized KTF for buying talent. KTF, even with their star-studded-lineup, never won a championship, however. Until Coach Lee JiHoon led the team to victory, KTF was never able to escape their reputation as the silver surfer.To many, Coach Jung Soo Yeong of the best team in the league seemed cold. Maybe it was the sunglasses and baseball cap he donned at every match. Fans started calling him 'Baseball bat Jeong.' [Parents and teachers used to beat children with a baseball bat to teach them a lesson. Even up to the point where I went to high school, which was in the early 2000's, this was the norm, but now I think child-abuse laws have tightened in Korea and teachers can no longer do this]
Q Your nickname as coach was 'Baseball bat Jeong.' Were you going for a particular concept with your baseball cap and shades?
A When I was part of the Samsung team, the uniform was modeled after racing car uniforms. It was a one-piece so it was difficult to put on and it wasn't well ventilated, so it was very hot, but it provided the most real estate for corporate sponsors' logos. Even to this day, race car drivers are walking billboards. In E-sports, there can be many smaller sponsors for each team outside of their main one, and we chose the uniform to provide them advertisement space.
When I became head coach of KTF, our uniforms changed. One thing that the head coach can do on air is to give the sponsors as much air time as possible, so I wore a jumper and baseball cap. I wore the shades to hide my gaze from the opposing team.
Q I think your outfit fueled the fans' mockery.
A I don't think my 'cold' image had much to do with the bad rumors that were circulating about me. As I gained the nickname 'Baseball bat Jeong,' lots of memes started to crop up on the web but I never paid much attention with the thought that I would absorb the negative attention that would otherwise be redirected towards members of the team. However, now that I am getting older it has been a problem, because my children have been made fun of due to my nickname. My child has had a very hard time at school up to sixth grade. Once, they asked what I did as a living and they saw the 'Baseball bat Jeong' meme that was uploaded on the internet. Afterwards, my child had a hard time playing with them.
+ Show Spoiler [Baseball bat Jeong meme] +
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/BBata_Jung.jpg)
It might have been a joke to the fans but the repercussions on the receiving end are real. I hope that in the future people can think in the victim's perspective before making uploading such things. If somebody had made a meme victimizing them, what would happen to their reputation? Also, what would their loved ones think?
It's hard to withstand abuse that flies your way simply because you are a public figure often exposed to the limelight. Would you believe it if I told you my child had to transfer schools due to the abuse from his peers and I contemplated changing my name multiple times. The reality of my son not being able to say that his father was the head coach of a progaming team proudly pains me.
Q There were a lot of star players but also many mediocre ones who were forgotten from our memory. Who was the most memorable player you coached?
A Nal_ra stands out in memory. Coach Cho (Ex-coach of CJ, retired after the match-fixing scandal) also complimented him without reserve. I met him recently and he has become even more mature. I didn't want to play him the first year he joined because his practice results weren't great. I gave him a year and told him to return as the 'Ultimate Weapon' when he has realized his full potential. The terms stated that he would receive full salary even during his year off, yet he hesitated. I gave him these outrageous conditions because I believed that the E-sports scene needed a domineering force such as
BoxeR of the early 2000's. Boxer was the best player and achieved good results in each and every event he participated in. Players who beat him were automatically brought to fame. I thought we needed a player like that, so I strategically decided on Nal_ra. He needed to be the best in order to follow in Boxer's footsteps.However he did not accept the terms and kept trying by entering the preliminaries of OSL, MSL, WCG, etc, and kept failing to advance, which in turn lowered his reputation further and further.
As a means of saving his reputation from falling beyond an irrecoverable state, we agreed to send him out in every Proleague ace match. We thought once the teams caught on that Nal_ra would always be there in the ace match, and they still lost, he would become the guardian angel of the team, so we gave him this heavy burden. He was under much less pressure during Proleague games, and played the crucial role of anchor during our 23-win-streak.
There's a little anecdote tied to this period. Back then you could send the same player during the games leading up to ace, and also during the ace match, so we sent him out in the first game multiple times, but he just couldn't win those games. He would, however, shine in the ace match, regardless of how unfavorable the maps were to protoss. We all came to agree that Nal_ra was born to be our ace.
Q This was a long time ago, but during those 23 consecutive wins, was there ever a time when you felt threatened?
A Twice I felt that way. The first occurred when we played Hanbit Stars (now Woongjin Stars). I couldn't attend the match due to a corporate workshop. I checked on the players the morning before the match, and they were still practicing so I was worried. Usually, if they feel like they got ample practice the night before, they would be sleeping in until 11 or noon to go into the match relaxed. However, they had woken up early to continue practicing. I realized they were ill-prepared but I had to attend the workshop so I left. I received a text at the workshop that we were losing 0:2 and didn't get another text until much later. I thought the players had lost and weren't texting me because they felt sorry, but when I went back to the dormitory, they said they came back to win it 3:2.
The second came during our match against Plus (Ex-Lecaf Oz). We were losing 1:2 before coming back. Coach Cho (of Oz) kept cheesing us to discontinue our win-streak but our players were able to react calmly and clinch the win. After the match, I remember teasing Coach Cho, saying "you wanted to stop our win-streak that bad?"
Our win-streak came to an end at the hands of Samsung. Honestly, we could have continued our streak, but the maps were changed suddenly due to a managerial problem. The players were fired up to continue our win-streak past 30, so when this occurred, they all seemed very disappointed.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/rotinegg/20120528_f2e75d9bd3b3b952d82.jpg)
KTF of the 2004 SKY Proleague. Coach Jeong and two protoss heroes.
◆"If E-sports had taken a more casual-friendly approach"
Ever since Coach Jung stepped down from head coach of KTF in March, 2006, every time a new team was established, he was at the top of the candidate list for head coach. However, he merely observed the scene as an outsider for 7 years. Every time the topic of E-sports was brought up, we could feel his passion seeping into his words, but he emphasized that the players that are now left "need to pull their weight." Although he is nothing but a shadow of the past now, people will have a hard time forgetting the name 'Jung Soo Yeong.' Nobody who achieves a feat such as 23 consecutive wins is easily forgotten from history.
Q Any plans of returning to E-sports?
A Even if I returned, I know the kingdom of E-sports from the glory days will never return. I hope the remaining players can pull their weight.
Q If you were given a chance to lead a team and allowed to select any players you wanted, who would you choose? Would you go after the elusive championship once again?
A From terrans, I would pick SKT's
Canata and Fantasy. Protoss, I would pick Samsung KHAN's Stork and SKT's Bisu, and zerg, I would pick KT's HoeJJa and Woongjin's ZerO. I think we could win a championship with that lineup. [As an avid JD fan, I respectfully disagree, sir]. The reason I didn't pick Flash and Jaedong is because in order to grow as a player in the current scene, you must slay the final bosses on your journey. They are the best of the best. When Boxer was the best player in the world, just one win against Boxer brought instant fame to the player. Currently, Flash and Jaedong hold the throne of E-sports. With the development of the entire E-sports scene in mind, creating a new star player by demolishing and standing toe-to-toe with them is I believe the best approach to revive the scene. [I translated liberally from context, he doesn't actually say 'revive' explicitly.]When I was leading KTF Magic N's, terran was a weak race. As a result, we sometimes passed on a promising rookie solely based on the fact that he played terran. It was no fun beating a terran with terran. It felt like terran tears ran sweeter when slayed at the hands of zerg or protoss. I think we would be able to win a championship with those players. I would train them Jung Soo Yeong style, and win a championship.
Q As Proleague is now switching over to SC2, history must be rewritten. How would you want SC2 PL to progress from this point on?
A When compared to BW, the biggest difference is that SC2 just isn't fun to watch [Ouch]. For BW, you could know jack about the game but still enjoy it because there was a ubiquitous element of fun throughout the game. In the case of SC2, people who aren't familiar with the game can't follow the games. That's the reason why WC3 ultimately failed. Who would watch when the game itself isn't fun to watch. And where would the motivation for casuals to learn the game come from. Casual fans judge a game based on how fun it is to watch. In that sense BW's appeal is more direct.
As the ability to run is prerequisite to virtually every sport, BW forms the bedrocks of E-sports. BW must stick around as the root of E-sports. There must be a sounder infrastructure in place. To those who criticize BW for being closed off to South Korea: did we get to where we are through entering foreign tournaments? No, it was the other way around: we inspired foreign entities to hold tournaments through displaying our passion. Once that passion was gone, our hegemony was passed onto the foreign scene. Of course there may be a logical fallacy in the fact that BW was made by a foreign company, but essentially we made BW E-sports happen. I think it's shortsighted to switch over [to SC2] based on short term goals and is something that eats away at the roots of E-sports.
You cannot artificially create an E-sports scene. Even with the FPS leagues, if KeSPA had carefully considered and incorporated the public's reception into the equation, embracing the fans' voice, they would not be in the predicament that they find themselves in right now. I believe a bottom-up approach with a governing body that merely organizes and facilitates the fans' natural penchants is the only way to expand E-sports further.
Source: Daily E-sports
* If you wanna discuss SC1 vs SC2, do so in a civil manner, and if you can't, flame each other via PM, because I don't want this thread closed down due to incessant bickering. Thanks GTR for suggesting the article.
edit: pretty please
