Starcraft.
Even though the first collegiate StarCraft team started two years ago right here in Princeton, New Jersey, this year we lost a lot of our original members, and with that, a lot of our talent. We didn't really know what to expect this semester. What happened now that it was SCII? How were we supposed to make casual players want to get better? How were we supposed to carry on the legacy of Princeton SC?
This is how.
We reaver dropped our way into the hearts of Princetonians-- (what's that? There's no reaver in SC2?!)
We held an open house, gave free sushi and bubble tea to all, and invited a Gretorp to come teach us all about SC~
We took over residential halls for the good of StarCraft, (still offering free sushi)
Commemorated and commentated Princeton and Rutgers third live match,
To which they said: "U mad, Princeton?" (nope, because we 3-2'd!)
And most importantly of all, we made StarCraft part of everyone's daily life.
(At least, if they would only look up.)
I can't tell you how many times we've overheard spontaneous conversations about SC from up here on the third floor. We think it has something to do with seeing "StarCraft" taped up on a window. Do this, and spread the word. I no longer poster it's not even funny
All in all, it's been a rewarding first half of a semester. The team dynamic is very different this year. For any of you coordinating CSL teams yourselves--you know how hard this is. Keeping the interest of college students who have busy weekdays and even busier Saturday nights, getting the Silver-Platinums to stick around and get to Diamond, training your best while simultaneously keeping your lower-ranked players from losing heart. Making a team that loves each other, plays Runling Run together, stalks CSL opponents together on battle.net match history for hours on end.
This season, new aces and faces have stepped up to the plate. During the Rutgers versus Princeton match, I stopped and looked out at the audience and noticed that, in a moment of nostalgia and history winding back on itself, a proud mother and father were looking on from the back row. In our first match, two years ago, [pu]Magneus's mom and dad quietly slipped into the audience to watch StarCraft: Brood War. Two years later, [pu]Spopovich (or at least, that would be his name if we were still on iccup) was playing his first CSL match ever, and his parents were sitting in that exact same spot, in that exact same room.
We're two years old, and we've had a few growing pains...but we're Princeton SC, we're SmashCraft Heroes (without the Smash and without the Heroes), and we're 2 and 0 in the season <3. Go Tigers.
Cats.
These cats live a stone's throw away from the StarCraft building. They are quite feral and nothing like the Shanghainese cats that meow and love you, but I am currently trying to train them to hate me less.
They are always watching.
I've taken the liberty of naming these cats. Striped one is called Kawamura, black-and-white is called Socks, and grey one is called Squirrel. If they ever stop being feral, I will take more pictures of them being cute. In the meantime, I will take pictures of them being mean-looking-but-fluffy.