“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending”
-Maria Robinson
It is unfortunately time for me to step aside from competitive PC gaming. There are many reasons, but most of all due to the fact that I have been putting off my higher education and career goals to travel as I have been. Though it has been worth it to experience other countries and be able to do so playing video games, I believe that it is time for me to focus on my life goals as a whole and let competitive gaming take a back seat from my daily focus. I will continue to be around casually, perhaps ring in a game or two, or play AVA which I find vastly more fun than any game at the moment, but I will not be putting a roster together for NERV or focusing any attention on a possible CEVO season opening up—the prospect of playing with 4 new players for the 4th time in 5-6 months isn't appealing to me even in a casual respect. That is not a shot to any of my previous teammates, nor the ones that I would have played with, it's just the cutthroat nature of non-contractual competitive gaming in which there is only one sponsor supporting COD4 financially for inter-continental travel.
There are far too many people that I would like to thank or say farewell to them, so if I missed someone, it's just because I've been playing waaaaaaay too long and probably forgot the fun times we've shared.
Carter – probably the most fun teammate I've ever played with. I look forward to gaming casually with you as we both take care of our real life focuses first and foremost. I also look forward you to giving me hell in reply for this.
The rest of the Pure E-Sports team of CEVO-P Season 3: deli/bungles/limitless/gladia7or/rob-wiz – quite possibly the most fun team I've ever played with, we managed to have quite a bit of success starting with very little and working our way up, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Keith/crzg – I learned so much in such a short time just playing with you, we had a great time traveling and I wish you guys luck in your future tournaments.
Michael3D – When you showed up at LAX I was expecting you to be wearing cowboy boots with a huge belt buckle that said “Don't mess with Texas” on it. Probably the nicest gamer I've ever met, gaming with you was one of the highlights of playing AVA.
Deacon – You were the first person that I had the privilege of learning team-play and strategy from. Our days in CSS and our amazing run at Lanfest 2k5 was another one of my favorite gaming moments.
JockYitch: You are truly doing a wonderful thing for the community with your webcasts. I have enjoyed each show and segment that I've been a part of, and I hope you continue to do it as long as you love it.
The Euros: kyo/odyx/rivve/linqan/stevy/kboy/paul, twrs, d1ablo/revoltz/lighters, duffer/nreo/davy, soclon/lookz/raz/mark, dfb/wargasm/durus/corin/wizinium, solu – we shared far too many drinks together and I appreciate your hospitality in coming over there, even when Taylor and I missed our flight out of Copenhagen and seriously thought we were going to move in with kyo because we were stuck in Europe. <3
Juve/Taylor/Malex – Some trip huh? We managed to have a great time while sharing little success, and I swear I'll never eat a 7-11 pig in a blanket again.
And again for those who I missed, if we had a fun experience gaming together, I sincerely thank you for the good times. For those of you currently in the CEVO tournament and moving on to NERV, I wish you the best of luck. I really think that COD4 can be played competitively for quite some time, and I definitely think that the crew putting together NERV is a highly-capable group of people that can deliver a very nice experience for both the players at the tournament and those following at home (I'll be one of those people). Feel free to add me on Xfire: snatch05 , and I'll be posting my Xbox GT rather soon so that I can frag with some of you there.
Thanks for the good times,
Eric “snatcch” Brinkley
