See You Space Cowboy
A wise poet once said about the future that it will alway — Yeah, sorry, I’m not starting this off with a pretentious quote.
Yesterday, December 30th 2015, was my final day working for theScore eSports. I’ve worked with the company even before it released as an app (GO DOWNLOAD THE APP, IT’S GOOD) and a website in early February. All in all, I’ve worked for the company for about a year, and it feels weird typing that I will no longer be an employee with theScore come the new year. Before I delve into self-indulgent nonsense, I just want to thank everyone at theScore Inc. for the best year of my life.
Moving onto the verbose part of this thing, the last year has been really awesome. I was able to interview Gordon Hayward, one of the best young basketball players in the country, who also just happens to be an avid competitive gaming fan, and I almost lost my sanity covering North American LCS. I was able to connect with a lot of new people, made a lot of really good friends, and was able to finally look into the future and truly believe that writing about eSports is an actual legitimate career path. Five years ago I would have told myself I was crazy if I thought I could actually do this for a living. Now, in this new strange world where one of my basketball idols growing up, Rick Fox, owns a competitive video game team, and eSports is getting national mainstream media coverage, I can confidently say that the upcoming years are bright for people who’ve worked their asses off the past couple of years to grow the scene.
Although I grew up a traditional sports fan and there are avenues I could go down that takes me away from eSports, I honestly can’t. And, in the cheesiest answer possible, I can’t leave this space because of the people reading this very sentence at this very second. Yes, you, person who is reading this drivel I’m writing. I know how it feels to be called nerdy for what you like. I know how it feels to think what you enjoy isn’t ‘cool’ and that trying to fit in liking other hobbies will change your life for the better. I’m now 24-years-old, and here is the biggest life tip I can give to anyone who is still in their teenage years: just like what you like. Who cares if you’re a geek, nerd, dork, whatever. Enjoy what you enjoy and have a blast with the people that share the same interests.
There is nothing better than having someone tell me that they appreciate my writing or that they find my stupid jokes funny. If I can turn one person’s day around and make them even a little bit happier with a piece I wrote or a silly Tweet, then I will continue writing about eSports until it is no longer a viable career option. When I started writing about eSports back in 2010–2011 on TeamLiquid with StarCraft II, I never did it because I thought I was going to make a lot or money or become popular. I just did it because I legitimately enjoyed getting people excited about the same things I was excited in. I liked telling narratives and expanding on storylines for people to get drawn into. Back in high school, I was one of those kids who was too scared to actually join the activities I thought were fun due to the stigma of being a ‘nerd’, so writing about eSports was my chance to do it as a young adult.
In short: screw the opinions of people you will not even remember the name of in a few years. Life is short. Do the hobbies and activities that make you genuinely excited and happy.
Before I go celebrate New Years with copious amounts of alcohol, pizza, and hot wings, I would be amiss if I didn’t spotlight a few people from theScore Inc. that have helped me over the past year.
Rod “Slasher” Breslau: Back when I was still freelancing with places like Lolesports, Rod came to me and told me that I had a really bright future in the business. Not too long after and he recruited me for theScore eSports, getting me an interview with the company and propelling me to what was an amazing year personally and creatively.
Sean Tepper, Matt Demers, Navneet Randhawa: These are the three people you can thank for editing my work over the past year and not subjecting you to an excess of The Office analogies to League of Legends.
All three are great editors and people I can call real friends. Sean is the person who I worked with the most, and he is one of the best editors I’ve been given the chance to work with. He is also the only guy I know that I can talk Survivor with. Matt recently left theScore as well, but I think he’ll continue to grow in the eSports scene, and I would be shocked if he isn’t doing something big in the field by the middle of 2016. Navneet still thinks StarCraft: II has a big future, so she is probably the most optimistic person I know.
Kyle Chatterson: It’s not often you can call your boss a friend. With Kyle, I’m happy I can. Although I’m leaving, I have zero doubt that Kyle is going to lead theScore eSports to bigger and better heights in 2016. The first year was a great success, but things are only going to get better with him at the helm in the new year.
Kelsey Moser: It will be extremely weird not working with Kelsey in 2016. We’ve worked together since the end of 2013 with Lolesports, and I think she balances my humorous, free-flowing style with her amazing calculated, analytical work. If we were League players, I would be KaKAO and she would be Rookie. She is one of the best writers in all of eSports, and I’m happy she’s a friend and in the same field as me. She will be even better in 2016.
John Levy and the rest of the higher-ups at theScore Inc.: Some people will look at me leaving as higher-ups at theScore not believing in the future of eSports or something. Please believe me when I say this: Johny Levy (CEO) and the rest of theScore are 100% behind eSports and think it’s only going to get bigger in the upcoming years. Me leaving has nothing to do with money or a lack of trust from the company. My decision to leave theScore was honestly the hardest decision of my life, and I took weeks to decide before I finally told Kyle that I was leaving.
If you are an aspiring eSports writer, content creator, etc. and are given the chance to apply for theScore, I implore you to do so. The company is awesome. The people are amazing. You’ll have the most fun of your life and be given more chances to do cool things than you never knew were possible.
As for the future, hopefully I will have more news soon about what I will be doing in 2016. I will still be doing something around eSports in some fashion, so you aren’t rid of me just yet, dear reader. If you’re interested in a business inquiry, I will be fielding e-mails at the aptly named Fionn4Hire@gmail.com.
I still have to continue writing until North America finally wins the League of Legends World Championship. Until then, I will be shackled in my chair, writing endless articles until we finally hoist the Summoner’s Cup and drink Red Bull from it.
Yeah, I’m probably going to die doing this.
And that makes me genuinely happy.
