Well done, Rocknrollas. Top 5 in WCA 2009!

Now that we've more or less had a few days to recover, it's time to update this thing.

The Rocknrollas placed 5th in Division 4 in the World Cup Asia 2009!

Despite running around somewhat like headless chickens in our first few games, the team managed to pull it together by the fourth or fifth game. We'd initially scored a few draws due to technicalities - one team didn't take the flag, and we managed to hold off another team until the time ran out - but things weren't looking very bright with one loss and two draws. It wasn't til the fourth game that everyone got their panties on straight, and started whooping some ass.

At the end of the first day, with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws, we were the 10th out of 19 teams, which qualified us for the second round on Sunday.

Now this is where things started getting interesting. The remaining 16 teams were split into 4 groups of 4 teams, and each group played round robin, which means each team had 3 games to play. We won two games, and lost one, pushing us up into the quarterfinals.

The team was pumped. We'd gone into the World Cup Asia with absolutely no expectations, and some hope, but here we were in the quarterfinals! THE QUARTERFINALS! It's like... damn.

We'd had a few minor incidents - one team member lost his cool and started screaming at the refs because he got pulled out for a bunker that fell over (BUNKER DOWN!), which resulted in a 1 for 1, another team member dove into a bunker and gashed his hand on a large rock in the mud, and I personally got pulled for a false start because my barrel wasn't touching the starting gate - but the team pulled through in the end.

One member of the team in particular shone from outside the field, helping the team to pull things together, filling pods, getting paint, wiping us down, cheering us from the sidelines, and deliberately sitting out of games to make sure the strongest team possible was on the field.

There's no way to tell what would have happened if that person hadn't done so. Maybe we'd have done better, maybe not, but I'm grateful nonetheless. Both for the sacrifice made for the sake of the team, and because I love this person to bits anyway.

We lost 2 games out of 3 in the quarterfinals. I'll never forget watching my team crowd around the scoreboard, only to slump and walk slowly and quietly away. There was a heavy silence around our gear table, but it only lasted until I added up the points and realized that we'd actually managed to get 5th place.

Now, 5th place is not a podium finish, but it's helluva lot better than last in the group. Considering the team had initially placed closer to the tail end of things in previous tournaments and we weren't expecting much, this was a major achievement for us.

There were a few people who said things like, "Geez, it's just D4, if you can't win D4, don't bother with D1", but I say screw them. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither can a D1 team. Anyone who says they knew they were destined for greatness the minute they picked up a marker is either a fantastic liar, in denial, or savagely delusional.

The team's been practicing hard, and they did their best. They supported each other, pushed each other on, and kept each other in check, depending on what was needed at the time. They worked like a team. They had fun. And that to me, is what really counts.

I'm proud of you, Rocknrollas.