On August 26th, 2010 my Dad and I departed for one of the greatest trips of our lives. My dad was driving me to Raleigh, North Carolina to give me a shot at beginning my professional gaming career. MLG (www.majorleaguegaming.com) was hosting a Pro Circuit event at the Raleigh Convention center. We were staying at the Raleigh Marriott City Center along with my other teammates. I guess I should explain that I was competing in MLG's tournament in a game called Halo 3 for the xbox 360 along with my team. When we arrived Thursday night the only person I knew who had also arrived in Raleigh a day early was our team's coach MItch. Let me explain that I had never met Mitch in real life and that I had only spoken to him online. So we finally meet eachother in real life and turns out that he brought his dad as well so our dads became good friends as the weekend went on. It was finally Friday morning (the event begins around 4pm that afternoon) and walk down to the lobby and meet my best friend and fellow teammate Joey and his two friends. We go and eat breakfast at the Krispy Kream next door to the hotel and then go back to their hotel room to get some last minute practice in before the event started. Finally, around 3pm our other 2 teammates, Kelly and Ariel , show up. While we're waiting in line we meet up with Kyle (a friend of mine and fellow Halo player), Jerry (owner of www.vVv-gaming.com), and some fellow vVv members. Getting to meet my boss (Jerry) in person was very intimidating to say the least. I am a staff member of vVv-gaming.com. Now, finally, we had our full team, the doors were opening, and we could go to the venue to practice on LAN (local area connection) against other teams that would be competing in the tournament as well. We had a great time warming up/practicing and now we were ready to play some actual tournament matches. We played against a team far superior in skill than us and lost our first match (best of three, double elimination bracket). So we didn't play again until Saturday morning. Turns out that while I was playing my dad was having a blast as well. There were so many special activites and promotions for spectators that my dad had over two bags full of free stuff on the first day. Saturday comes around and we get beaten by another superior team and get eliminated from the tournament. It was a derpressing blow for the beginning of the day. But we had a blast the rest of the day and my friend and teammate Joey even won a side tournament for the game Killzone 3. Now Sunday came around and it was time for my best friend Joey to leave and it was a very depressing time because he lives in New York and I live in Alabama so this was one of the only times we got to see eachother. After I walked them to the car and said my goodbyes, my dad and I had a fancy breakfast and I hung out with my vVv friends all day. My dad and I had a great dinner at an Irish pub that night and then we had a long drive back to Alabama on Monday morning. The trip was a great success and I am happy to say I am returning to Raleigh in 2011 to have another shot at my gaming career.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
