English lessons for commentators

Despite (okay, because of) the fact that most major Western esports commentators are American, they apparently can't speak English.  Good job they can shout "oh my god" and "I love this play" otherwise they'd just be noisy, irritating, wait... what?  Here are some simple lessons for any commentator, whether they're a budding upcomer or a veteran of yelling "ohhhhhhhh!"

• One Colossus; many Colossi (pron. col-oss-eye).
• "Wary of cheese" is not the same as "weary of cheese."
• The Day9 Rule: you can't just put "of" in front of every word, e.g. "too good of shape."
• "Casted" is not a word.  The past tense of cast is just cast.
• There are no degrees of perfect.  Something is either perfect or it isn't; it cannot be "quite perfect."
• Can Terran players pick up an opponent's base?  No?  Then they can't drop it either.

Probably more to come.  Many more.

Worst. MLG. Ever. And that's saying something

Esports writers and journalists can be a pretty cynical, bitter bunch - just like Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons.  I totally include myself in that category, but it's interesting to see the newcomers go through their "slag off everything that isn't by me" period (Hi, PrimeTime).  It's ugly and immature but we've all been through it (maybe i'll tell you the Fams story some time).  Still, I like to think esports has room for some people who aren't just happy-go-lucky-ignore-the-problem-it'll-go-away assholes.

Why do i bring this up now, after weeks of inactivity?  Well, firstly there's the fact that i wrote a column for Rakaka again today and it never rains but it pours.  But mostly, it warmed my cold, lifeless heart to see the MLG feedback.  Where normally the SC2 community is about as happy-go-lucky as you can find on the internet, even the shallowest of Team Liquid posters had to take a minute out of their busy schedules of typing the word "amazing" to point out the many flaws of the Dallas event.

I'm no tech-head, so i don't want to go into networking problems.  Certainly, MLG weren't helped by Blizzard's ridiculous anti-LAN attitude, but that hasn't stopped GSL or ESL.  Yes, the fates did conspire against MLG to some extent this weekend, but a company that is so full of hype and self-promotion should surely have some kind of contingency plan to back up the hyperbole, shouldn't they?

Frankly, there were so many problems at MLG that i don't really feel like sitting down long enough to go into detail.  Hopefully, in the middle of this massive boom that esports is currently experiencing, MLG will serve as a warning to the rest - and to themselves.  Do it right, or don't do it at all.

Score one for the cynics!