And for the first time since season 14, I'm not the n°1 in Belgium. The end of an era...
it's great to become number one in the country, no question. yet, when you look at the world ranking, i think the greatest achievement - to me- is that joe and i are the second best duo in the world - behind the 2 polish teams.
now, since i'm overtaking joe in the national ranking, i'd like to thank him. over the last 10 seasons or so, he's the one (with some others, ok) who has been dragging everyone up in belgium, who has helped to bring this league to the level we have now. ever since we met in the II.1 finals back in season 7, there has been a great 'rivalry' between us, and altough i had to wait many seasons to reach the top league, and many, many more to be competitive, he's always been my reference in terms of what kind of team to build. i definitely wouldnt have been that much competitive without him.
i second every word of what Coach Q says here.
I always keep an eye on who i played with in the divisions where i've played in. And Joe's team was the most remarkable one by far. in 4 seasons, he has gone from 4th division to BBBL. I'm pretty sure he is one of the ONLY teams on BB to have done that, and i'm talking about all BB nations here. Sure you need some luck here and there, but a) to be lucky, you have to put all the things on your side and b) to do what Joe has done, isn't possible with just luck alone.
I've learned a great deal from Joe. I've rebuild my entire team, i've learned how to manage a NT team (many would be surprized how different it is from managing your own team). If i'd have to sum up what i've learned from joe, then these things would be just a few of the thigns i've learned from him.
*) tactical knowledge
*) importance of GS management
*) training knowledge
*) NT knowledge
*) the importance ( and fun) of taking part in the community talks and chats
and i could make the list a lot longer.
Ever since i've seen Joe rise from the IV.3 division, he's been the one team that i wanted to outdo. Joe probably didn't know it, but thru his performances, i've considered him as a rival, one that i really wanted to best (the evidence of it was the CT last season. i wanted to beat Joe in a league game atleast once in a league game. Granted, it still doesn't feel as i would have thought it would, because the victory was achieved in a CT vs TIE situation, but atleast some part of me is satisfied that i managed to pull of that win).
Joe's team has been the one team i've always wanted to catch up with ( allong with LoD's team). So Mizu, you are lucky to have been able to catch up to him, question is: once you start rebuilding, will you be able to do it again?
i"ve always liked BB, but i can say now that Joe made me addicted to it.So Joe, for all what you've done ( and probably still will do) thank you very much! for me, you have certainly increased the pleasure i have in playing this game and i reckon you've sucked in many others just like you've done with me.
a game is a game after all, but what makes games much more fun, is when you have fun, entertaining and challenges. And those have been provided by Joe. Belgium wouldn't be where it is now, not on NT lvl or in terms of the overall lvl, had you not been around. Not everyone might approve of your ways of doing and i'm sure you and i don't always see eye to eye, yet it's fun having you around.
i'm looking forward to the moment when your team is back on top of it's game, because you've always come back stronger than before. So i rest my case based upon your history in BB, you will end up getting a good preformance in the B3. it's only a matter of time. the B3 is the only thing Joe hasn't set personal records in.