Am I the only one who doesn't want either team to win the Finals? spoilers

Stüdmuffin·Oct 13, 2014·1 votes·1,259 views

Seriously, it seems to me that this year's Finals teams are a great representation of people who behave deplorably when playing this game. On the one hand, we have SHR, led by Uzi and inSec, who fight with each other like little children (and Uzi sometimes acts like a crybaby when he doesn't win --- see the EDG/SHR Quarterfinals Game 2 ending.) On the other hand, we have SSW, the majority of whom come off as arrogant turds, with imp blazing the trail in that regard (see the interview with imp before the SHR/OMG Semifinals Game 2, where he said he "wanted to win so bad that he made Deft cry." In the interview, he admitted to it, and didn't even apologize for it.)

The only thing we're missing in the Finals lineup is SK Gaming's Svenskeren and his atrocious, inexcusable racism, and I think we'd have the Three-Kinds-Of-Player-Behavior-You-'d-Most-Want-To-See-Banned-In-The-Tribunal.

Contrast this behavior to, like, say, Cloud9, who are humble in victory, reserved in defeat, and generally feel (at least to me) like they'd probably be pretty cool guys to hang out with. Cloud9's not the only example, for sure, but I think that they're at least one great example of how this game can have a team that behaves respectfully across the board. I was pulling so hard for OMG to beat SHR yesterday, not only because I think they're a more exciting team to watch than SHR (and I've taught students like Gogoing before, his background really resonates with me and I wish him the best,) but also because then I'd feel as though I had a team to root for in the Finals.

Am I alone here, in not wanting either SHR or SSW to win? Am I the only one who'd be happiest if the Finals went 2 and 2, so both teams lost two games each, and then the teams surrendered simultaneously in Game 5, leaving no winners?

This will be the first year that I don't buy World Champion-themed skins on principle. :(

9 Comments

12talesOct 13, 20143 votes

Because minute long video clips are plenty to judge and condemn a person's character?

Personally, I don't consider calling people you've never met 'arrogant turds' to be particularly commendable behavior, either.

StüdmuffinOct 13, 20142 votes

I was careful with my wording. I said that they come off as arrogant turds, not that they were arrogant turds. The difference is the acknowledgment of agency. Telling someone that they're an arrogant turd gives them no recourse to improve; it's condemnation. On the other hand, telling someone that they're coming off as an arrogant turd gives them the agency to instill change in their behavior. I don't think the majority of SSW's players are arrogant turds, I think that the majority of them choose to behave like arrogant turds. And I would that they choose to behave better in the future. I'd feel a lot better commending them for their achievements, if I didn't think the commendations were unintentionally positively reinforcing their negative behavior (for example, imp winning Worlds may, from a psychology standpoint, indirectly reinforce for him that his current behavior was part of his winning formula.)

CaboOct 13, 20142 votes

mad or naw?

OrangesSCOct 13, 20141 votes

mad or naw?

maaaaaaaaaad or naaaaaaah

StüdmuffinOct 13, 20141 votes

Not mad. More like disappointed. I think we should be better than this.

redniwediSOct 13, 20141 votes

Take a look at professional athletic sports. Some of those people (not even close to all) are deplorable human beings. They cheat, they break the law, and they constantly expect to get away with it simply because they are famous.

You don't have to want either team to win, but the fact that the best players are getting together to compete should at least be celebrated. We're not here to watch the best people play, we're here to watch the best players, so I'll settle for a few disagreements and over confident people if that's the worst of the worst at Worlds.

GameofThrawnsOct 13, 20141 votes

Zero and Mata are so chill they basically cancel out all the bad, though.

Are some of the players on both teams very cocky? Yes...okay, maybe all of SSW is pretty cocky. But they still did work extraordinarily hard for it. Samsung White is, what, 14-1 so far; if there's any team that has the right to be cocky it's them.

I really wanted OMG to win (chin of steel GoGoing Ryze skin plz), but eh, they'll probably write "S5 Worlds" on the sand of some Korean beach and somehow reach Finals next year. One step at a time folks.

StüdmuffinOct 13, 20141 votes

I guess I just don't see any reason why we should, as a society, tacitly (or openly) give individuals any behavioral passes just because they're good at something. (I think that this sort of passivity begets so many of the ingrained behavioral problems in our world. I'm under the initial impression that this goes without saying, but if you don't know what I'm talking about, let me know; I can cite a handful of specific examples to help underscore what I'm getting at.)

It seems to me that, with the way the competition is currently structured, either win scenario at Worlds will end up positively reinforcing negative behavior of some kind. I would that it weren't this way.

GameofThrawnsOct 13, 20141 votes

Which is why Svenskeren was banned for three games for his racist remarks. And I agree with it.

Overconfidence, in my opinion, is not a sin. You have to remember that Uzi is 17. Imp is 19. In fact, a lot of these LoL pros are young, quite a bit younger than other sports' pros, and many times they can come off just as cocky. Remember how Xpecial got benched for his negativity? Remember the rantings of Reginald and Locodoco? OMG Cloud was known to get really pissy with team captain GoGoing, and that's probably why he was benched for dada777...until quarterfinals came up, and he came back. Why?

Because in the end, whether it's InSec or Uzi or imp or Cloud or Locodoco, despite all their cockiness, they know when to cut it out. Remember the first SHRC vs TSM? How Uzi and a low-health In5ec managed to hold off Dyrus, Amazing, and Lustboy long enough for backup to arrive? Would that have worked if they truly hated each other? If Uzi didn't stop being butthurt over a lost game when the next one began? Would imp really do that well if his cockiness didn't also come hand in hand with his own desire to improve, just to be the best (cough Doublelift cough)?

In fact, I think sometimes it's this very cockiness that drives these players. Uzi and imp WANT to be the best ADC so they can tell the world that they are the best ADC. Even when InSec and Uzi argue, what do they argue about? Whose socks are prettier? No, they argue about the best way to win. Svenskeren's racist remarks were most likely an attempt to intimidate...yeah, I got nothing for him.

Also, beyond Uzi and imp, I don't really see either SSW and SHRC as being supremely arrogant. The rest of the players are pretty chill (except In5ec jesus that Rengar).