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If I can be serious for a moment...

Well, here I am sitting in my living room, the day after what many would
consider the worst day in American history.  I was going to just let things go until Friday.  However, I almost felt a responsibility to myself, the Magic community, and this website to post something to the public.  I was putting time away to post a PTQ report with pictures and all, but this event is way more important to address.

In some ways, I understand why people hate America.  We are such a successful nation.  We have so much going for us.  Many even consider us the most powerful nation in the world.  They hold a lot of animosity against us, for helping their enemies when we intervene to stop wars.  As a society, our nation is really young.  This also frustrates people.  I can sort of relate, because I get a lot of that.  Because of my age (I turned 23 in July), I get a lot of people that hold negative feelings toward me and my success.  But I digress.  This isn’t about me right now.

However, I do find it to be reassuring that most of the major nations have already announced their support to back us in our quest to find these terrorists.  England, France, German, and even Russia have expressed their feelings on this situation.  I am glad that we have that going for us.  

Just like Gary Wise wrote about, I immediately started to try and contact friends of mine that had attended PTNY this past weekend.  I was able to reach all but two of them I believe.  So things are OK for now.  While the PT was going on this weekend, I was hosting a PTQ at my store.  I was glad that the players that attended my event were all personable and friendly.  It’s one more solid, happy memory that everyone has to draw on during this time of crisis.  For those of you interested, Adrian Sayers won with a Domain deck.

I’ve been trying to reach my friends that I regularly chat with online, but I
have been unable to connect to IRC for some reason.  EFnet seems to be giving problems and I can’t figure out why.  Probably has something to do with this stupid Zone Alarm program.  That to me is really disturbing right now.  It’s just good to be able to communicate with friends.

It’s just interesting that sometimes it can take events of this magnitude to put things in perspective for you.  Think about the last time you complained about manascrew.  Think about the last time your opponent topdecked the card he needed to win the match.  Think about the last time you badmouthed a player you rally didn’t know.  Did you handle yourself well and professionally?  Did you blow up and act immature?  Did you smile and enjoy the game?  Just think about it for a moment.

None of those situations seems as difficult as what the people of the city of New York are having to deal with right now does it?  Take this moment to reflect on yourself.  Take this time and this incident to turn yourself into a better person.  Try being a little more friendly.  Try helping out a few more people.  Try to be a little less aggressive.  Right now we need to bond together, not threaten each other.  The thing is, it shouldn’t take events like this to make us act this way.  We should be this way all the time.  We are all American.  And for those of us that are from other countries, we are still on the same team : The Human Race.

On many of my e-mail lists, players, people, friends, family, have all
expressed their support and given us their condolences.  Maybe these
terrorists didn’t realize that hitting the buildings that they did actually
affected the WORLD almost as much as it did America itself.  Hopefully
president Bush can lead this hunt to find these despicable people and put this whole situation to rest as soon as possible.

I also want to say, don’t let this event rule your life.  Terrorist win and
get the upper hand if they are able to disrupt your way of life and are able to put fear in your heart.  A situation like this can go as far as to create a recession in our economy.  I know that I am going to do everything I can to make people feel content and safe to help prevent things from falling apart in my neck of the woods.  Keep shopping, keep going to work, keep talking to people...in general, keep living life.  Don’t let the terrorist win.  Keep moving and keep our nation functioning.

On a lighter note, I would like to give a huge congratulations to Kai Budde for winning yet another Pro Tour.  I haven’t been able to talk to him on IRC, so i have to say it here.  I am also glad to hear there most of the players that attended the event got out of New York safely.  Well after today, maybe things can go back to functioning a little more normally.

Good luck to all of you that are on your way to PTQs this weekend.  It should be something fun and entertaining to get your mind off of this tragedy.  Try to keep your head up and keep living life.

Until next time,

DeQuan Watson
PowrDragn@pojo.com

Biography

Name: DeQuan Watson

    Many readers have gathered a lot of information about me through my writings.  For those of you that haven't though, this should tell you a little more. 

    I'm 23 years old and I own my own business. Well, more accurately I own a game store.  The Game Closet, my store is one of the premiere places to play
in the Texas.  I play Magic on a pretty regular basis.  I help people build decks and teach the game to people multiple times a week.  Owning a store is
neat, because it gives me another perspective to write my articles from.  I
can usually tell what the average player likes and can judge some of the
tendencies of the average player a little better.

    However, I know a decent bit about pro level play as well.  I myself have
played on the Pro Tour.  I have multiple Top 8 finishes at Pro Tour
Qualifiers.  I also have made Day Two at two Grand Prix tournaments.  I was also invited to the Event horizons Invitational last year.  These are not
stellar achievements, but high enough to let you know I have my head on
straight when talking about the game. I also spend lots of time each week talking to, e-mailing, or chatting with top level players.  I get to see their perspective on a lot of things as well.  Between the two, I think I get a good sense of balance of the game.

    Most importantly, I still enjoy the game for the sake of the game itself.  I like the time, the competition, and the general interaction of players.  I plan to be playing it until it goes away...if it ever does.