I.... thought.... I was a nerd... a geek... whatever you want to call it, I...thought.... was pretty hardcore when it came to video games and stuff like Lord of the Rings an Star Wars. But my bubble was burst the other night, when I went to a Super Smash Brothers Tournament at one of the dorms. I thought I was a nerd/geek, but the people there were way out of my league. Like comic-con or anime convention, these such events are havens and gatherings for some of the oddest and most nerdy and geeky people.

Just like bees to a prairie of flowers, some people are drawn together by uncommon dedication to video games, and not to mention an abundance of pizza and foods that are generally bad for you. People will pack their Wii systems and haul TV's and projectors for such a gathering. It amazed me how much dedication people have to their hobbies.

I went in with a buddy of mine and really I didn't expect that much of a showing, but there were at least thirty to fifty people there.The room the tournament was in was normally a lounge with a two TV's and a few chairs and tables, but tonight most of the chairs orbited TV's and projectors, with a few tables dedicated to all manner of unhealthy food. There were all sorts of characters, the thin skinny kid with glass to the overweight guy with a copious amount of hair. They are the type of people who wear those one liner t-shirts that have crude jokes and skulls and flames.

At first the room was relatively calm, people were setting up Wii systems and others were just chatting waiting for a spot to open up, but soon the room was filled with outcries of anger and laughter. You could probably imagine this scene. A large group of over weight and fairly dirty and smelly guys playing together arguing about video games as fervently as some would argue about sports or politics, it was kind of funny and sad in a way. These guys are supposed to be a little mature but when it came video games, the gloves came off.

But what made the night the most interesting, was not the Smash Bros. Tournament itself, but the discussion that went on. At first the topic was fairly normal and not that weird. They started to talk about upcoming video games and other tournaments they would like to have at the dorm, but soon the talk took a turn for the weird... Some how someone brought up Pokemon. The calm discussion turned a bit heated when they started comparing their Pokemon games and which person had the better set of Pokemon, and who was the Pokemon Master.

One guy said, “I was so effing proud when I caught Mewtwo without a Master Ball.”

Another said, “I was so pissed when they released Silver and Gold, they made a hundreds more Pokemon...How the hell am I supposed to catch em' all now?”

If you just watched them and didn't listen to what they were talking about, you might think they were arguing about the emerging church, or about globalization or nuclear proliferation. But no they weren't, they talked about anything from Anime to Pokemon, Manga to cosplay, or the long heated issue: who shot first Han Solo or Greedo.

But soon the tournament ended, and since the food was eaten, people started leaving with.... new friends and.... new anime series to look up, but I like to believe I left with something more than that....my dignity.



Bottomeline: I found out that when you stand me next to some of the people at the tournament, I'm pretty normal, and these type of people make the world go round... They are some of the funniest, most entertaining , and coolest people around.