The Rumble

I have the world’s coolest friends.

Much of what appears on this blog is opinion - the preceding sentence is fact.

Last night, we held the fourth annual BGSU Rumble. My goal in holding this event is always, first and foremost, that everyone who comes has a lot of fun. I just want my dear friends, who I love and care about a ton, to have a great time hanging out with each other, while enjoying a fun “competition” between our imaginative creations.

But I can honestly say that of all the things I’ve been involved in during my time in Bowling Green, nothing has been more consistently fun to work on, nor more gratifying to participate in, than these silly wrestling events. Why? Because it illuminates the fact that I do, indeed, have the best friends I could ever ask for. That so many people not only indulge this odd little events, but actually turn out en masse to participate and see them? This year we had more entrants into the Rumble than ever before - enough to completely fill up the event with characters, and not have anyone entering more than one fighter. That just blows me away. That 30 people (well, 29, if ya subtract me) took the time out of their lives to participate in our little event is truly remarkable to me, and I am grateful to all of you.

But the amazing part doesn’t end there. Last night’s event was attended by more folks than we’ve ever had before, as well - we damn near filled up Steph and J’s place with about 20 folks or more. And that wasn’t just people who had fighters entered and wanted to see if they’d win - there were oodles of folks who were just there to hang, to watch, to see people, to just plain have a good time. I mean, we had Greg and Anne come in from Cleveland! Courtney, Jodie and Beth came from Toledo! And it was snowy out, too! The turnout last night was simply incredible, and I am deeply thankful to everyone who came.

The Rumble itself also worked wonderfully well, with the reaction of the crowd being truly amazing to see. And it provided one moment I will never, ever forget. When Steve Boone, Jessica’s creation, was fighting to win in the Elimination Chamber, there was a moment when EVERYONE in the apartment was counting along with one of his pinfall attempts. “ONE!….TWO!…” And then, when Ben Roethlisberger, Megan’s creation, kicked out, everyone simultaneously went “AWWWW!!!!” It was the damnedest thing I’d ever seen. Here were a bunch of my closest friends, gathered together, watching a video game, and they were reacting exactly like a real-life wrestling audience to a great near-fall. That they were enjoying the match so much, and wrapped up in the experience so completely, they were behaving exactly as a crowd would at a great wrestling match - that meant more to me than anything.

Winners and losers really don’t matter a hill of beans in the long run. These events aren’t about conquest and bragging rights. What they’re really about, to me, is giving a great evening of fun to all the people I care about. That’s why I work so hard at it. And that why, when it works, nothing feels quite as good.

So, some thanks:
Steph and J, thank you so very much for letting us use your place!
Greg and Ryan, thank you so much for being my most consistently enthusiastic participants!
Beth, Megan, Jessica, Laura, Tyler, Kristen, Anne and Kurt, thanks for making it there to cheer your fighters on!
Courtney, Jodie, Laura B., Nick, and everyone who showed up without a fighter: thank you so much for coming!
To everyone who created fighters but couldn’t make it: Thank you very much, and hope you can make it next time!

I love you all!!!