Will IBL survive?

Hi everybody,

Whether or not there will be another season of IBL is up to Min and Liz,
but I thought I'd offer some thoughts for all of us to consider.

Most people still take for granted the tremendous amount of effort that
goes into organizing IBL. Just ask SuicidJky who stood in for Min one
weekend. He told me afterwards, "I had no [bleep]ing idea how hard it
was for you guys." He found out firsthand just now stressful, thankless,
and time consuming it was.

After many IBL nights, #ibl turns into a bitchfest. People accuse allies
of not playing well, or cheating, or lagging. People complain to the
organizers about the rules and everything else. Nobody's ever said,
"Wow, those were 3 really great games, I had a lot of fun for the last 2
hours, thanks so much for organizing that for me." or "Hey, is there
anything I can do to make your life easier? How can I help?" Think about
it, how would you feel if you threw a party for friends, only to have a
bunch of people show up late keeping everybody else waiting, then you
spend the whole evening running around making sure everything went OK,
only to get yelled at because things didn't go perfectly? Then you
repeat the process twice a week every week?

So how can IBL survive? The first thing is, you guys have got to do your
part. This means show up early, follow the rules, respect the organizers
NO MATTER WHAT, and win or lose, conduct yourselves with good
sportsmanship. Maybe you play video games against the computer or
against anonymous opponents on the net where you can curse, bitch,
cheat, or generally be an asshole and nobody cares. This is different.
IBL involves real people just like you; we all show up to have a good
time. If you don't like the way IBL is organized, just stick to pickup
games or go organize your own tournament, but if you decide to play IBL,
you play by IBL rules, PERIOD.

And for the love of Bolo, be thankful to the organizers. If we took the
time we wasted on IBL and simply went and flipped burgers at a fast food
joint, we'd be wealthy people by now.

I hate to bitch about bitching, seems hypocritical doesn't it? It's just
that if you want IBL to survive, you better tell Min or Liz that soon,
and you better be willing to step up and do your part. I sure hope you
do.

Jolo