We're booked at Doe's for 6:30 on March 13. I made the reservation for 10 (we have 9 currently) so anyone else that wants to hop in is welcome!

Harvey Kartel wrote on 02/07/20 at 13:19:29:


You’re my hero <3

Harvey Kartel wrote on 02/12/20 at 11:55:35:


Kyle just resent it  

I will attend but I will not be competing in the matches. Too much stress.

Geez Dave, don't let your experience in the SMK tourno hinder you from playing at asmkc. In person meets are far more fun and more casual for the most part.

I was hoping I'd get to play against you Dave, but if you're coming I can at least get to meet you in person for once.

I've never competed in a tournament like this myself, and yes, I am a little nervous about playing against some of the biggest names in SMK in front of an audience, but the stage fright isn't so bad that I'd abstain from the actual competition. As an underdog, I feel as if there's not as much pressure on me, so I can just play like I'd normally play without fear of embarrassing myself too greatly. As long as I don't get humiliated by a player that's far outside of the top 100 (excluding Battle Mode), I think I'll be happy however my performance turns out. I plan to give all four modes a try so it's going to be a busy weekend for me. Do remember that the three-strikes system means we can still be alive after a single bad race, so there is a chance for losing players to redeem themselves.

I didn't plan on coming to Monroe to be the best. But I would at least like to do my best.

Dave, please realize that I am basically in the same situation you are in-- an underdog-- yet I am not afraid to compete in front of the world.

I will say that I'd feel a little more pressure if I was in a race with Dan H or Andrew K, being such close rivals TT-wise with either of them.

Yeah Sorry. I was just really down on myself yesterday. I learned that I am a very poor player when it comes to live competition. I will still compete but I guess you can say I am not as excited as I was as far as gaming goes.

Dave Smith wrote on 02/24/20 at 05:59:36:


Good to see that we talked you back into competing, Dave. As I said earlier, there shouldn't be a whole lot of pressure to do extremely well if you are going in as an underdog. I don't expect to have much of a chance against CDM veterans but I still want to go out there and do my best, because luck just might be on my side. You or I just might be able to pull an upset after all...

In Battle Mode I'd be happy with any finish better than dead last. I don't claim to be a good BM player since I don't really have a sparring partner nor do I spend time studying the course layouts or the best places to fire shells. But BM is a helluva lot of fun and I enjoy it even when Kyle is handing my ass to me.

Matt told me that I'm decent at Match Race though. I won some races against both him and Eric although they won more often (as expected). I'm still a bit embarrassed though over the feather miscue in the RR race against Matt, I could have won that for sure if I had chosen not to play around in the homestretch. I learned my lesson though.  

150cc GP, I have no experience against human opponents but I can at least get practice just navigating the tracks in the coming weeks.

As for one-try TT I'm not sure what I'm going to do, since I haven't done a one-try competition in ten years or so. The safer, easier NBTs and techs are going to be on the menu for sure, but maneuvers such as GV1 platform jump or even MC2 longboost are questionable. Regardless, I'm probably only going to rank well if other players make mistakes, and as with BM, since I'm a tournament first-timer and an underdog, I'll probably feel glad to beat anybody.

Unless everyone who plays against me lets me win (which I highly doubt), that ain't happening. Besides, I'd rather play against people who are actually trying to win themselves (what fun is it when everybody just hands the win to you?)

Hopefully Matt or Eric can make a showing for Team USA in the time trial event.

BTW I just popped my Japanese SMK cartridge into my SNES for the first time in 2020. I drove MC1 "Ancient Way" for about five minutes and hit a 1'00"32, which isn't terribly far from my PR (and I saved the ghost so I can race it later). My NTSC timeset has gotten pretty strong now but I'd at least like to improve something before Kartamania.

I wish RR could be lowered another tenth or two but I've never been very good at the Rainbow Roads in any Mario Kart game, it seems.

Yeah I've been thinking about any possible impacts of Coronavirus on this ASC myself. Right now my biggest concern is Takashi being able to make it here from Japan.

I was thinking about that yesterday too. As long as they won't close any airports then. Also, not being scared of the virus is one thing (and I agree with Dan there), but still it'd be pretty sad if anyone happens to be sick at ASMKC. I wouldn't want to kart with the flu I had last year for instance. Though supposedly it has like a week or so incubation time too. Guess we have to hope for good RNG as always.  

I've heard that, like the flu, the coronavirus's impact won't be as severe in the summer months. People not being cooped up inside as much, you know. On the other hand, it will have had the time to spread to more regions, so who knows.

SARS passed, bird flu passed, H1N1 passed, this will pass as well. Living in fear and not doing anything is not living.

Etch wrote on 02/26/20 at 22:22:05:


As you know there's a time for jokes, but it's time to get serious.

It's too early to understand the future evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak and I know that you're supposed to take risks in your life, but will you accept without knowing that;

.The process of the mutations of COVID-19 remains unknown.
.Coronaviruses have seasonality but they don't know if spring and summer will kill this coronavirus.
.It appears that the virus could cause side effects on lungs (some really bad things) even after recovery.
.Don't let anyone tell you these things only; that the coronavirus fatality rates vary wildly depending on age, gender and medical history and some patients fare much worse than others, because healthy people can die too.
.Some governments (not only China) may be hiding some truth.

ASMKC is a great thing, a chance for this community, but in this world of entertainment there is no room for doubt, maybe you just had to wait patiently until the storm passed but running into that unknown and silent storm, and voluntarily.., seriously?
So I just want you all to be safe and stay healthy, thank you.