Joe Reinreb wrote on 04/08/20 at 08:49:51:The lack of bilans even after all this time is a little disappointing.
Better late than never! This has been a work in progress for way too long.
So my ASC adventure started early Friday morning. I ran into problems before I even left because I had parked my car at a Walmart rather than an overpriced condo parking lot. After a late night of drinking none of my friends were up at 7:30 to give me a ride, and Uber showed no rides available because who needs a ride that early in a beach town? After frantically downloading Lyft I checked Uber again and found a ride; I had to wait 20 minutes but at least I could stop panicking. I ended up leaving Gulf Shores, AL around 8:15 and then had a quick 2 hour drive over to Gulfport to pick up Harvey. I had only slept a few hours the night before, thankfully didn’t get too tired but sleep deprivation would become a common theme! I recognized Harvey’s neighborhood from my previous visit and once I drove up to his house it finally hit me. The ASC is finally here and Harvey is coming this year!!!
I was only in front of his house for a minute or two before we left. We made a pit stop at McDonald’s on our way out, and after a long drive-thru wait we finally got on our way. The trip to Monroe seemed to go by really fast—the weather and traffic were good and we didn’t make any stops. Harvey and I spotted a bunch of out-of-state license plates, including one from the Dakotas, and he had a keen eye for plates from my home county. I even taught him a little trivia about the hazmat placards on tanker trucks; he picked it up quickly and could soon identify whether a truck was carrying propane, jet fuel, crude oil etc. After passing through lots of empty Louisiana farmland, we finally began seeing signs of civilization as we approached Monroe.
Pulling up to the Kartel house with Harvey in tow felt surreal. Last year I drove up to a dark house at 2:30 am, this time I saw the legendary Dave Smith before even getting out of the car. He was the first of several karters I’d meet for the first time. I also caught up with Matt and Kyle, and we all hung out in their front yard waiting for more karters to show up. Not too long later, a mystery van pulled up and out walked KVD and Lafungo! I was not at all expecting to meet him so it was a really cool surprise. Later Sami came back from a shopping trip and with him was the 150cc legend Takashi! He flew halfway around the world alone to a new country for our tournament, so I made sure to give him a warm welcome. Joe and Vanessa also showed up; it was great having them again this year. Another karter I hadn’t met (and admittedly hadn’t heard of because I’m not on discord/hadn’t been following the site) was Anthony Long. He’s built up a good skill base in the few months since he joined, and it’s great to see him involved in the community this early in his SMK journey! One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was seeing many of us meet Harvey for the first time. Everyone was excited to finally meet the Gulfport Oracle himself, and immediately the extra planning and travel time for me were already worth it. Once we were settled in we hooked up a SNES in the Kartel garage and started the SMK action. I raced a couple GPs against Harvey, then stepped back and watched others go at it. We also used this time to complain about our travels to ASC; it’s always fun to hear the ordeals people went through after they’ve made it.
Around 6:20 we finally left for Doe’s. Harvey and I drove together, and Dave, KVD, Lafungo, Joe, and Ness also left with us. When I walked inside I had the privilege of meeting the Super Black Bass world champion, Dan double underscore H! Once we were seated we all marveled at the massive steaks Doe’s had to offer. Other than the normal-sized filet mignon, the smallest steak you could get was 1.5 pounds! Just like Harvey pointed out, you can’t get meals like that in India. I picked the 1.5 pound T-bone with some potatoes au gratin. The potatoes were aggressively salty and cheesy, but somehow that made me like them more. I don’t remember too many specifics of what we talked about, but between the karter camaraderie and the seemingly endless juicy steak on my plate, I was in a very happy place. We left in a couple different groups, and as our waitress came by to pick up the last few checks, Harvey got a fifth and final round of sweet tea. He and I were the last to leave, as he was still working through his mammoth T-bone. When KVD and the others stood up to leave, I instinctively stood up too and right away Harvey asked me where I was going...nowhere, at least not yet! We ended up leaving 10-15 minutes after that, and we didn’t really miss anything because the others had stopped to grab beer on their way back.
Back at the Kartel house, I rode out the steak coma by drinking some beers and playing/watching SMK. While I didn’t play too much myself, I spent a while watching Lafungo and Takashi face off in GP. I was really impressed by their speed and consistency, and I tried to learn as much as possible from it. At some point, Chris (Kyle’s brother) needed to inflate the 5 air mattresses for the night, and the most logical way was to use their air compressor. So for several minutes, Lafungo and Takashi were racing top level GP while contending with that compressor roaring just a few feet away...for some reason that was one of my favorite odd moments of the weekend! I also got to meet MKSC powerhouse Ethan McCormac, another karter I hadn’t expected to see. We chatted a bunch that night and throughout the weekend, and later that night he also demoed some MKSC for Harvey and me. I got to see a few RR laps with the Hirano strat and some good looking laps on SGB, and afterwards he let me try out the game for a while. The mechanics were different of course but didn’t feel that strange, and I could see myself learning it with some practice. I’ve always had interest in MKSC as it’s SMK’s sister game, so it was cool to finally play it for the first time.
At one point Matt and I made a trip to the venue to bring a couple more TVs, and he filled me in on the venue change situation. For those who didn’t know, the original Hooligans venue didn’t end up having the internet capacity to run three streams, and the Kartel were able to orchestrate a last minute change to the venue from 2019. Everything went smoothly from the perspective of a participant, and the only oddity was that the posters/t-shirts had a different address on them. Kudos to the Kartel team for pulling out of their initial choice and getting us into a good venue at the last minute! The 3 TV stream setup was definitely worth it, I really liked that more matches were broadcast this year and everyone got to have more time playing on stream.
Somehow towards the end of that night I ended up in the garage with Ethan, Matt, and Eric. We spent a while bullshitting around; Ethan also talked about Fenner’s history/backstory as he was active in the MKSC scene when Fenner was world champ. I never knew the whole story, so hearing it from an MKSC insider was really insightful. Matt also showed Ethan GAS’ legendary
Super Mario Fart rap, I hadn’t seen it in years and it gave us some great laughs all around! Eventually we split up and I went to bed, maybe around midnight or 1. I had the laundry room all to myself, which ended up being pretty nice because it was my own private room. There was just enough space for a mattress between the washing machine, plastic shelving, and emergency food supplies, so I settled in for the night.
The next morning I woke up around 9:30 maybe, and I got in a little bit of TT practice before it was time to go to the venue. I also learned that Ethan had stayed up all night time trialing and driven an 8”86 VL2 lap around 3 am, taking away my only USA record. That was a low point for me (probably not him) but he was a great sport about it and has given me some strat tips since then. There was a big CRT in the garage that needed to go to the venue, and I volunteered to get it there. First Alex (Chris’ girlfriend) and I had to wrestle it into my cozy-sized car, and it completely destroyed a car-USB adapter that I should have removed first! Harvey and I had a cramped ride to the venue thanks to that, but we made it and I got a much needed break when he and Ethan carried it all the way from my car to the tournament room. Also Duff appeared at some point this morning, naturally he had accessorized with an N95 mask. It spent the majority of the day on his forehead, which had dual benefits of letting him breathe and keeping his forehead safe. I also found out that Chris had brought his table tennis set to the venue, so I had to play him while we were waiting on setup. I played a bunch in high school and consider myself decent; while I was a little rusty it seemed like he’d have the upper hand if we played a full game. We also got Takashi in on the action and he was a beast; while I won a couple points his precision was on another level. At one point he put down his paddle and started playing with his phone...and he was still as sharp as with a paddle! I let him and Chris face off and Takashi still looked like a master. Watching him and Chris play was a really cool moment I hadn’t remembered until writing this. Looking back I wish I had played more but it left my mind once the tournament started. Anyway, after that fun start to the day (and some chocolate glazed donuts), it was time for the TT tournament.
The group stage went alright for me. I was paired with Joe, and I did better than last year (12-8 vs 2019) but not as good as I was hoping, especially in the later stages. One highlight was a clean 1’35 on BC3, where I sacrificed a bunch of time by riding the bumpers every lap. I was excited for RR because I was coming off some great TT times and had done some mid 1’26 one tries while practicing, but unfortunately I found a thwomp at the end of lap 3. Then my driving got angry and aggressive so I fell off two more times, but thankfully that round didn’t matter for me in the long run. I liked the new format for the later rounds: one track, bottom half of finishers get a strike, 3 strikes and you’re done. I got off to a good start on the first 3 tracks: DP1, GV3, MC3. Then the tides turned and I got 3 consecutive strikes, but I can’t be too upset because the field was narrowing and the cutoff times were getting a lot better. I probably could have survived one more round had I not crashed on GV1; a low 1’06”3 would have put me ahead of Takashi and kept me safe that round. It wouldn’t have improved my 7th place finish though—I would have lasted one more track then been eliminated on DP3. Sami, KVD, and Lafungo battled it out for a while, and it came down the wire but Sami took 1st over Lafungo after winning the last two tracks, MC4 and GV1.
After some delicious jambalaya for lunch (thank you Randol parents!) we got started on Match Race. I ran a couple practice races with Takashi first, and I’m proud to say I won the first time we ever played! The lightning I got (on MC1 no less) may have been a factor. My first opponent was Ethan, but he was taking a nap to recover from his TT grinding the night before. That matched me up with Lafungo, and it came as no surprise that he won 2-0. Next up was Joe; I lost 2-0 again but I remember this one was closer. One highlight was on DP2 where I pulled off an NBT + shroom over the lake on lap 5 to pass him, but he must have caught up before the finish.
Then I was pitted against Harvey, and we got to race on stream for the Mississippi Match Race title! I don’t remember exactly how the first races went, but there were some mistakes by both of us. I do however remember it coming down to a winner-take-all match on RR. I fell behind early and Dan went on about how I had already lost, but my last couple laps were good and Harvey made some mistakes, possibly due to the commentator’s curse. I passed him on lap 5 to take the win, one of the most exciting moments of the weekend for me. It was a tense but really fun match to play; neither of us raced our best but that happens sometimes. Afterwards I faced Joe again, and while I had renewed confidence it didn’t pay off and I lost 3-0. The field eventually narrowed to Sami and Takashi, and Sami needed to win 3 times because he had lost 2 matches and Takashi was undefeated. Luckily for Sami, he got hot and stayed in the zone to win almost every race and take the MR gold medal. As we were cleaning up the venue, Drew took notice of a trash bag of empty beer cans and asked Eric/Kyle if he could have it to sell to aluminum recyclers. I'm not sure what ever happened to that trash but I thought it was worth noting such a classic Duff moment. I made sure to grab a shirt before leaving for the night; I’m really glad we had shirts this year and Dave killed it on the design! It’s my first MK shirt which was a cool milestone for my progress into the community.
MR also gave Dan double underscore h a chance to showcase his commentary skills. I loved the enthusiasm and I’m sure it was entertaining for everyone watching us on stream. I learned from him that every item is a type of nanner, including my personal favorite the tickler nanner. During my match against Harvey I had to go for a shroom (excuse me, mega nanner) longboost on MC2. I have almost no experience with LBs so I wasn’t expecting success, but my attempt looked uglier than I could have imagined. Dan tore into me for that and I reminded him that I rarely ever play GP...while in the middle of a match race. That only added to the roast, and he let everyone know that my race was brought to you by Milwaukee’s finest exports. That was just one of the several unofficial sponsors he thanked on stream; I believe some others were Doe’s, Johnny’s Pizza, and the coronavirus of course.
Harvey and I returned to the Kartel house around 7 that night, and it seemed like everyone who walked in after us had a case of beer. And I think we went through all of it so I’m glad we got that much. Dan came over that night to fulfill his goal of drinking, and we eventually convinced Dave to make the right choice and get in an Uber and join us! I had a great time drinking Shiners and everything else with our group, and it became my favorite night of the tournament. There was plenty of bullshitting, then some tequila shots followed by more bullshitting. I didn’t get into any coin catching tricks this year, but I did demo my strat for opening beer bottles with a key. Dan questioned why I wasn’t using the bottle opener in plain sight, and his concern only grew when he saw me using a lighter instead half an hour later. I have to thank Alex for teaching me that one, and it came in handy on a recent trip! We also had Takashi in on the action—somebody got a great picture of him feeding his plush Bucee’s beaver a Shiner, and later I ended up teaching him the difference between fuck yes and fuck you.
Matt also ordered us some pizza so we had something to snack on between beers. Naturally he and Eric wanted to spice things up, so he brought out some of his crazy hot sauces. The two I remember were a dangerously hot Mad Dog 357 Magnum bottle and then a tiny demonic bottle of pure capsaicin extract. I tried the 357 with Joe and Ethan; it had a nice flavor and gave a strong burn from only a couple drops! I ended up having it a few times and it eventually helped me get drunker because I kept sipping my beer every 30 seconds. I also tried a tiny sample of the extract and it gave a sharp burn on my lips and tongue, I can’t imagine trying even one drop at once. This was my first trip into the world of super hot sauces and I’m very glad they introduced me to it. The hot wings contest we had been talking about never happened, but I’m sure we’ll have another chance sometime and I look forward to participating (and probably regretting it immediately)!
Again there were some late night shenanigans, one of which was trying to judge who was snoring the loudest. Harvey delivered a good steady performance, but occasionally someone in the living room (Joe possibly?) would violently make their presence known for a minute or so, then go quiet again like nothing had happened. I think I eventually got to bed around 3 or 4 am, who cares because time is just a concept anyway.
Nick and I made it to the venue around 10 the next morning after a less-than-fulfilling night of sleep, but I was pleasantly surprised that I avoided a hangover. GP definitely went the worst for me. Again my first match was against Ethan, and he was catching up on sleep so I got a bye. That matched me up against Sami, and it was on Star and Special...my two worst in GP. He never dropped below top speed, and that made the CPUs speed up so much that they caused some problems for me. I took third overall in the Special Cup, but at least finished the match on a high note by landing the RR feather shortcut to save 2nd there. It gave me a 7”69 last lap, and Harvey astutely pointed out that 769 is the Jackson phone area code! I played Duff next, and while I was able to take 1st on KB2 and GV2, the outcome of the match was never really in doubt. I had a shot at winning DP3 when I got a shroom, but I failed the Jesus cut despite making it for the first time in practice an hour earlier. Racing him was lots of fun though because he was relaxed and would give me pointers after (and sometimes during) our races.
Then I was paired against Harvey, and I was excited to defend the state champion title that I earned on Match Race. Mushroom Cup started well for me with two wins, but I ranked out on GV1 thanks to a fail late in the race, and Harvey won one of the last two to secure a win. I knew I had to redeem myself on Star Cup, and we had a pretty even match up to MC4. I struggled some on VL1 and took third, so came in with a 3 point lead. I proceeded to have my most infuriating missed zoomstart of the tournament, and Harvey pulled away with a good clean race. So ultimately we went 1-1 in our head-to-head matchups—sounds like something that needs to be settled next year! After that tense match, Harvey moved on to face someone else and I moved to the back room to grab a nice cold beer.
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