“It takes a lot to win a tournament.”
Yes, that statement is simple and extremely generic, but let me tell you this, that’s just the face value. In a world full of a swipe up swipe down society, it is ideal to understand the multiple goals required to achieve what most people strive for; a win. A win isn’t something you simply stumble upon; it’s something you’ve earned through pure dedication to your craft. To be completely honest, it’s something that you almost can’t fully understand, until that one Sunday… when you and your brothers are hoisting your fists into the sky as the buzzer sounds… “Game Time Finished.”
As I ponder the Vegas win, I cannot help but flash back to Dallas 2016. This is where the DMG way was forged into our DNA. Now I find myself listening to the clacks of the keyboard with this half-filled white page in front of me; attempting to fully engulf every little moment that is required to win. I’ve realized that would take a book, not a brief overview. However, over these last couple of years, I have understood that I know nothing. I say that because knowing you know nothing, is the first step into knowing there is always more to learn. This is important, because this understanding is part of what has allowed me to become the player I am today.
On or off the field, I will always be the piece the team needs me to be; whether that’s player, captain, or coach. This event, I was all three. This is an opportunity, an opportunity for a whole new perspective and challenge, which I was eager to learn. Throughout any event, the variables are always changing. So in this game of variables, you must do everything in your power to stack them in your favor. With that going forward, I will have to say, DMG learned and improved point by point, which was a key moment to our team win.
As the Las Vegas event kept running along, just as time does, there are limited moments to capitalize on. You can either keep the energy in your favor, let the energy overtake you, or you can redirect the energy to become now in your favor. The ones that understand this concept are the ones already ahead of the opposition. Every team has a chance to win; it’s those who multiply their opportunities that become the successors. Just as every player has a role, every point of every day of every event has a new formula.
Confidence is one thing, but understanding knowledge is another. Sacramento DMG has both. This win has a tremendous amount of weight behind it. For some, it’s their first win, for others it’s the end to a 4 year drought. While for most it’s just another achieved goal to keep in our back pocket, striving for a milestone goal that will reset our goals. However personal our goals are, we all have this in common… this is just the beginning.
Thomas Kim
Number Nine | Sacramento DMG
