I've known Xan for many years and he continues to be one of my favorite people to play this game with.

Red is a great person with a great attitude. She continues to improve and get better (which she has been for at least the 2 seasons I have played with her,) and wants to work with her team. All she needs now is a team that is also willing to grow and improve!

Fred and co. are great guys, fun to play with, and talented at that. As of yesterday the team he and I were on are done so, this is the perfect time to get together and play some games!

I've been playing on a scrim team for a few months now and would place us at about low open.

So, for any low open teams using irc, keep a look out for a "fruit" or "fruitman" in irc. We play on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday from 9-12pm est. But, like any of you, we are improving ourselves and may just break out of that low open bubble!

I am also a back-up for this team. And, as of tonight, they are in need of a main scout! They are a really nice group of people who just needs a player who will grow with them as they embark on their first season of ESEA. More info here.

Earlier today, "The Know," an offshoot of RoosterTeeth, released their first eSports recap. In that recap is a short bit on TF2@i52. While the audience isn't the greatest for eSports news, I think it's great that we were included.

http://youtu.be/PVYEdniy1RQ?t=43s

RIP http://blog.twitch.tv/2014/08/3136/

Nerdy theory crafting incoming-

I remember way way back to starting this game, my instinctual thought with sticky bombs was that the longer I charged the shot, the more damage it would do. However, I quickly learned that it actually just made them go further. But now, the hot question is why doesn't it work that way? Why wouldn't ramp up start at your mouse click? I understand the sticky charge would ideally just be a single mechanic (distance) but would ramp-up on mouse click be too imba?

Ramp-up on click would continue to lessen overall spam since you would still have to wait for a charge time, and sticky traps would be unaffected since you would still just leave them out to dry. (Assuming ramp-up continues after launching the sticky.) But overall would give the individual more feel for how much damage their newly fired sticky will do. This would mean that Demoman running away from you backwards looking at the ground is charging his shot, and you have time to attack him before he gets his full damage OR he continues to m1 m2 and does the lessened damage but will potentially juggle you.

This would also readily apply to Heavy's spin-up time. As it is now (from my understanding, please correct if I am wrong) if you are currently spun-up you wouldn't begin either of your ramp-ups, accuracy/damage, until you begin to fire. However, if you think of the Heavy's spin-up in the same sense as the Demoman's sticky charge, the Heavy should ideally begin his ramp-up even if during his idle spin-up time. A heavy walking around spun-up is slow, immobile, and usually loud; there is little reason for him NOT to get his ramp-up during this time. If you jump a spun-up Heavy you will die. If you get to him before that time and he has to start fire when he sees you that is a fair trade and you, as someone attacking the Heavy, have 1 second to either kill him, run, or be shredded after his full ramp-up time.

tldr; there are so many ideas in this thread alone that would have made for better, more balanced nerfs than what we were delivered. Thanks, Valve.

http://i.imgur.com/HKbYY2d.png