Headline October 07, 2017/ ''' ESPORTS -!WOW!- EUREKA '''

''' ESPORTS -!WOW!- EUREKA '''

GERMAN STUDENT MARVIN WESTERVELD................. could most easily get your head to swim. His calm and beautifully styled looks belies one energy dynamo.     

Brimming with knowledge, ever curious, ever questioning, ever reasoning, but ever suspicious, ever wary - armed  with an old Samsung cellphone, screen broken Lenovo notepad, old Nike laced shoes, he joins up.

Donning a Pakistani Shalwar Kameez; as well mannered as he is gracious and loving, he finds himself a beautiful home. 

Dee and Hussain host him. And he falls in love with their kindness, and with them. He is now as much a Proud Pakistan loving, as I am.

Hussain's Angle Mother cares and worries about his safety and well being as if he were her very own son. Today, Hussain and Marvin leave for up north to attempt a very difficult trekking and glacier crossing. 

They hope to accomplish that in 14 days and wherever they go and be, they are going to spread the word about the World Students Society.

!WOW! and I,  are personally grateful to Teacher and Guide Adnan Cheema, City School, for outstanding expertise, guidance, and logistic support. 

In the days ahead, Adnan would be organizing highly thrilling treks for students from the world over. Don't miss them! : In the time ahead,  K-2 climb and then the Everest is very much on the cards.  

Meanwhile, returning to the Operational Research on !WOW!, I find that E-sports competitions are too finding great and supportive homes.

The space E-sports created   -much of it by hand, laying carpet and running heavy-duty Internet infrastructure  -is relatively spartan, with concrete floors and few mixed objects.

''It needs to be modular.'' Ward said, because the arena is constantly hosting events of different sizes with different needs.

For big events, the 15,000 square-foot space can send 900 fans, the capacity was reduced 500 for the Universal Open because of the elaborate set.   

Soon, Ward and Endres will be running three e-sports arenas, a 16,000 square-foot arena is scheduled to open in Oakland, Calif, this year, and a 30,0000 square foot arena is expected to open in Las Vegas early next year. 

This expansion is fueled by a multi-million dollar investment in the E-sports Arena by Allied ESports, a consortium of Chinese sports and entertainment companies that owns an e-sports arena in Beijing, among other properties.

The plan is to expand far beyond Pakland and Las Vegas in the next several years.

''We would like to partner with home arena-based teams," Ward said. ''We have no limitations in where we can invest.''

The E-sports Arena in Santa Ana, southeast Los Angeles, was closed all week to prepare for the  Universal Open, which is significant because it is not just a professional one.

During the week, it hosts a variety of  amateur competitions, as well as open play on its machines for members who pay $10 a month, much cheaper than paying by the hour at a video game cafe.

They start weeknights events late so people can navigate the notoriously bad traffic of the Los Angeles area.

The arena is undergoing improvements to make it even more attractive place to spend hours at a time.

It will soon serve alcohol   -they struggled to get an permit because city officials ''didn't believe people over 21 years old  played video games,''  Endres said....and are expanding the food offerings beyond snacks.

They have also stepped up their in-house broadcast production capability for tournaments.

''As you look for the proliferation of e-sports,'' said Bob Simmelkjaer, the NBC Sports executive overseeing the tournament and broadcast, ''you start to see a need for for more venues.''

Players sit in front of fans, but once the match begins the audience spends most of its time staring up at the screens dotting the arena to watch the action taking place.

It's a cross between a live event and a studio production.   

Between matches the audience can hear the analysts breaking down what happened, but it cannot see the replays being broadcast, and a producer is continually telling fans to get up and cheer.     

Like the competitors, the audience last weekend skewed young and male, but there were plenty of  women and families. 

When great shots went in or were met with even better saves, the crowd stoop up and cheered loudly without prompting.

Billy Weckstein, 17, was attending his first e-sports event. A fan of baseball and basketball, in addition to Rocket League, he persuaded his family to fly out from New Jersey for the  Universal Open, and they made a short vacation of it.

''I just want to do something fun for summer, because our summer is kind of boring,'' he said. ''It's really cool to be a part of the crowd. It's just so cool, pumping up players and the stuff.''

Perhaps even more encouraging for the future of  e-sports competition and venues, like the  E-sports Arena,  Billy's parents and twin sister, Kelly, seemed almost as thrilled by the play as he was.

If ward and Endres are successful, they will soon a network of arenas across the country, and the  Wecksteins might not have to fly 3,000 miles watch Rocket League.

''Where there is demand, supply always blossoms,'' Simmelkjaer, of NBC said. ''That's capitalism.''   

With respectful dedication to the Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!   -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Students Free Zones '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless