Well, This Dampens My Prospects

Hey everyone! Early than expected post in this on-going series for less than favorable reasons. I live and work in the South Florida area and as most of you know, Hurricane Irma is coming straight for my neck of the woods. I've lived in Florida for about 7-8 years now, but my only experience with hurricanes is last year's Hurricane Matthew while I lived in Jacksonville. We lucked out on Matthew, but I'm not taking chances with Irma. She's big, nasty and the path doesn't look good. So my dog and I packed our bags and made the 15 hour journey to my hometown of Shelbyville, TN to stay with my Mom.

So What Now?

Wwwwweeellll, we're hoping for the best but this definitely makes my odds qualifying even slimmer. I left my card collection back in my South Florida apartment (hey, this goal is important, but not as important as my dog and his stuff takes the majority of my car) so if there is significant damage, I will start from 0 and likely won't have the financial resources to make this a reality. However, likely this should only push me back 2-3 weeks in planning and securing cards. I was planning on attending the Daytona, FL regionals but I'm going ahead and nixing that. My next post will cover how Irma effected us (cross your fingers for minimal!) as well as my planning process on how I think I can qualify for the Pokemon TCG Worlds!

Please Consider Helping The Irma Relief

This storm doesn't look the typical storm for South Florida and, if the current projections are accurate, could really cause serious damage to the largest cities in the state of Florida. If are able, please consider helping the relief for the storm to the Red Cross. South Florida is a special place for me and is home to an incredibly diverse population. I'm already planning to volunteer time to help cleanup and donating blood once back. Every bit counts and if you are in South Florida, be safe, be prepared and consider leaving if you are able.

Can This Casual Fool Qualify (And Win A Match) For the 2018 Pokemon TCG Worlds?

Hey everyone, there's never been a better time than now to set goals! For whatever reason, I've been itching to make some changes. Having a new job, moving to a new city and trying to shed the awfulness that was 2016 opens an opportunity to start anew. One goal that I've always had since I finished my MBA is to write more. As a borderline masochist, I have enjoyed writing crazy long papers and putting in days of research and want to get back in the habit. The primary impetus for my first blog post though is my desire to try and qualify for the 2018 Pokemon Trading Card Game (PTCG) World Championship! In order to make these goals a possibility, I need witnesses to hold me accountable, so join me in a (hopefully) biweekly blog on my quest to Nashville!

Why On Earth You Want To Try And Do This?

Great question! For one, over the best year I've fallen prey to Pokemon TCG. I used to play a lot of PTCG as well as collect when the game first released. I was absolutely one of those kids who went to the weekly Burger King meet ups to trade and battle other local kids. I wasn't great, but one of the kids who took it decently seriously. As with most people, I left the game behind as I entered high school and college. I have boomeranged back to PTCG as it serves as a great stress reliever and a never ending source of nostalgia.

More importantly why I'm trying to qualify for this year's Pokemon Worlds is because it is taking place in my nearby childhood city of Nashville, TN! I grew up in an extremely small, rural town of Shelbyville, TN where we're known for being home of the Tennessee Walking Horse Championship (which means there are more horses than people). If you would have told me in 1999-2003 that the Pokemon Worlds would take place a mere hour and half drive away from Shelbyville, TN, I would've laughed in your face. Nashville has exploded in the post 2008 recession period so it's no surprise now though why an international event would take place in the city, but I still find it slightly absurd that a worldwide Pokemon event is taking place in Tennessee. Such an absurdity rightly deserves at least an attempt to qualify for it, right?!

Cool Story, But Is It Really Possible?

Listen, don't sass me reader. Stranger things have happened, ok? Even though I only had 2 points (from attending 2 pre-release tournaments) all of last year and the latest rotation doesn't load well for my current collection, we're giving this sucker a shot! Pokemon Worlds take place usually in early August so I have almost a year to get 400 points to qualify. So join me in my very silly pursuit to make this stupid goal possible!