The Storyline of 2024 is Pretty Simple
Plus, 2/35 for those that are interested...
We didn’t do a year-end review or a best of/worst of 2024 because the overarching storyline of 2024 was the Saudi Arabian government’s takeover of esports and the general acceptance of it by the esports industry/ecosystem including teams, personalities, game makers, and even fans.
And why should esports be any different from anyone in any other industry that has aligned with the Kingdom to help them with so-called sports washing such as pro wrestling, football, golf, racing, boxing, etc., etc.?
So that’s the story of 2024. Sure, there were massive amounts of layoffs, teams shut down, and the industry continued to consolidate, but at the end of the day the industry embraced the next thing that would keep many bad business models chugging along (and it’s a thing that they wouldn’t have dreamed of doing just a few years ago). Will orgs finally use this newfound lifeline to reform, adjust, and build a structure that is sustainable in the long run? For many it will be business as usual.
Why is aligning with the Saudi Arabian government problematic? Here’s what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch think about it. - James
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😷 2/35 😷
The “2” in 2/35 represents the number of radiation treatments for cancer that I have had out of the 35 scheduled over the next several months. No side effects yet but I imagine by the end of next week we’re going to have a pretty decent understanding of the complications—if any—come along with this stuff. So we have 33 more days (sessions) of this stuff to get through and that first number is always going to be a milestone.
A couple of thoughts about this kind of treatment:
It puts a lot of pressure on your face, especially your lower jaw.
If someone has had trauma, I don’t know how they get through this stuff; you’re being held down, your vision is obscured/impaired from the mask, and you can’t move. When you add in the pressure from it, you have to do everything in your power to not freak out. I’m focusing on breathing for 15 minutes every time I go into that tube.
The big concern is to avoid damaging lymph nodes and to keep them functioning during this entire course of treatment. Every little bit of swelling makes me freak out a little.’
Right now I am not feeling any effects but I know that is going to change after next week as more radiation is pumped into my system. Going to try to keep busy during the next several months, but I still don’t know how functional and useful I’ll be.
Thank for reading this - I have decided to put these personal updates at the bottom so as not to be too annoying. If you’ve read through this stuff, thank you. 👊🏼💖