Most Valuable Player

Following the Nationals, on Sunday, the even provides a banquet for all the players. It is a huge event where they announce the top four teams of each division. They also have tables reserved for the Top four teams for each division close to the stage.
The food was wonderful. I had to $50 extra so Tweedy could join me on the Awards Ceremony so it’s better be good.
Like I said in the previous post, neither Logan nor I had expectations to get that far so Tweedy and myself were actually planning on just going to a Brazilian barbecue place that night. I didn’t know if that would be appropriate towards my teammates though…
Fortunately as we got second place, I decide with Tweedy we would stay at the banquet.
We were all having a great time and they started doing the announcements, lots of politics…
Then, they jumped to the announcement of the All Stars and MVPs for each division.
On the elimination rounds, the reff’ing team is supposed to chose a player of each team as the all star of that game. In the end of the tourney, the votes are counted and the five top voted players receive the All Star Tourney Award and the player with the biggest amount of votes gets the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award.
Getting a an ALL Star or MVP is a big accomplishment for any player. It is definitely a reason for honor and pride.
Ben, the captain of my team, had told me he had a feeling I would be picked as one of the All Star players.
And so the president of Nagva announced all the five All Star Players: Shin and Kevin from Typhoon, plus two players for first place team and one player from the fourth place team (DC Freakasia), and for MVP I heard my name with a big accent – “Gustavo Silva”. I was thrilled, more than thrilled, overwhelmed, excited. It was my first “Oscar”. Hahahha. Many players of LA from different division were very proud of me and screamed my name. I hugged Tweedy, Ben and Tom. The AA players congratulated me. I have to say that the feeling of being recognized with MVP is not as big as the feeling of being loved and cheered by your friends and other players who are fond of you. What I am trying to say is that being MVP of Nationals (among hundred of other players) feels great, but it feels even better to see your friends so happy and celebrate with you your conquer. If I didn’t have all my friends coming to me and cheering with me, sharing with me that experience, the award would not mean the same.
I really wanted to share the award with the rest of the team, who worked hard and made me look good. I am proud of having played with Rough Riders…
One of the moments that is gonna be in my mind for a while was when we left the ballroom. Cameron, a former teammate and one of my favorite players, with who I had a rough time last year because of a disagreement, hugged me and whispered “ finally…”
That was one of those redemption moments we see a lot in films…
…and in real life every now and then…