Professional gamers, like professional athletes, have their up and downs. When they disappoint, they have to face their fans and that's exactly what a Chinese League of Legends pro did.
CaoMei (Strawberry), whose real name is Wei Handong, plays top laner for a Chinese LoL Team, Team WE. After a poor performance in this past season's Tencent League of Legends Pro League, CaoMei came out with a public post to explain what was going on. His team placed fourth in the tournament.
In his statement, CaoMei says that personal matters involving his father's passing had affected his training and mentality. Cao Mei's father had passed away earlier this year while he was in Paris for the 2014 all-stars. He left the tournament to attend to his family.
The statement, translated into English by the folks at Games In Asia, can be read below.
If I had played better during the playoffs, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. I myself am very clear on the quality of my performances; every game started off well and with a chance to win. But I had too many problems, and I apologize to everyone for losing in this competition. Most of all, I apologize to my teammmates, I've screwed them over. Since coming back from Paris I have sucked more and more, no, maybe it started earlier than that, oh…
On the internet I always see ragers saying I suck. Actually, I think there's no reason to make this kind of post, because it's the truth. The range of my abilities [from game to game] is too great, I'm unstable. One moment I can beat anyone and the next I can get stomped by anyone, it's really a joke. I hope that after watching my laning and competition, everyone can help give me some tips on Weibo or on the forums.
After returning twice to Wuhan, my "family issues" are more or less taken care of, and I've already passed along everyone's prayers to my father, thank you all! After the event in Chengdu on the first I'll return to Shanghai and start over; I promise, you're going to see a different CaoMei, just wait and see!
I will continue to do my best! If I still can't change anything, then just treat me like a joke, that's fine.
It's kind of unfortunate that CaoMei had to actually come out with a public statement. The story about CaoMei and his difficulties in Paris were considered headline news in the LoL circles in China.
That said, it's good to see that he's getting back onto the horse and working hard at his job. Maybe the next story we see about him will be about Team WE winning.
Caomei apologizes to fans for his recent poor performances [Games in Asia]
草莓季后赛后发声：谈LOL全明星后自己表现 [NetEase]
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Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie