Famous and successful people are just people

Life Champions

In 1998 I had the luck and skill to qualify for the biggest event in the Magic: The Gathering calendar, the World Championships, that year played in Seattle, USA. I had played well, was lucky and made some smart choices at the Australian Nationals to land second place and a spot on the Australian World Championship team. By this time Magic had become a big deal, with three million dollars distributed as prizes each year (first place at the world Championships that year won $36,000 USD).

The level of professionalism had increased greatly as a result and there were people playing the game competitively for a full time living. Magic even had superstars, players you read about in magazines, watched on ESPN and cheered for during live web coverage of the big events. In many ways a regular Magic player admired these superstars as special people, people that were very successful in life and possessed a gift or some form of unique talent, much like a young golfer might admire Tiger Woods or an entrepreneur might look at Richard Branson.

Olle Rade, a young guy from Sweden, enjoyed tremendous success at Magic, winning a Pro Tour and at that point with lifetime earnings well over $50,000 USD and he wasn't even 20 yet. I really admired Olle. Then there was John Finkel, who back then was known as the best Magic player with well over $100,000 in career earnings. These guys were superstars, overachievers and in my mind sitting on a pedestal above everyone else.

Heading to Seattle I had my first chance to meet and play these superstars of Magic. I'm not one to gush over celebrities but sometimes you can't help but feel a little in awe of people you've read about in the media. Since I knew so much about these famous players and they knew nothing about me I felt I wasn't on equal terms, I wasn't confident and in no way did I consider myself one of them.

By the end of the tournament I was exhausted. The little sleep I got didn't help me play the best cards but the experience I gained was amazing. During the tournament I played Olle Rade and I beat him. It was just like any other match and he was quite upset by the end of it, celebrities don't like losing either. I lost to some other big names and during our non-playing periods enjoyed getting to know many famous players.

By the end of the week I had completely changed as a Magic player. Despite not performing well I left Seattle with confidence in myself as a player and a new perspective on celebrities. Every superstar Magic player I met was no different from me. Sure some had natural talents that I didn't, perhaps strong mathematical abilities, but I had strengths in other areas. Magic being a game of skill rewards those that practice and study, luck and natural ability play a part, but in the end it's people playing people and Magic stars were stars because they had done two things - they worked really hard at what they did because they loved it and they had experience from winning and loosing a lot of matches.