My revision ( @segathon, can you let me know who wrote that in the original Tecmo? I'd like to makes sure I can give proper credit for this hijack).
Comments/Feedback appreciated, I will post this to the social media outlets after a few days:
Guide to Being a Sega Genesis NHL'94 Tournament Rookie
Hello. If you're reading this, you're likely interested in signing up for the NYC NHL'94 tournament. Congrats! Many of you have played in live tournaments before, but there are plenty who have not. For those who have not, here are bits and pieces of collected wisdom for anybody making their debut. Before we get to the point by point gibberish, this needs to be said:
You're not going to win the tournament.
Even if you took the Kings to the cup against the computer with offsides off (LA is such a finesse team). You're still not going to win the tournament
But, but, but, but... No. You're not going to win the tournament.
There are probably 32 or so (give or take) of the 40 contestants whom you could look in the eyes as they arrive and tell them with a straight face "You have absolutely no shot to win this thing." (And that's not me trash-talking by any stretch). If you're making your debut and you're psyching yourself up and dreaming of raising the trophy, the faster you get that out of your head, the faster you'll actually enjoy the experience.
"The experience" is the key phrase here. Outside of those 6-8 guys who could conceivably win the tourney, the real draw of the tournament is the experience of it. Until you see a swarm of people (many in their old hockey sweaters) surrounding CRT televisions for many hours, you can't yet appreciate the electricity or the excitement of playing in these games (this isn't you and Smitty from college drinking a 12er and playing a 7 game series on a Wednesday. Your heart will be pumping from the moment you arrive). Here’s a few simple goals to guide you on April 18:
1) Have fun. This is the most important! Have. Fun. There are around 40 pretty cool guys who all love playing the same game that have gathered together. Embrace that. Talk to them. Buy someone a drink, chat about strategy, past tournaments, yadda yadda yadda. The most important thing you should take away from the day when you wake up the next day was "Damn, that was a lot of fun."
2) Pay attention. So, you're a tournament rookie. You're not going to win (have I mentioned that yet?). But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to walk away from the tournament as a better player. When you're not playing, watch some other games. Ask questions. Check out the matchups you see called that make you go "Hmmm, interesting. I may try that one." Watch some of the better players in the tournament and pay attention to how they play. If you liked how some guy played and want to emulate their style, introduce yourself. Pick their brains, ask questions. Use those hours of '94 to take in as much advice (and booze) as possible. I guarantee you everyone will be excited to talk about the game!
3) Win a game. This should be the base goal of every player in the tourney. Win a game. 25% of the field will go 0-2 to start. It’s a mathematical certainty. But then you’ll then face another 0-2 player. And it keeps going as you have 5 games to try! If you win a game as a rookie, you should walk away from the day feeling proud, regardless of how the rest of your tourney played out. You will definitely end up playing some good games with people with similar skill levels.
4) Be a good bud. NHL'94 is a Gentleman's Game. Celebrate properly when something good happens, don't flip out when something bad happens. That's '94. We've all been there. Shake hands after the game and move on. Have fun. Both in playing the game and enjoying the surroundings.
Hopefully this all helps and doesn't come off as too preachy. Just know that, as a rookie, the experience and atmosphere is the biggest thing you'll take away from this. So let’s enjoy the day to play some NHL’94 and talk about how you wish you could make Lil Wayne Gretzky's head bleed for super fan 99 over here.