The Flycast - HECZ UNTOLD DRINKING STORIES | The Flycast Ep. 66

Episode Date: March 24, 2023

Check out the OpTic Cordaroys here: https://cordaroys.com/products/optic-gaming-bean-bag-by-cordaroys?variant=42095324922029 Check out OpTic Nation here: https://www.nation.opticgaming.com/ Check out the OpTic Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/optic-podcast/id1542810047 https://open.spotify.com/show/25iPKftrl0akOZKqS0wHQG MB01VRXLRVBBYYQ HECZ UNTOLD DRINKING STORIES | The Flycast Ep. 66 HECZ ADVICE TO LUDWIG | The Flycast Ep. 66

Fares, man. He was hanging around so long. Hanging around for so long. Does he always laying around? Yeah, he won't ever leave. Does I feel the same way when he's on the eavesrap? No, I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding.

It's all kidding. I love how you just went right into it. I know. I was just trying to fill in for Nick. Why is it Nick here? He says he's sick? Yeah, he texted Page this morning. He said he was choking on his own puke.

I think that at some point or another, we're going to have to start instituting a prove it you know i want to see pugh i'll see i'll see if you're really throwing up send me a video of you throwing up dude have you ever told the story of um of of nana mine my birthday yeah no so is that is that a podcast story yeah the ultimate podcast story that's when you were first starting to talk to some chick yeah we'd discuss that but I remember that night clear that's the last thing I remember was you sitting on the side talking to someone at the time and Nick was there too and then me walking into the bar area and by now we just had dinner so I had already had my traditional three ramen cokes for dinner

this is Atlanta 2017 no no 2019 20 2018 2018 not 2017 2017 2017 17 yeah 17 17 17 Yeah, 2017. Before the sale. And it was my birthday, February 9th. And I walked into the bar and everyone was like, oh, happy birthday. Here's a drink. And I was like, oh, thank you. It was the first time anyone in my life has celebrated my birthday like that.

Yeah. Usually, I mean, from this industry, obviously my friends and I have celebrated my birthday for many, many years. But it was at an event. It was my first birthday at an event ever. I'm just going to tell the whole story. Dude, please, dear. It's disgusting. Just so you guys know, if you're listening, this shit is disgusting.

It's bad. Luckily, Jude knows all my intricacy, so she won't be surprised if she ever hears this, because she knows also. We went to dinner with the league, and I was having three Bacardi Coat's steak. It was like, it was one of those places where they serve you seven courses of meals. Yeah, yeah. And anyways, my birthday, so everybody at the table celebrated my birthday by taking it. shot we took a shot everyone was there Sundance was there Adam Appicella was there um league people league team owners etc and uh we got back I go to the bathroom I come out

I see you and by now I'm like three rum and coax in which means I'm a little bit buzzed not anywhere near I could still I can still drive a bicycle I can still play college duty yeah at a high level um and I remember walking in Dissertal Mike was there yeah which was part of the fucking problem. That's probably the biggest problem. Yeah, yeah. So people started buying me shots. And I'm like, that's my birthday. I'm going to, I'm going to take some shots. How old are you? 39 here? 39. 39. Yeah, 2019. 39. All I remember is Mike DeSertile can singing, happy birth, and everyone's happy birth. And I'm like, oh, then I take it. I remember going like this and then the rest of the night is out. It's gone. It's a blur.

picture every single retro memory that you've ever had in sepiatone buzz from there we went to a different bar so you guys go to a club so we went to a club and it was me Duncan on the way on the way out of this thing someone with us fucking walks out and trips and falls on his face we get three ubers out of the out of the original place. Okay, okay.

And then we all go to the, to the bar club area. It was in Atlanta, so obviously it's like, it's a regular bar, but the dive bar. And we're all, we're all drinking. Adam Appicella's there. What is that fire guy, the fireman's name, the bald, the bald dude, super cool, used to be production manager.

Paul? Paul. I wonder, I hope Paul's doing well, man. So, such a stand-up guy, especially after this night. Because at some point or another, I blacked out, but I still had mobility in all of my, my body. Yeah. And I remember, I remember drinking or taking a shot at this bar.

And then the next thing that I remember is being thrown on my bed. Okay. I got thrown on my bed and I remember like hitting the bed and then hearing the door slam shut. You have no idea. No idea. I'm like, what the fuck? And I look and I'm looking. and I'm looking out the window

and I'm so drunk out of my mind and I'm like I get up from the bed and immediately I'm like and I puke projectile towards the towards the chair that was there and then I'm like oh my God I don't think I've ever been this drunk

and I'm like oh my God what am I going to do I'm like oh I know what to do I'm going to take a shower so I get buck naked and I'm in the shower and then I remember thinking I'm like man this tub is slippery I better say down because I'm drunk I don't want to knock myself out drunk get get drowned and shit so I'm laying down and I'm like I'm like this in the tub and then I'm like so I fucking puk

bah so the shower hitting me so I'm like I'm like it's valid so I'm like I'm getting I'm getting water on me and it feels good and I'm like and then I'm like I look down and I see chunks of of meat and then and then I I reach out guys this was when I was young when I was 39 years old

I I grab bro I with my left hand I remember clearly because this is how fucking Hector Hax Rodriguez I am I grab one of the chunks

of meat from the tub and then you see where that you see where that the basket is I go like this with my left hand into the toilet

and I make it and I'm like that's fucking right I make it then I remember like laying back and thinking to myself, I'm like, I might die here. So I get up again. And then I, I go, I somehow get to my bed and I remember the puke. So I'm like, fuck.

So I get up again and I'm cleaning it. I'm cleaning it and flushing it. I'm cleaning it and flushing it. And I'm just like, man, tomorrow I'm going to have to get a new room and fucking reeks in here. Anyway, I'm like, I'm like, I'm lay down for a little bit. I lay down. And then all I remember is my phone. Zzz, zz, zz.

And I'm like, well, look. And it's, it's my. my alarm saying that I have an investor call. This was before the investment. This was during the investments. And I wake up and I'm hung over like I've never been hung over before in my life. I don't remember the private equity group that I was talking to or the investor. And I'm like, and I remember laying down and feeling just my heart pounding.

And every time I took a breath, I felt just, I just felt nauseous. I felt like I was drinking gasoline or something. It was just everything was numb and I can taste the alcohol. And I'm, I get on the call because it's important, right? Nothing gets in the way of optic business, no matter how sick I am. And it was at the time where everybody was after us trying to give us money. So I'm like, I'm going to take this shit to see what's up. And I just start talking.

And I'm like, boom. And I remember, you know, being a little bit off my game, but not too much to where it was noticeable. But as soon as he hung up, I'm like, blah. I puked again. And it was, I swear to you, it was pure. It was as if I had a filtration system. inside of me that kept all of the soda in my tummy but all of the liquid white burning alcohol was just going into the toilet and I'm like man I fucking hate it I pull out my phone I look at my footage because obviously I was vlogging at the time very heavily and

it's it's it's there you can see it's it's in the vlog it's it's in the vlog somewhere in Atlanta and And it was the worst. It was the other time, industry time that was that drunk, did I just tell you all my drunk stories? Yeah, wait, what's the other one? I'll just never get over because that's the first time. I don't know if that's the first time you met Blake and George. I don't remember that.

Because they went, it was the next day, or it was two days later, because I think you took the whole next day off and rested. So it was that Saturday. And you told, you came out to us in the lobby, and you were like, bro, because they weren't there on Thursday, but they were there on Friday. I was like, yeah, the last time I saw Hector was his birthday, he was like mad drunk.

Like, I haven't seen him that drunk. And then so I was like, you probably won't see him today. And then we saw him the next day. And then you immediately came out to us in the lobby and told us the shooting basketball with your puke story. And Blake was like, what? They were eating their mows. Right?

It was mows, right? It was mows. Welcome to mows. Because Georgia never met you. and Blake didn't like know you that well and he was just like, dude, Hector's crazy. I was like, I am crazy. That was definitely like that.

The other industry time that that happened was that the Xbox party at E3, Wiz had just got a job at YouTube or was still at... It was at the time when he was dating Justine. Okay. She was there and that's how we... I remember this is how we got into the Xbox party

to the VIP section. Yeah. Because at the time, although we should have been invited, I should have been invited to those places, I still didn't, I didn't know the right people. And I just seen, obviously, it's connected everywhere. Yeah. And I remember walking in and there was, it was, it was, it looked like this, right?

There was neon lights everywhere. There's fucking shows going on. It's at a bar. But there is an ice statue sculpture that has a luge. And at the top, they would drop a shot of, of, uh, Fireball. Okay. So by the time that he got to the bottom, you're sitting there, you're like,

with your mouth open and he just shoots inside of you. And I remember Justine was, everybody was there. Everybody was there and everyone was having a great time. Nate shot was there at the time when he was there. And at this point, I think he and I just started talking again. Oh, wow. Oh, okay. So this is like later.

This is like scuff house days. Yeah, this was scuff house days. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, because. I thought you were talking about like early 60, 50 days. No, no, no, no. early 60-50 days early 60-50 days

every Thursday was my night to get fucked up Yeah Thursdays used to be the night Yeah because there was no fans There's no fans And at the time obviously like We were still very conscious Of the fact that the people that we were

That our audience Before you motherfuck screw up essentially Okay And I wanted to be I knew that whether I wanted to or not There was gonna be a a slight sense Of role model thing going on Because I was older and whatever

Yeah yeah So I wanted to be very responsible on that. And I remember at that in L.A., you know, there's a lot of weed going on. A lot of weed going on over there. You know me. So it was, it was, I took so many shots of this thing. Fireball. Fireball.

Plus my go-to, right, the rum and Coke. Have you retired Bacardi Coke? I think I bought you one like a couple years ago. And then when we left, it was still full. And I was like, damn, he might have retired. I stopped drinking just completely. Yeah. Because of my gout, this on this one.

Alcohol gives me that. And I'm testing out to see, because I haven't had a flare up in a long time. And I just got my 23 and me. Have you ever done that? You should do it. 23 and me. It's where you spit into a vial. You send your DNA and all that stuff.

Oh, yeah, yeah. It came back and it tells you like what you're predisposed to. So me, I have, I mean, I can look at it right now. But gout is one of them. them and the fact that it showed me that like goes to show like how far in advance you're able to to circumvent these diseases

that you are prone to. Let me see. So 23 and me atrial fibrillation eczema, restless leg syndrome and I do have that RLS which is restless. I got asthma? I don't know about that.

My lungs are powerful. Migraine. I just had one yesterday. seasonal air juice all my life anxiety that's a fucking lie yeah you don't have I don't have anxiety skin cancer you have the opposite of anxiety what's the opposite of anxiety Matt dude what what the fuck

you see how in sync we are did you just say the exact same thing and the same same tone yeah we connected LDL cholesterol I don't know what LDL cholesterol I mean I look closer Rosacea Hashimoto's disease Severe acne, fuck you, no, I don't look at my fucking skin. 23. I used to have horrible acne.

Gallstones. I don't even what that is. Near-sightedness, it just started to happen. And obstructive sleep apnea, I had that during my 20s. Confidence? Confidence? Oh, ego. Egotism.

That's hilarious. Anyway, but 23 and me, I recommend it. There's no code. I don't have a code or anything. In fact, we do have a sponsor for this podcast, though, don't we? Yeah. Go ahead, man. Why don't you tell him what is it?

Freckin Cordroy. What we're sitting on. What we're sitting on. It's the title sponsor. So, like, I feel like I would probably say something in the middle of the podcast, but you already know what the deal is. If you're watching the flight cast, you love him corduroy. So we're at this place.

I rented. It was the first time I ever used Airbnb. And I'm like, yo, Nate, do you want to split this? Is $1,600 a night, three nights. We split it. And at the time he was dating. I don't know if I mean, yeah, right? Everybody knows he dated Germany a long time ago.

And I remember getting there and there's a fridge and there's everything. And I'm like, oh, maybe I should go across the street to Target or get some food. And then I started opening the cupboards and then I found some honey. Oh, those nature valleys, a nature valley bar. And I'm like, oh, I'm good. I'm never going to. I get home from this fucking party. Oh, wait.

So during the party, we're taking shots. And I'm just drinking. Everyone's there. People are coming up to me. He's like, yo, man, bow. And these are industry people. I love what you doing, blah, blah, and me and Fis are talking mad shit,

but, like, not about people in a mean way. But we are, but, you know, I mean, I know, I mean, I've seen Fis, Fis has changed his ways, maybe, but he is so fucking hilarious. I literally love hanging out with him because he's, like, the right kind of humor for me. Yeah.

Also, Nateshot. Natch, I don't know if people find him as funny as I do, but he is really, like, in line with, like, what my sense of humor is and when he gets going, I die. I would, so like, whenever I've been researching people

for like around the bar interviews, I, so you're gonna be obviously one of the first like three guests. And so I was like watching all, like a lot of different eaveshops and I watched both Nate shot ones. Dog, you and Nate eventually, I don't know when you guys are gonna have a podcast

together. You think? Yeah. Do you guys? I mean, You guys have like the best chemistry, like on camera chemistry of like, I think anyone. Like, I don't know. It's like maybe it's just like nostalgic for me in a sense. But I think people that like, even if they're like new 100these fans or new optic fans or just e-sports fans in general or just gaming fans like with just watching you guys and like going back. It doesn't matter what you guys are talking about.

You all have really good on camera chemistry. Yeah. So Nate was there. I don't even remember who else was there. I remember also. Never mind. So this whole night is going on, right? And I'm fucking drinking.

I have it up time. There's competitions going on. And then all of a sudden, I blacked out. And I'm like, fuck. And I remember Fouz either Fuis or Natechad walking me to my Uber and saying, good night. And I remember driving away and I'm just like, I was, zun, zun. I walk in. Oh, my God, I should get something to eat.

And I remember walking by a hot dog stand on the way there, you know, street hot dogs. And I was at that fucking. I got some nature of ads. upstairs why the fuck what I like why would I eat my favorite food ever better than pizza better than burgers a hot dog dominates in my in my in my life in my world walk past it I get upstairs and I just remember immediately bough puking into the sink and I'm like fuck I started washing it I'm like let me eat some nature valley let me some nature valley and I'm eating nature valley drinking Sprite, eating Nature Valley

drinking Sprite because it was so dry and I remember thinking to myself, I'm like, I am going to bleed from my gums and the roof of my mouth if I don't put some liquid in this thing. So I started drinking and then I go lay in my bed and I remember laying down and one of the pillows smelled like they had a cat or a dog that pissed on it

and I was like, I go to the, bro, it was the first time that I ever missed because I hit everything minus the toilet. And I was just like, you know what? I'm just going to close this door. and I'm going to pass out. Wake up next morning at around like 10, 10.30,

and I clean it. And those are the only two times in the industry. But we were just talking about World of Beer because you know how New York got canceled so now they're moving the Calduri event to Columbus. I was like, oh shit, World of Beer? Dude. Wait, is it that studio?

No, it's not. It's different. But it's Easton. In East and Columbus, there's a World of Beer that we had the best times at. And I remember talking to him like, Yo, I still had the vlog from when Banks was there getting fucking crazy, and I have it all on video.

And I will never show this to anyone. I'll probably share it with Banks, but I'll never, and Tommy. Yeah. And all of us, right, but I would never make it public, unless he wasn't. I'm kidding. But it was such a fucking wild. That whole- When he was, wait, what was he doing?

Like, why was he going crazy? So this story has been told before by them. So I'll tell it. At some point or another, we all got super fucking blacked out drunk. And I know there's a thing developing here, but I don't I'm not a drinker like I smoke pot and that's it I don't drink anymore. I haven't seen you. I haven't seen you have a drink in like yeah.

And it's not again, it's not that I don't want to. I had shots, like I have drinks, but I don't drink to get fucked up anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm the type of person that that believes in the phrase, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. You ever heard of that? Yeah. In the movie. I feel like that's not a good thing.

No. It's not. say I live by it. Okay. All right. I get you. The other thing is, is like, something that everybody should not, like, I've never done Coke, and that's, to me, that's, like, bad.

So I'm never going to do heroin or I've never done LSD. I've never done drugs. Weed and shrooms is the only thing that I've ever altered my mind with. Yeah. Never done Adderall. I just know that I'd be addicted because it'd be, I'd be a superhuman. I've never done Xanax. Anyway, I've never done that.

So me talking about these things It's just like normal And I'm a person too I was young at some point And I like to fucking part You don't give a fuck You don't have to You don't have to backtrack

Yeah Also I'm fucking 42 I don't give a fuck What you got to 43 I don't give a fuck what you're gonna tell me You understand I don't No, a flycast

The flycast listeners They don't Okay They love the shit Yeah I figured So What were we talking about? The bank story

Oh the bank story So anyway We got fucking super drunk and Banks obviously was this was before Banks became Super Banks You know A celebrity Like bro this guy

Drake was just like I was just talking to Banks on the phone Drake said that Yeah In a sentence as if it was like Normal That the biggest superstar in the world Says yeah I was just on the phone

Banks What the fuck Where do we live? No I don't know Is that not the craziest Like Ascension and no

Banks has to be the best networker of all time the best networking person I've ever met in my entire life but anyway keep going I have great memories of Banks

excellent memories of thanks the only time I've ever been kicked out of an eye hop was because it was thanks so anyway it's set up on the table it's getting crazy the ladies there or the girls there

are starting to put up the women there are starting to put up the stools up on the chairs we're closing this place down and Banks keeps on on like bringing them down so you can sit on him. He's like, hey, you can't do that. We're fucking mopping the floor in that. And then he's like, whatever.

He's like, you know what? You're out of here. They kick him out. So we're left over in the area because we're having finished our pizza. And he gets kicked out. And I have a picture of him looking through the window. It's snowing. And he just looks sad.

Right? He just looks sad as he's looking inside. And I'm like, oh, come on. That's my boy. Don't let him out there. Temper is fucking crying, laughing. And that's the night that that they, that he got out. and then I think Tommy took Banks's shoe off

and threw it in the snow. It's Ohio. So you know it's fucking freezing. Middle of winter. It's snowing. Banks or Banks throws the shoe at temper and the temper grabs it and like fucking throws as far as fuck. So Banks has to walk barefoot to get there.

They get in an Uber and then, you know, they start talking and Banks is loud and blah. And the driver says something smart to Banks and banks talks shit back to him. And when they get out, the driver looks over temper. He's like, He's like, yo, tell your boy that he needs to fucking relax because look, and then the dude pulls out a gun. What?

Yeah. The Uber driver pulls out a fucking gun. Are you serious? And then the temper's like, damn. So they bring him in, they take him out. What? But, man, I think at some point or another, I was thinking about this this morning, actually, and I'm not fucking lying. I thought about, like, one day I'm going to tell my entire story, my entire life story, but it can only go live after I die.

So that I can't get in trouble. Yeah. And that people can remember the fucking legend that I was. because the shit that I've done behind shit and the shit that I've experienced is, man, those memories, you know all of them, but those memories need to be heard, man, because they're so fucking fun.

Dude, this is when I was still working at G-fuel. So I was like, you know, they were flying me to events and I was just like taking pictures and videos and stuff and they're coming back. And one time, randomly, like, obviously, phase that was their, biggest client at one point. So, like, we did something and, and, uh, I got introduced to Banks. And that's like when I, when I met Banks and Tommy. And so Banks was drunk and like, he was just like

pointing at people like, yo, we're going to IHop. And he pointed at me. He was like, we're going, yo, we're going to I hop. He didn't, no way he knew who I was. He was just like, we're going. And I was like, okay. So I ended up at the, I, at an I hop table with all phase members. And nobody there knew who I was. But he pointed to me as, said we're going to iop so i just went and then he was so he was drunk and it would take a while that he stood on top of the table got on top of the iHop table and just started dancing on top of the iHop table and then they what was this 2012 no 20 13 no 2014 this is ghost because yeah um and i think it was that i think it was anaheim no fuck i can't remember where it was but it's the only

time I've ever been kicked out. And, and then, so I went there with a bunch of phase people. And I was just like, not, I wasn't like starstruck because I was like more of like an optic guy, but like, I was, I just knew it was a crazy opportunity. And also you don't say no to banks. So he was just like pointed at me and said, we're going. And I didn't know anyone there. I knew who everyone was, but nobody knew me.

And then we got kicked out and then I just kind of went home. And it was the most random, dude, it's the most random experience I've ever had. Because like there's no way anybody else remembers that. People there probably, I mean, it was just, I just remember thinking like, dude, like, I got to go to Walgreens like on Monday. And like, here I am with all these gamers. And like, they're getting, they're spitting game at girls. And like, you know, they're all rich and famous living the life.

And like, I'm at eye hop with them. Anyway. What'd you order? I don't think I could afford. Oh, no, that's Denny's. I couldn't afford anything. Bro, back then I used to go to, I would go to events. And on Thursday, we would get there on Thursday.

And I would immediately go to a Walgreens or like a CVS. And I would get peanut butter, a jar peanut butter, a jar jelly, and bread. And then I was set for the weekend. I would just eat that. And then, like, I would hang out near drunk people. And some people would be like, yo, hit, you want to drink? And I would grab a drink. And then they would order food.

And they would eat like food. Yeah. Guys, I'm sorry. I'm not on the. flycast this time. I wanted to be unfortunately after the Colorado trip I got sick. But good news is

the flycast is brought to you and sponsored by Corderoy. Don't I look comfortable right now? I'm comfortable right now. I'd get one of these. I'd buy one of these. Like I said, this flycass is brought to you by and we are sponsored by Corderoy's

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Peace. I like stories like that because it... Dude, I did that. Putting yourself... Putting yourself in positions to just hope that something good happens and it happens is like so rewarding. I've experienced it throughout. I'm getting flashbacks of my...

gaming party days like as we're sitting here and I'm like I can't tell that one I can't tell that one I can't tell that one I can't know when I first when I first joined like I feel like that 2013 year had to been crazy for you guys I always I remember because like I didn't start going to events until 2014 and and things had already turned that corner but like those it was 2013 and 2014 was the weird time because you guys we were still you guys you and us were so we're we're we're we were still going to UMG events and UGC events, which are basically glorified locals, but you guys had basically MLG CDL fame. Yeah. So, like, I mean, I think we tell a story all the time of when formal and Aitchot tried to go to the bathroom, and then they had 400 people following them.

I had to stand at the doorway. Yeah. Like that was the era when, like, I came in. So I can't imagine what that was like on the back, on the backside of things where it's like, you just got like a bunch of, what, like 18, 18 to 19 year old dudes that like now are making 100 grand a month. And like, what do you do whenever you get, you have that level of like fame? And it's got to be weird from your point of view because, you know, you were 32 and you had lived, basically you had lived a whole life prior to this. And then that shit happened.

And so, like, the party, I want to know what the party days were like in, like, 2013. Like, like, blackups two days. That's when it was the worst because no, social media hadn't hit the, hit the stratosphere in the way that it is now. And at the time, there was a level of, there's no filming around these here parts unless you can film, but don't film the bad parts. And at the time, it was like hardcore MLG days, which means that Michael Sepso and Sundance legend Di Giovanni were. paying for fucking everyone. And I remember just, I'll always be thankful to those two because they, they, they always guided me on a business sense, like towards the right thing while getting me fucked up.

And not that, but like, I'll tell one more story and I think I've told it before. When we got to Aspen for X games for Halo, I stayed with Sundance, Sepso and Adam my Pacella. And those are men. Those are men's men from the old. Because I've never in my life to this day have seen somebody handle the amount of handles that they drank and still be cohesive enough to have a conversation.

Because and also fuck Fizz. Because we, this is how the night started in Aspen. And I don't want to, I mean, I don't care. I mean, it's a serious podcast. But it's turning into like a story. a party storyline. We were in Aspen. Everything was good.

First time I got there, X-Games, it was me, Lester, Rishi, and Fouez, and then I was staying with Sepso, Mike,

and then they paid for everything. And I didn't have a team there either. They were there for Counterstrike and Halo, I think. Yeah. But the first night that we got there, and it was the first time that I ever, that I understood the concept

of smoking weed legally where no one cared. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because we got to Aspen, and we got to a, club me and rishi were separated from the group somehow and then we we finally got to the spot and rish is like hold on let me see if uh if we can get to the front of the line somehow and yo if if if if you buy a bottle service they'll kick us to the front of the line and I was

fuck yeah dude boom how much bam man here you go and then it's like yo ask him if we can smoke weed in there just because we were smoking and he's like he's like yo can we smoke weed is it hell yeah no one else was a lot to smoke weed only my only my area on the table and we I was saying rishi was smoking I'm just saying that i was smoking really happened to be there And we're smoking, smoke, smoking, and we're like, oh, it's a party, it's a fucking club, we're drinking, I'm fucking chugging, dude, I'm fucking chugging, dude. I look at my, at my, at my Hamilton,

I had a Hamilton watch. Still to this day, still have one of the best, fancy, affordable watches. Like, $800 up is the baseline, but really great pilot watches. I look at it and like this, right? So I'm closing one eye, because you can't use both eyes when you're drunk. So you close it and I'm like, I'm like, 10.30.

I'm like 10.30? I'm like, yo, we got to go. So, like, where are we going to go? I said, I don't know. Let me text fucking someone. They're at this billiards place. So somehow we got transported there. I get, I wake up and I'm a plain pool against

Adam Epicella. And to my, behind me is Sepso, Sunny, Lester, and Rishi, and like other MLG people. I look to the right and FIZ. was a waiter. What the fuck does that mean? Well, he came with a platter like with 18 glasses of whiskey.

Just shots? Shots. And I'm like, what the fuck? It's 12.30? No way. And then he puts it in the middle of the, fuck the game, puts it in the middle of the table. And he's like, drink up.

And he grabs it, fucking, again, grabs it? takes it legendary then he everyone's like nah dude it's 1230 man you don't take shots at 1230 you take them pre 12 no everybody so everybody breaking pop pop pop pop we're like I'm fucking I'm fucking I'm to the raft or some fucked up I'm stoned I'm fast forward is 3 30 a am I'm sitting editing uh a vlog holy shit I used to edit drunk too I'm editing a vlog I'm editing a vlog and to my left standing in the middle of the... I'm sitting at the head of the island

and there's a sink and at the... On my left is... Sepso on my right is Sundance. Sepsul grabs a handle of some vodka pours into a wine glass. Half the wine glass gives it to Sundance and I'm like,

I'm looking up from my laptop. I'm like, I look up to the corner of my laptop I'm like, it's 3.30? No fucking way. No fucking way. Pours me one and I'm like, I'm not fucking drinking that. I'm not drinking.

that so he's like he keeps it for himself they cheers and they chug what the fuck and in that moment i was like they are who they are because they're that they just go they went they went and man i again i don't remember what happened after that but that was a another party story that i had that had to be told it has to be remembered what are they what are they up to now that is well they just sold their their business vindex okay you got announced today it was acquired by ESL, face it. They acquired them. There's a lot of similarities in the business

according to whatever the thing was. And this is not a plug in it. That's weird that you asked me. Did you know that? No, I didn't know that. This morning, I got a text. I was like, oh, this. I was pretty cool.

So they've sold, like, how many businesses now? They sold MLG, and then they raced like 300 mil for Vindex, and then they raced more, and they just sold again. They know what's up. And you know what, man, I'm happy. I will say, I am happy that that, that,

That group who started this thing. Yeah. Is benefiting from that. Because more often than not, the people that build shit don't ever get rewarded. That's nuts. Just from the console side of things like MLG was just so. It's such a staple. Yeah.

MLG, man. It's a shame. It's like heartbreaking, honestly, I like to really think about it. When was the last MLG event? Like, what was the last one? I don't know. It's not, it wouldn't, it would never be possible to bring one back, right? No.

Just for one, one time. I mean, there's... Farewell to MLG. Of course there is. Yeah. We should do that. We should go out of our way to do that. Throw one, throw an MLG event, call it the MLG.

Or just the farewell to MLG. Brought to you by Optic. That would be good. Sponsored by Quarge. Brought to you by Corderox. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, what you say?

Brow to you by... Yeah, presented by Optic Gaming, brought to you by Corder Royce. and Tito's vodka Yeah I don't know Why did we get

What did we get on the topic of Meat my partying days? Because you said something about Puking and then I asked If you had ever told that Atlanta story And then imagine with your left hand When you're a righty

Drunk Lain in a pile of water And puke Holy shit Still have the hand-eye coordination To make a shot that difficult All right before we sat down That you had to

you have to lose like 50 pounds or something like that? So Nate Schott is getting married to a great woman, Haley, hey, super cool. Oh, yeah? Like, always on top of her shit, always goes out of her way to make everybody feel welcome. Good for him. And, you know, like, as a friend of his that, you know, was, you know, took care of and had his back from when he was young to now see. that he's, you know, found his way. And I always knew that this was going to happen with everyone.

Like, I remember living at 60-50 thinking, you know, my imagination, I was thinking, I was thinking, I'm going to be Uncle Hex to some of these people's kids and shit. And, you know, to, so, yeah, he asked, he's got a group of, like, 13 groomsmen. Damn, 13 groomsmen? Yeah, it's only because Haley is, like, she's got. got like she's got a squad a squad of friends that have been friends for a long time i get that i think haley's best friend uh ellie uh is or l i don't know what it is you'll figure it out uh is also marrying shibby okay who's nat shots you know one of natia's bestest friends ever uh they have the golf thing

in common so that you know whatever so he's in it i'm in it uh courage obviously uh other people muddog I don't want to name everyone his brother but also from our side it's Seth and Embos so me Seth and Emboes are in his party

Fizz obviously in his party and I always say that I have to lose problem I don't I can just you know but in So you're trying to lose way for the Not trying the thing The thing about trying is that

I know that If I want so I can just lose weight I'm a skinny dude just happened to not exercise anymore. My legs are as skinniest ever. Look at my wrist. So, like, I'm not afraid. Like, I can lose weight. It's not an issue.

When I had COVID and I didn't eat anything, I lost 16 pounds. Well, yeah. You know, so all I got to do is not get COVID again. Oh. Oh, yeah, I guess that's easier to not do the COVID part. Yeah, yeah, don't do the COVID part. Yeah. So, yeah, I got to lose a couple of pounds.

I'm super intrigued by what you're doing. because I don't have that discipline. I never had. I'm very disciplined with things that I want to do, obviously, right? But fitness and that has never been a thing, and I wish it was. But, no, so you're not eating meat. My dad, bro. My dad had diabetes.

This is crazy. My dad had diabetes, and the doctor says, like, yo, you need to change your thing. But I think that what changed him is... Type two? Type two diabetes. I think so. I don't fucking know. He didn't have insulin.

Did he take insulin? No, he didn't. Okay, okay, type two then, I believe. No, he didn't take insulin, but he had diabetes, as my 23 and me says, you know, he's prone to that. I have 10 relatives, long, long, long, long, distant relatives in the Philippines. I have, I have an aunt, aunt, aunt, aunt, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, aunt, or she's, it doesn't matter, a long, distant relative in Germany. What?

Yeah, my 23 and me tells me where I have DNA, shared DNA with people. Did you get the pass? What do you mean? I don't know. Listen, I'm valid in every, in every country. I don't know what the German does. So my dad, I don't know what my dad, I think my dad had something wrong with this, with the spine. But he's, my dad's a soccer player growing up.

So he's a very, you know, he's got good bones. Yeah, the best way I can say it. You know, in his later years, something happened with his back to where he had to get a bone marrow transplant. One of his discs had to be replaced. Okay. I don't know if I didn't ask. I'm a man. I don't ask questions, right?

I don't give a fight. Not of my business. All right. Okay. They put somebody else's bone marrow in the, on the inside of the donut, which is the replacement of the disc. And he said that since then, he has, he felt a difference in his DNA. It changed them. where before he didn't give a shit about anything.

He was like me, a very, like, everything's going to work out kind of guy. And he just told me this, like, last month, to now he's like, I worry about fucking everything. I'm anxious about everything. I'm always thinking, anytime I see you on the news, I'm like, oh, my God, they're going to take an optic away from him or something like that. He said those words to me. And I was like, I'm like, Pop, your son is a son of a bitch. Well, no, no, no, I didn't say that.

No, no, let me rephrase that. I'm like, Dad, your son is a prick. Your son is a proper prick Ain't nobody gonna take advantage of him Yeah Ever again And he's like I worry now

He's my mom's like He is a clean freak now He doesn't like wrinkles He's like it changed Like his The bone marrow from whoever else Or the bone that they ground up to be In this marrow

Changed his DNA in some way Shape or form Yeah Because his he thinks about things way different. One of the things that changed for him was his ability to not, to be okay with not eating meat ever, no animal products.

What is that called? No milk, no cheese. Vegan. Yeah, vegan. So he's been vegan for two years. Best shape of his life. And for the life of me, I don't understand how he can live life without eating protein or meat. No dairy. No dairy, no protein. No dairy, no protein. No dairy. No nothing. Or no dairy no meat. Almond milk.

No cheese. What the? And I brought, I once brought these tacos that were fucking delicious. I'm my mom, you've got to eat these. And he's like, he's like, damn, those look good. He's like, I think I'm going to eat one. And he never ate it. He hasn't eaten meat, period.

He said he had like a broth from something. He just got sick to his stomach. And he's just like, really. Yeah, apparently it gets to that point. Yeah. Or like, that's what I've heard that about people who give up soda. I gave up soda for a year in 2020. But I, but like January 1st, 2021, I drank a soda.

And I was like, damn, that shit was good. So spiky. Like, I wonder how long it has to be, because I hear vegan say that, too. Like, people that have been vegan, they're just like, yeah, after three years. Like, you don't even want to touch meat. Yeah. And I was like, uh, okay. I can't wait for that because I see dog the bird.

I still, I still think about the burger you ate on the fucking pre-show. I still think about it or the, or the, what was it? The tator times. Bro, I was crazy. The thing about that, the other man, is like, and I talk, I was like, if you know, let's say that your expert, my expiration date is 93. 93 years old. If you continue to eat me for the rest of your life, 93 is your expression today. But if you start exercising and eating healthy, not eating bad food no more, delicious, bad food, no more, you live to be 95.

I'd be like, I'll give you 90, well, I'll give you. yeah like I'm not I'd rather live a happy life and I love I don't yeah yeah you're saying and I don't know why I love food so much uh we have a we have a new show for nation that's coming out called idiots I can't wait for that um it's essentially going to be me and two of my closest friends graffiti writers omens and revise um revise is also known as chef Juan Yup Kim one Yup Kim he's been on uh on a bunch of cooking shows like cut-throat kitchen like he's won a couple of episodes

or a couple of the content anyway he's a fucking certified chef has a restaurant called kimski in chicago he's coming along and we're we're doing like this this uh this trip yeah um why what were we talking about i got distracted food oh food and in eating yeah yeah uh and one of the episodes is going to be my mom's food oh yeah so we have an el paso episode We have Houston. It's a Texas.

The first volume one is going to be Texas. And one of the episodes is going to be my mom's food. That's dope. And my mom's food through my grandma on her side, if you've never had it, I don't think, right? I've heard stories. But, you know, Oman's, who is a very picky, sometimes out of control, annoying, picky eater,

talk shit about everything. thing like he said that that is if not the best if not the or one of the best if not the best if not the best food he's ever had in his life and it's just one dish um it's like real mexican soul food and i would rather eat that than anything else any day of the week yeah and because of my upbringing and because of that food i think that i just became such of like food is one of the most important things in my life man i I just love eating and I am happy and glad

that I'm not fatter than I am because the way that I eat sometimes surprises me. I can put shit down. So we're doing this show. We start in El Paso. We go to San Antonio, at San Antonio, Houston, Houston, Austin, Dallas. And then in Dallas we're going to have a dinner prepared by chef Juan Yup Kim

at Seth's house for all of us. And he's a creative genius obviously because he's a great graffiti artist he's a DJ creative creative as fuck dude and he's translated his creativity in art and music into food which is what separated him from

other chefs so he's going to take all of his learnings from all of the food that we've eaten and he's going to prepare a meal for all of us to enjoy as the last episode of that and hopefully the way that is it's

for optic nation gold members they get to see the entire series right away or half the series right away. And then I'll upload it to my YouTube channel a couple of a couple of weeks or a week later after that. But I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah. I'm excited about that.

You got, uh, Austin Cox is following you guys around. Yeah. Austin Cox is one of our, uh, filmographers. Uh, but I, we, we, we decided on the, on the theme song for it. It's going to be so good. I'm hype. It does, it does sound very. Very Tony Hawkes.

Eat idiots. Idiots. Hopefully that shit kicks off. Because if you guys do just Texas for volume one, then what do you guys go to do next, California? Imagine a Kelly one? So there's Cali. They're from Chicago.

I'm from the suburbs of but they're from Chicago. Oh, okay. So going to Chicago, yeah. So I think no matter what, I'm going to, if we got a sponsor, it'll make it easier for us to decide where we're going next. But as we were sitting there, we're like, man, let's go to Japan. We'll do Tokyo.

Oh, another element of this thing is that in every city that we stop, we're going to paint a wall. So there's a graffiti element involved to that. Which is cool because up until January, it's been decades since I painted a wall. It's going to be illegal wall. It's not going to be illegal. So don't give us too much props.

But it's going to be fun. It's got to be illegal to get props. Yeah, that's what graffiti is. One question that I had for you because it's a big thing going around right now um disguised toast has his own valerent team a big creator got his own yeah purchase his own valerate team by himself uh moist critical in ludwig now own co-own a esports org do you think this whole like i mean like what i guess what you and nade like kind of envisioned or just like creators owning esports orgs and like seeing that part of it do you think you

that's going to become more common? I think it should have been like that from the beginning. I think from the start, I think, and obviously what I did, I know that I talk a lot about myself, but just because I do that, it doesn't mean that anyone should take any credit from the shit that I did. And I understand that I talk a lot of shit about myself, and I love me a little bit of me, and I do it mostly for comedic purposes, but also there's a level of truth in there.

But I think that the way that we did things, the way that Nasha, when he left, started his own organ, and the peril and then his own org should have been the same the same thing when when paris legion became a thing i was so surprised and in disbelief that that that ownership group didn't go to gotaga and say hey we'll make you a co-owner of this thing and that would have been so successful that would have been so they would have been one of the most valuable teams out there gotaga is like one of the biggest personalities in in france uh london hello there's sidemen there's seven guys out They're the way the fuck they're doing.

Hello. But meaningful equity, right? Not here's two and a half that after dilution and after investments and all that. And they would have been thriving business. So yeah, I think I think that they more than ever are going to have the ability to do that. But there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that because you sort of at that point have to constantly promote and water that brand. And I don't know, and I didn't know about disguised toast. I knew about Moist Critical about, you know, owning a team.

But, and I'm sure they're going to find their own way and their own groove to do things. But the level of selflessness that it takes to run a team fucking sucks, especially when you're a creator. Because when you, as a creator, have a bigger following than your teammates, it's really hard for you to swallow your pride and say, I'm way bigger than you. You're fucking welcome for being here. Just play and everybody is going to benefit from this thing. And I don't know if, I hope, I don't know, I mean, I don't know these people, right? I heard good things and I obviously seen in respect what they built for themselves.

In whichever industry they're in or whatever games they came up in. You know, their names are being brought up by you on this podcast. Yeah, yeah. So obviously they did something. right and I'm not saying that this whatever so yeah I think I think it should have been that way from the from the beginning man I think that

if you take that approach because look at Optic right optic was massive when we picked up Nashot we had 300,000 subscribers in those days when we picked up Natchat and Merck and Big Timer in Rambo

so you know the amount of effort that it takes to constantly promote them to make sure that they are big to make sure that they, that your investment is going to be worth it. Sometimes people see that as like, man, I don't know if I wanna get them bigger because the bigger they get,

the more I'm gonna have to pay them. And you're constantly doing everything that benefits them more than you, but at the same time, the org benefits from that. And every single time like we got there, and some of the reasons why I always made sure that I went above and beyond contract, contract laws when I was able to, is that at some point or another, agents are going to be involved.

And that is the, that's, in my opinion, I don't like to do business that way. I like to do business face to face, right? And I know that sometimes people, some people have taken advantage of people. But if you're, if you're thinking long term, there's no need for you to cut corners or try to scam someone out of a salary or out of something. From the beginning of time, every single sponsor, all the way through fucking scuff house, 80% of the majority of the sponsorship money went to pay people, whether it was by paying for the house and the fucking utilities, which every fucking creator forgets that that shit costs money because if orgs don't put them up,

they're going to have to spend the $4,000 on their fucking apartment or whatever and their utilities, right? So people always dismiss the rent as not payment. Anyway, long story short, I hope so, man. I hope that more people get involved because, you know, billionaire sports owners as much as, as smart as they are and as much as we have to learn from them or have the ability to learn from them, sometimes they don't understand the culture. And it's better when somebody endemic is the one that puts their best foot forward to build something. I want your opinion on like what I, what I like my opinion on. It's like the reason that like, you know, you see. a bunch of turmoil happening in traditional

esports is because a lot of these traditional esports organizations are backed by people that are specialized in sports. And in sports, I think the number one, I believe it's the number one source of income is ticket sales and almost

all of the big names that are being concessions once you get the ticket sales. Right. It's something that revolves around ticket sales. Ticket sales and then concessions and then sponsorship sponsorship postings within your own arena and then you know you got if you're at a Rangers game and it says

actually if you're at an ECU football game and it says Pepsi on the side of the cups they paid for you know like everything is in venue stuff and then you come to e-sports who has bigger just as many eyeballs really as some of these like lower sports teams but we don't

have that ability to have ticket sales and so now our number one source of income is sponsorships or you know merch or AdSense or different different like there's other sales

digital sales is is the the ultimate ability for an organization especially if you're involved in a league right now the issue with call of duty and overwatch is the fact that they give you skins but you don't get that value truly yeah right it's it's uh I mean

anybody who has a creator code for for call of duty tell me how much the most you've ever made think about that right and then think about the fact that bacon camo on one day sold four million dollars worth right or the fact that nowadays it's more than that

call a duty league would be better off if they just gave us three drops or four I'm sorry a quarterly drop that will split 50-50 between the CDL and the teams okay yeah I would argue though

that it should be individual teams because there are teams out there that are not putting the amount of resources and effort into growing that team. Right? And I'm not calling anybody out. I completely understand and I'll never talk shit about anyone's business

the way that I just, I hate doing that because I hate it if people did that to me. But, you know, the amount of effort that we put into this thing, like it shows in the lack of effort because of whatever reason that other people, so it would have to go individually per thing. But, you know,

maybe one of the drops goes to the pool of the entire 12 teams. Yeah. But it would be a very easy way to right size and be on the right path of the CDL if they said you get 50% of the amount of your skin sales. Yeah. And you get your own store and you can, whatever designs you want, whatever, whatever charm, whatever sticker, whatever camo, four times a year, like people would have. have a decent business in their hands.

The fact that as partners, and I'm doing that quotation mark because I fucking mean it, we're not partners with the league. We... To not the people that work at the league's fault. No, no, no. It's not their fault. It's higher up than that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's Activision, and then there is mobile, whatever the mobile, whether it's Candy Crush and all that stuff that Activision owns, then there's the retro games. from Activision, Atari and all that shit. And then there is Activision Blizzard Studios, which is like their movie shit.

And then there's Activision CDL. Then there's Activision Overwatch League. And then there's Activision of, you name it. Somewhere along the line from Activision mothership to this tiny little entity of things. Cod League. Like something, there's a disconnect there. Right. And having the honor to be able to pay tens of millions of dollars to promote their game with almost nothing in return.

It's a slap in the face. Yeah. And I'm used to it. I've been here since Call of Duty too, which is why I take it personally. It is more my game than it is their game. Right. And the second that somebody in 2013 told me that Optic was only big because of that

and I went out of my way to do Minecraft, I went out of my way to be a lifestyle to prove that Optic was Optic because Optic and the people in it, that's why I'm upset. And the worst part about that is you don't get the satisfaction to prove that person wrong because they just know. Like they don't care. They just said it because they thought that

and then if you say, well, we did that, Well, they'd be like, oh, well, that's just because Minecraft's the biggest game. Or, ah, that's just because people like to smoke weeds. Of course, he's going to own his own marijuana company. It's just like, everything is just, like, dismissive. Yeah. But what I mean, what I originally wanted to ask, I don't want to bring up the whole, like. Thank you.

The, what? We're not bringing up the things. I don't want to go to tangent. It boils my blood. Yeah. Yeah. What was the reason? I didn't want to bring up the whole, like, the whole call of duty thing.

I was mostly just talking about e-sports in general. Because a lot of there's a, I think there's a misconception between the fan base, the fan basis of all these e-sports orgs, or esports in general, and then the not understanding why these big decisions are happening in e-sports. Why, you know, TSM is taking on these these huge risks with, you know, crypto companies that don't work out or. What was the risk there, in your opinion? I don't know, depending depending on how they use that money. hired a bunch of people than they weren't have couldn't afford to keep them on board then you got to fire bunch of people yeah well sure that but anybody that that says that laughs at TSM for FTX plunging doesn't understand business and how

fucking awesome that must have been for Reggie and team because think about this somebody comes in and says I'm gonna give you two hundred ten million dollars over the next ten years that means that for two years or three years however long that they collected $21 million that year. And then guess what? They get to go back to be just TSM, not TSM, FTX TSM. Like the mixer deal, but. Yeah, I mean, for that org, listen, I'm not dismissing the amount of people that got fucked in this thing.

Yeah. But for people to make fun of a company for making $21 million a year on one fucking sponsorship, like, what the fuck are you laughing at? Yeah, I was just, I was more talking. I would have taken that deal any day of a day. I'll take the deal right now. well instead of like not that particular one but just like you people see what happen with like with with TSM and they see what happened with the guard and they see like different different you know e-sports orgs infinite yeah infinite might be the best example the thing is

this why are e-sports orgs not being why are why is it does it seem like they're not making money and not being sustainable. What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, we're that, we can't just, we can't just pick up, who's big that's independent. XQC. We can't pick up XQC. Because he may not be their cup of tea. And he's not going to come in and blow us up even more.

Because that's not sustainable either. Yeah. People, and again, I don't want to talk about anyone's business model, but for Optic, we can't do that. Because this is a show of real people trying to build something. and the characters within this office have to be the same. By the end of the office, when Michael stepped away, it changed. I didn't watch beyond that because I wanted the office to have Dwight.

Even though they brought in some of the biggest names ever. Who? They brought in Jim Carrey. They brought in... No. Yes. Jim Carrey was in the office? Yes.

After Michael left. To further prove my point. brought in fucking what's the Will Ferrell for six episodes I love Will Ferrell yeah one of my favorites and I still didn't watch I don't know this yeah they brought in some of the biggest

actors and actresses to try to fill that role but like just because they're big and better doesn't mean that they put the amount of love that Steve Carell did into the office I get where you're saying it's a good analogy so when people not so when people

three to four years ago when talking shit about maniac and talk shit about embos those same people people that would have talked shit about them would have been just as mad if we replaced them with people that they did this as much as is reality and we're living this like this is a real thing like we have struggles whether interpersonal or business like this is a real thing that's happened this a reality show yeah so for me to say man forget them let's do what's best for here it's like doesn't work for me because that them is what's best for for optic they are the ones that are going to

tell their friends to watch. They're the ones that are going to be like, yo, you see what happened at this? I don't know what optic is. They're the ones that are going to grow and continue to, the Greenwall continue to expand organically. For me to bring in an XQ, not that I could or, or, out of our league.

But the good thing is that we're not searching for that. Right. In my opinion. I mean, obviously. No, I completely agree. Because optic is optic because it was optic. Optic is not optic because we were out there. Like, we'll collab with anyone.

We'll make videos with anyone. There doesn't have to be any monetary incentive. It's like when we collab with Castro, like there's never any talk about money with him. You know, like every single time that we've collaborated with him, so he's like, yo, you want to make a video? Yeah. All right.

And then he comes in, we make a video. Fucking fans love it. Their fans, his fans love it. And that's it. Right. I believe in keeping the people who care about your team in the team because there's more to them than just a paycheck, man. There's a level of camaraderie that happens.

There's some gang shit here at Optic. You know what I mean? And some people, maybe because of the era that they grew up in and they weren't lucky like me to grow up in the 90s where the coolest of everything happened and bringing that into the soul of what this thing is is just different, man. And I just, I'd rather help grow somebody within Optic

than to pick up somebody that's already big. It's just, there are going to be instances in which an opportunity presents itself. sense of self. But even in those opportunities that you're talking about, like if we pick up, which we have before, when we picked up Pommage,

it's not like Pumage was just a sniper. He was the guy. He was getting, on his montage, he's getting 800,000 views of it. And so like, we pick up Pam, but we pick up Pam because

he loved what we were doing. No, and he was an optic before. And he wasn't, but he was in optic, but he wasn't in optic. He was in sniper, yeah, yeah. He was in sniper team optic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so much different. It's just like, I mean, you don't see that in very many instances.

And what you do see in some of these teams that are, you know, constantly recycling their creators or recycling their staff is just because, like, just because somebody has a big following, does it mean? that the fans and inevitably the sponsorship that you're banking on is going to see right through that. Like they're going to see, they're going to understand that it's not an actual team. There is proven instances to this, as of today,

there's proven instances in which orgs have picked up megastars and it has done nothing for the brand. Right? And my number one thing, we're talking to any influencer that has interest in Optic is are you interested in joining optic. Why? And then we can talk about the money. But I am never going to pay somebody cash to be a part of this thing. What the fuck? You'll get paid for the work that you do. You'll get paid what you're

supposed to get paid. Right. I am king fair to a fault. To a fault. And it's got me into situations with people, but I am fair. You get this many viewerships. This is what you're going to get paid. You put in this many hours a week. This is how much you're going to get paid. This This is not, Optic is not a place where you're going to go and just get a paycheck. And, like, if, I cannot, I cannot do that. And I'm not talking about any of our recent people at all, right? I'm not, I'm not talking about Bobby Poff who just left. I'm not, I'm just saying that because of people are going to say that.

Yeah, yeah. And I have to make it clear. There was, there was a situation recently where I think tactical rab was talking about, I made a comment and he said it had to have been crimsix or oh okay I know what it is I said that somebody hit me up after they retired to join Optic

and then I said I'm like what the fuck is like no you can't because you and your girl were talking shit about the green wall and there are there's like a hundred people that it could be and I'll never say who it was but it was not crimpsix so I'm clearing it over right now it was not Bobby Pop Bobby Pop and us just couldn't come to an agreement

yeah he's also in North Carolina if Bobby Puff was here in Texas he would he'd still be here. I have nothing but great things to say about Bobby. I wish he was still here. Yeah. Okay. But Optic is not a place where you just come and get a paycheck.

Like if you're looking for an org paycheck, it ain't here. Optic, as I said, and it'll always be, and as corny as it may sound to some people, I believe that we are a family. I believe it. There's nothing that I wouldn't do for any of you. And vice versa. Yeah, no So that's why I get

And I'm not talking about any fucking ory Yeah, yeah But you can see it It's not beneficial You can see it And and I think I don't know I know we should probably wrap this up

But You know It just seems like that's the biggest I think I think a lot of people Were shocked With the guard With the guard situation

And I was Surprised of how it happened But I wasn't shocked and I was actually more surprised and I feel for everyone that was involved in the situation I'm not talking about those people I'm talking about the public and seeing what's been going on

it's like I wasn't too shocked because in order because of how fast e-sports has grown and the inflated salaries that esports players have it's I think the creator route the creator-owned team route

is going to be way more popular in the future if if done right if done right because there is a level of selfishness you're going to have to have there's some fucking many many

instances in which you're going to have to swallow your ego I'm sure I'd love to talk to Nate about that I'm sure that was a transition for Nate because he was one of the biggest creators of all time all time and now you got now you got disguised toast who was getting a 1.7 a video in the Among Us days.

1.7 mil a video. And then Ludwig and obviously Moist Critical, two of the most massive, you know, influencers now. So it's inevitable that that's going to happen with them too. Depending on how far they, I don't know, I don't know how far they want to go with it.

But also, like, you can't have an e-sports team and then like half-ass it. Like, for content. You've got to like do it. Yeah, you can't. You can. I guess you can. But if you're a creator that is going to have your own team, it can't be done as the same way a billionaire would buy a sports team because of, because, you know, it's like I own a sports team. Yeah.

You can't. It's like for me, optic is everything, right? Everything. And I learned my lessons and they hurt. I lost, I lost friends. I lost a little bit of my spotless fucking business reputation and making sure that my partners. Like I The way that I felt back then

Is that and this is the worst place to be You can never get between me an optic Because at that point I just no holds bar I'm gonna do whatever it takes Every single fucking step of the way And I as much as I like to call myself A good businessman I'm not

Because a good businessman We put money first in front of everything And do everything I go out of my way to be fair And that is not what a businessman And a businessman is fucking frugal And doesn't give a shit shit.

And in those times, I think Jay and I would have been, and it's my fault, right, because I let go of the wheel and I let go, I didn't want board seats, I didn't want to have anything to do with management. I wanted to be a creator. And that was my mistake. And because of that selfishness, I lost a friend. Chris Cheney and I would have been great partners. He would have done great.

But at some point, it got in the way of me in Optic. and things happened Ari Siegel from Immortals he and I have maybe talked in total an hour, two hours maybe tops he and I would have been great business smart, that dude's fucking mega smart he's a good businessman. We would have been a great

partners but he came in a time in which people were in between me and optic so we never got a chance. Andy Miller and I, Andy Miller, one of the fucking best people I've ever met. But it was at the time in which I was getting Optic back. And, you know, certain things got in the way of that, of us continuing to work together. And that is what it is. And, you know, right now, everything's good here. And I hope that it continues to be because I, I don't think that

I've, I've had this much fun doing what the things that we're doing. And people need to understand that optic for me is a lifelong thing and if investors and investors in optic if this is just an investment to them then they're temporary and i'm going to do my best to make sure that they're taking care of from from their investment standpoint but i'm here for optic is a thing that my my coffin is going to have an optic logo on it yeah you know it's easy to understand me because i say what i mean and i do what i say i'm going to fucking do including protecting optic at all costs, no matter the cost, no matter the risk. So your advice to all mega

creators out there that I'm getting into these books. Get your team tattooed on you. No, I'm serious. Get your team tattooed on you because that is the first step that, in my opinion, that is the first step to truly believing in this fucking thing. Because if you put it on your body, and I'm not saying, you know, if you don't believe in tattoos, what is this? This is hypothetical. Yeah, this is hypothetical.

medical. When you decide that this thing is a lifelong thing for you, it's going to make every decision that you make easy, no matter how hard the decision is. All right. Well, that's been episode 942 of the Flycast. Nick couldn't make it

because he was pukin, but... He wasn't. We were sick with it. He was sick, we were sick with it. I'll see you next time. Play that fucking outro music. That's the first time I've ever said it. Usually Nick says it. But... Hit him with the music. Bitch.

Hit him with the music.