Alright all you cold warriors, let’s talk about this weekend’s shenanigans.
It’s no surprise that Activision and the Call of Duty League have been under fire since their new franchise league’s inauguration. Some of that fire has just been whining from lil bitches that just never will be happy about anything in their lives ever, but a lot of it has been legitimate complaints about things that even your local community soccer clubs wouldn’t approve.
Except, this is esports. So instead of a bunch of soccer mommies and daddies screaming at the coaches and refs who just want to get their check and go buy a case of Keystone Light, we just snort another line of GFUE-…I mean Mtn Dew Game Fuel and scream at the air on Twitter.
And in case you missed all the drama from last season, allow me to recap:
Trust me guys, that is a FRACTION of the stuff I have seen throughout the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League. Weapon balancing patches released with no notice the day before an event (including right before Champs), game-breaking exploits going unpatched for multiple events, numerous connection issues due to the move to online, referees that are playing other games when they’re supposed to be officiating a match, etc.
And just because we’re in the off-season doesn’t mean those issues have ended. In fact, they seem to have gotten worse. The league decided to reduce the player count from 5 to 4 (a good change) but also refused to expand this season meaning that at least one pro from each team this year was going to be dropped down to Challengers. I mean, for some of these guys that haven’t become esuperstars yet that is going to be a financial nightmare. Some may even have to get a job to make ends meet while they compete.
Pause.
If you just read that last sentence and thought something along the lines of “good maybe they’ll learn something about the real world” or “oh man must suck to have to get a JOB like every other human on the planet”, leave now. This blog is not for you. Let me know how the ride home from your miserable job in your miserable 2008 Honda Civic to your miserable house with your miserable wife and children is, you fucking boomer. Kids have dreams (remember those) and they just had them cut right out from under their feet. Don’t be a cunt.
End pause.
And even more suprising to me was what Scump shared on Twitter yesterday:
Listen, I only know two things in this life. Number 1: never tell your friends you tongue-punched a girl’s fartbox at Chi O formal. You’ll never hear the end of it. Number 2: YOU DON’T PISS OFF THE KING, YOUR #1 MARKETING TOOL, THE #1 MOST FOLLOWED CALL OF DUTY PRO OF ALL TIME.
Even if this didn’t happen to Scump, this is absolutely ridiculous. I thought that when Censor talked about his issues this summer. Why in the world does it matter if you have sponsorships outside the league’s sponsors? Why in the absolute fuck should Activision give two flying shits about Seth playing Raid Shadow Legends for a few hours on his own personal stream? RAID SHADOW LEGENDS? What’s he gonna do, quit CoD to become a full-time Raid pro? Get the fuck outta here.
And making all the pros sign a contract without giving them time to review it with their lawyers? That’s fucking unethical. Ever heard of business ethics? Clearly not. You all looking like that guy from Billy Madison right about now…
But this right here, this is the last thing anyone that runs any type of business (sports or otherwise) wants to see: the formation of a union.
Now some of you guys have only ever heard of unions from movies and when your dad comes home complaining about how his miserable job is making his miserable life more miserable. And believe me, I’m not a huge fan of them either. My first job as an engineer was in a union plant and I ended up mopping 3 intentionally overflowed toilets filled with human shit off the floor at 2 AM during a strike. That is a true story, not a joke.
Unions are shitloads of fun. (That was a joke in case there are still some stubborn boomers still reading out of spite 🙂
But when used correctly, they’re actually supposed to be a good thing. In its most simple form, a union is a 3rd party that represents the employee helps negotiate fair working conditions with the employer. And in virtually every sport on the planet, there is always a players union that gives the players a voice. Without a union, the owners and league management can basically do whatever they want and if a player doesn’t like it, tough. Go pound sand.
But when all the players are unified and choose to go on strike if they aren’t heard? Yea, that’s a statement. And that’s what might be happening with the 2021 CDL season. With players just now getting together and forming a players union so close to the start of the new season (January-February), this shit is about to get dicey.
What do owners like Hecz, Hastro, and Nadeshot think of this? What if the league shrugs off the union and tries to fill its rosters with players from challengers? That would be the most moronic decision of all time considering that no one will watch those games, but from what I’ve seen the CDL management doesn’t seem to understand that…yet. What if the negotiations break down? What if the entire season is chalked and canceled?
There’s a lot that is going to happen in the next few months as we sprint toward the start of a new CDL season. I’ll keep you up-to-date on all the events as they happen. You can follow me on Twitter here to get it faster, or just stay tuned on PartyChat.org for all the updates.
Also, my review is of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is coming out this week. Stay tuned.
