Team Pandemic - News - Happy Holidays from Team Pandemic

The family's gathered, the turkey's on the table, and Tony Romo's leading his team to victory. And though it's hard to believe 2008 is winding to a close, the best of the holidays are upon us.

Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to look back and be gracious for all the good things in our lives and all the blessings we've received. Pandemic, not too unlike any other 'family', has its share to be thankful for as well. Here are some of our favorites:

Our Fans:
Thank you always for your support no matter how big or small. There is nothing better than being at an event and seeing someone out in the crowd wearing a Pandemic t-shirt, strangers visiting with our players or asking for autographs, or even just hearing the roar of an excited crowd happy to be part of an esports competition. You guys make everything we do so much more rewarding.

I'm not sure why anyone would want my autograph, but this kid and his mom made my day!

Our Players and Staff:
I think it goes without saying that one of the main reasons we're so successful in this space is because we've surrounded ourselves with some exceptional individuals.

Our players are not only atop their respective game(s) in terms of skill, they're also great representatives of our brand and our sponsors. They are all quality people who I'm proud to call friends, and on a number of occasions, they've stuck their own necks out for me in return. They're incredibly unselfish, they all work hard, and they all deserve everything they can get their hands on.

Joe "Noktyn" Romano's family out in full force at ESL Philly

Our staff, likewise, is just as talented. Sam Lingle works day in and day out to stay on top of all the team's activities and keep the site updated with the latest news. Even though our web traffic is relatively small in the grand scheme of things, he and his assistants put in a major effort to bring you the same quality of coverage as a mainstream athletic department or professional sports organization would their own teams. Ted Ottey keeps us up on all the happenings in the CoD world and I don't think has ever missed a deadline, Steve Schroeder and Jacob Bohnert keep us up and running in the art and coding realms, respectively, and most recently David Cho has been churning out a weekly 'clip of the week' for us and the CGL. A heaping helping of thanks to all of them.

The Leagues We Play In:
The Electronic Sports League (ESL), Major League Gaming (MLG), Cyberevolution (CEVO), the World Cyber Games (WCG), and more...thank you for giving us a quality place to play, some online and some live, and for enabling us to compete at the highest levels on a regular basis. We know how fickle leagues can be, but these in particular have been nothing short of fantastic -- we expect to see them around, and will proudly support them, for years to come.

Leagues are incredibly important, not only for the prize money and media exposure that make it possible for us to succeed as a business, but for the 'esport' spirit itself. And an extension of the leagues, in most cases....

The Travel:
We are so often given the opportunity to see the world doing what we love most. I'd venture to say this alone makes the 'job' worthwhile, and is the single-most valuable memory we'll all take from our experiences in esports and in Pandemic.

CoD4 earned a major title during their month-long European tour

Thank you to the leagues who invite us to worldwide events, to the players who earn their way, and last but certainly not least, to the many individuals responsible for helping us get there....

The Sponsors:
DellUniversity, Razer, and Plantronics in particular -- without their support we could literally not exist.

They make it possible for us to secure the players and staff that build our brand. Without their funding, we could never afford to travel to these wonderful events, gain the exposure that we're built upon, or compete for the championships that set us apart. Without their products, our gamers would be at an immediate disadvantage. If you truly want to support Pandemic, then please join us in supporting our sponsors.