Originally Posted by Ripper

Well said Jace Hall! I tell people all the time, when the TG conversation comes up, that TG is in really good hands!

As I read this blog I really can tell you have done your homework. When you mention all the past referees and how they had to spend countless hours verifying scores for FREE, it's like you were actually there and went through it yourself. Yes, we did things like that for many different reasons from just wanting to see TG thrive to wanting to be the verifying referee to accept a WR on Donkey Kong or Pac-Man to just doing it for the love of the games! After time it also became my 2nd full time job. I would sometimes come home to see 4 new arcade replays sitting on my coffee table, meaning I needed to get them done ASAP because I could see the same amount the next day and possibly fall behind. Working a full time job, raising two kids, finding time to do homework with my kids AND having a good relationship with my wife was also in the equation. So what I'm getting at is some negativity sometimes came my way because people wanted to know why their score wasn't added sooner than a few days or even a week. People also submitted MAME scores by the hundreds and it would fall behind in a matter of just days. Variations needed to be corrected as they were discovered to be incorrect (dip settings) or corrected as a gamer would mention a certain cheat that could be used in a game. New variations were also added when I could find the time. And dealing with some negative comments here and there were hard to handle because I was working so hard to do all the right things and sometimes I simply felt it wasn't appreciated enough.

So I can truly relate to what your saying Jace! And in summing this all up... if I could go back in time, would I do this all over again? Absolutely, 100% YES!

If i never thanked you for a great job in handling the occasional console submission of mine that added to your workload, I'm doing so now! I never had anything but the best of experiences dealing with yourself, Robert, Mike M, Tom, and other referees.

gavv

I've been involved with TG is some form or other for over 31 years. It will always hold a special place in my life. I'm one of the people you talk about. Actually all of us are in one form or another. I've been on both sides of the fence. I've dealt with the good and the bad...I've been the good, and I've been the bad. We are all human. I realized at some point nothing I did or said mattered. No matter what it was, it didn't help. The good was always overlooked, and the bad blown out of proportion.

Anything I ever did or said, was from my heart with the best of intentions...Emotions can kick your ass sometimes... especially mine. I never did or said anything because I didn't care, it was the exact opposite, I cared far more than most. Growing up with TG as my local arcade, and seeing Walter daily... you can't help but to feel some sort of ownership... or community pride. I'm from Ottumwa. TG is from Ottumwa. It was OURS, before you ever heard of it... type of feelings...

I read every word of your post. I *hope* it's 100% sincere. For me, this isn't a second chance for TG... this is the LAST chance. I can't/won't go thru what the last 5-10 years has been again. The good was great, no doubt about it. The bad? Has me to the point where I almost completely stopped playing games and got away from ALL of it. That's extremely sad to me. I've made a lot of friends over the years. I hope to make more... but the bad... just was killing it.

Actions speak louder than words. You typed out a TON of words. I read them all. I liked what I read. Now I'll see if they are real and mean what they say.

Regardless of how this all turns out, I do believe you have the best of interests in mind for all of us. I sincerely wish you nothing but the best.

Tim McVey