Spring Break
The Daily OrangeStudent wins trip to San Antonio for Xbox skills
By Pete Freedman
Posted: 4/5/04, 1:22 AM EST Section: Feature
"I tooled on him," Burgos said. "It was great. It was nuts."
Again, the win earned more than pride for Burgos. Along with the championship, Burgos won $1,000 in cash, $2,500 in scholarships, tickets to tonight's NCAA Championship game and a meeting with Jay Williams, a former Duke star and current point guard for the Chicago Bulls.
"I got to play against (Williams), and we became real cool together," Burgos said. "We were joking around and everything. It was great."
Not bad for someone who had never played the game on Xbox before entering himself in the tournament.
"I wasn't really surprised," Reid said. "This is his thing. This is what he does. He just went to work and entered, and now he's in San Antonio a national champ. This kid is getting a scholarship for playing video games? Come on."
"I play video games as much as I can," Burgos said. "My friends will tell you I play nothing but video games all the time, but it's not like I practice the game all the time. Am I surprised that I won? Yes. I was surprised because I wasn't expecting to be the best in the nation."
Burgos' parents, however, weren't shocked at his success.
"He's been playing video games for a very long time," Burgos' mother, Carol, said. "He's accomplished a lot with his little fun."
"He practices a lot," said Burgos' father, Fred. "As long as he keeps the grades up, how can we complain?"
And Burgos hopes to accomplish more. He hopes to use his film major to venture into the screen writing and directing of video games.
"I used to tell him to knock it off," his father said. "And he basically showed me all of the things relative to playing video games, like hand-eye coordination and how much money was being put into the industry. He wants to make a career out of it. And I don't think he knows how good he is with this sort of thing."
Though proud of their son's victory, Burgos' parents were happiest to hear of the scholarship prize involved with the winnings - especially since Burgos had decided to keep that information from his parents so he could surprise them with it if he won.
"Literally, my mom freaked out on the phone," Burgos said. "She was screaming in the earpiece."
"I was ecstatic," his father said. "It's the ultimate boo-yah."
Again, the win earned more than pride for Burgos. Along with the championship, Burgos won $1,000 in cash, $2,500 in scholarships, tickets to tonight's NCAA Championship game and a meeting with Jay Williams, a former Duke star and current point guard for the Chicago Bulls.
"I got to play against (Williams), and we became real cool together," Burgos said. "We were joking around and everything. It was great."
Not bad for someone who had never played the game on Xbox before entering himself in the tournament.
"I wasn't really surprised," Reid said. "This is his thing. This is what he does. He just went to work and entered, and now he's in San Antonio a national champ. This kid is getting a scholarship for playing video games? Come on."
"I play video games as much as I can," Burgos said. "My friends will tell you I play nothing but video games all the time, but it's not like I practice the game all the time. Am I surprised that I won? Yes. I was surprised because I wasn't expecting to be the best in the nation."
Burgos' parents, however, weren't shocked at his success.
"He's been playing video games for a very long time," Burgos' mother, Carol, said. "He's accomplished a lot with his little fun."
"He practices a lot," said Burgos' father, Fred. "As long as he keeps the grades up, how can we complain?"
And Burgos hopes to accomplish more. He hopes to use his film major to venture into the screen writing and directing of video games.
"I used to tell him to knock it off," his father said. "And he basically showed me all of the things relative to playing video games, like hand-eye coordination and how much money was being put into the industry. He wants to make a career out of it. And I don't think he knows how good he is with this sort of thing."
Though proud of their son's victory, Burgos' parents were happiest to hear of the scholarship prize involved with the winnings - especially since Burgos had decided to keep that information from his parents so he could surprise them with it if he won.
"Literally, my mom freaked out on the phone," Burgos said. "She was screaming in the earpiece."
"I was ecstatic," his father said. "It's the ultimate boo-yah."
