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
When the Syracuse men's basketball team reached the Sweet 16, Kris Burgos rooted a little bit harder than the rest of campus.
Earlier in the year, Burgos, a sophomore film major, won the Hoop Madness II Tournament, a competition sponsored by ESPN and Xbox Live that pitted students against each other in the ESPN College Hoops video game. For his victory he received a new Xbox and copy of the game, which he had never played before the contest.
"I picked up the controller for the first time and did some tooling on everyone," Burgos said. "I just gave it a chance and ended up winning."
Though Burgos won the tournament, he hadn't even planned on playing in it. He worked the event in Schine Student Center, and his boss offered him the opportunity to play. Burgos accepted, and - much to his surprise - he won.
Then Burgos bested the champion of a tournament held at Marquette University over Xbox Live, the system's online gaming network.
The win over the Marquette champ made Burgos eligible to compete for the ESPN College Hoops national championship. But there was a catch: each tournament champion's fate was bound to the success of his school's basketball team. For Burgos to participate as one of the final 16 competitors for the national title, SU had to make it there first.
"Obviously I was rooting for our team," he said. "But it gave me a little more incentive for them to go a little further."
Once a part of the Sweet 16, Burgos kept winning. He beat players from Kansas and Stanford. He earned a $500 prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to San Antonio to compete against the other three tournament semi-finalists.
"That's when he blew up," said Burgos' roommate Chris Reid, a sophomore computer graphics major. "He didn't think he was going to do anything big. He was hyped."
On Friday, Burgos continued his successful run by beating last year's champion, Dave Muellerweiss of the University of North Carolina, by six points in the semifinal. Immediately after the win, Burgos and Alex Carroll of Georgia Tech met in the final. Carroll proved to be a less-than-worthy opponent - as Burgos beat him, 99-71, in the final.
Earlier in the year, Burgos, a sophomore film major, won the Hoop Madness II Tournament, a competition sponsored by ESPN and Xbox Live that pitted students against each other in the ESPN College Hoops video game. For his victory he received a new Xbox and copy of the game, which he had never played before the contest.
"I picked up the controller for the first time and did some tooling on everyone," Burgos said. "I just gave it a chance and ended up winning."
Though Burgos won the tournament, he hadn't even planned on playing in it. He worked the event in Schine Student Center, and his boss offered him the opportunity to play. Burgos accepted, and - much to his surprise - he won.
Then Burgos bested the champion of a tournament held at Marquette University over Xbox Live, the system's online gaming network.
The win over the Marquette champ made Burgos eligible to compete for the ESPN College Hoops national championship. But there was a catch: each tournament champion's fate was bound to the success of his school's basketball team. For Burgos to participate as one of the final 16 competitors for the national title, SU had to make it there first.
"Obviously I was rooting for our team," he said. "But it gave me a little more incentive for them to go a little further."
Once a part of the Sweet 16, Burgos kept winning. He beat players from Kansas and Stanford. He earned a $500 prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to San Antonio to compete against the other three tournament semi-finalists.
"That's when he blew up," said Burgos' roommate Chris Reid, a sophomore computer graphics major. "He didn't think he was going to do anything big. He was hyped."
On Friday, Burgos continued his successful run by beating last year's champion, Dave Muellerweiss of the University of North Carolina, by six points in the semifinal. Immediately after the win, Burgos and Alex Carroll of Georgia Tech met in the final. Carroll proved to be a less-than-worthy opponent - as Burgos beat him, 99-71, in the final.
