Awesome Kong Off. Credit where its due.

[Scoundrl]

First of all I had a GREAT time this year. Thanks to everyone that came to the show!

That being said, there are a lot of people who work really hard to make sure we all get to enjoy it and I want to take a few minutes and recognize them.

First, Thank you Jourdan. The venue was perfect and I personally appreciate all the VERY long hours you spent in preparation for this.

Second, Thank you Richie. Originator of the Kong Off concept and master promoter. Great Job as usual my friend.

Third, Thank you Jon Jamshid. Most of you have no idea who this guy is much less how hard he worked to make sure you had 22 perfectly playable DK machines. I know when I set up a game it usually takes about 5 hours, so 5 x 22 (110) working hour just to get the DKs ready for play. That doesnt include sourcing parts, fixing boards and monitors or setting up the dozen or so other working games that people needed for records or what not. Again, HUGE thanks to Jon.

Next, Thank you Jeff Harrist and DanMan123456. You guys made my job so much better and easier. I could not have done all the stuff we needed to do to stream 12 streams, tear down, reset... without you. I personally really appreciate it.

Next, Thank you Craig Bailey, awesome job getting the word out there! Thank you to your wife (Rebecca) *hope i got that right* for her help with the scoreboard.

Next, The rest of the 1up staff. We love you guys and gals, really, we do! Jourdans parents really helped out too, it was fun having them down for the night they were there.

I am probably leaving out some people and I'm sorry for that. Still a little wiped out.

Great show guys. Feel free to let these guys know how much you appreciate their hard work, it really does seem like a thankless job and sometimes its just good to get an attaboy!

-Ken

*EDIT* I forgot Walter Day, Steve and even though I dont personally care for him, Billy. These guys have moved on from DK and Walter has retired many times over. I enjoy every chance I get to see them and appreciate what they bring to the table.

*EDIT 2* Totally left out Eric and John. John is a cheater on armor attack so he dont count... Seriously though you two were great, and lets not forget our scorekeeper, Eric's brother, Edward. Thank you Edward, you did a GREAT job!

[lakeman421]

Thank you Ken and everyone else that was involved in the event.  It was awesome to see so many people willing to volunteer their time to make sure everything looked great and ran smoothly.  I was not expecting webcams on every cab and I can't even imagine the effort it took to pull that awesome feature off.  The streams looked awesome and I know a lot of people who could and couldn't make the event really appreciated it as well.  Of course I need to thank Richie and Jourdan for hosting the event and doing a killer job.  They are awesome guys and they always know how to run a great event.  The 1UP and the employees for sure needs praise and anyone who worked on and moved all the machines around.  Anyone else I have forgotten I thank you as well and it was great to see everyone and having a good time.  This will be an event I look forward to year round from now on.

[ChrisP]

I have too much to say so I won't even try to start right now, except that my perception of this world, the "politics" of it, and every individual within it that I met this weekend has shifted anywhere from a little to a lot from where it was five days ago, and for the better in literally every way and in every case. And it was already (mostly) positive! There's just a whole lot that I "get" now that I didn't get before.

That MAY have been the best weekend of my life. It's up there, at any rate.

[marinomitch13]

That MAY have been the best weekend of my life. It's up there, at any rate.

Chris, you always have a very unique and concise way of perfectly effecting the connotation you desire. I echo this sentiment completely.

As for my thanks:

Very fun, very enjoyable. Loved hanging with friends, and I am very appreciative of all the work and effort that went into making this event so wonderful. Thanks TG staff! Thanks 1up staff! Thanks streaming crew! Thanks competitors! Thanks live and online fans! Everyone, thank you!

I hope I did wrong by no one this weekend and that I was able to contribute to the fun of the event in whatever little way I could and not detract... there's really no way to repay having such a great and awesome time. I hope this event continues in some form or another long into the future, as it is such a wonderful way to bring the community together!

[lifereboot]

I had a blast this year.  Thanks to everyone who had their hand in organizing the event.

Thanks Richie and Jourdan.  Thanks Walter.  Thanks Ken, Craig, and Cat.  Thanks Jeff Harrist.

Thanks Eric for the certificates and trading cards.

A big thank you to Jon for the work on the DK cabinets.  I echo Ken's appreciation for the work that went into fixing all those machines.  Last year I know there was a tough rush to just collect enough machines for KO2, and this year each of those machines had been tended to carefully.  There was a noticeable difference between the quality of the controls, and the crispness of the monitors.  Mike G and I agreed that we liked the control panels on our machines in the event, more than we liked the ones we own at home!  Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks to the 1UP bar staff, and thanks for everyone who traveled to be at the event.  It was truly awesome, and I respect all the effort that went into it.

Cheers

[Fast Eddie]

good stuff everyone! i really enjoyed watching so many great games go down... was really exciting action...

and congrats to Jeff Willms!

 

[homerwannabee]

Believe it or not, I had a great time watching this baby from home!   There was so much amazing play by so many amazing players that it was unbelievable.  My highlights of the tournament had to be watching Jeff get his 1.096 million game.  Seeing Steve Wiebe put up a personal live performance best of 1.048 million.  Seeing Ross come strong at the end, and take 2nd place.  Seeing Steve Wiltshire as the last man standing getting 4th place.  And finally seeing Jeff make a legitimate run at the World Record which fell short on level 16.

[LMDAVE]

Thanks to Richie and Jourdan and everyone for putting together everything, including Eric and John for their support of the wildcard side tournament.  I tried a good portion of the machines, and they were all put together very well (Thanks Jon!). From hearing from those who couldn't attend, the event that was covered very well from the streaming platform also (Thanks Ken!).

I had such a wild ride from being almost eliminated Saturday from the wildcard, to setting my personal best and winning the wildcard Sunday. It was a great feeling to accomplish the killscreen and million+ at a such an event. Congrats to all the winners and those who set their goals at the event.

[mikegmi2]

Can't say much that hasn't already been said but I'm grateful and appreciative to everyone involved in putting on this awesome event.

Thank you Jourdan, Richie, Ken, JC, Walter, Cat, Jon, Eric, and everyone else involved.  I had a great time hanging out with everyone, big big big!

[Scoundrl]

Totally left out Eric and John. John is a cheater on armor attack so he dont count... Seriously though you two were great, and lets not forget our scorekeeper, Erics brother, Edward. Thank you Edward, you did a GREAT job!

[syscrusher]

I would also like to thank everyone mentioned here for making this a great event!  I had a great time and owe it all to you guys.  Looking forward to whatever next year brings!

[danman123456]

Ken exactly. Thanks for already typing everything as eloquently as you did. I want to say the same to everyone as well. It was a fantastic trip and I felt honored to be able to hang with everyone there. Thanks to all the hard work that was put in getting this setup and thanks to all the players/participants and fans who showed up. Its 2am and I will type more but for now ditto.

FYI danman123456 = Dan Desjardins = (I know Ken already said screw trying to get that last name right haha).

[tessler1134]

Thanks to everyone who participated in the event! I thought everything ran smoothly and it seemed like everyone had a ton of fun. One of my favorite weekends of the year, that is for sure!

I would like to send out a special thanks to Ken and Jeff for handling all of the streaming configuration and setup....that was a ton of work and it worked out really well!!!! Also special thanks to the entire 1 UP and Richie, for hosting the event and providing all 22 DK machines!

My pleasure backing the awards and trading cards....all of you guys and gals deserve it!!!! There will be a special art show featuring our trading cards and awards coming in July-Aug 2014...stay turned for more info 

Now off to finally try and break that 1 million mark 

[alumbrada]

Thanks to everyone who put on the event, and everyone who came! I had no idea what to expect, and it turned out to be one of the most fun weekends of my life. The camera setup on every cab was sick! It was great to meet everyone and watch the best players throw down. This is a great community and I really look forward to future events, be they Kong Offs or whatever. It was a seriously awesome time.