I don’t know if they would all call or label themselves, gamers but there was definitely an aura of all things video games Saturday, March 16, at the Phi Mu Delta Super Smash Bros. tournament in the Student Union Ballroom. All of the proceeds from the tournament went to the National Philanthropy of Phi Mu Delta, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Upon walking into the Lankford Student Union ballroom, it was no less than a gamers’ paradise. There were four projectors set up with screens and at least six TVs. Two of the ABC rooms were dedicated just to playing Xbox when competitors were waiting for their matches. The whole night was devoted to having fun, seeing old friends, playing Smash Bros. and raising money for St. Jude.
This event has been going on for the past three semesters, run every year by the brothers of Phi Mu Delta. One brother stepped up this year to take over: Kenny Harbour. According to attendees, the organization of the event this year was very smooth, and Harbour had a lot to do with that. Upon talking with Harbour before the event, he hoped that the tournament would be able to bring in more than it has in the past. With the final tally at $400, the tournament was a huge success. Watching Harbour run around carrying a laptop and yelling out names made me want to find him a megaphone.
While walking around trying to understand how everything was going to work, I got some help from Cameron Rinaldi, a sophomore computer science major; Matthew Wiltshire, a freshman mathematics major; and Sam Wiles a junior computer science major. They helped explain how the bracket, which was projected on the wall, was going to work.
Rinaldi explained that it was not single elimination, but that the people who won the most and lost the least were able to move up in the ranks.
The overall winner for the night was Theron Haynesworth, with Evan Faucett getting second and third going to Patrick Costa. The three top winners won gift cards and prizes provided by the unofficial sponsors of the event, Monster Energy drinks and GameStop.
Brandon Toney, sophomore computer science major and brother of Phi Mu Delta was the bracket king of the night. He sat at a table in between his own matches and took the winners names to add to the computer-generated bracket.
There was tons of support from Phi Mu Delta brothers who were all incredibly busy, and it was hard to find a moment of down time to ask a brother some questions.
I did follow a brother around with a camera for a while just to ask him if I could see some of the photos. Jesse Schrader, senior biology major and PR chair of Phi Mu Delta, was very excited about the whole event. While walking around taking pictures, he got a nice surprise when Elwood walked in the doors to the event.
There were 59 competitors and at least 90 to 100 students who were just there to watch. The brothers of Phi Mu Delta did a fantastic job getting the word out for their fundraising event. The event was a pleasure to attend and was a great way to raise money for a good cause.
