Red's Corner" is a weekly column that covers various topics within the competitive gaming scene. The opinions expressed are those of Paul Chaloner, a CGS contributor.

There have been plenty of great moments already in 2008’s North America season and it’s a real privilege to be out here commentating on it in Los Angeles. However, time is flying and incredibly we are on the verge of the playoffs. Already. How the heck did we get here so quickly?

This season does seem to have gone very quickly and with that thought last night, it reminded me that we should savor these great moments that make up the 2008 season, both good and bad, happy and sad alike.

One of the sadder stories this season is that of Jason Lake and his beloved Complexity. You can read Mike Luxion’s article about the multitude of things that have been used to explain their form (or lack thereof) this season and I don’t want to have another article dwelling on the defeats, but would rather talk about them in a different way. During yesterday’s rehearsals, Jason Lake made his way up to our commentary booth and handed all four of us a small, cream envelope. Inside was a simple card engraved with the words “Thank you” and inside the card were the signatures of all the players from the team. You may think this has no meaning, but to be thanked by Jason Lake and his team personally in this way for doing a job I love and enjoy was very humbling. I have a great working and friendly relationship with all of the GMs on various levels, but Jason is to date, the only GM to have handed around thank you cards.

I think it was a nice touch and don’t think it was just some kind of reaction to his season. He did the same thing last season too. It is something I will treasure for its meaning and thought. Without a shadow of a doubt, it marks Jason and his team out as professional, caring, and thoughtful, despite their obvious pain and frustration at what has been an impossible season. Approaching the half way mark Jason Lake remarked that he “had never been 0-5” in his life, yet just two weeks on, he finds his team 0-10. There have been moments where his frustration has shown through, but there has also been real joy when his players have picked it up and although a cliché, LA’s matches are a rollercoaster ride and you can see it ALL in Jason’s eyes. You never know which part of the team will go big or which will crumble from one match to the next. It just seems to rotate each night, sadly for them.

It was no different on Wednesday. Complexity was up in game 1 thanks to Kreegan winning 1-0 and even further ahead after a surprise 6-1 win from the Forza team. Three good rounds from belle against Vanessa in the next game and with two to go, LA was up 10-6 with CSS and DOA Male to come. They had a shot, a genuine shot at victory for the first time this season. They had finally had a little luck here and there and surely they were about to break their duck (or goose egg as it’s called over here).

But then things started to go wrong again. Bewildered, Jason watched on as his usually impeccable Counter-Strike stars folded under the weight of the OPTX CSS team. Not just content with winning for the first ever time over coL’s CSS team in CGS matches, they demolished them 13-5 which set up the final game nicely for the OPTX and wiped away the lead LA had built up.

Chris “NinjaCW” Harris has been a pleasant surprise this season and has certainly provided crucial points when the team has needed it. Here, he needed just one to tie the franchise game and two to win it and claim a playoff spot for his team. Los Angeles on the other hand, needed a 5-0 to win outright; PerfectLegend could not give a single round away. It was a tall order. Made even taller when the first round went to NinjaCW, but Complexity could still draw, if PerfectLegend won the all of the next five. Despite a great fight, he couldn’t do it and gave up three rounds, despite going on to claim a personal victory. LA had been beaten again, but just like the previous nine matches, Complexity stayed professional and respectful. Many players wished their opponents good luck in the playoffs.

In a conversation with Jason earlier this week I told him that to me at least, great teams aren’t just the ones that win championships, but the ones that hold their heads up high with dignity when they are losing. The true measure of a team isn’t when it’s winning, but how it handles losing. Whilst jokingly I also mentioned they had plenty of practice at losing this year, the players of Los Angeles offer a great life lesson on how to carry yourself and your team in the face of adversity and defeat, and a lot of that credit goes to their GM. Some of them probably won’t be back next year and I will personally miss them and never forget the way they handled themselves this season. Their 2008 year isn’t over just yet and it’s still possible they can grab a win in their final two games and play the spoiler role in the middle of the playoff race. Other than the two teams they have left to play, I don’t think anyone would wish them two more defeats.