Dad of the year proves anyone can get into esports
The youth are into all sorts of things these days, and sometimes it can be difficult for their parents to keep up. This dad put in the effort, though.
During the ESL One New York Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament this weekend, dozens of parents descended upon Barclays Center in Brooklyn to experience a live esports event with their kids. But this dad, Andrew, went above and beyond to connect with his son Sam's passion.
When asked by ESL One's on stage host OJ Borg how Sam managed to drag his dad along with him to watch some professional Counter-Strike, Sam said he came because it's Sam's passion.
Andrew recognized Sam's interest in Counter-Strike and started learning about it; reading one of the most in-depth Counter-Strike news sites, HLTV; watching matches; and making an effort to understand one of the most popular esports in the world.
Borg wanted to test that knowledge and asked Andrew how he thought the last game went, and Andrew proved he knew his stuff.
Team Liquid did exactly what Andrew said they needed to do: They stuck it out against SK Gaming and won the match, moving on to Sunday's grand finals.
On top of dropping some knowledge on Borg, Andrew had a touching message about the importance of parent-child relationships:
"Any day together is a great day, and certainly a day together at the Barclays Center to see this is terrific," Andrew said.
A round of applause for Andrew and Sam indeed.
