Hello Everyone,

Writing a blog isn't something I’m really used to. Actually this is my first attempt and what better place to write it than while at work ^_^. Hopefully I get better at it as this is the first of many you will see on x3o’s website. I guess the best place to start is to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Ryan “NineSpot” Bell. I am 22 years old and you could say an “inactive” college student haha. I grew up in Centerville, Virginia and currently reside at my fathers place in Springfield, VA. I have one older brother named Colin, 2 cats (Stewie and Charlotte), and 1 fat dog (Kinsey). My alias, NineSpot, is a nickname my college coach gave me because I wore #9 on my baseball team. Not only do I play for x3o but I currently work there as well. I guess you could say I sweat and bleed x3o and consider it a second home.

Growing up my life was consumed of two things, baseball and school. I was very fortunate enough to have great baseball coaches, including my dad J, that really helped me develop my skills. I found myself living and breathing baseball when I was 15, playing all year round on a travel team composed of top players in Virginia. We traveled across the country playing in various tournaments, winning the majority of them. I was spending more time with my teammates than my own family. I felt like I was playing in a MLB 162 game season!!!. That year I learned quite a bit. The importance of dedication, hard work, perseverance, but most importantly the right way to play the game. When I say the right way I mean playing with high intensity but with sportsmanship, teamwork, integrity, and passion. I try to implement all these things in every aspect of my life and it's made me who I am today. Throughout my baseball career I've been lucky to be on very successful teams. I've placed 1st and 3rd in the nation at two national events. I participated in two high school state tournaments and lastly the junior college world series before an injury ended my baseball career. Without being able to compete in baseball I felt like a drug addict in rehab. I mean baseball was my life, I had hopes of going pro. I needed to fill that urge to compete. I found exactly that in playing CS. I started pubbing back in the 1.3 era on the 56k but I never really had time to play it that often. Once i attended college I found myself with a little bit more free time and decent internet. This was when 1.6 just came out.

Ryan on the right talking to the 3rd base coach.

My suitemate saw me playing in my room and taught me about the competitive side of the game. I met some other players on campus and i joined their cal-o team. I was instantly hooked and grew a passion for the game and the competitive nature of it. I remember I was so nervous in my first scrim. After losing pistol round I bought an mp5, my teammates cursed at me but I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Needless to say I'm pretty sure we lost that scrim. Thinking back I realize how much of a noob I was but hard work pays off. Bottom line. It was no accident I started to get better than my teammates who basically showed me how to play the game. I'm the kind of person who whatever it is I'm doing I want to be the best. I tell myself everyday, "I'm either going to get better or worse today... whats it gonna be?" It's easy to practice the things you're good at. For example in baseball it's easy to go up to the plate in batting practice and just smash the hell outta the ball by pulling it. Maybe hit a couple home runs YaY!!! You feel good about yourself. If you work on hitting the ball the opposite field you

struggle but you become a better player overall. More importantly your team will be better as well.

Well times up, I'll continue next week. If you have any questions feel free to ask me on the website or message me on irc. Thank you for reading. Oh and I'd like to give a shout out to granny, hope the knitting is working out. Take care.

-Ryan