Grant Haynes · @Fickle_Platypus
22nd Apr 2019 from TwitLonger
No Longer Contracted with Rogue: The Next Chapter
As of April 18th 2019, I am no longer contracted with Rogue. For the past year I have been managing/coaching their Rocket League team. After the FlyQuest roster acquisition, which I had no say in, Rogue also acquired their manager, Wesker. Since that transfer, I've admittedly been a bit of a lame duck, as these were not really my players I'd been managing for over 8 months. It made more sense to relinquish the managing/coaching tasks to Wesker, as he had been working with AyyJayy and Wonder already.
I have no interest in seeking a new contract at the time. Back when the season 1 RLRS broadcast team was being considered, I had this managerial option with Rogue in case I was not selected. Obviously, I wasn't. So, I went down this path because there was a guaranteed job opportunity on the table vs ambiguous opportunity in the future. I still worked other shows, but strayed away from official Rocket League business. The clear conflict of interest seriously hindered any Rocket League related shows I wanted to pursue. Any admin roles were also subject to that same conflict of interest. I'm still invested in Rocket League and I still love this game.
Although our results in the RLCS were disappointing, what I gained from those seasons is intangible. Seldomly do individuals get the opportunity to experience both sides of the broadcast. Truly an indescribable feeling watching your team play for their trip to LAN, or their spot in the league. Compared to other esports, I feel the role of coach and manager in Rocket League is somewhat insignificant. Not saying there isn't something to be gained by having a coach/manager, but the position doesn't get formally acknowledged by Psyonix. That's a whole different topic altogether, but I digress. Much love to all my players during my tenure and best of luck in your future endeavors: Sizz, Jacob, Joro, Matt, Turtle, Insol and Red. Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you to the Rogue and ReKt staff as well as any other players I met from the other titles. This is a loving organization that cares dearly about their players.
This is as much a self reflection as it is a informal goodbye, but this isn't the last you'll see from me regarding Rocket League. I still want to go full time with esports broadcasting, and I've been getting a lot of shows recently, but there's too much uncertainty at the moment. Realistically, I need to make the jump now and force myself to struggle if I ever want to improve. I know that might be a backwards way of thinking about life, but you'll never improve if you're too comfortable with life. You have to struggle to improve.
That being said, I'm available for hire as a caster, host, admin, grunt... anything really. I'm fairly versatile! I have 3+ years of work experience all over esports, across multiple titles, across multiple roles.
TL:DR No longer contracted with Rogue, looking for work in esports to go full time. Take a chance on me!
-Grant