In the final of the eSports tournament “BLAST Premier” of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the players of the team “Vitality” were repeatedly booed by the audience in the arena. Event caster Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill (32) had enough at some point and spoke out.
The eSports tournament “BLAST Premier” has been around since 2020, allowing professional teams in CS:GO to compete against each other in two different seasons. The seasons take place in spring and autumn, each lasting about 4 months.
In a season, there are two phases:
- The group stage
- The showdowns
In the group stage, 12 teams compete against each other, each consisting of 5 players. Of these, 6 teams advance to the season final. From the showdowns, another 2 groups also qualify for the season final, resulting in a total of 8 teams in the final.
Finally, the winners of the spring and autumn seasons face each other in the global final.
While the tournament usually took place in North America or Europe, this time, Denmark hosted the final of the autumn season. The audience was allowed to gather in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen and watch the eSports tournament live.
“Shut your mouths you crazy freaks…”
How did the semifinals go? In the semifinals of the autumn season, on November 28, these 2 teams faced each other:
- Astralis from Denmark
- Vitality from France
Since the team from Denmark was naturally supported by the audience from the Danish capital, they often booed the opponents from Vitality when they got a kill on Astralis (via Twitch).
When Vitality won against Astralis, the host, Alex “Machine” Richardson (28), wanted to conduct an interview with one of the players from Vitality on stage – which again led to booing from the audience.
For the final, Burchill wanted to see only Counter-Strike fans in the arena. He added:
These guys dedicate their lives to the game. They come here to entertain you and you boo them? The good thing is: We already have your money anyway. I hope you have a long line at the parking ticket machine. (…)
Burchill received support from his co-commentator and the viewers of the livestream. During the games, the stream chat repeatedly complained about the unfair audience in the Copenhagen arena.
Thus, Burchill and Richardson spoke out against the booing crowd and stood up for the team around Vitality.
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Richardson had enough and directed his words towards the audience:
Shut your mouths you crazy freaks. This is Counter-Strike, we come together here for the games, people. Not for this political nonsense. Cheer for your team when they win, but also enjoy the countering and fragging. Stop being freaks.
“The good thing is: We already have your money anyway”
After the interview was conducted and the Danish team was eliminated, a mass of spectators left the arena.
Commentator and ex-CS:GO pro Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill was happy about this and spoke out once again. He has no problem with booing during a match because the favorite team might be losing. However, he demands respect once the players are being interviewed and have fairly won.
For the final, Burchill wanted to see only Counter-Strike fans in the arena. He added:
These guys dedicate their lives to the game. They come here to entertain you and you boo them? The good thing is: We already have your money anyway. I hope you have a long line at the parking ticket machine. (…)
Burchill received support from his co-commentator and the viewers of the livestream. During the games, the stream chat repeatedly complained about the unfair audience in the Copenhagen arena.
Thus, Burchill and Richardson spoke out against the booing crowd and stood up for the team around Vitality.
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