At Center Court With Terence Dials – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Ohio State sophomore center Terence Dials is not the type of person to shy away from competition. He is definitely not the kind of person who will back down from a challenge or be intimidated by the instigating words of another. Instead Dials welcomes a little confrontation every now and then, just enough to get the adrenaline pumping and the competitive juices flowing.
Although Dials’ intensity on the basketball court can be described in this manner, his spirited personality traverses to competition of a slightly different nature. Throughout the course of the basketball season, Dials plays “host” to numerous video game tournaments, where the winner earns bragging rights until the next wave of tournament action.
“My roommate and I have tournaments at our house and some of the guys from the team like Charles Bass, Shun Jenkins, Ricardo Billings and J.J. Sullinger will compete,” Dials said. “We play these games for hours at a time, maybe five or six hours, just to see who is the best.”
The idea of holding video game tournaments came to Dials last season when Ohio State participated in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Some of the players used their time away from the court to engage in video game action on a PlayStation 2 that was given to each player as a gift for playing the marquee games. Dials realized what a great stress reliever video games could be. He pondered what could be better than hosting a tournament where many of his teammates could relax and have fun, putting the anxiety and strain of practice and school behind them.
“When you have to go to class and then spend hours at practice and weight-lifting, you are exhausted,” Dials said. “You don’t want to go out because you don’t feel up to it, so the next best thing is staying home and playing video games.”
Mostly occurring on the spur of the moment, the tournaments mainly consist of football and basketball games, such as Madden 2004 or NBA Live. The event is setup much like the NCAA basketball tournament bracket, except on a much smaller scale. All the competitors battle head-to-head, each eliminating the other one by one, until the final two are left standing.
Sometimes the matches are fierce and full of intensity, where arrogance and egos prevail, but always in a good-hearted way.
“When Shun is there, the whole place can get really intense,” Dials said. “Shun likes to hype things up, but I get excited too, especially when I get the chance to play against C-Bass. We are always trying to get into each other’s heads, constantly talking trash. It’s very competitive, a lot like basketball. No one wants to lose or go out a loser, so everybody wants to try to win.”
Dials admits that despite the forceful competition that pervades the tournaments, a tremendous amount of camaraderie is built between himself and his teammates during their friendly duals. The time spent away from the basketball court with other members of the Buckeye team plays a vital role in helping the squad transfer their trust and chemistry to the hardwood.
Right now Dials is looking forward to recapturing the bragging rights title he reluctantly ceded to Bass.
“I’m usually the best out of all my teammates, but C-Bass is better than me right now and I can’t beat him, but I’ve been practicing,” Dials said.
Sounds like Dials is gearing for another tournament. This time, he is more than prepared to return to the top.
