Sometimes it's easier to go through life by being pretty good at a lot of things, but never really reaching the top. Even after bowing gracefully out of the limelight, the buzz, the adrenaline rush, and the desire for glory can sometimes come back and bite you. That weekend job you have flipping burgers at MacDonalds suddenly becomes a quest to complete your training, get those 5 stars under your name badge, and one day manage your own fast food restaurant. From my own personal experience, my biggest successes have come from gaming, but since the age of 18 I've been chasing a near impossible goal to get back into a top 5 European team. The reasons are numerous, and as I'm posting this on a gaming website, maybe some of you will be going through the same things as I list a few:
 
My reactions are a lot slower than they used to be. Since it is possible to make a career out of this now, or at least win some cash on the side, there's more players and more competition. Sitting behind a PC became instantly less attractive when I was old enough to drink. Sweating my nuts off in front of a PC in the summer was less tempting since developing a passion for drinking cold beer on the beach. People stopped playing the two games I was at my peak in years ago...and to sum it all up, I'm getting too old for this s**t...

 
It hasn't been for lack of trying either. I can hold my own in CSS and CoD4, but nowhere near the level of a top 3 LAN finish. I've played a lot of, and got destroyed in, a number of matches on the Starcraft II Beta. Just last night I was checking for best prices on Super Street Fighter IV with old-school arcade stick. The lure of prize money, big wins, and headlines written ABOUT me rather than by me was getting stronger, and judging by the cost of Street Fighter sticks, soon to become expensive. This is why I'm now asking you all to download, play, and support Football Superstars as the game of the future.
 
Football Superstars, for those who have yet to come across it, is a free to download, free to play football-themed MMO. As you would expect with the limited budget, the game's been built on, you're not going to get anywhere near the depth of features that WoW-whores old and new would be used to. When you get into the matches themselves though, the gameplay is pretty impressive. You're not going to get the same visually appealing experience of a FIFA or Pro Evo game, but with a bit of practice and a good team supporting you, many hours of enjoyable play can be got from it.
 
A major shift towards Football Superstars may well change the whole dynamic of the gaming scene as well. Matches can be played as either 5, 7, or 11-a side. It's pretty safe to say nobody won a championship with a team of 11 strikers, and so actually making an attempt to play your position is essential to the success of your team, and at the very least provides a gaming experience without "OMG CROSSY GET BACK IN DEFENCE INNIT LOLOLOL" popping up in the chat box every time the ball moves into the opposition half.
 
The game will also be free of bullet registration related rage. A bit of lag may well result in the ball ending up in the keepers' arms rather than tearing into the back of the net, and slide tackling is more of a hit and hope for the best than an exact science, and the referee will occasionally wave play on when you're hacked down by an opponent who clearly got a lot more of the man than the ball, but maybe this was a deliberate move to add to the realism of the game. If that's the case, it's pretty safe to say that super Frankie Lampard won't be joining the revolution.
 
This is a call to the old school gamers who just can't put in the hours to get to the top of their favourite FPS games anymore. This is a cry for gaming leagues to open Football Superstars competitions, and for organisations to pick themselves up a team. This is an appeal to the football lover that wants to try a third option for a football game. I may have selfish reasons, I may be casting my mind back to the 7 goals I scored in a 20 minute 5-a-side match earlier this week, but give the game a try for yourself, and you'll realise it makes sense. I'll even make us a petition and everything.