Olander on the road - Part 2

Posted by: bsl

Article by David «Olander» Olander-Persson.

During the first part of this article David Olander-Persson takes us through US immigration and customs control as he arrives in Los Angeles. His CGS journey continues to take us through life at the Oakwood apartments and that intense first game against the Mexico City Furia.

This is the second part of the article. If you missed the first, read it here.



Beating Mexico meant a shot at Carolina Core, the runner-up from the Region 1 finals.

We prepared as much as we could to face them as they probably were the best CS:S team out there. Their play in the practice rooms had been really stellar so we hoped to get a 10-8 win if we played to our potential. But the match was just as though as we had imagined. They are really an amazing team to play on de_dust2 and I am sure Chicago Chimera would agree.

They played good but we should have had two to three rounds more. Luck plays a factor in these high level games and they made sure they made their own by doing the right things in those crucial situations. It was a fantastic game and they won it fair and square, hats off for that.




Our 7-11 loss contributed to our overall team defeat 21-22. I still do feel kind of happy that we almost made it all the way to the World Final. There is no blame for anybody, we are a team and should support each other accordingly.

Next time around the block everyone will be better at their game; Core had the benefit of CGS experience and deserved to win it more than us even though we won the majority of the games that night.

I guess sometimes you win – like against Mexico, and sometimes you lose – like against Carolina. But the next time we will win it all.




After the final game where Chicago took the «Dew Trophy» everyone was loaded onto a big boat. The players, VIP’s and the CGS people from behind the scenes gathered to enjoy a night out with great food and some drinks.

I spent the majority of my time there with the guys from Chicago Chimera and Rio Sinistro but had a great time with everybody I came across.

Tr1p was hilarious; I don’t think I have ever seen someone so happy, it was nice to see the Chicago team that way as I like them a lot. They deserved it, all of them.

Oh, and of course the Brazilian CS:S superstars knew their way around the dancefloor. Nak busted out his moves and SwooZie did some breakdancing. He impressed me with his skills. It was loads of fun and we took a bunch of crazy pictures, some of which you can see in this gallery. I’m glad we got the chance to hang out with all the friends we made over the course of this enormous event.




I really did like all the CS:S teams. The Sydney guys are awesome; all of them. Boomser and Tegs the two crazy brothers are cool and I hope I get to see them again some day. I could probably go on and on forever about how much I like everyone so I won’t.

I had some nice rum and coke, some gin and tonic and some nice beers at this great party but I think the «drunken choice award» is a tie between tr1p from Chimera – you guys rocked the party!




When the tournament, and the party was all over it was time to go home.

We packed our bags only to find them completely stacked with stuff. I bought some clothes for my mom and my dad, some for myself and some for my girlfriend so I had definitively more to carry with me home than when I arrived. With the dollar at a historic low everything in the States is cheap for us Scandinavians.

Anyway, the CGS drove us out to the airport three hours prior to our flight’s departure. It was pandemonium at LAX with people everywhere and even a dude screaming at us where to go and check our bags. When we got to the counter the lady there seemed really ignorant and stupid. She took my bag though, it was the only bag from the four of us (the CS:S team minus «Fifflaren») that did not weigh too much.

The others had to go to a separate desk, «Nordqvist» and «majk» had to pay 50 dollars each to cover the excess weight. I don’t think they had more than me but their bags weigh more empty than my 1337 Titan bag.

We got on the flight allright but had to wait over 1 hour on the tarmac as a bunch of other flights were delayed. I didn’t worry because our layover in Chicago was two hours. That should be enough right? Wrong. Our buffer had decreased to one hour when we landed. Panicattack!

O’Hare airport is enormous and we had to run all the way, hop on a train to change terminals but we made it with fifteen minutes to spare. And back into idle status we went as the plane had to be de-iced. That meant, for some reason, shutting off the aircraft’s aircondition and we were four sweaty Swedish guys crammed into our seats. Fun stuff. After finally departing and being airborne for some hours a steward came over to my seat to make my day. Remember the ignorant and stupid lady from the check-in counter?

Yeah, she fumbled my luggage somewhere and I wasn’t surprised.

Back in Europe I had to fill in a missing bag form and it was allright within two days so now I’m sitting at my parents place in a t-shirt from Los Angeles. It was an unforgettable trip and unbeliveable experience.




I really hope I will get to do it again some time and God willing I’ll see you all again at the next World Final.