Gamers are quite familiar with this term; "rage-quit".  If you take gaming seriously, you have either very strongly felt the temptation to do so, or are a "rage-quitter" yourself.  What does it mean?

     Well, when arrested adolescents become entirely too serious and devoted to maximizing the value of the hours they spend "saving the world", "winning the super bowl", or earning whatever high score , they often escape the pain of probable defeat by simply quitting early.  On the surface, this seems logical; the feeling of losing stinks and quitting early allows you to more quickly play again and experience the sweet feeling of winning again sooner.

     Why is it specifically called "rage" quitting?  Because some gamers like to use other's propensity to quit early to their advantage.  After all, if one may be tempted to quit once when down by several points, it would be logical to give an opponent an additional reason to quit early in order to seal a victory by forfeiture.  Thus, many gamers are quite proud of their skill in psycholgical warfare.  If I can score two quick touchdowns by taking advantage of an AI glitch where Calvin Johnson catches every ball as an all time Tight End once I deliberately put in a third string Quarterback known for overthrowing receivers, good luck beating me even if you quadruple team the good Megatron.  If there is a spot on the map where an invisible ledge past the rocks hides me in a dark box at the top of the screen, then it's sniper season, baby.  And when a player feels not only hopeless, but insulted by the cheesy tactics being used, not only is he that much closer to quitting, but he does so in a rage.

     Unforunately, when this happens, everyone loses.  The troll obviously loses on a moral level as this tack, while excelling in gamesmanship, lacks sportsmanship as well as charity.  The rage quitter loses because he deprives himself an opportunity to practice resilience, to challenge himself to think outside the box, and to punish the troll.  Oftentimes, when I used to play Madden online, opponents guilty of tactics such as dropping 10 men back in coverage on defense (so obnoxious) would express their disdain for me because I would not quit after getting behind by a couple of touchdowns.  "Quit already!  I don't have all day!", they would snarl.  But for that reason, in the spirit of fratenral correction, it seems only proper that I pass the ball as often as possible the rest of the game.  Not only to practice the fine art of threading a ball past two defensive lineman somehow 30 yards down field, but to give an example of what it means to play with honor and determination.  Additionally, such players aren't accustomed to being dragged through a 45 minute game where their opponent either makes a point holding his own, or even wins outright.  And there's nothing sweeter than that... except maybe getting him to quit instead as he proves the more frustrated.

     This past Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday morning, I witnessed the cheesiest move to win an election that I think even the oldest living American has even seen.  With Donald Trump clearly tracking to win the states of Wisconsin (91% in), Michigan up approx. 250K votes (80%) in, and Pennsylvania up over 700K votes (64% in), the Vegas odds moved to an 80% chance that Trump would re-capture the presidency.  And then we were told that Joe Biden was going to speak.  Why?  Was I missing something?  And just like that, he went to a podium and essentially told us that his prospects looked great, the results would take days to know, and that we all better just get to bed.  And at that moment I thought for sure I just caught a hint of sulfer and old makrell in my nose.  As soon as he finished, SNAP, the counting stopped.  I tell you, I indeed went to bed shortly after that, both knowing that the fix was in and feeling enraged.

     It is several days later and while I am still feeling some rage, I have zero inclination to quit.  And this does not just apply to supporting Trump's challenge of the election "results", but to whatever I and my brothers in Christ must do after this is all resolved.  No matter what happens, I will not rage quit.  My mission remains the same; I will do everything within my power to get myself, my family, and everyone else within my circle of influence to heaven.  Period.

     A wise man once said, "The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness".  One consolation to this moment is that a call to greatness comes more easily in the face of extreme odds and tribulation.  It's time to embrace that call to greatness.  Game on.

-Gadfly