As the son of a military sergeant, Greg Murray (AKA Popcandle) of the Pennsylvania Cobras moved around frequently.
“It’s hard to be that new kid every year… and as a kid in the 80s and 90s, if you didn’t have new gear, basketball cards, baseball cards or video games, you weren’t really brought into the circle,” says Murray, “And being that military kid, when I found the one thing I was good at, I made sure I did everything to stand out.”
After all, Murray knew that if you were the person that was good at something, the people came to you.
Over the years the time he spent on video games slowed, until the age of 30 when the person who originally introduced him to gaming came to him with a new gaming opportunity: Ultimate Endgamers League (UEL).
With UEL’s combine approaching. Murray made the two-hour trek to the Stafford, VA, facility to compete.
“The first day, I was like a kid in the candy shop. I took pictures. It was something I wanted to do. It was something that just felt like… me,” explains Murray. “And it was me. Just Pop.”
At 40 years old, Murray works a 1am-10am shift for his “day job”. He then comes home, plays video games until his kids come home from school and then does their work with them. Sleep is for Sundays and Mondays.
“The reality is I can do anything I put my mind to when it comes to getting ahead in my job. And I take [UEL] as a job,” explains Murray.
He attributes some of his drive to the support of his family. But it also helps that he considers his teammates his family.
Murray talks about a time when on a drive to a UEL competition, he received the news of his father’s unexpected passing. “I didn’t let the team know when I got there. I told them at halftime,” he says, a demonstration of both his comfort with and his commitment to the team.
“If I didn’t want to do this, I would be sitting at home, losing every game I play in. Instead, I put my best in all,” he says.
Still in his rookie season, Murray is already setting goals and checking off items on his bucket list:
Make the all-star team – DONE!
Take part in post-season production.
Create a name for himself in sports.
“I fell in love with the production side… when I realized this, it started to get me really excited about the big picture,” Murray explains.
For now though, his first goal is to enjoy his rookie season and learn new things. Next season, however, he wants to take a shot at coaching. “I know sometimes when you have other people who are great but don’t know they’re great, you can sharpen or polish them so they can see your potential. I feel like I might be able to coach and see a different view,” he says.
Murray currently finds most of his success with sports games. “I can play every game on the wheel, but I feel like I’m in the top 10 in the league for sports… the top three as a rookie,” he says.
When Murray starts playing these games, he’s already seeing the strategy in his head. As Murray says, “With these games that I play now, I tell people, ‘You’re playing checkers. I’m playing chess.’”
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