A messenger, or messenjah in this case, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “one who bears a message or does an errand: as a forerunner, herald.” Without question, one of our beloved community members here at Operation Sports is the picture-perfect definition of a messenger.

Operation Sports’ own messenger, MessenjahMatt, has become a forum legend. Right now you may be sitting there saying to yourself, “Who? Never heard of the guy.” If you haven’t, then I encourage you to skate on over to the NBA 2K Forum on this site and take a fantastic voyage down memory lane.

Once in the forum you will find a thread that has become folklore. You won’t have to search long because it’s normally near the top of the forum. The title isn’t something overly catchy and the thread itself wasn’t even created by the person who has become the hot topic.

The thread, “Jordans Game Winner!” was started by a forum user that happened to be browsing YouTube and found a random video. The video was a re-creation of a game-winning shot by Michael Jordan. But it wasn’t done as one would think…it was done using NBA 2K8. And thus, the legend was born.

The thread grew in length and MessenjahMatt continued to make videos of great moments in NBA history, specifically involving Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Now 21+ pages of goodness, the thread is must-read material. Trust me on this one.

Today, we have an exclusive interview with the man, the myth, the legend known as MessenjahMatt.

Operation Sports (OS): Give me the basics…Name, age, location and how long you’ve been a member of Operation Sports.

MessenjahMatt (MM): Well my name is Matthew; however my parents did not come up with the Messenjah part, shockingly enough. I am currently 23 and just moved from Southern California to Colorado. I didn't discover Operation Sports until recently, Oct 2007 to be exact. There was this big brouhaha about developers of 2K8 posting here and sharing some new information, so I just had to check it out.

OS: How did you come up with the name, “MessenjahMatt”? P.O.D. fan by chance?

MM: Indeed, I actually work with promoting the band P.O.D. Great guys. And as it always is, "Matthew" was taken. So I borrowed from their song "The Messenjah" to create something a bit less boring and unique (no offense to the person who registered "Matthew" on the forums of course )

OS: It’s obvious from the videos and your avatar that you are a Chicago Bulls fan, what led you to create the first video?

MM: I was just amazed at how realistic NBA2K8 played, and knew it would be cool to re-create all these moments I've lived with in video game form. As far as a specific moment, it was definitely when I saw "The Shrug" animation for the first time. I knew there was something here to play around with. And the idea to overlay the actual commentary for each moment was definitely inspired from “momentousceltic's” great 2K7 videos.

OS: Can you explain to the people the basic process you use in order to create the videos? You can choose not to answer if you don’t want your secrets to be revealed to the masses (wink, wink).

MM: (Laughing) No, no, I use an external DVD drive called DVDirect. I connect the 'video-out' cables from my TV to the drive. Then I run through all my replays and footage on the TV as I record to a DVD-RW. I take that disk and transfer it to my computer in a complicated process that requires 3 programs, 1 for the raw data, 2 to crop it widescreen, and 3 to make it 4:3 widescreen. No doubt there's some magical program that can do all of that, but this is just the way I've come to do it.

Most of my videos were simply made with Windows Movie Maker, which is pretty bare-bones. I recently got a hold of Adobe After Effects but it crashes a lot so I haven't been able to do anything crazy (laughing). Hopefully for 2K9 I'll be able to use it better, still learning.

OS: How long does it normally take you to edit and put the video together?

MM: It really depends on the content, but undoubtedly the hardest part is actually capturing the right footage in game. I've gone through countless situations, way too many times, just to get a certain celebration animation to play on the right guy. It gets pretty frustrating when I start to see every other player doing the animation except the one I need. An example would be for "The Shot" against Cleveland, the famous jump and fist wave by Jordan. I started to see Grant do it, then Paxon, Pippen, Cartwright, Ehlo, Price. The game was messing with me, ha.

But the editing is usually takes a couple hours, anything more complicated can stretch out to a few days. The "Where Amazing Happens" one took me 3 days to complete.

OS: The videos are simply amazing, given some of the stumbling blocks in NBA 2K8, but you have done a tremendous job. Did you ever think you would develop a cult following just by doing something you love?

MM: Certainly not. I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to my first video using 2K Reelmaker. Which, unlike my other videos, was just a fictitious game winner by Jordan on Kobe. It was rated consistently in the top 3 or 4 on Xbox Live, I haven't been on there in awhile so not sure how they're doing now, but seeing all these people enjoy it definitely spurred me on to do more.

OS: What were your initial thoughts when I contacted you about doing this interview?

MM: I was honored, and grateful, for the opportunity to share these videos, that I've put a lot of work into, with more people. Oh, and "hopefully I won't be too boring."

OS: I noticed in the original thread that some forum users have thrown out specific requests for you. Any plans to branch out and re-create some of the all-time great moments from NBA history that don’t involve the Bulls?

MM: That's something I've been thinking about, but I don't know. I just don't see myself having the same enthusiasm for it as I do with the Jordan/Bulls moments. When I run out of all possible Jordan re-creations then I'll give it some more thought. I can tell you though…no moments that happened against the Bulls [will be re-created]. Starks dunk in the playoffs? Sorry. Reggie's push-off three? Nope. (laughing)

OS: Tell me one thing that you would say to convince a forum user that hasn’t seen your videos to check them out?

MM: Nostalgia is the biggest thing I hear, how they bring you back to those times in the 90's and let you relive those moments. If you’re not a Bulls fan, then hopefully they'll give you a greater appreciation for the game 2K created. Seeing all the little nuances and realistic touches added.

OS: With your newfound fame and legend status, what are you going to do next?

MM: Like everyone else, try to wait patiently for 2K9. Which hopefully will have a refined CAP system, more retro jerseys, and maybe the short shorts so I can tackle those earlier years such as MJ's 69 point explosion against the Celtics

There you have it. The “Messenjah” delivers again. Again, the videos are amazing and they do spark some nostalgia if you’re a basketball fan. If you haven’t checked them out, follow this link to happiness.