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Games Entertainment

Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun 54

Posted by Zonk from the best-headline-ever dept.
kleptonin writes "David Kinnaird, a young professional tennis player from Scotland, has given up the world of tennis for the world of competitive online gaming. His reason? He believes that it will be far easier for him to make a living shooting virtual people in the face rather than smacking some balls around." From the article: "The worlds of pro-tennis and pro-gaming are close, said Mr Kinnaird, because both require players to live and breathe their discipline. The excellent hand-eye co-ordination that helped him to become a good tennis player would make him a better gamer too, he said." Here's hoping he knows what he's getting into. Just a little bit more smack talk in online gaming than in tennis.
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Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun More

Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun

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  • Fame a Factor? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by christian.elliott ( 892060 ) * on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:15AM (#14634377) Homepage Journal

    What I'm wondering is how much his fame as a Tennis Player played in his acquisition by 4 Kings (the Gaming team). Is he really good enough to play competitively, or did they just throw him on the team because he'll get them media coverage (as is happening now).

    I for one will be interested to see how he makes out at the CPL and alike. Will he be successful? Will this be a break for competitive gaming? We'll have to wait and see.

    Staying slightly On-Topic, if anyone didn't catch the 60 minutes special on Fatal1ty and Professional gaming [cbsnews.com], check it out. I found it quite interesting.

    • It probably didn't hurt, but I'm guessing it wasn't much of a factor.
      It's not like this guy was a big , or even a little, name on the pro tour.
      It's nothing more than an interesting side note for his bio, IMO.
    • From the 60 minutes article:

      "Fatal1ty is the first superstar of video games."

      Bah. Thresh, for one, predates Fatal1ty.

      Anyone remember the Crack Whores clan? They were quite popular (not necessarily for talent, though...)
      • Never heard of Tresh, who is it? What did (s)he play? AFAIK Fatal1ty is the first one that is internationally known, he's even been to Denmark at least one time, to show off at an event in the Boomtown cafe :)

        • Re:Fame a Factor? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) <akaimbatman@gmaYEATSil.com minus poet> on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:35AM (#14634508) Homepage Journal
          IIRC, Thresh was an asian kid who basically wiped the floor in the original Quake. A friend of mine claims to have met him online once. He says that the guy came barrelling in from a tower overhead, rocket jumps from one side of the structure to the other, firing a rocket downward at my poor, hapless friend in mid jump. The guy was good.

          He later went on to work for PC Gamer, but he never really seemed to "get into" that job.
          • you should tell your friend to flesh out the Thresh Wikipedia entry - it's a good tale :)
            • I played him in a couple of online tourneys way back, when he started climbing the ladders. He thoroughly trashed all of us. The only small comfort I have is that I logged more kills on him than anyone else...which isn't saying much, since most people never got a shot at him. I only remember it because it's hard to forget a trouncing like that.

              I remember reading an interview with him where he said he logged 6-8 hours a day on Quake to keep his edge. Guys like Thresh who invest full days practicing the game

          • Re:Fame a Factor? (Score:1, Redundant)

            by Barbarian ( 9467 )
            If that was on the Quake map DM6, that was a fairly easy maneuver in the health pack room. There were people who whored that room all map long.

          • I've played quake with Dennis before. He really was incredible. Ive also played starcraft with him. He was very good, but certainly not at the professional level.

            What's my point?

            Even switching the type of video game that you play can make all the difference as to what level you can compete at. Tennis to Quake IV? Good Luck!

        • Re:Fame a Factor? (Score:5, Informative)

          by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) <akaimbatman@gmaYEATSil.com minus poet> on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:37AM (#14634525) Homepage Journal
          And what'dya know? Wikipedia has an article [wikipedia.org].
          • If people need a wiki reference to know about him, then the term "superstar" doesn't really apply, does it?

            • Re:Fame a Factor? (Score:3, Informative)

              by AKAImBatman ( 238306 )
              Do you know who Hedy Lamarr was? If you were alive when Blazing Saddles was released, you were expected to. Not anymore, though. She's been lost to history.

              Stardom is a fading thing. Thresh was extremely well known back in the days of Quake I. (After all, he won Carmack's Ferrari!) But that was a LONG time ago in terms of computer gaming. Ten years ago, to be precise. The generation of gamers who are playing their XBox 360s don't even remember what it was like before we had 3D games. They've probably never
              • Do you know who Hedy Lamarr was? If you were alive when Blazing Saddles was released, you were expected to. Not anymore, though. She's been lost to history.

                I know! She co-invented spread-spectrum radio communications during the second world war!

                Oh, and she was an actress too. And to point this back towards computer games, the pet headcrab in Half-Life 2 was called Lamarr. As in Hedy. Geddit?

                As for this Scottish guy - something tells me he may not have as much success with the ladies after his change in care
                • How to tell you're on Slashdot, tip #3012:

                  When Hedy Lamarr's technical achievements are mentioned first, and her acting achievements are brushed off in passing. :-P
              • Do you know who Hedy Lamarr was?

                Yes I do. Point being?

                Stardom is a fading thing. Thresh was extremely well known back in the days of Quake I.

                If I stopped 200 random people on the corner of Hollywood and Vine during the peak of the Quake I tournament days, I seriously doubt a single one of them would have known who the fuck Thresh was. Gaming tournaments was not something the general public paid any attention to at all back then.

                In other words, he was not a "superstar" because nobody was famous for playing
              • Do you know who Hedy Lamarr was?


                That's Hedly! Oh, wait...
            • If people need a wiki reference to know about him, then the term "superstar" doesn't really apply, does it?

              Counter example here [wikipedia.org]
        • Thresh was a Quake player. He was the first gamer to win $100,000 (and a Ferrari) playing games, and so he was dubbed "The Michael Jordan of Gaming."

          He's in Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] too.
    • "Is he really good enough to play competitively, or did they just throw him on the team because he'll get them media coverage (as is happening now)."

      If you bothered to RTFA:

      "Mr Kinnaird took part in the CPL Winter Event, came in at a respectable eighth place taking home $600 for his time."
    • I tried to watch that 60 minutes video before with Firefox + mplayer plugin, but all it lets me watch is the damn commercial before the actual content. (It stops after the commericial and then when I hit play again, it just brings me back to the commercial). Does anyone know how to get around this? I'm really interested to watch this video as well. :(
    • Right where 2 start. Main problem is. BBC are making it out like iv just quit trying 2 go pro at tennis for gaming, which isn't true at the age of 18 i went full time with a coach and everything. Atfer around 6 months of trying i couldn't make myself play the game i just didn't love it, and trust me if u wanna be good at something u need 2 live and breath it. Anyway moving on. As u can see i haven't 'quit' tennis for gaming im just trying 2 make it in the gaming world now. Moving on 2 'pro gaming'. I dun

  • Smacktalk (Score:4, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:16AM (#14634379) Homepage Journal

    Just a little bit more smack talk in online gaming than in tennis.

    You've never seen John McEnroe play.

  • Fringe benefits? (Score:5, Funny)

    by 192939495969798999 ( 58312 ) <info AT devinmoore DOT com> on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:22AM (#14634413) Homepage Journal
    Being a pro tennis player has way better [sportsline.com] fringe [cnn.com] benefits [news.com.au] than being a pro video game player.

  • One thing's clear... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ninja_assault_kitten ( 883141 ) on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:22AM (#14634415)
    He must have never had a chance as a tennis pro.
  • A few rounds of Quake could have added a new dimension to Bobby Riggs vs. Billie Jean King.

  • Anyone for tennis? (Score:3, Funny)

    by slushbat ( 777142 ) on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:24AM (#14634431)
    I think the final of international pong championships is now a foregone conclusion.

  • Balance (Score:2, Funny)

    by SilentOneNCW ( 943611 )
    And somewhere in the world, a gamer is realizing his folly and picking up a tennis racket for some much-needed exercise.
  • I haven't kept up with tennis since my honeymoon was inadvertently scheduled in London during Wimbledon back in 2000. (I was wondering beforehand why it was so hard to get decent hotel reservations. I quickly found out why.) Is this kid a superstar or something? Is he just a marginal player? I'm just wondering if he's really backing out of a tennis career because of his love of gaming or his fear of success in professional tennis.

  • Gimme a break (Score:2, Informative)

    by cmay ( 687134 )
    I played Division 1 and a few low level pro tennis tournaments.

    I also play HL and CS a ton. You can't compare playing tennis with any video game. Give me a break.

    If you can't see the difference, then you need to look yourself in the mirror and make some changes in your life.

  • Scotland, as everyone knows... (Score:5, Funny)

    by aapold ( 753705 ) * on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:46AM (#14634591) Homepage Journal
    As everyone knows, Scotland is the World's worst tennis-playing nation. [orangecow.org]. This can only mean...

    Aliens mean to win Quakecon!

  • Fitness (Score:5, Interesting)

    by steveo777 ( 183629 ) on Friday February 03, 2006 @10:46AM (#14634592) Homepage Journal
    He'll soon change his mind when he notices the loss of energy and strength. When you work out all the time and suddenly stop there is a massive difference. You won't stay awake easily, and you'll start relying on coffee or other caffiene products. Muscles will start to atrophy without constant use, and consequently, your matabolism will plummet. Now you're storing all the energy you eat.

    Athaletes that quit cold turkey tend to turn into fat guys a lot quicker than they think.

    • Re:Fitness (Score:3, Interesting)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 )
      Or he could just continue on a workout schedule. That's what my dad did when he left baseball. He kept on working out and cut down significantly on his diet. The workouts were less rigorous but they were good enough. This tennis guy will face a challenge going from tennis pro to pro gamer but he can do if he continues with proper exercise and nutrition.

      Lots of baseball players manage to stay in shape after retirement. I imagine a tennis pro can do the same. The biggest weight gains I've seen are off o

    • Re:Fitness (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Swordsmanus ( 921213 )
      Ehh...I'd say it's good for a gamer to stay in moderate shape at least. It might help with personal reflexes, alertness, concentration, etc. At least, most of the really skillful gamers I know personally and know of aren't in horrible shape. Only a few are slightly overweight. The rest either don't work out much but are not overweight, or they work out at least once a week, though usually more than that. Even Fatal1ty, who probably plays more than most of us, isn't a fatass.
    • Oh yeah, from TFA: " He may spend eight to 12 hours a day in front of a video screen, but don't mistake him for a geek. Like most of the top video game professionals, he is an excellent athlete, and was a star on his high school tennis team. "I work out a lot -- you know being physically fit and making sure your neurotransmitters are working properly and making sure that you're on beat and you're ready to go," says Wendel. He calls that "neuro-fitness" and he believes it makes him think faster."

      Good

    • Bah, what I just posted wasn't from TFA, but from an article that another commenter added: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/19/60minute s/main1220146.shtml [cbsnews.com]
  • I'm sure this is a good career choice since from looking at the ATP [atptennis.com] which ranks tennis players I could not find him listed under Scotland (no one is listed). So I wonder how good of a tennis player he is.
  • One can make a living playing video games? I know you can sell junk from MMOGs on ebay, but nowhere near enough to earn a LIVING worth mentioning. And I've never heard of money coming from counterstrike... so I'm confused.
  • Hand eye coordination is required for tennis, basketball, and video games. If someone is great at one sport, chances are they will be good at another involving similar skills. This doesnt mean that they will be able to compete on a professional level. The best example I can give is Michael Jordan. Incredible basketball player, good golfer and baseball player.

    Only time will tell if this tennis player has what it takes to play with professional gamers.
  • I mean, I play a very competitive game of tennis against all of my friends. Only people who can *really* play ever really challenge me. I'm also a pretty mean video game competitor. I have an incredible record on original goldeneye... I haven't been beaten best 2 out of 3 since 1998. I also pwn both Super Smash Bros. games. Given a few hours of practice, I can beat almost anyone at almost any game. Especially if I practice against hard opponents. After a week of playing against the l33ts in Halo2, I start

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