Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun

Posted by Zonk on 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.

17 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Fame a Factor? by christian.elliott · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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, check it out. I found it quite interesting.

    --
    Fractured Element
    1. Re:Fame a Factor? by Flaming+Babies · · Score: 3, 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.

      --
      The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
    2. Re:Fame a Factor? by PFI_Optix · · Score: 2, Funny

      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...)

      --
      120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
    3. Re:Fame a Factor? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    4. Re:Fame a Factor? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Informative

      And what'dya know? Wikipedia has an article.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    5. Re:Fame a Factor? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Informative

      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 even played Duke Nukem 3D, and most of them have no idea that it was based on (really cool, IMHO) 2D games. "Terminal Velocity", "Descent", "Commander Keen", and "Wacky Wheels" are just so much noise to them. "Wing Commander" is something that old fogies keep bringing up. And PC Gamer is just another game magazine, not the center of the gaming universe.

      Face it. The gaming generation that made games happen has long been eclipsed by all the johnny-come-latelys. That is why no one seems to know about this stuff.

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    6. Re:Fame a Factor? by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Funny

      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 careers. Before: "I'm a professional tennis player" - good! After: "I'm a professional computer-game player" - you must be joking... ;-)

      --
      Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
  2. Smacktalk by grub · · Score: 4, Funny


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

    You've never seen John McEnroe play.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  3. Fringe benefits? by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Being a pro tennis player has way better fringe benefits than being a pro video game player.

    --
    stuff |
  4. One thing's clear... by ninja_assault_kitten · · Score: 3, Insightful

    He must have never had a chance as a tennis pro.

  5. Anyone for tennis? by slushbat · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think the final of international pong championships is now a foregone conclusion.

    --

    Don't put off until tomorrow what you can leave until the day after.

  6. Balance by SilentOneNCW · · Score: 2, Funny

    And somewhere in the world, a gamer is realizing his folly and picking up a tennis racket for some much-needed exercise.

    --
    games journalism blog
  7. Gimme a break by cmay · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

  8. Scotland, as everyone knows... by aapold · · Score: 4, Funny

    As everyone knows, Scotland is the World's worst tennis-playing nation.. This can only mean...

    Aliens mean to win Quakecon!

    --
    "Waste not one watt!" - CZ
  9. Fitness by steveo777 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.

    --
    This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    1. Re:Fitness by hal2814 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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 of retired bodybuilders and American football players who previously had to have massive caloric intake to keep up their muscle mass. They just can't seem to adjust to eating a lot less food.

    2. Re:Fitness by Swordsmanus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.