Hey everyone..

I wrote this little article during the time of the World Tour which was about two years ago when I was working with SK-Gaming. I wrote it in an hour or so, proof read it, and soon after the TsN Interview with fatal1ty, I published it on the SK site.. It was later taken down by the guy-who-hates-americans, also known as Iantje. A writer from aAa saw this happen and came to me and interviewed me for an article that he was going to write about SK taking down this article... So after about 2 years, I bring you an article that was only published for about an hour.. It is entitled, Fatal1ty - Pro Gamer, No Manners

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Fatal1ty – Pro Gamer, No Manners

I realize that if you’re a person like Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel and you’re in a position where the entire media wants to get a piece of you with interviews and questions that it becomes repetitive and you might lose sight of yourself. I also realize that in a tournament where the prize money is enough to retire with and the time schedule is so tight that you’re often in a hurry to go places, whether it being a bathroom or water break and then head back to your chair.

A few hours ago I was watching the TsN-MTV broadcast of the CPL World Tour Grand Finals in New York City and the TsN casters were interviewing Benjamin “zyz” Bohrmann from SK-Gaming and the interview went well. They both kept themselves in a calm and professional manner and the Q&A went well. This was a regular interview between casters and the gamers and there was nothing exemplary or awful about it. Standard. Then came the time when Wendel was to be interviewed. I was disgusted.

The bottom line is in being a professional gamer, you carry the title of being “professional” and when you carry that you must act just as professional as your gaming skills. Having said that, you do not walk out of an interview until the interview is completely over. And you know when the interview is completely over when the casters stop talking and give you the OK to leave. It’s as simple as that.

The interview started off great and I saw my fellow American answering thoughtfully and just giving an all round good interview. Up until the end where the TsN caster exchanged his thanks for giving him and the viewers the opportunity to hear Wendel’s views on what he thought of his recent match against Bohrmann. Wendel stood up right in front of the camera while the interview was still in progress and just left. I don’t think the viewers were prepared to be face to face with Wendel’s nose hairs let alone the rudeness of leaving while your interview is still in progress and the interviewees are still talking. The look-over and the expression on the caster’s face says it all.

Case in point: A few stops ago the same thing almost happened. Bohrmann had just won a match and in TsN fashion he was being interviewed and towards the end of the interview Bohrmann took off his headset, places his hands on the arms of the chair and began to stand up. He got half way off his chair and then something we call “manners” kicked in and he completely stopped, looked around and realized that it would be improper of him to walk out and leave just as the casters were finishing up the interview and sat right back down. He sat there for over a minute waiting for the casters to finish their segment and then left when everything was clear. That, my friends, is professional.

How impatient does a person have to be to have to stand up and leave when all you have to do is wait for a maximum of a minute or two, wait for a cut to commercial, and then leave when you are given the “OK”. TsN is developed enough and structurally stable enough to know that they need to give their interviewers the opportunity to leave and not go from interview to casting a match without cutting to commercial. Fatal1ty fans can argue his actions with some unnecessary bravado but the truth is he was wrong in assuming he could just get up and leave any time he wants. No one can just get up and leave anytime they want.

In closing, Fatal1ty is a big name and represents a lot of what gaming is all about. So when someone of this caliber shows that they can’t follow the proper etiquette while getting interviewed, what message does this send to the massive amount of people, particularly investors, watching this, on MTV might I add, very important tournament about the tournament and the gamers? Not a very good one.