16 Year Old Winning 3 Mil. From Fortnite is a Problem
Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf just won 3 Million Dollars by winning the Fortnite World Cup and this is the worst thing for parents, kids and just about anyone who wants this generation to succeed. I could be totally wrong, but I see that as a kid and I don’t see any reason to do anything else than play Fortnite. Say goodbye to Little League, Pee-Wee Football, Hockey, Soccer etc. Say hello to sitting on my couch with a controller in my hand. Granted, the kids who actually play the real sports will always be the alpha’s compared to the e-sports nerds, but still this is not a good sign. The original dream for kids was to be a pro-athlete. They looked up to the players that were winning championships, defying the odds, talking sh*t and making a name for themselves. This made them want to be just like them and actually go out and play the sport. Whatever sport it may be, it got kids to be active and moving. Whether they were any good at it or not wasn’t the point, they got into good shape, learned some great life lessons along the way and had some memories to look back on. Now, the kids see this pre-pubescent high schooler make millions by playing a damn video game and guess what. They’re going to try and be just like him. Good luck getting little Jimmy off your couch now. He’s hard at work trying to become the next big thing in e-sports. Meanwhile his diet consists of Mountain Dew and Doritos and he’ll never see the light of day. He’s got no need to go out and see his friends, he’s talking to them online playing squads. This is not what we want for the upcoming generation. To make matters worse the kid who took 5th made 900 f***ing K. You don’t even have to be the best to make bank. Literally anyone with a controller and time can get elite at Fortnite and make this type of money. No more looking up to Lebron James, Sidney Crosby, Tom Brady, Bryce Harper or Lionel Messi. Nope. Too much work to try and become them. Let me become the next Ninja or the next Kyle Giersdorf by sitting down for hours on end. And why shouldn’t they? Why would they put in hours of physical exertion and dedication and risk getting an injury worse than a sore thumb or Carpel Tunnel? They could literally never have to break a sweat to chase a dream of becoming a millionaire before they hit puberty. The World Cup even lowered the minimum entry age to 13! An 8th Grader could make more money than the vast majority of the UFC roster with almost 0 physical exertion. Not to take anything away from these players, I absolutely suck at Fortnite and I will admit it takes a tremendous amount of skill. However, this is supposed to be a sport, hence the name e-sports. The same applies to music, with the rise of EDM and dubstep artists. We’re seeing less and less people playing instruments and singing and more and more people making electronic music with their computers. Again, absolutely nothing wrong with this, I could never do what people like Marshmello, Two Friends, and Skrillex are doing but I would hate to see the art of a great guitarist or singer be lost. Maybe this is a sign of the times with the digital age in full force but in my opinion, there is no substitute for the real thing. A real conversation face to face, real music being played by real people, real sports with real sacrifice and effort. Let’s not let these things be lost in translation because there are intangibles that cannot be replaced by texting, EDM and Fortnite.
