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Braves bond over Mario Kart during rain delay

C

Cerium

Member
From MLB.com

Now if this were viral marketing, you'd think that they'd get the name of the products right.

ATLANTA -- As they waited through a three-hour, 12-minute rain delay during Tuesday night's win over the Pirates, several Braves players passed the time by competing in an intense Mario Kart Racing tournament within SunTrust Park's spacious home clubhouse.

The participants who played on the Nintendo Wii Switch included Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, Sean Rodriguez, Jim Johnson and Jace Peterson. They each played six races, and the winner was decided by who had the most points at the end.
Full Game Coverage

"We love it, and it brings back the good 'ol days," shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "It is fun and competitive, and it's entertaining."

In most of the races, the winner was Markakis, who uses the character Princess Peach to navigate through the numerous racetracks. According to teammate Luke Jackson, Markakis' skills are top-notch, and he showed that during the rain delay.

"The best in the clubhouse is definitely Nick Markakis, as he is phenomenal," Jackson said. "[Eric] O'Flaherty is pretty good, Ender is good and Sean Rodriguez is an actual solid sleeper pick. But Markakis is probably clubhouse champ."

Markakis said he plays a lot in his free time at home. Yet, he said that the rain delay helped the team build more chemistry and lock in before resuming play.

"You've got to have some camaraderie in the clubhouse, and some fun other than baseball," Markakis said. "We are here for one thing, and we realize that, but when you have down time, you've got to have some things to do. It is just one of those things."

The love for Mario Kart has spread to others in the Braves' clubhouse. Pitcher Sam Freeman doesn't play the game much, but as he prepared to pitch the seventh inning once the game resumed, he kept himself calm by watching the competition unfold.

"We play during rain delays, before games and it is like a unique team-bonding experience," Swanson said.

Jaylon Thompson is a reporter for MLB.com based in Atlanta. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Click to expand...
 
A

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
What a freaking weird thing to write an article about.

... The OP is right though, You'd think Nintendo would pay the MLB.com writers to get the name though.
 
S

Strings

Member
I too play MKR on my NWS,

fellowkids.jpg
Click to expand...
 
A

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
Just wait until ARMS and Splatoon 2. These casual Mario Kart Switch owners are going to lose their shit.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Nintendo created artifical weather to drive up demand as usual.
 
T

The Argus

Member
Adam Prime said:
What a freaking weird thing to write an article about.

... The OP is right though, You'd think Nintendo would pay the MLB.com writers to get the name though.
Click to expand...

There are 2430 games in a MLB season. So yeah, they gotta write about something besides substance abuse and rain delays.
 
I

InsertCookiesHere

Neo Member
Not really a surprise, lots of professional sports players play video games.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Adam Brooks streams NHL 17 and that Hockey Ultimate team stuff on Twitch semi often via PS4, Auston Matthews holds Call of Duty tournaments at his home.
Mitch Marner plays Mario Kart with team mates on the Switch during team flights.

Mike Babcock, the Leafs head coach has commented on the players playing XBox in the locker room.

The target market for the overwhelming majority of video games neatly overlaps with the gender and age group of most professional sports. They have a decent amount of dead time where there isn't much to do, and their surrounded by other males their own age a lot of the time. No surprise their often going to gravitate towards games to fill that time.


On the female side, both Ellie Black (Canadian Olympic gymnast) and Maddie Gardiner (NCAA Gymnast) own/play a Nintendo 3DS. Gardiner has commented a bunch of times that she's a diehard Pokemon fan, there have been pictures of her bedroom filled with Pokemon stuff. She's also talked about her favourite WiiU games.
 
A

ASaiyan

Banned
Hellsing321 said:
Is the Wii switch just an add on for the Wii?
Click to expand...
This is the new system. You add it to your Wii or you don't even need to use the Wii. Do you need to use the Wii? You can just use it on your own, but you can also use it with the Wii.
~Jimmy Fallon, 2012

Serenitynow said:
If you aren't 100% confident in the name of something you mention in your article, it might be worth the 10 second google search.
Click to expand...
I don't need Google, I'm an experienced reporter and I know darn well that Nintendo's new white console is called the PlayStation 4!
 
S

Serenitynow

Member
If you aren't 100% confident in the name of something you mention in your article, it might be worth the 10 second google search.
 
X

xochipiltontli

Member
lol I remember setting up my Switch at launch and my roommate's boyfriend called it a Wii Switch as well. Have heard other people calling it that since, too.
 
K

Kicko

Member
I think what we're seeing is just how strong the Switch introduction video was. People are actually living out the scenarios that were presented to us in that ad. Nintendo did an excellent job of showcasing interesting things that you could do with the Switch's unique form factor, and I'm sure it certainly appealed to actors/athletes (or anyone's who's profession requires them to travel often) to a great deal.

Take a look at this video of Washington Capitals hockey player Jay Beagle and his response to being called an idiot by Phil Kessel of the Pittsburgh Penguins during their second round match up of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. His idea of "settling" things is quite interesting to say the least. The Switch hype is real. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Z4jOGaq3Q
 
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