Curt Schilling has a better, blowhardier way

March 6th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Curt Schilling has made no secret of his affection for video games. One of the most entertaining things I’ve ever posted at FanHouse — besides this photo of Ryan Braun fielding pop flies — was the story that revealed Schilling as Scythehands Voxslayer, Everquest junkie. Even in a jock-ridden, macho culture like baseball, it’s kind of cool that Schilling is so proudly nerdy. Because if one thing bloggers like about their athletes, it’s everymanishness. (Not Brett Farve everymanishness, though. Especially not from Plaschke.)

After he finishes collecting free money from the Red Sox this year, Schilling’s next adventure is his video game company, 38 Studios. In an interview with Venture Beat, Schilling talked about why his company will be different from EA Sports (hint: they won’t force you to work 70 hours a week) and revealed the inner blowhard he can repress for only so long:

Q: What is your World of Warcraft character?
A: A 70 Hunter and a 68 Shaman.Q: How many hours of playing have you put into it?
A: I will not publicly admit that.

[…]

Q: So it’s not out until 2010?
A: It will be interesting after this season is over and it becomes a full-year thing. I think the hard stuff of getting it up and running is done. There is a leadership aspect. We have a Monday morning all hands every week for 15 minutes. We say where we are at and boom, let’s go. Don’t come in at 9 and then get charged up by noon. Let’s go. Remember, I stitched up my frigging ankle and kept playing. So let’s go.

The lessons: If you want to have a 70 Hunter and a 68 Shaman in the World … of Warcraft, you’ve got to be tough like Baseball Legend Curt Schilling. You can’t just walk into any old game like Bioshock and start hunting Big Daddies without dedication. You can’t waltz onto XBOX Live and expect to be a 35 Halo 3 player. It takes work! You’ve got to stitch up those thumbs and dab some fake blood on them so people really know you’re giving it everything you’ve got. That’s the only way, junior.