They walk among us everyday like they’re one of us, even though they are superior to us because, hey, they’re athletes and for that we should worship them. But it didn’t come easy for these few, esteemed, individuals who possess abilities that we can only dream about. Only through hours of practice did they get to where they are today. Glory is made out of hard work and dedication, and that’s what athletes strive for everyday-even if their sports of choice are video games. One of these athletes is junior Keith Davis. His specialty is World of Warcraft, also known as WoW. World of Warcraft is known as a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORG). The beauty of World of Warcraft comes through the player interaction with each other in which players make alliances with each other and fight their enemies. Davis’s greatness is a result of his tough practice routine, which entails taking a nap when he gets home until seven, then playing for seven straight hours, going to sleep at around 2 am, and then going to Mormon seminary at 5 am. Although, this is an extreme day for Davis, generally he plays whenever he has time. Why does he go through all of this? “I just play for the love of the game,” he said, “there is no better feeling then just owning the hordes.” Another popular game is Counterstrike, which is often referred to as CS. In contrast to our friend Keith Davis, junior Justin Gleason has another reason for playing the game. “I’m just hoping that through all this practice, maybe one day I might be able to make it to the big leagues and buy my mama a crib,” he said. Currently, Gleason plays in the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL) whenever possible, and when he plays in public servers he gets accused of hacking (cheating) for being so good. But Gleason has a good reason for displaying his skills. “Whenever I play, I give it 110%, because how else am I going to make it to the big leagues?” Gleason added. The “big leagues” refer to Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL). CPL holds tournaments throughout the world and has hosted a variety of teams and players usually regarded as the best in their respective games. In the case of Counterstrike, the CPL uses teams’ CAL performance as a factor in seeding at its events. As of now, Gleason’s team is off to a good start with a 2-0 record in an 8 game season plus playoffs. With a good start, it would seem as if Gleason’s team is already thinking about a deep playoff run and potentially a championship; however, this is not the case. “It’s important that we just take it one game at a time, so we stay focused on winning games,” Gleason said. When asked about his greatest CS moment, he responded with a scene filled with action that Ice Cube would be jealous of. He said, “I was a terrorist and had the bomb planted. It was just me left versus the last remaining counter-terrorist. I went up and out of the site through the window and tricked him out of his shoes. He went into the bomb site, and then I jumped back in through the window and shot him in the face. The best part was that it was my only bullet left, and I just owned him like he was Nick Joo.” Often, we live without heroes to look up to and to be inspired by. In times of despair and darkness, we often become discouraged by the seeming emptiness of life. Whenever this happens, look to athletes like Justin Gleason and Keith Davis, who are a shining example to us all.