I'm 26 I don't understand why being popular would make it a sport. Is American Idol a sport? It's a competition, clearly, but I wouldn't call it a sporting event.
What is your definition of a sport? You have yet to quantify that. If it's something that has to physically be done then you clearly don't understand how much hand-eye coordination is needed at the top level for First Person Shooters.
I don't see why this is so difficult for people to grasp. Ballroom dancing is also competitive and requires infinitely more physical skill than playing video games, but it's not a sport. Sorry.
I agree, but it's already on all the time. This isn't even breaking new ground. ESPN already covers something I wouldn't consider a sport. I don't really consider Auto Racing a sport either, and it's long been accepted as one. I not sure where you would draw the line between a physical talent and skill.
If it's impossible to break a sweat while doing it, it's not a sport, it's a game. See: poker, pool, darts, dominoes, chess, horseshoes, washers, shuffleboard, bowling, etc....
I'm guessing the audience. I don't see a lot of tweens caring to go to ESPN for esports over say, twitch, YouTube or Twitter. This is part of the dying moans of the once most powerful network in the world. The are losing customers by he droves, their format is dying and they will do anything to attract a newer, more educated base.
Curling is an Olympic sport; no one is working up a sweat doing that bull****. You can say bowling isn't a sport but that's been on ESPN forever, so obviously your definition and the rest of the world's differs. Baseball players literally spend half their time sitting on a bench staring at the game. If it's a pitcher's duel, even more than that. To me what defines a sport is competition that is not judged. In other words, gymnastics is not a sport because it's a matter of opinion who wins. In video games 9/10 there's a clear winner and a clear loser.
Your argument is incongruous. Some of these things are not like the others. Bowling takes some athleticism and being in better shape certainly helps. Pool and horseshoes take dexterity and keen hand-eye coordination. Shuffleboard the same to a lesser degree. You could argue that the bigger a thing is, the more competition there is and the better the players. When you get down to that razor's edge, athleticism and being in good shape make the difference. That makes it a sport. I've broken a sweat playing a video game and poker (from excitement). But you have a point- board games aren't sport, and neither are video games. Or car racing, for that matter (which has had focus from ESPN from their inception). I suppose the distinction is sitting and not moving much. But if it's competitive and draws audiences, why not have a section about it on ESPN? Very minimal effort to draw in more views.
Uh, that's not a good analogy. Spelling bees require an ability to spell in front of an audience. Video games actually require you to do something. Try again.
And the difference between memorizing and executing the spelling of a word and memorizing and executing a command on a computer are what exactly? Please don't say, the use of fingers
im not trying to get anyone's panties in a knot, I just don't define gaming as a sport. I'm going to take the Potter Stewart approach to defining it.
Dude, my argument is so ****ing congruous. But you have a point about bowling, I retract that statement. If you can do it while sitting on your sofa, it is not a sport.
Are you ****ting me right now? Have you played a video game before? Memorizing a word and aiming a shot/ability while tracking 8,000 other things that are going on in a video game is completely different. No one is trying to pay anyone millions of dollars for a spelling bee. Counterstrike for example: 1: you need to track where your teammates are. 2: you need to be listening for foot steps/gun fire 3: you need to be looking at your radar 4: you need to be listening to teammates' comm for information 5: you need to be paying attention to what plays were previously ran and what grenades were previously used to determine if a similar play is happening. 6: you have to try and shoot the people on the other team before they kill you. 7: you have to track how much money you and your teammates have so you don't end up screwing up your economy and putting yourself in a position where you can't buy top tier weapons. 8: you need to track how much money the other team has so you can screw them. That's just counter-strike, games like League of Legends are more complex. Please don't try to engage in a discussion if you have no clue what you're talking about.
Seclusion, Calm down and take a deep breath buddy. I will counter that being paid to play video games has no connection to the ability being more complicated than say playing chess. The reason folks are making money playing video games is solely because of the audience. People like to watch other people play video games more than watching people spell words. This is a question of consumerism not merit. It's not a sport.
You can think what you like, but video games as of now are infinitely more complex than chess. Comparing the two is an oversimplification. Yes, surprise...people find watching other people play video games more interesting than watching chess -- there's a hell of a lot more going on. I see you have nothing else to say regarding your comparison to a spelling bee, what a joke. You can argue until you're blue in the face that they're not sports, but guess what the ESPN section is called esports for a reason. You might as well get used to the term, it's only going to become more prevalent -- if you don't like it, I suggest avoiding the internet for the rest of the century.
