E-Sports are not sports

[CharltonChinchilla]

'Ello everyone. I am here to present another rant, it's about E-"sports" if you hadn't taken a guess already. So today in college I got talking to some people in the I.T lounge which I rarely visit. It started off alright generally small talk chit chat then somehow the topic E-sports came up. I said it needed a name change as it isn't a sport. My idea of a sport is something that is physically challenging played outside and something you can't play if you're overweight and in a pair of jeans and trainers. I asked them to paint a mental picture of a sportsman and I bet it wasn't the winner of some computer game tournament. This outraged nearly everyone in the near by vicinity and I was called ignorant, stupid, retarded amongst other things. Apparently being pro at video games takes more dedication than being good at conventional sports and also claimed if I were to say that in South Korea they would "tear me apart." Well I said my part and fucked off soon enough and just decided to finish off my work at my home computer rather than be the target of torrents of some nerd abuse. Newgrounds do you consider E-sports as real sports. Do you consider shit like Darts, Snooker, Bowling and similar things sports? Discuss.

[RacistBassist]

"A sport is an organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means."

Sorry, looks like you're wrong.

[BritishGamer]

At 5/9/11 01:29 PM, RacistBassist wrote: "A sport is an organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means."

Sorry, looks like you're wrong.

The guy I quoted is right; while the sports you think of may not count as sport due to lack of physical movements, they're still sports in a way.

[Asandir]

At 5/9/11 01:29 PM, RacistBassist wrote: "A sport is an organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means."

Pretty much this, it seems to me that you just said it to them to make them angry, to be honest.

[Wolfos]

Yeah, I also don't think it's a sport but according to Wikipedia guy above it is.
Let me take out my dictionary to settle this:
sport |sp%u0254%u02D0t|
noun
1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

New Oxford American Dictionary disagrees, E-sports ain't a sport. Just like Chess!

[Elsid]

Frankly who gives a shit.

[CharltonChinchilla]

Well this is why I asked for second opinions, by definition I guess they were right, but whenever I've gone to a sports club with some mates there's football pitches, basketball and tennis courts, but no room for you to play xbox and shit. I'm not having a go at people who play video games because I play em and enjoy them, but whenever I go online to play people I don't feel as though I'm in a sporting environment.

[Evark]

It is sport. It may not be an athletic sport, but it is a sport none-the-less.

The problem you're having is that you don't see the distinction between a game and sport. A game is a diversion, there are no professionals playing 'games'. A sport is a dedication to said game. You don't see many amateurs become totally successful at any sport.

I used to see things that way as well. But athletic ability is not what defines sport, it is just one of the many mechanics a sport may employ to provide a field of competition between it's players.

[RacistBassist]

At 5/9/11 01:58 PM, CharltonChinchilla wrote: Well this is why I asked for second opinions, by definition I guess they were right, but whenever I've gone to a sports club with some mates there's football pitches, basketball and tennis courts, but no room for you to play xbox and shit. I'm not having a go at people who play video games because I play em and enjoy them, but whenever I go online to play people I don't feel as though I'm in a sporting environment.

The sports bars in my area don't have anything for rugby, therefore, rugby isn't a sport. That's the sort of logic you are applying. Many sports are localized and have different "hangouts"

[Wolfos]

At 5/9/11 01:58 PM, CharltonChinchilla wrote: by definition I guess they were right

Since when does Wikipedia win from a dictionary?

[RacistBassist]

At 5/9/11 02:12 PM, Wolfos wrote:

At 5/9/11 01:58 PM, CharltonChinchilla wrote: by definition I guess they were right

Since when does Wikipedia win from a dictionary?

Why do you assume that a dictionary is any more accurate?

[Gagsy]

I completely get what you're saying and agree to an extent, but isn't 'sport' defined by mostly competition? Yes to me a sport is like football and tennis, swimming, rugby. And while I do enjoy darts and the odd game of snooker, they aren't to me 'real' sports. They are still though a competition based on skill which is a sport really.

[RacistBassist]

At 5/9/11 02:14 PM, RacistBassist wrote: Why do you assume that a dictionary is any more accurate?

And by this I mean why do you trust one group of people who have complete control over the definition of a word over another group?

[Dogmeat]

Wait, so if computer games are sports, that makes pretty well anything a sport...

XXXTREME READING

[SuspiciousPenguin]

At 5/9/11 01:29 PM, RacistBassist wrote: "A sport is an organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means."

Yeah what this guy says, I really enjoy watching Starcraft 2 pros matches.

[CharltonChinchilla]

At 5/9/11 02:21 PM, Dogmeat wrote: Wait, so if computer games are sports, that makes pretty well anything a sport...

XXXTREME READING

Which brings us onto shit like this should we throw the term "sport" around like that? It's a sensitive subject for some reason. I stated to what I feel is a sport and as have others, it's not too big a deal but still, I think stuff like video games and the link are more like competitive pass times to me. But can that even be considered a sport? Fuck knows.

[Lunaful]

You mean athletic activity. We class F1 as a sport and snooker as a sport. So therefore E-sports are sports.

[lolomfgisuck]

What is Chess?

I consider it on the same level as Chess

[Strength]

asdfgdf

[Yert]

You're wrong and an ignorant redneck.

[zooos]

At 5/9/11 01:43 PM, Wolfos wrote: Yeah, I also don't think it's a sport but according to Wikipedia guy above it is.
1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

New Oxford American Dictionary disagrees, E-sports ain't a sport. Just like Chess!

Even with that definition it's still a sport. It's not an athletic sport but it is a sport.

Exertion: 1. vigorous action or effort

[CharltonChinchilla]

At 5/9/11 06:48 PM, Yert wrote: You're wrong and an ignorant redneck.

One could say you're ignorant for assuming I'm a redneck even though I'm not from the country where said stereotype comes from. I'm sorry if I don't find this particular scenario "sporty."

[ArmouredGRIFFON]

Competitive gaming actually takes huge amounts of mental thought believe it or not.

The reason people make it look so easy is because A) its not widely understood or recognised, and B) because people get addicted. Like they'll play hundreds of hours a month.

Seriously long times. People in battlefield which only came out 2 years ago, have racked up 3000 active gameplay hours. That's why they're so good at it because practice practice practice.

It's still a sport, I accept it as a sport but I won't respect people for it as much, and I won't respect people AT ALL for it if its just an addictive lifestyle (rather than procreative gaming i.e. not letting it blindly consume your life).