I recently had a conversation with someone who was obviously quite anti-gaming and refused to consider that gaming could be viewed as a sport, "Who the hell want's to watch kids playing games" was his reaction, I tried to explain team gaming and said that if darts and snooker can be considered a sport then why not gaming, but it was going nowhere so I showed him this video of the 'League of Legends Season 4 World Championship 2014 in Seoul, South Korea', the look on his face was priceless Personally, I'm not a fan of watching gaming but it's fascinating to see how gaming has progressed. Added a poll just to see what people think.
It's a sport but just not a healthy sport but neither is being tackled hard in rugby or fouled in football or any contact sport prone to accidental or foul injuries so I suppose as long as you keep exercising, sleeping & eating OK it's one of the healthiest sports going. Awesome show they put on for it though & that trophy looked pretty badass.
It's an old argument, define a sport, if a sport requires a lot of physical exertion then why are bowling and fishing considered sports, personally, I think it's more about the competitive aspect of person against person or teams against each other, I don't see why gaming at the level these teams play at shouldn't be considered a sport, the level of hand/eye coordination and tactics required are as essential in gaming as they are in bowling or snooker, but that's just my view.
It was an awesome show, and you are right about contact sports and injuries, I practiced martial arts and rode motocross when younger and acquired enough injuries to ensure I will have enough aches and pains to last me a lifetime
Don't take my position as to undermine the level of skill required to play games at an international competitive level or that it takes time, practice and natural ability to get to that level. I just think that a sport should have an objective out come (no points based on form, style etc) and require a reasonably continuous level of athletic exertion during participation. Have something called skill games for the likes of e-sports, darts, snooker etc. Have some other name for things like synchronised swimming, ice skating, the high dive and the like. Whilst these are incredibly athletic they are subjectively scored. If we consider things like this a sport, then things like competitive ballet could be a sport. I'm not sure what you would call it though. Subjective Athletics doesn't really have much of a ring to it. That thing where they make horses do funny dances (demeaning both the horse and the rider) should just fall under the category of circus entertainment. I'm just an advocate of applying a level of granularity to various competitive things.
I personally find it hard to consider playing computer games a true sport but reluctantly admit that there are aspects to them that meet the criteria, such as reaction time and precision. I suppose one way of looking at things is this: if chess is considered a sport, why not computer games? I suppose there's still the image of the 'nerd' who lives at home with his mother and is incapable of dealing with real life. However, at least nerds don't have track records of shooting their girlfriends (eh, Oscar?), take drugs to enhance their performance (eh, Lance?*) or any other number of weird and wonderful crimes, or at least not yet. The problem for me is that even though I like computer games, I don't find the ones chosen for tournaments to be interesting. Seriously, why the hell is DOTA2 popular? Personally, I believe the DOTA community should be shaken up a bit to get rid of all the foul mouthed tossers who can't handle the fact that they're losing or that maybe, just maybe, people are playing it for fun. I also get irked by some of the games like Counterstrike that make out to be a simulation of terrorists versus counter-terrorists but allow things like bunny-hopping and the ability to headshot someone from across the map with a fecking pistol. It makes me wonder: are there any military simulation games that actually take into account that firing an automatic rifle actually really hurts your shoulder, or that holding a gun is quite tiring, or that spending a few days in a tropical rainforest leaves you feeling knackered. What about the potential of being caught having a crap in the woods and trying to shoot someone with you trousers around your ankles and the fact that you haven't got time to wipe and so the itchiness of your arse hole is making your aim wander. What about maybe having to wear a gas mask because of a chemical weapon risk and only being able to hear your own breathing and having your sight obscured by your own breath. Ah, bollocks to it. *For the record, I think Lance was justified in his drug use, being at the top of his game - he should have just been more open about it.
If we consider these as qualifiers for sports then surely a battle of the bands is a sport where you need to react to your band mates moves in a timely manner and be precise enough not to hit bum notes.
They are in my opinion, but I'm not that bothered if they are considered one. I enjoy them and I enjoy watching them, and if by them being classified as a sport it means they'll grow and get better then I'm for it, but on a personal note it doesn't really bother me. The official definition seems to say using physical activity and skill, rather than either/or, so I guess snooker/chess wouldn't be considered a sport, but I tend to think of it as one, mainly because if it's only a 'game' then it's not considered as good or whatever, and I consider quite a bit better than a lot of 'real sports'
I'd say yes. To me most things can be a sport if you can make it competitive and it's something that can attract a deebt audience/spectator element. There can be immense physical exertion in fishing if you go for a strong or fast & challenging fish in deep water like Bluefin Tuna, Swordfish, Blue Marlin, Pacific Kingfish, Sailfish or a Tarpon. Never managed to hook one myself, but if you get yourself a Giant Bluefin Tuna on your line you could be fighting for hours, or even a whole day, with a 250kg+ beast that won't give up until you either let it go or pull it onto the boat.
Gaming most definitely is not a sport just as poker is not a sport. It is a skill and people compete. Chilli bake-off is a competition but I wouldn't call them athletes. I also doubt we will ever see mathletes as a teem sport in the summer Olympics.
I voted no. I like the idea of competitive gaming though, I think it is really fun and should be more popular, people should try to win prizes and enter competitions and be the best they can be at their favourite games. I would have loved to enter a competition for games when I was younger, for Quake or UT or something. But I don't see it as a sport because it involves no physicality. I feel the same way about stuff like Snooker too.
PBS Ideas Channel covered this topic about a year ago, so I'll just leave this here... along with the feedback
Definitely not a sport. It's a game. Other things which are competitive but not sports. Some of these are games. Some of these are activities. Chess. Monopoly. Spelling. Scrabble. Gurning. Dancing. Beauty pagents. Moustache championships. Pooh sticks. Duck racing. Egg rolling and... Worm charming. IMHO Ballet and Ballroom dancing are also not sports and therefore neither are figure skating and certain 'a bit too dancey' gymnastic disciplines. If I was in charge of the World Wide Definition Of Sport (W.W.D.O.P) not only would I give myself this cool acronym to work behind I'd alter the definition of sport to include anything that involves cardio work (Who was fastest) weights work (Who lifted the most), distance (how far, heigh) or aiming accuracy (Who got closer to the targets centre). All other definitions of sport will be null and void, and judging on anything other than speed, weight or aiming accuracy would not be allowed. Virtual sports are not allowed. So DOTA games are out, as is 'Track and Field" on you Z-80 computer of choice. So darts is a sport as it fits the same criteria as archery or javelin, but only if the rules are so you must score on accuracy alone and keep moving the board back to make it harder. Hmm I seem to have allowed Shove ha'penny into the olympics. Oh well, if we were to rid the world of figure skating there had to be sacrifices.
