Sports, E-Sports, And Jobs!

[JohnReaper]

Okay this is gonna draw some very angry, very biased people but I'm gonna do this anyway.

Earlier this week I saw a thread called "We are Team Siren." and instead of throwing that more off topic, I decided to make this to discuss a sub thought thats being debated inside it.


That thought is. League of Legends is not a sport, It is not a job. It is pathetic to play this for your lively hood.

Okay, lets handle this from square one.

Job. What defines a job? A job is a service that is done by someone for someone else in return for appropriate compensation. A plumber gets money for fixing your plumbing, The Customer Rep gets calls to deal with issues. ETC.

The main attack against Professional LoL players is that It's not a job. That it doesn't have a product for consumers.

You can say the same thing for Actors, yet people consider that a job. What do they provide? Entertainment.

So can LoL be a job? Yes, because lol players provide entertainment to thousands of users during their seasons. just like TV.

Okay LoL can be a job.

Point two, E-sports can't possibly be considered sports.

Again this is false, A sport when you boil it down to its basics, is a competition, there are competitive Fishing, competitive Football. just to name a few.

They work hard, but Fishing doesn't require the skills foot ball does, but yet thats considered a sport by popular mind.

So League of Legend is a Sport, yes it is. It requires the presence of mind to know what every 110+ champions can do against the others. How to engage, what every item does.

So lets look at this right now

The deffinition of a sport, to its bare bones: A competition for a reward against multiple participants.

The Deffinition of a job, To produce something and to receive compensation for producing it.


Honestly Esports is the whole problem, Yes their electronic sports but the electronic part attaches a stigma to the process. Like it doesn't belong.

Your thoughts? Ideas? Counter Arguements?

 

[DugMachine]

I responded to the person that started the whole issue in my thread. I agree, anything that is a competition is a sport to me. Not an athletic sport obviously but a sport nonetheless. And from this sport we get entertainment. Our views pay their salaries basically so it is in fact a job.

You're no alaskan crab fisherman so you aren't "working" too hard but it's a job nonetheless.

Whether or not someone finds it pathetic is totally irrelevant. I think having the "work is work" mind set is pathetic but to each his own.

 

[JohnReaper]

Yea but this thread is more of a shout to everyone to express the exact problem with considering LoL a job.

 

[Foolery]

I prefer just to call it competitive gaming. Nothing wrong with it, or anyone who is involved. But I will always have more admiration towards athletes who train for real-world physical sports.

 

[Gatx]

It's not the electronic part that attaches stigma to it, it's the "ridiculousness" of anything that doesn't involve strenuous physical activity calling itself a sport. It's like how people laugh when you try to call chess is a sport because people play it competitively - eSport's lack of mainstream recognition is more or less an extension of that than anything else.

 

[Vegosiux]

It's not the electronic part that attaches stigma to it, it's the "ridiculousness" of anything that doesn't involve strenuous physical activity calling itself a sport. It's like how people laugh when you try to call chess is a sport because people play it competitively - eSport's lack of mainstream recognition is more or less an extension of that than anything else.

Well, some crazy French dude solved the problem with chess [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing] and all. You win either by checkmate or by KO.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Um, ok so being a professional e-sports player is both a sport and your job just like a professional baseball player.
They both get signed onto teams under contract.
They both play as part of a team in a competition with the intent to win.
Both are done for the entertainment of viewers.
They're basically this same in every aspect except one.
One is a won through physical ability, the other mental ability.
But where's this problem you speak of?

If it's that people are knocking its legitimacy then that happens for every sport by people who don't follow it.

 

[CaptQuakers]

I will always consider E-Sports as skill games such a chess, Chess is competitive but is not a sport it is considered a skill game.

 

[KOMega]

So I took a glance at that "We are Team Siren" thread.

I saw a lot of people basically saying if you are not miserable doing it, then it isn't a job.
Which just seems kind of arbitrary and silly.

When compared to other more physical sports, I think why a lot of people think that is more of a job is because they see people's bodies being stressed.
Whereas in esports or chess for example, you don't really visually see the person being stressed. And even if they do show signs it doesn't physically compare to a guy sweating buckets.

People just want to see or know someone is suffering in some way to know that person is working I guess.
A little depressing to me really.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I prefer just to call it competitive gaming. Nothing wrong with it, or anyone who is involved. But I will always have more admiration towards athletes who train for real-world physical sports.

This is my position, too. Competitive, yes. A sport? No. There is a certain aspect of physical ability that is required for sports. This does not meet that criteria. Neither does competitive fishing. Neither are sports. Football is a sport. Even that silly American version you lot watch. League of Legends and Halo are not sports, no matter how much they want to piggyback on legitimacy by borrowing the word.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Since when was fishing a sport?
Honestly, I've been brought up to believe, and with the definition, that sports are physical activities that include exertion. So motor activities are not sports. Fishing is not a sport. Yoga, Origami and Cooking are not sports, although they are competitions. I feel competition is not the same as sport. Me and a friend could compete for someone's attention. That doesn't make it a sport. On the other hand, I do cross-country running. I do it alone, not timed, just for fun. Is that not a sport. Is kicking a ball around or playing catch with friends not a sport because there is no competition?

 

[SwimmingRock]

I prefer just to call it competitive gaming. Nothing wrong with it, or anyone who is involved. But I will always have more admiration towards athletes who train for real-world physical sports.

Why, though? As someone who gives no fuck about "physical sports" this mentality is mystifying to me. Running in a straight line for a few hundred meters, but doing it really fast, is somehow more impressive than strategizing a 20-to-60-minute war scenario and adapting to both the environment and opponents moves? How? These "real-world physical sports" generally require little to no intelligence. I fail to see what's so admirable about that. For fucks sake, just throw 20 balls onto the field, so those idiots will stop running after the one.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Ehh E-sports works fine as a title. People literally play League as a full time job, attend training runs, go through tactics... Etc etc.

I mean sure you can't break a leg in E-Sports but it doesn't mean it's not a *sport* exactly. Think this is one of those times where language has to bend slightly

Sport:

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others."

Really it's a question of how much physical exertion counts as sport level? People get injuries from playing games 24/7, breaking a leg in Football (that's Soccer if you're wrong) means you at least have to spend ages on the bench or at worst stop entirely. Now how about an injury that stops you from right clicking in League. It's the same thing occupationally right? You at least spend time off the team getting rusty or have to bow out entirely.

Honestly I have no problem with E-sports as a title or in general. At the end of the day a SHITLOAD of people like watching League or UMVC3 and the like. Seriously, how long has it been since Football's metagame shifted? How long? I'm sure if I went back to the football club of my early childhood they would teach the exact same thing. It's just boring

In comparison League has been through League of Warmogs, League of Cleavers, League of Bruisers, League of Druggies and that's just this season and S3 isn't even halfway done. Oh and now the League of Blue. Fucking Blue Builds everywhere...

Oh and fucking Team Siren. I don't care if you're all girls. If you're hyping yourselves up with a ridiculously over the top video I expect you to be GOOD. TSM and CLG have already destroyed them in Ranked 5v5 if my sources are right.


Well, women are the best right now.

 

[ThreeName]

The deffinition of a sport, to its bare bones: A competition for a reward against multiple participants.

Incorrect. Sports also involve high physical exertion. That's why hockey is a sport and chess ain't. Gaming is not a sport, whatever they want to tell themselves, just like poker. You can say it it for marketing or self-esteem or whatever, but it's not.

 

[Foolery]

I prefer just to call it competitive gaming. Nothing wrong with it, or anyone who is involved. But I will always have more admiration towards athletes who train for real-world physical sports.

Why, though? As someone who gives no fuck about "physical sports" this mentality is mystifying to me. Running in a straight line for a few hundred meters, but doing it really fast, is somehow more impressive than strategizing a 20-to-60-minute war scenario and adapting to both the environment and opponents moves? How? These "real-world physical sports" generally require little to no intelligence. I fail to see what's so admirable about that. For fucks sake, just throw 20 balls onto the field, so those idiots will stop running after the one.

Well it's certainly no disrespect or discredit to them, but I don't see competitive gaming as being comparable to real-world sports. They're not on equal footing. Also, real-world sports do require intelligence, that's a very unkind remark. But on a personal level, I just find physical feats far more impressive than anything done in a virtual world. Granted, I mostly watch winter sports. Heli-skiing, curling, bobsledding, etc.

 

[clippen05]

As someone who once played sports competitively I don't see what's wrong with the term E-Sports; its fitting. And I don't understand why there's so much hate for it especially on these forums. E-Sports are awesome.

 

[GrimTuesday]

Playing a video game isn't a sport, its just not. The fact of the matter is you're not actually doing anything besides clicking a mouse button (or controller button or whatever you're using) and not really exerting any real effort. Its a game, not a sport, just like chess, just like golf, just like darts, and everything else that falls into that realm of activities. Its just like calling shit like WWE wrestling, its not wrestling, it high risk stage fighting.

 

[Glongpre]

I prefer just to call it competitive gaming. Nothing wrong with it, or anyone who is involved. But I will always have more admiration towards athletes who train for real-world physical sports.

Why, though? As someone who gives no fuck about "physical sports" this mentality is mystifying to me. Running in a straight line for a few hundred meters, but doing it really fast, is somehow more impressive than strategizing a 20-to-60-minute war scenario and adapting to both the environment and opponents moves? How? These "real-world physical sports" generally require little to no intelligence. I fail to see what's so admirable about that. For fucks sake, just throw 20 balls onto the field, so those idiots will stop running after the one.

Woah woah woah woah woah...lets think about what you are saying. Hockey requires no thought? or football? I don't know how to respond to this.

 

[BlindTom]

I can't believe that there are people out there who think racing is a sport. You're not really doing anything you're just pressing buttons and turning a wheel.

 

[DugMachine]

I can't believe that there are people out there who think racing is a sport. You're not really doing anything you're just pressing buttons and turning a wheel.

While I think it's a silly sport, they drive at high speeds all the while maintaining control over the car and awareness of their surroundings. There's much more to racing than just "lol here comes another left turn". Making turns at such speeds would create G-forces no doubt and the adrenaline of being surrounded by other rolling metal boxes of doom puts a lot of stress on your mind I would think.