eSports: The World's Oddest Sport

 

According to Vice (Not the same as ViceNews), there is a new international sport that has taken the world by storm. This new sport is known as eSports. In the world of eSports, gamers from around the world compete in various computer games for cash prizes. This is not the same multiplayer mode that most people are used to. The gamers that compete in such games find themselves fighting in games for $1,000,000 or more. One 21 year old gamer owns sports cars and is a millionaire because of video games. These gamers are not just the normal stereotypical "nerds" that most people think of when they think about gamers. Many are considered athletes and even given sports scholarships and athletic visas. These "athletic gamers" have coaches and agents that make them train (play games) for 18 hours a day. This great amount of playing does come with great reward. The gamers that play in such competitions have thousands of dedicated fans and even cosplayers that follow the competitions around (for more information on cosplay, you can read my blog on the topic here). One such cosplay group is known as the "Spiral Cats" from the eSports capitol of the world, South Korea. Their cosplay is nothing like that from America, as most Asian cosplay goes above and beyond, practically making the character jump out of the screen and into the real world. Also, cosplay is a full time career for those in places where eSports are popular. In South Korea, the country is covered in various gaming stadiums that allow gamers to become celebrities just for playing video games extremely well. One such gaming stadium hosted the "League of Legends World Championship" in 2014. That gaming competition was the largest competition as of yet. At the "League of Legends World Championship" various teams, such as "OMG," "Star Horn: Royal Club" (Both Chinese teams), and "Cloud 9" (An American team), are considered celebrities. Also, each team throws their "swag" to the crowd. This swag has nothing to do with the idiotic rap "swag," but instead, it is miniature figurines that basically act as advertisement for the teams. However, as the teams are considered celebrities, they most certainly act as most Hollywood celebrities do. The team leader of the American team "Cloud 9" is one such "Hollywood celebrity." When Matt Shea from Vice asked for an interview from the leader, he cut Mr. Shea off to take a selfie with one of the Spiral Cats. Later, when Shea was attempting to look for the Cloud 9 leader for the interview that he was promised, he was nowhere to be found and was later found to be hanging out with the Spiral Cats in some other location. I personally cannot see how these people can act in such a heartless manner, as I could never act that way, no matter how much of a "celebrity" I became. Plus, how could these people act like that, as they are extreme nerds when it comes down to the hard facts. Even if they do act in a "holier-than-thou" manner, these "athletic gamers" (I cannot get over than name) do have numerous sponsors. Such sponsors include Coke, Red Bull, T-Mobile, and Samsung. Many of those who cannot pay the cash to go see the competitions in person still have the opportunity to view the competitions on the live streaming website known as TwitchTV. I am personally glad that gamers are becoming "cool" now, as I personally am a gamer myself, but the whole concept of gaming being a sport still makes me laugh a little. This is not all the information on eSports, as Vice had created a five part series on the topic. I will continue to write about this in weekly segments until I have covered everything I can, so look forward to that in the very near future.

Mild suggestive language used: Viewer discretion

advised.