Great Debate: Are eSports sports?

Guybrush · 05-19-2012, 01:45 AM

It's a sport, innit? It's an e-sport.

I know that sports are meant to be physical activities. That being said, the focus on the physical aspect is the only real difference. Off the top of my head, I can find many similarities between StarCraft and a competitive sport like f.ex boxing, as GB rightly points out in his first post. I also think the competitors on top of their games definitely have very fined tuned dexterity and are highly observant and organized in their minds so while they may not be "physical" like we might expect from people who do sports, I don't think they're doing something just anyone could do with enough training either. They have some natural ability from birth which gives them an edge.

~~FireWaterBurn~~ · 05-19-2012, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

It's a sport, innit? It's an e-sport.

I know that sports are meant to be physical activities. That being said, the focus on the physical aspect is the only real difference. Off the top of my head, I can find many similarities between StarCraft and a competitive sport like f.ex boxing, as GB rightly points out in his first post. I also think the competitors on top of their games definitely have very fined tuned dexterity and are highly observant and organized in their minds so while they may not be "physical" like we might expect from people who do sports, I don't think they're doing something just anyone could do with enough training either. They have some natural ability from birth which gives them an edge.

I'll disagree about gamers having some sort of natural ability and I'm not sure the point of that comment either. Are you saying real athletes don't have as many natural abilities, or are you showing they are similiar in that real athletes have natural advantages too? The bolded part is exactly why it's called a game and not called a sport. The main difference is the physical aspect like you said, which just so happens to be the main factor in determining if something is a sport or not.

Guybrush · 05-19-2012, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireWaterBurn

I'll disagree about gamers having some sort of natural ability and I'm not sure the point of that comment either. Are you saying real athletes don't have as many natural abilities, or are you showing they are similiar in that real athletes have natural advantages too? The bolded part is exactly why it's called a game and not called a sport. The main difference is the physical aspect like you said, which just so happens to be the main factor in determining if something is a sport or not.

I know it's a game. I'm not contesting that.

I think in most sports, some will have a natural advantage. They will be the right size body for example. A great distance runner won't necessarily make for a truly great boxer. I don't think just about anyone can compete with the best in StarCraft either. The competition is that hard. So I really just wanted to point out that these people are "athletes" at their own game, just like olympic swimmers, runners, soccer players or pole vaulters are.

05-19-2012, 01:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	It's a sport, innit? It's an e-sport. I know that sports are meant to be physical activities. That being said, the focus on the physical aspect is the only real difference. Off the top of my head, I can find many similarities between StarCraft and a competitive sport like f.ex boxing, as GB rightly points out in his first post. I also think the competitors on top of their games definitely have very fined tuned dexterity and are highly observant and organized in their minds so while they may not be "physical" like we might expect from people who do sports, I don't think they're doing something just anyone could do with enough training either. They have some natural ability from birth which gives them an edge. __________________ Something Completely Different