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Old 04-17-2012, 12:48 PM   #84 (permalink)
Janszoon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anticipation View Post
The inclusion of games like darts, snooker, pool, bowling, etc. in this discussion as a justification for why "eSports" should be seen as true sports is ridiculous because none of those activities meet the criteria I would deem most necessary in any definition of sports. That being physical contact with another human being, and the significantly high chance of serious injury resulting from said contact. There's a reason that people value the big 4 sports much more than they do "professional video gaming", and it more than likely has something to do with the fact that athletes are putting their bodies on the line every play and risk tearing ACL/MCL's, concussions, and broken bones, as opposed to having sore thumbs and tired eyes from watching a monitor all day and night. True athletes are constantly pushing the limits of their bodies and minds, and sitting around with a controller in your hand is most certainly not as physically taxing as outright contact at high speeds. Just because you have an organized and competitive framework does not immediately justify you calling yourself a sport. There has to be a level of physical contact in conjunction with a high degree of mental stress, not one or the other. There are games, and then there are sports. In my eyes it is this key difference that separates the two.
I can't say I agree with your definition there as it means that everything from tennis and volleyball to every track and field event is not a sport. Surely track and field, at the very least, as forms of physical competition that go all the way back to the ancient Olympics, should be included in any definition of sports.
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