On the fifth of March, 2015, Dictionary.com added the term "E-sport" to its lexicon. Here, "Esport" is defined as competitive tournaments of video games, especially among professional gamers. This had been a long time coming. While it doesn't seem like much, it was very much so a victory for professional gamers. But this came as a shock to many users of the site. "Why would we care what E-sports are?" replied a user. "Tell those kids to go outside" said another. The rise of competitive video games, or e-sports, has been a long and slow one- and still has a long way to go. As it happens, simple video games have been around for ten or more years but the controversy begins when professional gamers are compared to their athletic counterparts in "the real world." 

As a society today, we spend a lot of our time watching sports. We wake up in the morning and check the scores from last night; our phones ring when our team scores; our friends play in three different fantasy leagues at once. Sports are all over the place. Another favorite pastime of the general public is video games. And while video games are generally seen as an activity for kids or teens, many adults play too. The issue of whether or not e-sports should be considered actual sports surfaces when these two entertainment powerhouses collide. There's a lot of animosity, especially in recent years between the two. Why is that? For hundreds of years, humans have obsessed over sports whether they were playing the sport or spectating it. In an article published by The Verge, Vlad Savov said, "so long as there's been human culture, sports have been an integral part of it. In their many forms and over their long history, sports have provided relief from the drudgery of daily life". In this sense, competitive video games could be seen as the new kid on the block. Nobody likes him yet because they haven't bothered to sit down and talk with him a bit; to see what he has to say. According to an article published by Fox Sports, "if you can accept a liberal definition of 'sport,' then video gaming is now a genuine, no-exaggeration, spectator sport with sponsorships, leagues, championships and well-known superstars who pose for pictures with fans" (Corcoran). But the question is- why should we care about professional gamers and their respective games? What does that matter to the general public? This struggle to define e-sports as real sports is important to you because it is, in fact, a social issue. Many professional sports analysts agree with me- that competitive video games should be considered real sports; and we'll get into that in a moment. The people that disagree are the general public. And the general republic is really, millions of people. "Quit wasting your time and go do something productive" (Skipper). Athletes, for example, want to be held higher than gamers. "He sits in a chair staring at a screen all day" (Skipper). This is a call to action; to remove this stereotype of a guy who still lives in his mother's basement playing World of Warcraft or the college kid that failed out because he was too busy getting that next prestige in Call of Duty. 

These stereotypes might have applied five years ago, but the world of video games, like the world of sports, evolves quickly; and are far from true anymore. Speaking from personal example, I force myself to get school work done before I play any sort of game because my parents engrained that into my head when I started playing. Anyway, if we fail to address this issue, we virtually ignore the modern quest for equality. Injustice comes in many forms and failing to recognize the achievements and/or interests overall of others is one of them. On the other hand, if we make a conscious effort to better this situation, what we will accomplish is, quite simply, respect for people that deserve it. You don't have to like competitive video games to appreciate the work that professionals go through to play them. This is our opportunity to give credit where it's due; to respect the craft of someone who works day in and day out to be the best in their competitive online game. Certain competitive video games, or e-sports, should be considered real sports because of the professional gamer's work ethic, his love and respect for his game, and how he conducts himself in-game and away from the keyboard.

When my father told me he had found an opportunity for a job in Greenville, South Carolina, I was thrilled and timid by the thought of moving. I would be entering middle school when we arrived, which was 5th grade. All these kids went to elementary school together; they all had friends already. I remember that first day of class in Mrs. Williams' room, we were all asked to say our hobbies and interests. When I said that I liked sports and video games, I instantly saw the other guys on the opposite side of the room smile at me. It was because of these two interests I made so many friends so quickly. All through high school and now, college, I continued to pursue these interests. I've had an enjoyable combination of sports and video games in my life for almost nine years now. This gives me some credibility on the issue of competitive video games being considered real sports; and I'll tell you why. I have grown up around both sides. I know why each side feels the way they do, and we'll get into that in a moment, but before we do, this is what Michal Blicharz, a karate expert who was asked to coach a StarCraft II team after he retired had to say about e-sports. "Judo and e-sports are not that dissimilar. There are tournaments, you have to climb up a ladder to eventually compete with the best. In terms of training you have to put in the same amount of hours, perhaps even more in e-sports. You study strategy, technique and opponents. All the elements are there  --  the excitement, the adrenaline, players crying tears of sorrow and joy" (Diers). What a description. This is exactly what I personally think of when it comes to professional sports and e-sports alike. Now before we get into the argument and comparing both sides, let's look at the recent Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament in Columbus, Ohio as a place to start. This was the biggest event in CS:GO history, with a prize pool of one million dollars to the winners. Twelve teams entered, the top eight got prize money, but only number one took home the milli. These teams of five practiced for at least seven hours a day, honing their skills, perfecting their placements, studying their opponents for six months for one tournament. According to an article published by Sports Illustrated, "the viewership (in reference to broadcasted e-sports tournaments) is there: More fans (27 million worldwide) watched -- online -- the 2014 League of Legends world championship final between South Korea's Samsung Galaxy White team and China's Star Horn Royal Club than saw the clinching games of last year's World Series (23.5 million), NBA Finals (17.9 million) or Stanley Cup finals (six million)" (Apstein). All the teams had sponsorships and hundreds of thousands of fans screaming their names, waving their country's flags. I daresay that sounds like something similar. 

Despite what concerned parents or haughty athletes will tell you competitive video games and sports are very similar, and that entails the non-professional type of each and the professional. When it comes down to it, professional gamers behave very similarly to professional athletes in different sports. Here are a few examples. Call of Duty pros, for instance, but a big emphasis on intimidating their enemies during the game. This includes chants, yelling in general, and little spats on social media. I personally connect these pros with professional football because of those tactics. It's not uncommon to see football players try to be menacing. Another example would be Defense of the Ancients 2 players. DOTA players generally keep quiet and don't draw too much attention to themselves- they let their plays do the talking. Their team is like a second family, striving for that championship title. I personally connect these pros with soccer because of these actions. It's standard for soccer players to be all about earning the respect of the fans. The point is, professional gamers and athletes are very similar in the way they practice, interact with teammates, interact with fans, seek sponsorships, and above all, how they show their love for their game. 

For the sake of clarity, let's compare sports and e-sports from my point of view first, then later, the point of view of others. A major part of being the best at anything, really, is loving what you do. It is hard to get anywhere if you don't absolutely love your craft. As an example, that's why I quit football in seventh grade. I hated it, to be frank, but I had a feeling cross country would be different. So I have running a shot and I really loved it. I looked forward to practice every day and especially to the meets. I trained and trained all through the summer months for six years just for that infamous final, wintry race on the sand hills of Columbia. I truly loved it. By the same standard, I loved video games. When I started playing competitive matches with friends, I was awful. Consistently the weakest link for a while, I knew I needed to improve because I cared about the game. I wanted to win. So every day, after school, cross country practice and homework was finished, I'd click on that little desktop shortcut and pick something specific to work on every night. But to wrap up this personal connection, the moral of the story is that the way many people care about their sport is the same way people care about their video game. Therefore, work ethic and love for the game are two of the most important similarities between sports and e-sports. For example, Jeremy Lin, a point guard for the Charlotte Hornets and an avid DOTA player himself, helped cast a playoff match in the most recent DOTA 2 world championships. He stated that, 

"DOTA is really just like basketball. It's five vs five, you have three major positions, and in both, the higher the skill, the more teamwork and cooperation you need to be successful. It really comes down to playing your role to the best of your ability, all the while, making sure you're helping your teammates in every way possible. These guys practice DOTA as much as I practice basketball, if not more; which I think is awesome" (McNeil). 

Now, let's move on to comparing sports and e-sports on the topics of sponsorships and fan bases. Video games have been around for a while now, but competitive video games are more of a recent fad; and the industry in general is already skyrocketing (Groves). In that same article, Groves mentions a whopping ten and a half million viewers on livestreams alone for this past year's Call of Duty finals. Like athletic sports, e-sports professionals wear jerseys. These jerseys generally rep all the team's sponsors- Steel Series, Monster Energy, Logitech, Red Bull, Razer, just to name a few. Sponsorships are what these players live off of, and in some cases, thrive. Each team generally has four to eight sponsors, each giving the team different sums of money to use and positively rate their products. While athletic professionals are generally sponsored by bigger companies such as Nike, there's been talks of Coca-Cola sponsoring a few League of Legends teams in 2017. Now that's exciting. But the big kahuna is the fan base. Every team in the e-sports world has fans. Some cheer a team on due to their play style, some for their strategy, some for the classiness of the players, but many cheer a team on because they represent a country. It is very common for players on the same team to be from the same motherland. For instance, my favorite DOTA team is made up of Americans. I cheer for them because I like the players first and foremost, but I want the USA to take any championships away from Asia, who seem to win everything in the e-sports world, that we can! That being said, the fan bases in sports and e-sports are huge: "It's probably safe to say that the New England Patriots fan base is the size of Team Empire's fan base" (Flint). Team Empire is a Chinese based DOTA team that have been around since the game emerged. And Flint's statement makes a lot of sense. Tons of Americans cheer for the patriots the same way that tons of Chinese citizens cheer for Empire. It works both ways. 

It wouldn't be fair if we were to brush aside the opposition to my argument. We've compared sports and e-sports in different categories, but now it's time to contrast them. Now, the people that disagree with me do have solid points. These points include: seeing gaming as unproductive, the lack of physicality in video games and furthermore why professional athletes should be held higher than gamers. It's very easy to see why people would see video games as unproductive or a waste of time. These people are most likely parents who see their child's grades dropping because of a Call of Duty addiction; and that's valid. But ignoring the talent and work of professionals is a little over the top. The main point, however, is the lack of physicality in video games. And this is why not everyone agrees with e-sports being considered real sports. This main point is what is holding e-sports as a productive industry back. According to that same Sports Illustrated article from before, sport is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment (Apstein). But now, here is a quote from my Sports and Entertainment Management teacher, Professor Kenyon. On February 11th, 2016, he said "that's the thing about sports. The definition has changed over time and will continue to change. And I would imagine that one day soon, e-sports will have its place in that definition" (Kenyon). "One day soon" will happen when this negative stigma around video games evaporates. While in this instant, not everyone agrees that e-sports should be considered real sports, one day, enough people will change their minds. And that's why the definition of sport changes. Our society adapts the definition as we carry onward. Thirty years ago, nobody considered cheerleading to be a sport, but now it's about as competitive in America as cricket is in India. 

This issue is a hard one to tackle. The concepts are easily understandable, but too many people are hung up on the reasons against proclaiming e-sports as real sports. And this is why it's difficult. With time, however, the voices for will outnumber the voices against. It's exciting to watch the numbers rise. The DOTA world championships amassed well over 10.5 million viewers total over the course of the tournament (Cassellman). I was one of them, my eyes quite literally glued to my monitor, anxiously hoping my favorite team would win it all. My point is that you don't have to feel the hype that those 10.5 million people feel to make a difference. You don't have to like video games in order to make this better. Holding e-sports as high as athletic sports is actually quite easy; the process will happen on its own. All we have to do is recognize the achievements of others. If someone were to spend months on a stunning water color painting, or spend a whole year perfecting their half-volley for soccer, shouldn't the person that spends months perfecting smoke grenade positioning or sniper dueling get that same respect? Certain competitive video games, or e-sports, can and should be considered real sports because of the professional gamer's work ethic, his love and respect for his game, and how he conducts himself in-game and away from the keyboard. 

One Friday night at around 2:00 AM, my father opened my door to see me still playing "that crazy game" (DOTA) as he would call it. He shuffled over towards me and took a seat in the chair near the other side of my desk. He watched me click rapidly, quietly murmuring call-outs to my teammates, in order to not awake my sisters sleeping in the rooms close-by. He chuckled a bit after I got a kill and said "You're pretty good." To which I replied, "Not good enough." He got up, nudged me on my shoulder and turned my light off.

"That's what I like to hear."

