An article on gamespot popped up on my radar earlier this week. At first it was impossible to assess whether it was hostile, friendly, or simply some sort of odd cloud formation. As the reports came in, and more intel was gathered, it became apparent that this particular disturbance was indeed on our side, but grievously misled .

Bacchus2’s article was actually written in response to another article, so by responding to his article I can’t help but feel some trepidation. It is difficult to determine whether this article about an article about an article situation is fitting, clandestine, or parallel-universe, rip-in-space-time unnatural, which is sort of how I feel about his point altogether. In his article he sets out to prove that somehow video games can be played, viewed, and enjoyed as professional sport. In some quasi-dimensional ultra-verse that abounds with infinite possibilities, I suppose his argument holds a hefty amount of merit. But without a supernatural event that borders reality and Isaac Asimov’s unique brand of fiction, I’d say his suppositions are strictly other-worldly.

Without critiquing his muddled English composition and leaving aside the short amount of time it takes him to resort to Wikipedia definitions, his argument for viewing video games as a sport is horribly inundated with inaccuracies and assumptions. He brings up the contention posed by many that video games cannot in any way be considered a sport, but he continues to gloss over this essential point by defining sport as “an activity governed by rules and customs often engaged in competitively,” which practically describes ever single recess I experienced in elementary school. Flicking boogers by the tetherball court (ya know, the one just off the left of the jungle gym, right by the tire swing set) is practically a past time for young children in a school yard, where “competitors” are judged on distance, size, and quantity of their mucus membranes. Everyone knows the rules, one at a time, no flicking at the other contestants (although prison rules can be invoked if it becomes clear one contestant has no hope for victory) and penalties for deviating from the rules can result in swift wedgies or prolonged periods of ostracization (at which point it is understood all assignments for the day that require partners will see you buddy up with the new kid, Weirdy McNotfromhere). But this does not constitute a sport, and any attempt to use this meager definition in proving professional gaming as sport is inherently flawed. “Activities that involve rules and customs” refers to a good deal of day to day human activities and social functions, and making them “competitive” does little to turn them into a sport. His definition of sport is much too broad, and justifying gaming as a sport based on this definition is too far a stretch to be taken with any seriousness.