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Colleges Are Starting Varsity Programs For Video Games (theoutline.com)
An anonymous reader shares an article: Professional esports -- competitive video game playing as a spectator sport -- is surging in the U.S., with revenues in the hundreds of millions and growing fast. So it's little surprise that collegiate esports -- in which universities field their own teams just as they would for baseball or basketball -- has been been growing as well, to the point where players are now sometimes earning scholarships that pay their entire tuition. Stephen's College, an all-women's college in Columbia, Missouri, announced a varsity esports program two weeks ago. The University of Utah did the same in early April. The growth of varsity esports teams is phenomenal, said Michael Brooks, executive director at the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), a non-profit organization that is working to set standards and build infrastructure for the scene. NACE launched in September to advocate for college esports, initiate communication between schools, and provide information to program directors interested in varsity esports programs. At the time, there were only seven varsity esports programs in North America. Now there are 34 varsity programs in total, and 31 are members of NACE. Brooks expects the number of varsity programs to double by August.
Gamers are predominantly male. Won't catering to yet another male dominated activity create a hostile and exclusionary environment on campus?
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
The NFL is a non-profit too.
As much as people like to complain about video card costs; it should be fairly difficult for this nonsense to be nearly as expensive as the more traditional flavors of college sportsball.
is competitive video games that are actually fun to play and watch.
Something like Blood Bowl would probably be pretty good, because there's a lot more thought that goes into playing it
See subject: Sports, 1st of all? Are dumb. Yes, this is coming from a former NCAA lettering 1st string jock (for a national power in their division) - it's even dumber than competitive sports (especially @ the collegiate level)... I've also heard its coming to the Olympic games (video gaming? Please) as well!
* So, why are sports "dumb"? Well, in collegiate academia, it's no longer 'fun' (it's made even harder work training than it is in highschool & mine was a power in football (state champ but we were caught training early in summer than allowed 1 yr. & heavily penalized) + lacrosse (the sport I stuck w/ even though I was better in football - I was "ok" in this game though, good enough to play NCAA & start my freshman year)). It's a job you ARE underpaid for (most guys do not get 'full rides' you get some aid to play like room & board to live on campus) & you're NOT THERE TO PLAY GAMES, you're there to LEARN (your chosen careerpath in life hopefully & not everyone has that option either)...
Will I say sports keep you in shape (a good thing)? Yes, absolutely... but your mind WILL outlast your body (guaranteed, no matter how much you lift/run etc. after it's all done - I did until 5 yrs. ago & then I "tried to be 20 again" & destroyed my rotator cuff... no more benchpresses forever (none worth doing that help @ least) - I was told "look out around 45-55, you break down easier, & sure enough it happened..."
* Yes, I loved my video games (Wolf3d for DOS until Doom III) then, I "lost my love of them" (I bought Doom IV just to have another 64 bit game here w/ Hexen II port to 64 bit but... I just don't feel the same about gaming anymore - something changed. I'd rather write code to be honest, even when you "hit a wall"/'writers cramp' & it gets frustrating - it produces something useful is why).
APK
P.S.=> Don't get me wrong - I loved the game I played (same feelings Jim Brown had about football vs. lacrosse, exactly) but it was just a game... but @ least it KEPT YOU IN PHYSICAL SHAPE - video gaming doesn't (makes you get OUT OF SHAPE if anything)... apk
Gamer guys LOVE LOVE LOVE gamer chicks. The greater risk here is that the environment will be TOO welcoming of women.
And also, unlike most sports, women can actually defeat men at video games, due to the high reliance on strategy, reflexes, and dexterity over strength and mass. So it is a much more balanced playing field.
If you can be 200 lbs overweight and play it with competitive success, it's a game, not a sport.
We ave an established term for these: "video games". There's nothing wrong with them. But they are not "sports".
What about next year when the video game d'impulsion du moment changes flavor. Opps, need a new varsity team.
As a parent of 2 young kids its a constant struggle to get them to play outdoor sports instead of video games. One argument I have been using is it may help you get a college scholarship if you are good at a sport. Now that argument is going away I wonder what excuse to get them out in the fresh air.
**Life is too short to be serious**
That whole competitive video gaming thing seems like one enormous scam targeted at gullible children. Seriously who the fuck are the mindless drones that basically play one gamer over and over and over and over and over, to bloody infinity. The most mind blowing stupendously boring and pointless activity. I like gaming, I like learning new games, I like games with replayability but fuck being forced to play the same game over and over and over again driven by greed and empty bullshit marketing targeted at children, fuck, I would rather lay bricks out in the sun.
What kind of marketing shit will sick adults target at children next. http://www.skynews.com.au/news... there are some seriously sick super greedy adults out there.
Like playing computer games, then play them, do not watch them, seriously play them. Look it is all so stupid, do the same thing over and over and over again and you will be better at it than other people who do not and instead do a lot of interesting and varied stuff. The only thing keeping that bullshit going is marketing targeted at children to manipulate them, make them feel inferior because they can not play that well, so they can try to make themselves feel better by buying worthless shit.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
it should be fairly difficult for this nonsense to be nearly as expensive as the more traditional flavors of college sportsball.
E-sports has one expense that ball sports lack, namely a royalty payable to each game's publisher. The owner of copyright in a proprietary video game has the exclusive right to authorize public performance of its audiovisual work, and a game's publisher can sue any school that streams its matches or makes captures available for later viewing without a license.
Let's face it: this is stupid. It's a stupid idea. Sports are about showing off what the body (and mind together) are capable of. e-Sports just isn't the same. Video games is a much more appropriate name.
I had to beat off the throngs of adoring coeds with my slide rule.
You mean the life they're not really allowed to enjoy anymore because legions of governments, insurance companies, employers, and schools think fun is too dangerous, costly, or just bad for the bottom line?
I bet you did a lot of beating off in your glory days
See subject: You WISH you were me (but you have it wrong & you're projecting your own "StRaNgE" desires onto me)
* I don't do that (bet you do though, impersonator).
APK
P.S.=> It's great to have such a devoted (albeit twisted) fanclub/set of "secret admirers", lol... apk
They smell money and want a piece. 'Student' gamers who don't get paid next?
So, who audits the software to make sure that no one is silently rigging matches?
Until these "esports" players are told to piss in a cup, they are not sports.
Even chess tests for drugs.
Video Game High School (IMDb)
In Japan, they do tank battles as a sport.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I just want to see how corporate meatheads in charge of picking which website categories to block handle this one... Imagine ESPN.com with video game coverage on the front page... how will they block video game websites but not their precious sports websites?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Game_High_School
Further evidence that the U.S. educational system is a complete joke. The inclusion of physical sports is absurd and needs to be eliminated. Just because they're now including a more geek-friendly kind of competition doesn't make it any more acceptable. The world is laughing at us. AGAIN. There's going to come a time when a degree from a U.S. "college" (let alone an actual University) is worthless.
varsity leagues for regular athletic sports have the same restrictions and often charge their members fees for participation as well.
A set of schools that play a ball sport is free to start a new league without having to pay the owner of exclusive rights in the sport. This isn't true of an e-sport.
And yes, there can often be restrictions on who can broadcast what as well, which happens just as often in the professional leagues as well (NFL is a well know abuser to take down "illegal" rebroadcasts. Olympics are another).
The difference is that with ball sports, these rights are controlled only by the league, not by the owner of a whole sport. NFL is one gridiron football league; others exist, and no law prevents a few hundred athletes from starting their own, such as USFL and XFL. Olympics is a league; there are other leagues for every sport contested at IOC events. A game publisher has legal exclusive right over all leagues playing that sport; each league has to either kiss the publisher's behind or stop playing an entire sport.
Or social justice warriors who think a man's gaze is the equivalent of rape? Microagressions?
...but... Colleges should not be allowed to give scholarships for anything other than academics or financial need and still keep their tax-exempt status. The reason for hiring the best athletes (the reason for sports scholarships) is to make money. Since it's a for-profit enterprise, it should be taxed.
Rip 'em Eaters!