I really like sports, traditional sports to be specific. I like talking about batting averages, on base percentages, and the 2002 Oakland Athletics. Unfortunately traditional sports are not at the same popularity as they were in 2002, so passionate sports fans have to try and adapt to the new world of sports and gaming. And thus, the phenomenon known as Esports has begun. Instead of actually learning about Esports, I’ve decided to take an alternative approach to the situation. Today that means very badly explaining a handful of tweets about it. Catfish Hunter would be so proud!
- Somebody is Trash, probably
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Overwatch is a game, a pretty popular one. It has a lot of characters presumably, and the one on the left here is probably more popular than the one on the right. At first glance I thought the one on the right was a reference to a Pokemon character, but that’s probably not it.
- This Esport is a Sport!
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The only company I know that makes video games centered around traditional sports is EA (it’s in the game y’all), and this does not look like an EA game. This person tweeted at the account @Esports_New_Era, which seems like an organization working to revolutionize Esports entertainment, maybe by including more traditional sports content?
- Discord
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Discord is an app for gamers. I like to call it gamer social media, and nobody has corrected me on that yet. In traditional sports lingo, I guess it’s like the locker room for gamers?
- Excitement
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This is Turk from the iconic show Scrubs, expressing excitement about joining an Esports team. I’ve previously written about the unparalled excitement that Esports players have for Esports, and I think this fits that theme. They have a lot of passion for what’s going on!
- Esports Fans
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My major argument in the debate over whether Esports is a sport is the difference in fans. It’s very easy to be a fan of traditional sports, you can hop on Amazon and buy a t-shirt, follow scores on ESPN, and go to games at a stadium. The world of being an Esports fan seems different, but I’ve been told it’s actually similiar. Apparently there are Esports groupies? The world is a wild place!
- Traditional Sports Structure
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I’ve seen a few Esports teams tweet about their rosters, which is definitiely something showcased a lot in traditional sports. I imagine that they also have similiar structures in hosting tryouts, evaluating skills, and putting the best people on their roster. No word on whether they have alternates as well.
- Colleges Are Involved!
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I guess it’s become a pretty mainstream thing to have an Esports team at colleges across the country. UW Stout has a growing Esports department, and they’re recruiting people for tryouts soon. Exciting things! It’s a new world for Esports gamers!
- Esports ESPN?
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ESPN is the holy grail for catching up on your news in MLB, NBA, NFL, or virtually any other recognized traditional sports. I’ve never seen Esports featured on ESPN, and I guess they’ve adapted to the lack of regular coverage? #EsportsESPN
- Just Dance is an Esport?
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Is there a list of what the Esport games are? I’m super confused because that’s basically just a two person game. I feel like it’d be hard to build a team around that kind of game. It would be super crazy to see a Candy Crush Esports team though!
- There’s a lot of Lingo
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I would like to seriously say that this meme is about the Transformers series, as there just isn’t a ton of usage surrounding the name Optimus in pop culture. I’ve also only seen this meme with Thomas the Train, apparently this character is from their spin off show, so that’s now a fact you know!
Maybe some of these tweets made actual sense to you without explanation? If so, more power to you! Esports is a crazy addition to our lives.