Update! If you want to comment/give suggestions, go to the author's twitter http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge. Do not flame him please. He has responded well so far and it is clear that he is trying to cope with the hate.
Hello! Today, IGN.com announced that Gordon Hayward will be playing in IPL 3. In addition, TL.net posted a great interview with him.
However, a news article on CBS.com ( http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/31802184 ) essentially bashed e-sports (specifically StarCraft 2) and said that the idea that Gordon is playing StarCraft 2 while the NBA is in a lockout is an "embarrassment". He bashes the idea of video games and nerds without having an open mindset. This article additionally posts other random false facts about the Gordon Hayward situation. The article basically shits on StarCraft 2.
Here are a few quotes from the article:
"When a 21-year-old, 207 pound forward doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the NBA to a freaking science fiction video game we know that the NBA game has been cleaned up too much. If a Zerg attack really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning shot, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?"
"Hopefully Hayward's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrassing chapter in the history of the league."
"DeseretNews.com reports that Hayward will be playing video games professionally." (Seriously? Inviting a low level player to an amazing tournament to gain publicity makes him a professional StarCraft 2 player?)
Please discuss your opinions on the article, but do not turn this into an all-out bashing/flame war thread. Don't step to their level.
Edit: PLEASE stop calling the author a "F**k tard" or anything of that nature. Stay civil.
Sad to see a backlash, this all comes down to people misunderstanding the game and what it takes. I think Gordon Hayward can easily tell these people how wrong they actually are and I hope he does.
The one interview was suppose to be more of a joke anyway, I guess they are taking it seriously?
Also, if they think the stress of NBA players is up, just think of all the people who are semi-pro or are pro and not getting paid a ton and scraping by, do they think that has no pressure. Or the pressures of competing in a 64 man tournament with some of the top players from around the world? Playing a Bo7 TvT, coming down to one last siege tank break or an important tech switch.
Some stinging criticism toward the author is probably the best way to go about this article or perhaps getting into contact with the editor (without going on personal tirades and keeping it civil).
I can see why this would be a problem to cbs news from their perspective. None of them really understand esports and what it actually means, they're all really ignorant to think that playing a video game during the NBA lockout is an "embarrassment" and in my opinion it's articles like these that fuel the fire to all these critics of video games and is hurting esports. I hope Gordon can make them feel otherwise, but I feel it won't make that much of a difference. DJ wheat needs to go on there and bash some heads together and clear everything up
On September 08 2011 11:46 Steelavocado wrote:Please discuss your opinions on the article, but do not turn this Into an all-out bashing/flame war thread. Don't step to their level.
I'm very doubtful this could turn Into anything but. CBS just comes off as really dumb to anybody who's not ignorant about it and the rest just mindlessly follow it because it's written down. To be perfectly honest I'm astounded at how macho "haha what a loser nerd over there" the entire thing sounds. Christ here I thought this wasn't the 90's. Whatever. I think I'm about okay with this
I can't tell who is trolling harder. Gordon Hayward with his hilarious spoof video or CBS with their "nerd baiting." It's almost like their bloggers saw the Jon Finkel incident, saw his video and decided to go for the free page views.
Hayward's video was hilarious and I hope he has a good time in the IPL open bracket. He may even be pretty good at Starcraft by then as abilities in competitive venues seem to transfer.
Ugh. I don't follow basketball at all, but this is just reinforcing my aversion to the sport. Unfortunately, you can't teach old dogs new tricks, so we'll just have to wait a couple decades before the current media establishment dies out.
On September 08 2011 11:46 Steelavocado wrote:Please discuss your opinions on the article, but do not turn this Into an all-out bashing/flame war thread. Don't step to their level.
I'm very doubtful this could turn Into anything but. CBS just comes off as really dumb to anybody who's not ignorant about it and the rest just mindlessly follow it because it's written down. To be perfectly honest I'm astounded at how macho "haha what a loser nerd over there" the entire thing sounds. Christ here I thought this wasn't the 90's. Whatever. Stupid sports writers who were jocks in high school are mad about being washed up. I think I'm about okay with this
You quoted it and then did exactly what he said not to. Edit your last line and put down an intellectually thought out opinion about their piece. You are no better than then by saying "Stupid sports writers who were jocks in high school."
Today I learned that the NBA is in lockout. Welp back to doing what I love and ignoring shit sport leagues. The only thing your gonna learn from this is haters gonna hate, they might perceive esports as a threat or a joke towards there own well being.
I am always amazed at how closed minded some people are. In this day an age people still condemning things without giving the a fare shake. For shame Golliver, For shame!
The two things I love the most are basketball and Starcraft 2. I've played on the school team for basketball and I'm in masters and I get an adrenaline rush from playing both games. Both are equally as challenging.
It really pisses me off how ignorant some people can be.
"When a 21-year-old, 207 pound forward doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the NBA to a freaking science fiction video game we know that the NBA game has been cleaned up too much. If a Zerg attack really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning shot, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?"
This quote kind of upsets me. Just because he plays basketball in the NBA doesn't mean thats all his life should be about and that feeling any sort of emotion towards anything else is wrong. He is a person just like anybody else, and has a multitude of likes, interests and passions. To state such a vile comment just shows complete lack of professionalism imo.
Although it's easy to get extremely riled up over someone trashing the hobbies of many, livelihoods of a few, I think a step back should be taken from the article as a whole and really put into perspective:
i) This isn't some 12-year old prick who is ignorant because he doesn't know better, this is probably a 30 to 40-year old asshole who will never change his mind, even to his deathbed. Giving his stupid little blog your attention does show that Starcraft2 and ESPORTS has a support group, but I personally feel like all it does is give this dude more publicity than he deserves.
ii) IT'S A BLOG. He can say whatever he wants. If you want to get passionately infuriated about something, go to 4chan and try your hand at e-fighting against pedophilia comics.
iii) I personally feel worse for Gordon Hayward. He is just doing something he loves/wants to do, it HASN'T EVEN HAPPENED YET, and already the assholes and dicks are coming out of the woodwork to perpetuate some artificial status quo about society. He probably won't ever read this, but I hope he can keep all the haters from getting to his head.
iv) But yeah, if I could torture this blogger, I'd kidnap him, strap him down to the finest computer chair I can afford, and have him play starcraft until he realizes what all the hype is about.
Fuck that guy, sees something new and his instinct reaction is to mime alarm noises and yell nerd alert and run away like a 10 year old boy runs away from cooties -_-.
Reminds me of a homophobe/xenophobe. Incredibly stupid. CBS, on the off chance you read this, I'll get my evening news from NBC now considering you have bigots like Mr. Golliver on staff. Thanks.
"Maybe the author would be interested to know that Tim Duncan was an avid StarCraft 1 player, playing for hours on his laptop with teammates on flights. I wonder if he would consider Tim Duncan "soft"."
Yikes, people (mainly TLers probably) are flipping out on him on twitter and he's saying "it was a tongue in cheek post." I don't really believe him but I also feel like people are overreacting a little bit.
Maybe we should just chill out a bit on the ad hominem "you're-a-terrible-writer/person" attacks...
Edit:
On September 08 2011 12:05 danson wrote: Manny laying down the heat!
"Maybe the author would be interested to know that Tim Duncan was an avid StarCraft 1 player, playing for hours on his laptop with teammates on flights. I wonder if he would consider Tim Duncan "soft"."
Probably the most coherent Twitter response I've seen so far. Once again, for the billionth time, we should all follow Mani's example (he's @Manifesto7 on twitter).
So, wait, I thought the whole IPL thing was a joke at first. It was an obvious mockery of the LeBron thing.
Even if he's playing for sure, and not in the open tournament, it's a publicity stunt. Gordon is in like Platinum league or something.. he's on my friends list right now and the highest I ever saw him was like high Gold. Edit: Yes, he is in Platinum league.
I actually live in Salt Lake City and love the guy.. think he's a total stud on the court. But that detracting from his NBA life? Yeah right. Dude gets paid like $4M/year to play ball and has a bright future ahead of him. He's going to 1 pro SC2 event mostly as a marketing target and somebody makes a huge deal out of it?
And this is why you don't go bashing things you don't know about on a news site, it makes you look incredibly stupid. You should at least put way more time into actually researching the subject hard and going to events before you form an opinion.
On September 08 2011 12:05 thedirtyleg wrote: Yikes, people (mainly TLers probably) are flipping out on him on twitter and he's saying "it was a tongue in cheek post." I don't really believe him but I also feel like people are overreacting a little bit.
Maybe we should just chill out a bit on the ad hominem "you're-a-terrible-writer/person" attacks...
I don't think it's wrong to say he's a terrible writer if he's written an article that was in our eyes bad. How good he is as a writer is reflected in what he writes, and this was clearly bad.
That said, that doesn't make him a bad person. Just an ignorant person who makes negative assumptions and for some reason likes to bash people for their hobbeys. Or at least that's how this article makes him come across.
Why can't it just be impressive that a basketball player at the highest level has non-traditional interests? He's a smart guy, do we want all athletes to be gangsters and meatheads who only enjoy clubbing and knocking up random women? Assholes.
It's not that this guy is dumb; it's that he's a writer for a sports network that is so terribly inept at researching his subject matter. You'd think if he's going to TOUCH a subject (e.g. sc2) he would at least (AT LEAST) do enough digging to see that his "joining a video gaming league" was largely a parody.
I tweeted to Mr. Golliver this: "But Mr. Golliver, even when your blog is tongue in cheek--it's TERRIBLY inaccurate. You didn't realize it was a parody"
He tweeted back this: "I think we'll agree to disagree on this one but thanks for the feedback."
Haha, so his blog is all tongue in cheek according to his twitter. For some reason it just doesn't look that way and I doubt he even knows what TL or MLG or GSL is in the first place.
On September 08 2011 12:04 Hyren wrote: Tongue in cheek? Does he even know what that means?
Please explain it to me, I've heard the term before but not really sure what it means.
It means he's telling a joke, and to stop yourself from laughing when telling a joke and to help keep a straight face, it's helpful to place your tongue in your cheek. Hence the story was "tongue in cheek."
Except this one wasn't funny.. mostly it was just another example of piss poor researched journalism passed off as an "opinion blog." Journalists who have blogs, should be held accountable for their lack of journalistic standards held within, they are journalists aren't they?
Basically the guy takes the situation too seriously. Clearly Gordon is doing PR for us, and clearly his priority is the NBA. Come on. This guy is just looking for press and attention. And also a scapegoat for his frustration with the NBA at the moment. Hell, I hosted a sports talk show for 3 years, so I love my share of sports, but this guys is going a little too far.
On September 08 2011 12:04 Hyren wrote: Tongue in cheek? Does he even know what that means?
Please explain it to me, I've heard the term before but not really sure what it means.
It means he's telling a joke, and to stop yourself from laughing when telling a joke and to help keep a straight face, it's helpful to place your tongue in your cheek. Hence the story was "tongue in cheek."
Except this one wasn't funny.. mostly it was just another example of piss poor researched journalism passed off as an "opinion blog." Journalists who have blogs, should be held accountable for their lack of journalistic standards held within, they are journalists aren't they?
So Ben Golliver basically just Epic Trolled all of Teamliquid.net?
Maybe it's just me. I don't really care too much to give stupid opinions a whole lot of attention.
Haters gonna hate. Skaters gonna skate.
On September 08 2011 12:16 Htw wrote: Props to Gordon for promoting esports when he undoubtedly knew things like this would happen.
Knew? Lots of athletes play video games in their off time. A COD event just happened here in LA that had some NBA players attending. Why is this a big deal? Because some jerk with a blog made a post not unlike those made in IGN's comments section? Who cares.
On September 08 2011 12:04 Hyren wrote: Tongue in cheek? Does he even know what that means?
Please explain it to me, I've heard the term before but not really sure what it means.
It means he's telling a joke, and to stop yourself from laughing when telling a joke and to help keep a straight face, it's helpful to place your tongue in your cheek. Hence the story was "tongue in cheek."
Except this one wasn't funny.. mostly it was just another example of piss poor researched journalism passed off as an "opinion blog." Journalists who have blogs, should be held accountable for their lack of journalistic standards held within, they are journalists aren't they?
So Ben Golliver basically just Epic Trolled all of Teamliquid.net?
Yeah, but there isn't a video that is over the top and it is all in writing so it looks like another nerd bashing blog (which it is) and he is trying to cover his ass by saying it was tongue in cheek. The funny thing about tongue in cheek is that you can actually see someone doing that in person, through text it just looks like he is being an asshole.
On September 08 2011 12:04 Hyren wrote: Tongue in cheek? Does he even know what that means?
Please explain it to me, I've heard the term before but not really sure what it means.
It means he's telling a joke, and to stop yourself from laughing when telling a joke and to help keep a straight face, it's helpful to place your tongue in your cheek. Hence the story was "tongue in cheek."
Except this one wasn't funny.. mostly it was just another example of piss poor researched journalism passed off as an "opinion blog." Journalists who have blogs, should be held accountable for their lack of journalistic standards held within, they are journalists aren't they?
So Ben Golliver basically just Epic Trolled all of Teamliquid.net?
Yeah, but there isn't a video that is over the top and it is all in writing so it looks like another nerd bashing blog (which it is) and he is trying to cover his ass by saying it was tongue in cheek. The funny thing about tongue in cheek is that you can actually see someone doing that in person, through text it just looks like he is being an asshole.
Well he keeps replying with the "tongue in cheek" post so it makes him look really stupid.
LOL oh man. sports journalism sometimes is just so awful.
EDIT: I don't know why the author wouldn't just go out and say his opinions about the softness of the current state of the NBA than using SC2+gordon hayward as a target for his anger.
On September 08 2011 12:14 Demonace34 wrote: Haha, so his blog is all tongue in cheek according to his twitter. For some reason it just doesn't look that way and I doubt he even knows what TL or MLG or GSL is in the first place.
Tbh, he's just playing the easy card, like when someone on an internet forum says something ridiculously stupid and when he realizes it, his excuse is "lol you guys got trolled"
Couple personal thoughts on this, with all the recent eSports/media controversy lately.
Firstly, trying to reach out to this guy on ANY level to change his mind isn't even worth fathoming in my opinion. Yes there are a few notorious figureheads of the community who tried to explain "our" side, in both an aggressive or composed manner, in previous cases. However, at least the receiving end of the criticism until now have been journalists in the GAMING industry, where there is maybe a shred of hope of breaching their ignorant bubble. In this case, it's not even worth a passing thought. It won't happen, and the backlash will simply be laughed upon. Sadly.
Second, if you do want to at least express that the article is extremely subjective AND contains quite a lot of misinformation, contact the editor not the author. That's the only possible way anything will be done, and that's likely just removal.
Again this is simply my own thoughts.... Those being said, stepping away from the logic and being more of a StarCraft community member and fan: It's so strange to see eSports, namely SC2, getting so much random negative attention. I suppose there are myriad positive articles and blogs boasting numbers that are hard to shake a stick at, but obviously "the vocal minority" always wins out (a fact this community is probably well acquainted with lol). I guess for the most part they ARE "blogs", so it's pretty much just PURE opinion that is easier to sneak past editorial phases and into the public eye. Also, it's pretty obvious a few of them have simply been shock articles, meant to garner attention of any type, either for the author themselves or the outlet as a whole.
Finally, personally, I feel like it's impossible to take situations like this seriously. I know the whole "one troll at a time" slogan and campaign and what not comes up, but... read the fucking article. Listen to the way he writes and how it reflects negatively on his OWN sport and image. It's so obvious he didn't give more than 2 minutes of thought to the idea of "lol NBA player plays video games in FREE TIME OH MY GOOOOOOOOD". He talks down to the NBA, to Hayward, and to professional gaming. It's purely subjective nonsense; no different than a conversation you'd overhear in a bar from someone a few pints deep. Now, you might still feel compelled to correct the guy (or hit him in the head), but be honest, if you had an option, would you aggressively try to correct the gentleman despite his obvious ignorance, or would you turn to his friend and calmly explain why it's all bullshit?
Personally, I take the latter. Or neither. Ignorance is not worth all the attention the community has given it lately. We need more threads similar to this one with summaries of all the positive articles and outlooks that eSports has been receiving during its rise in the West over the past year or two.
Edit: oh and, tongue-in-cheek? Yeah right, easy cover LOL. More like stick-in-ass
Edit2: vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv and don't have an awful mindset like this vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Pretty disappointing to see this really. NBA player can't even do something he is passionate about. It's what he wants to do while the lockout is going on, leave him be and leave us be. I tweeted @cbssports and the author, nothing volatile of course. Hopefully they will at least look into esports and consider what they're talking about before spewing "tongue in cheek" articles out.
As a competitive athlete and competitive gamer I can say that the amount of stress and pressure on me to perform well at major LANs is much higher than what is put on me in provincial finals. This comes in a large way from playing an individual game vs team sport however...
I think this guy would be suprised by how many basketball stars probably spend large portions of time playing xbox/ps3 games. I bet Gordon and all his NBA buddies are having one hell of a laugh at all of this.
Sports are an embarrassment - you jocks are just playing this fantasy game of throwing a ball into hoop for these magical points. "Stress and rigors", my ass. Real men compete on the battlefield, gladiator style to the death.
So can we throw another ill-informed no talent writer on the pile?
Gotta love those who have no true talent in their work, so their way to get reads is to garner attention by putting other down. I expected this from the likes of trash sites like kotaku, but not a CBS sports section.
The fact of the matter is that esports, while it can be highly physical in some respects, is essentially intangible, and lacks the intimate mind-body connection that 'athletic' sports do. Just because most people find it lacking for that reason does not mean that they are stupid.
Aaarrrgh I wish we could just tell everybody to chill the hell out. Some of the comments on that CBS blog are horrifyingly immature.
Most unfortunately, it makes Gordon Hayward look bad because he put himself out there as a member of our community and this is how we're choosing to represent him (and us) right now...
This is a massively embarrassing overreaction to a pretty insignificant blog article.
On September 08 2011 12:40 thedirtyleg wrote: Aaarrrgh I wish we could just tell everybody to chill the hell out. Some of the comments on that CBS blog are horrifyingly immature.
Most unfortunately, it makes Gordon Hayward look bad because he put himself out there as a member of our community and this is how we're choosing to represent him (and us) right now...
This is a massively embarrassing overreaction to a pretty insignificant blog article.
I'm sure its just the horrible trolls from Reddit, they don't represent the rest of us.
I legitimately think he was trying to be funny and "tongue in cheek" in the article, he just poorly executed it. He comes off more agressive than anything else, which was his fault as the writer. He probably should have put a little more time and effort into the blog, but i disagree with everyone who is attacking him harshly personally. Saying "Fuck you" to him isnt going to make his/the publics views of esports better.
On September 08 2011 12:40 thedirtyleg wrote: Aaarrrgh I wish we could just tell everybody to chill the hell out. Some of the comments on that CBS blog are horrifyingly immature.
Most unfortunately, it makes Gordon Hayward look bad because he put himself out there as a member of our community and this is how we're choosing to represent him (and us) right now...
This is a massively embarrassing overreaction to a pretty insignificant blog article.
I would agree. Some of the comments on there are very disappointing and immature. Personal attacks at the writer and whatnot. Express yourself logically and explain your point.
Aren't all blogs tongue in cheek anyway? This is hardly a journalistic endeavor... This feels like someone just cracking jokes about something he doesn't really understand, but is an easy target...
Look, I wish esports was more universally accepted, but it seems like the community is really overly sensitive to this kind of thing... It's just a blog...
Have you guys read the blogs on this site? I wouldn't be submitting any of them for pulitzers just yet...
Meh, I'm pretty tired of this ignorant junk, but as we've seen with the Demonoid and Kotaku bullshit, these site's traffic bumped by our rage. I doubt this will make much of a bump in their stats, so it's not as glaringly nerd-baity, it's still the same idea.
Just let it go, it won't be slowing anyone down. Esports will grow, we'll enjoy it, people who insist all sports must have sweat and tight pants or short shorts will remain ignorant, the universe remains balanced. Unless an article is going to have a legitimate impact that must be addressed and refuted, which I feel like this isn't, it's best if we just keep the discussion to ourselves, and make sure to bump the next big tourney's viewer numbers up another 10k.
All jokes aside, I hope a public flood of nerd-rage towards major news outlets doesn't (through some unforeseeable circumstance) negatively affect Gordan Hayward's Basketball career.
man Gordon Hayward is blowing up the forum, ive seen like 4 different threads about him just today xD. But ya this is silly just a close minded old school prude who is butt-devastated about the lockout. stop gathering it more attention then it deserves. let it slide for Gordon Hayward's sake
It's a sport writer that's upset about the lockout. Why would he be praising any of the players for doing other things during the time when he wants to watch basketball.
"Hopefully Hayward's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrassing chapter in the history of the league."
im pretty sure he means the nba league but still im disappointed with his article
Sports are serious business guys! Anyways, it'd be nice if this raised more awareness of the legitimacy of eSports, but it could also swing the other way and have some sort of weird effect on Gordon's NBA reputation. Hopefully not, but articles like this certainly don't help.
Thats a real shame. The obvious thing is of course what it does for Starcraft II's reputation, but to me the saddest thing is a young guy like Gordon Hayward (who is just starting his career and public image) is getting held up by this reporter as an example of how soft the NBA is. It sucks that he is just having fun, and going out of his way to bring some profile to our community (which he never had to do) and he is getting slagged for it.
Hope it doesn't discourage other people in high profile positions around the world talking about how sick esports is to watch and play
I don't really understand the avalanche of hate this started. The video and the article are both obviously trolls and they seem light hearted to me. I read somewhere in this thread a comment about any publicity being good publicity and I think that is spot on the money. This kind of thing is what makes people look into esport when they otherwise wouldn't and potentially get involved because their role models from other walks of life are excited about it. The worst thing about the whole incident is the narrow minded vitriol that came spewing out of the SC2 community. The sooner we, as a whole, grow up and behave like the big boys and girls the sooner we will truly be mainstream.
Why validate this article with acknowledgment and discussion? The types who take such an aggressive anti-esport fans aren't ever going to enlighten themselves, and the article just exposed a ton of people who have never even considered the possibility of video games being sport-worthy competitive settings to the idea.
I don't see what there is to discuss. Ignorant fellow posts a scathing article on something that will probably do more good for us than if they hadn't posted it at all due the exposure. That's it. Nothing we say here can change their opinions, nor will it alter anything that has happened. Completely inconsequential.
The article was pretty frustrating to read. The author really dismisses Starcraft and does not seem to really understand it or respect it at all. Just let Gordon do his thing and stop the judgement.
Gordon is the man. Best of luck to him in the tourny as well as the next time the NBA has a season.
that article is a sad read. wish he'd just take it down. however, he's actually responding to pretty much every bit of criticism he's been getting on this article (which is quite a lot) on his twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge - that's pretty cool at least, most would probably just ignore it
I'd even say this is more ignorant than the Kotaku and whatever other crappy article. Gordon Hayward stated he practices 6 hours a day for basketball. He is working his ass off for what he loves to do. This guy thinks he can come around and make this article bashing a guy for having a hobby? He loves to play starcraft when he's not sweating his ass off to compete with the best, who fucking cares?
Not to mention he's completely shitting on the community and the game. Journalists really need to start researching what they are writing about before they print it.
Thank god for those who made cbs accounts to set that writer straight. Hopefully he will realize what a horrible mistake he just made.
It's not even the fact that this guy basically dismisses something important to all of us as laughable, it's that he did it with no knowledge of the scene at all AND that this apparently counts as journalism. Appalling.
From what I have been reading, he knew nothing about how big Esports is. It seems that he has been messaged a ton by Starcraft fans and now he is learning about the game. What is also apparent is that he has been getting tons of offensive messages which is really a terrible thing to do as we should try and encourage someone like him to further get involved in our community. He will then know what esports is!
ok you guys, it is good to give this guy constructive criticism, but do not go down to his level and just spout memes and harass him. We need to use this opportunity to portray nerds and eSports in a positive light, think b4 you speak.
Even though I feel like telling him to sit on it and spin, I politely told him i didn't enjoy his article.
guys you have to stop being mean to him on his twitter. Just read the comments hes getting. Its pretty much confirming his views about our community not being legit... really, this is not the way to handle it.
some peoples responses are so much worse than the actual article. This man is obviously responding to the criticism with class, yet people still bash him relentlessly. He simply made an ignorant article trying to be funny. He should have looked more into the situation, but he wasn't trying to cause any harm.
On September 08 2011 13:22 Clank wrote: some peoples responses are so much worse than the actual article. This man is obviously responding to the criticism with class, yet people still bash him relentlessly. He simply made an ignorant article trying to be funny. He should have looked more into the situation, but he wasn't trying to cause any harm.
I don't believe he was trying to be funny, or as he said it. tongue in cheek in the 1st place. That's his saving face excuse after the fact. And him trying to pass that off is insulting to our intelligence, its him saying we as a community are too stupid to see when somebody is being humorous.
Well I don't really look at this negatively. If the past articles have shown us anything it's that stuff like this attracts a ton of attention. A lot of it will be angry insults, but out of all the mess there's always part of the community who tries to educate those ignorant of the scene. Given how he's responded on twitter a ton, I'd like to think the author will leave this experience with more knowledge about a scene new to him and thus be less ignorant in the future.
stop overreacting please, right now the guy definitely does not have a positive attitude about gamers and I dont blame him, learn to look the other way
David Robinson and Tim Duncan played BW on the plane in the 90s. That makes for a better blog than what this guy wrote.
If you want to write tongue in cheek, you have to have some background. You cannot just write something, gauge the reaction, and then say "just kidding guys!" But whatever.
The posters on his blog are making us as a community look so much worse... He did the typical journalism "Bait and Switch" where he posts something inflammatory with zero concern for those affected, and then when he responds to the outcry, he acts with total class and makes the responders look even worse. Stop feeding into this and making us look worse. An outcry is certainly warranted as there was zero satire or "tongue in cheek" in this article, however posts like those on his twitter are making us look exactly how he wanted to portray us in his article.
I'm not on the blog page, cause I'm not giving them any more page views, but for all the people saying we are being rude and giving the community a bad name, I don't see hardly any horrible rude tweets. I see alot of people just disagreeing with him very strongly. But nothing that comes close to our usual response. Like I said I'm just looking at twitte not the actual blog page.
The tweets all seem pretty civil, just because people are calling him out doesn't mean it makes us look bad. There is almost no profanity and no pure flaming. I am actually really happy with what the response looks like.
I actually made a Twitter account (/wrists) just to write to him. I don't want to take a dump on him, but I do feel like it's obnoxious for Gordon to get posts like this written about him. I doubt it really bothers him that much, but I just felt like I had to stand up for someone who is taking a fairly high-profile role in the community within the past few days, has an entertaining stream when it's up, and is also a great basketball player on top of it all. I don't care whether or not the author likes SC or not.
On September 08 2011 13:43 Snorkle wrote: The tweets all seem pretty civil, just because people are calling him out doesn't mean it makes us look bad. There is almost no profanity and no pure flaming. I am actually really happy with what the response looks like.
Compared to the typical sports news/blog comments, you're dead on. Go on ESPN and read some of the comment boxes for any Bears/Packers article. It's disgusting what idiot fans have to say about their rival teams.
Criticize constructively, encourage people to check out SC2 and learn more about Hayward's hobby, and #haywardfighting!
Well, I left a comment on the article. Looks like the comments already there are pretty decent; I agree with everyone in this thread that it's best we keep our objections to the article cordial.
I have to say though, it's kind of sad to see gaming still being handled this way in "mainstream" media
On September 08 2011 13:47 isM wrote: At least he isn't backing away from the criticism, deflecting some of it yes, but he has put in more than his share of responses.
Lemons become lemonade.
He is just hiding behind the "tongue in cheek" line. He isn't responding other than lying.
How sad is it that someone like this can talk like this about s "nerds" and then when we voice our opinion all of the "athletic" people jump on this authors bandwagon and say we are the bad people.... stupid
On September 08 2011 13:43 Snorkle wrote: The tweets all seem pretty civil, just because people are calling him out doesn't mean it makes us look bad. There is almost no profanity and no pure flaming. I am actually really happy with what the response looks like.
Compared to the typical sports news/blog comments, you're dead on. Go on ESPN and read some of the comment boxes for any Bears/Packers article. It's disgusting what idiot fans have to say about their rival teams.
Criticize constructively, encourage people to check out SC2 and learn more about Hayward's hobby, and #haywardfighting!
Exactly, go to espn.com and read the comments for any Yankees/red sox blog or article.
On September 08 2011 13:48 JWD wrote: Well, I left a comment on the article. Looks like the comments already there are pretty decent; I agree with everyone in this thread that it's best we keep our objections to the article cordial.
I have to say though, it's kind of sad to see gaming still being handled this way in "mainstream" media
I am not sure how mainstream his blog is but he has a lot more twitter followers than I thought he would. For every ignorant article like this Forbes seems to write at least two articles that are very nice to our community. The WSJ front page article which was actually printed was much better press and probably more widely viewed. All that to say, blog posts like this are still upsetting.
On September 08 2011 13:36 Manifesto7 wrote: David Robinson and Tim Duncan played BW on the plane in the 90s. That makes for a better blog than what this guy wrote.
If you want to write tongue in cheek, you have to have some background. You cannot just write something, gauge the reaction, and then say "just kidding guys!" But whatever.
Basically this. I started looking through other articles he's written just to see if he writes tongue in cheek articles often, but it seems like he doesn't (though perhaps the basketball humor is lost on me?).
This looks like him just falling back and saying it was tongue in cheek after SC fans start bashing him. Maybe we're just reading this article out of context, but it sounds like BS to me.
Honestly, I think this article falls squarely in the realm of "any news is good news."
Yes, people should write to the author of the site, explaining where the article goes wrong, but I'm talking about after the dust settles. This quote in particular is great:
"Hopefully Hayward's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrassing chapter in the history of the league."
I also hope it's entered into evidence. I hope it's pointed to and referenced frequently when people look back at how ignorant the world was whenever the next pro or celebrity or politician or whatever outs themselves as participating in a video game tournament or even just admitting that they enjoy playing video games.
I tweeted this to him @blazersedge I think this could be turned into something positive. You should follow a SC2 gamer for a week and compare and contrast NBA SC2
@Sheppdadio Ryne, that's the best idea anyone has had all night. Really appreciate that.
"Gordon Hayward to become pro Starcraft player" lol
It's just a hobby of his and he's not going pro in it. Wasn't Gilbert Arenas and some other NBA pros into promoting Halo? What if people get excited about competitive chess or checkers, who are they to be critical about what a person enjoys.
On September 08 2011 13:56 illsick wrote: "Gordon Hayward to become pro Starcraft player" lol
It's just a hobby of his and he's not going pro in it. Wasn't Gilbert Arenas and some other NBA pros into promoting Halo? What if people get excited about competitive chess or checkers, who are they to be critical about what a person enjoys.
This is the internet, everybody is king and knows all and MUST be critical of everything and complain about everything that is counter to what they want.
On September 08 2011 13:56 socommaster123 wrote: I tweeted this to him @blazersedge I think this could be turned into something positive. You should follow a SC2 gamer for a week and compare and contrast NBA SC2
@Sheppdadio Ryne, that's the best idea anyone has had all night. Really appreciate that.
He won't do it, he's just patronizing people and here's why, he tweeted this earlier:
'Honestly, unless he wins the money I don't think it will be newsworthy again for our purposes. We cover a variety of NBA topics.'
Seems like this guy obviously has a huge passion for basketball and any other sport just doesn't make sense to him. There are people that use this website that seem to share that attitude about anything not starcraft related. I watch both starcraft and basketball when it's happening. I read the article and I kind of chuckled at some of the remarks. I'm not offended by it. Maybe the lockout will end and the guy can get back to writing about a sport he loves? I think was the point of the article.
On September 08 2011 13:56 socommaster123 wrote: I tweeted this to him @blazersedge I think this could be turned into something positive. You should follow a SC2 gamer for a week and compare and contrast NBA SC2
@Sheppdadio Ryne, that's the best idea anyone has had all night. Really appreciate that.
He won't do it, he's just patronizing people and here's why, he tweeted this earlier:
'Honestly, unless he wins the money I don't think it will be newsworthy again for our purposes. We cover a variety of NBA topics.'
yeah I feel like his answer to me was patronizing....Imma write him another one.
I think the funny thing is that his credentials as a writer gave him the profession he has today as a sports writer, when in fact those credentials are no different than many of the writers we have in our scene and community.
He has said a hundred times on his twitter that he wrote it not to be taken seriously but seeing as all of his pasts articles have been written with the intent on being taken seriously, did he just jump on this topic and say "oh this will be my tongue-in-cheek article that nobody will take seriously" because he thinks we're the type of "nerds" that would allow that to happen?
No matter what the situation is he clearly went in with the intent on belittling a community of tens if not hundreds of thousands and is using the tongue in cheek moniker as a pretty bad cop-out.
Suggest you do this guy a favor and tell him why he's wrong yourself. Perhaps he'll realize the Sc2 community is one you don't mess with
Ok now that I don't agree with, don't spam his email. That would be playing into his stereotype of gamers. The twitter reply's are getting out point across, no need to take it to that level.
On this guys twitter, he seems to be playing the "trollin' " card. Pretty much just saying the article was a joke. Also, he says he played brood war. Why does he just add a note to the article mentioning this? He has a pretty crude sense of humor.
I just tweeted at him again asking him if he would at least consider linking to the IPL website at the end of the article as a way to "find more information."
I really hope Gordon doesn't take this as a sign that maybe he shouldn't do this sort of thing for fear of backlash and critics. I'm a huge fan of his and this sort of branching out is amazing. Does he have a TL account, twitter, anything to maybe get in touch with him and show support? I don't care what some ignorant guy thinks, but I do care about what effect it could have on anyone considering branching out like Gordon has.
<3 Gordon, keep doing what you enjoy in life.
Edit: Because this has become so relevant to me lately and I hope GH can find some meaning in it as well.
From Day[9]'s Daily #100 "There is nothing more cool than being proud of the things that you love."
Glad to see all the comments below the article calmly telling him he's full of it. It's very frustrating to see someone bash something we're so passionate about but it's no need to sink to his level.
I enjoyed watching Hayward when he was at Butler it's awesome to see him repping SC2 now that he's a pro.
Who cares what this guy thinks? Fact is: There is no1 in the world that would be like, 'Oh gawd this Gordon Hayward is playing? I better stop playing Starcraft now'. There will only be more people getting in to the game.
That writer just sounds very angry there's other things to do then basketball.
I find it funny that EVERYBODY who posted a comment on the article is a fan of SC2 and eSports and let him have it for his ignorance. I myself wrote a comment, not to make him feel bad or anything but to try and prevent that type of thinking from effecting people's views on eSports, although most people who don't know it probably feel the same way about it as he does. Like the OP says though, keep everything civil, especially if you are commenting on the CBS page. No need to give people a misrepresentation of what eSports is all about by responding with inappropriate comments of our own.
Guys, he's definitely a bit of a gamer/nerd/whatever... non-gamers would not have likely mentioned Ryu, and most definitely would not mention Excite Bike (which actually made me laugh)
So why isn't anyone mentioning that it seems for every article that paints GH/eSports in a negative light, there has been 9 that has stayed relatively positive.
On September 08 2011 14:32 DueSs wrote: So why isn't anyone mentioning that it seems for every article that paints GH/eSports in a negative light, there has been 9 that has stayed relatively positive.
On September 08 2011 14:32 DueSs wrote: So why isn't anyone mentioning that it seems for every article that paints GH/eSports in a negative light, there has been 9 that has stayed relatively positive.
Because this is the internet and most want to get angry and publicize what they consider bad publicity instead of praising the good. Find it amusing that the writer of the article that upset everyone is still responding via Twitter. Turning into a situation where this publicity will be best for him and not the game.
Ben Golliver is completely uninformed. Maybe he should do more research before he runs his mouth on about something he doesn't know a thing about. It's people like this guy who hinder the mainstream development of E-sports
On September 08 2011 14:26 Slider954 wrote: If somebody can, they should link him the Forbes article on Day9. I can't find it, fucking T-storm is screwing up my connection
I think someone has via twitter. But I doubt he'll watch it, he's getting soooo many suggestions on what he should do or watch. It's probably sufficient that he poked his stick and found a hornet's nest- actually more than sufficient. Hopefully he can see the how it wasn't just tongue in cheek, but rather belittling/ derisive using tired old stereotypes, but I dunno about that.
On September 08 2011 14:06 Nagano wrote: Mod edit: stay away from the author's personal email please
Suggest you do this guy a favor and tell him why he's wrong yourself. Perhaps he'll realize the Sc2 community is one you don't mess with
User was warned for this post
Um, normally I would agree with this warning, but I got it from his website where HE, the author, says "I would like to hear from you", followed by his email and twitter. His twitter is second, below his email contact. It's not like I found some dude's address from illegal means and said we should all harass this guy. I said, "tell him why he's wrong". No threats.
Edit: Come guys, let's be reasonable and put some effort before giving these warnings. I'm just trying to help and this email/twitter was his preferred method of feedback, as many have chosen to do already.
Hahaahha the poor guy has been on twitter for the last 2 or so hours replying to people about it. Mostly apologizing and saying that it was a "tongue in cheek post".
Edit: He even played the original SC!
@blazersedge Wow, Starcraft II requires more brain power then any physical sport will ever have. Have you ever even played the game?
@stevenberger You're the first person to ask that. I played the original when I was a young teen. Haven't played 2.
I recommend not actually flaming the article in its comments or the author. If you do choose to write something to the people behind this article, remember to remain civil and explain why you think they are wrong.
I posted a comment on the article:
Hayward isn't actually going to become a pro sc2 player. He's going to participate in a tournment for fun. Yes there is a big prize pool but he has stated in interviews that his main focus is basket ball and SC2 is something that he like to have fun with on the side. He is actually no where near a professional level of SC2 but he enjoys the community and professional scene. The article is completely wrong about Haywards future plans.
Also, the author really has no background knowledge of the professional Starcraft 2 scene and how it's treated globally. It is a legitimate profession with quite a few players making 6-figure salaries. There are big sponsors behind it suchs as Intel, Steelseries and Monster energy. The author completely dismisses starcraft II because it's a video game and is just using this as a way to find flaw in Hayward.
Hayward has one 'nerdy' hobby and apparently it's the end of the world because video games arent cool enough for the jocks.
I'm not going to lie. I am more then annoyed with this guy as everybody else is, however I am also so proud that the community would respond in such a positive way. There was hardly an "YOU SUCK GO DIE" and a lot of: "Learn about something before you critique it." Awesome to see the community at this stage. Can't wait to see where we go from here!!! GO HAYWARD!!! TL ROCKS!!!
The level of ignorance is astonishing. The less people know, the more they talk. Also I don't buy the whole "that was a joke" excuse. This guy is an actual journalist right? Fucking journalists...
On September 08 2011 14:06 Nagano wrote: Mod edit: stay away from the author's personal email please
Suggest you do this guy a favor and tell him why he's wrong yourself. Perhaps he'll realize the Sc2 community is one you don't mess with
User was warned for this post
Um, normally I would agree with this warning, but I got it from his website where HE, the author, says "I would like to hear from you", followed by his email and twitter. His twitter is second, below his email contact. It's not like I found some dude's address from illegal means and said we should all harass this guy.
Come guys, let's be reasonable here and avoid throwing up flags where they aren't needed.
But you know harassment is what's gonna happen, regardless of where you got the email from. I people really want to email him, they'll find the email like you did on their own. No need to hand the more virulent of our community an easier way to harass the guy, at least IMO.
Please do not link to their website b/c they get traffic -> more money -> more bashing articles (may be). Screenshot or just wall of text will be fine.
On September 08 2011 14:50 zeropoint wrote: I'm not going to lie. I am more then annoyed with this guy as everybody else is, however I am also so proud that the community would respond in such a positive way. There was hardly an "YOU SUCK GO DIE" and a lot of: "Learn about something before you critique it." Awesome to see the community at this stage. Can't wait to see where we go from here!!! GO HAYWARD!!! TL ROCKS!!!
I agree Zero, very proud of how restrained 99% of the replies have been. Restrained but clearly expressing their disappointment and disgust with the article.
It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
To the people who are writing very well-written responses and feedback, it's nice to see some level-headed people around here.
From the look of his twitter i think he gets the point. haha.
The posts on his twitter from our community are civil and well thought out. I love seeing how manner we can be. So props to everyone who posted on his twitter. WP
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
To the people who are writing very well-written responses and feedback, it's nice to see some level-headed people around here.
???
I am so confused by this post. 90% of the feedback he has gotten has been educational.
"Your article is ignorant and you need to research more before bashing on starcraft" is completely justifiable and in no way makes us look bad.
Calm down everyone. It just makes us look like rabid idiots if we react too strongly. Just leave a short comment noting that you disagree but we just look silly if we spam the shit out of him and freak out.
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
Really disgusting things? I'm hardly seeing any disgusting or rude tweets. And thats what people are doing, linking articles and vids trying to educate the guy on SC2 and Esports. And he isn't citing his own ignorance, he keeps saying that the article was tongue in cheek and that we just didn't get the humor. The only thing he is acknowledging that he was ignorant of was the size of the community and the response he was going to get.
I hope the rest of the Sports world takes notice. Esports has always been a joke to the sporting world, at some point we need to take a stand and show them that we are serious and here to stay.
I think we got the point across already the dude been replying all twitter messages for 4 hours for his mistake and ignorance. It's already been suggested about what his follow up should be just wait and see.
@thecynicalshin Paul Shin @blazersedge I'm sorry you're under fire from a very sensitive community. But I find it really funny that people consider a game a "sport"
Wait wait wait, hold the press. Sports aren't games? mind=blown
@thecynicalshin Paul Shin @blazersedge I'm sorry you're under fire from a very sensitive community. But I find it really funny that people consider a game a "sport"
Wait wait wait, hold the press. Sports aren't games? mind=blown
Just tweeted that guy basically the same response lol
I'm glad there are lots of comments arleady and I'm actually surprised they are "civil" as in not like "fuck you bitch" or etc., whjich would give us a bad name
maybe i'll reply later but it seems it is doing well
i was offended by the article, but it is an offense to basketball too it seems
anyways from his twitter it seems he does not truly mean it (was exaggerating, or tongue in cheek like he says), i mean people write articles to get attention
at first it hoguht it was praising sc2 tho, when it mentioned "nerds" i thought "haha yea we joke about being sc2 nerds" then when he critcized sc2 again i realized he was attacking sc2...
comparing sc2 to excite bike? its like basketball to hide and seek or tag lol =/
Oh well at least gordon knows he has a community that understands and supports him <3
it is ironic though, that gordon is doing IPL3 open bracket partly to raise awareness and stuff like that between sports and esports, yet this article seemed to go in the opposite direction xD
I picked up the tongue in cheek nature of the article but it is true that the article came off as inflammatory regardless. I think if some more credit to the SC2 scene was given or at least a curb away from constant bashing on the game, then the article could actually be seen as just some funny commentary.
On September 08 2011 15:10 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: I'm glad there are lots of comments arleady and I'm actually surprised they are "civil" as in not like "fuck you bitch" or etc., whjich would give us a bad name
maybe i'll reply later but it seems it is doing well
i was offended by the article, but it is an offense to basketball too it seems
anyways from his twitter it seems he does not truly mean it (was exaggerating, or tongue in cheek like he says), i mean people write articles to get attention
at first it hoguht it was praising sc2 tho, when it mentioned "nerds" i thought "haha yea we joke about being sc2 nerds" then when he critcized sc2 again i realized he was attacking sc2...
comparing sc2 to excite bike? its like basketball to hide and seek or tag lol =/
Oh well at least gordon knows he has a community that understands and supports him <3
it is ironic though, that gordon is doing IPL3 open bracket partly to raise awareness and stuff like that between sports and esports, yet this article seemed to go in the opposite direction xD
Surely he is just taking the higher road in that scenario and not replying to the vulgar tweets.
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
Really disgusting things? I'm hardly seeing any disgusting or rude tweets. And thats what people are doing, linking articles and vids trying to educate the guy on SC2 and Esports. And he isn't citing his own ignorance, he keeps saying that the article was tongue in cheek and that we just didn't get the humor. The only thing he is acknowledging that he was ignorant of was the size of the community and the response he was going to get.
He cites his own ignorance when he claims he has learned alot about the game and it's players in such a short amount of time thanks to the feedback of the large community.
As far as disgusting things, most of that is being said over on other such popular websites hint hint.
Obviously the vast majority of people are being subjective and responsible by informing him via links and videos. Which is awesome.
And when I say people "lashing out" within the first HOUR of the article circulating across the different communities, many of the comments were really stupid and alot of people obviously just assumed it was another stupid random blogger like the previous 2 ignorant articles.
Not surprised, from his reaction. He lives off of sports, which are physical or strategic (which from him video games are not). Plus the author is old fashion, so he cant grow up and look at the world as it changes. I know many people like this, and it is sickening to see how close minded people can be but that is reality.
I hope e-sports becomes bigger then ever before. To show these idiots, that anything competitive can also be in the same category as the major sports.
On September 08 2011 15:10 AdamFox wrote: Oh, God... What if djWHEAT finds out?! lol Poor Ben Golliver.
WHAT UP BITCHES
Yeah, this is totally gonna be on Lo3 or WoC, and oh man it's gonna be epic.
As for the guy, Ben goliver, well, he fucked up and made a shitty article, and now he's been punished with a million nasty tweets. I'd say there's no point witchhunting him now
It would be cool if he did some journalism and actually researched SC2 and embedded himself in the community for a few weeks, maybe even go to MLG Orlando to do an in-depth examination. That would make a great follow up story. It would be interesting to see if he still feels the same way after attending an MLG.
Feel sorry for the guy he's completely out of his depth.. but judging from his twitter posts he wasn't intending to flame esports.. I don't want to get this guy fired (if its possible)
He did deserve the negative response, but I respect him for responding to people on twitter. Much better than the Kotaku response which was ultra defensive and ignoring all negative feedback.
Well, there are still people out there who don't understand the eSports-phenomenon, don't take the time to get to know it and just bash it, to make something else look more attractive - that's not very open-minded, nor is it good journalism.
I totally get why ppl get upset about this and I think it's a good thing the we make ourselves heard (in a civil manner of course, cuz that will get you way further than just spamming ppl with hatemails), but in all honesty - it's not worth your time and certainly not a higher blood-pressure, if a complete idiot writes something like that.
Regarding Gordon playing in the IPL3: I was kinda upset at first that a low-level player would just be invited just because of his status, but hey: If it gets puplicity and paints a more accurate picture of the huge diversity of gamers out there, I think it's a pretty good thing for esports!
Besides: Ppl that have such a high dedication to sth. be it gaming, "traditional sports" etc. deserve to be taken serious - maybe Gordon will start practicing hard and actually get really good; who knows?
On September 08 2011 16:04 Zzoram wrote: It would be cool if he did some journalism and actually researched SC2 and embedded himself in the community for a few weeks, maybe even go to MLG Orlando to do an in-depth examination. That would make a great follow up story. It would be interesting to see if he still feels the same way after attending an MLG.
He essentialy blogs about the Blazers and is paid for his fluff contributions to the nba section of cbssports. While I can't say anything for certain, I sincerely doubt he has any financial backing to do anything resembling actual journalism.
Yah if he did mean it in a half joking manner it came on a little bit hard, however, as some others have said he gains a lot of respect from me by replying to all of the angry tweets that were sent his way. One good thing he takes out of this is that he will now truely understand the dedicated following sc2 has
On September 08 2011 16:05 ProxyKnoxy wrote: Feel sorry for the guy he's completely out of his depth.. but judging from his twitter posts he wasn't intending to flame esports.. I don't want to get this guy fired (if its possible)
Or he isn't stupid enough to not act innocent when caught doing something idiotic, immature and unwarranted.
Sports are just games that got taken to an extreme competitive level and became spectator friendly.
Starcraft 2 is quite a physical game too, not anyone can handle playing at 200+ apm for hours at a time. It takes a lot of conditioning and training for people to speed up, and many players have suffered repetitive motion injuries in the process, just like sports players.
Obviously the magnitude of physicality of Starcraft 2 is lower than sports, but I would argue that the increased multitasking and decision making required makes up for it.
On September 08 2011 16:04 Zzoram wrote: It would be cool if he did some journalism and actually researched SC2 and embedded himself in the community for a few weeks, maybe even go to MLG Orlando to do an in-depth examination. That would make a great follow up story. It would be interesting to see if he still feels the same way after attending an MLG.
He essentialy blogs about the Blazers and is paid for his fluff contributions to the nba section of cbssports. While I can't say anything for certain, I sincerely doubt he has any financial backing to do anything resembling actual journalism.
If he's smart, he will take the opportunity he just stumbled on to make a name for himself by digging deeper into Starcraft 2 as an esport.
The way this is going to play out is obvious. He's going to answer to the comments, pick the worst hate posts, and make it sound as if the community is made of 12 year old angry nerds. He'll look like the victim, we'll look bad, and in the meantime he'll get more hits than ever.
It's good to let him know he screwed up, but PLEASE stop with the name calling, and rage posts. It's bad for the community.
On September 08 2011 16:15 Zzoram wrote: Sports are just games that got taken to an extreme competitive level and became spectator friendly.
Starcraft 2 is quite a physical game too, not anyone can handle playing at 200+ apm for hours at a time. It takes a lot of conditioning and training for people to speed up, and many players have suffered repetitive motion injuries in the process, just like sports players.
Brain-activity, Finger-, Eye- and Handmovements are physical things by definition and there are things considered sport, which require nothing more, often even way less of those aspects than professional gaming.
It's uneducated and quite antiquated to call anything where you don't have to run around not a Sport, just because you got used to a certain connotation of the word.
Not to bash you of course, I just used the quote to spin your train of thought a little further! ^^
Hey guys on his twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge you can see that he has been responding to all the critisism and he has been apologizing alot. He shouldn't have written that article without some research, but at least he is realizing his mistake...
I'm beginning to think certain bloggers write negatively about eSports, just cuz they know they will get tons of views on their blog and comments on their twitter-account... :S
Kinda messed up if I'm right with this assumption, that's why I wouldn't just accept his apology. Part of journalism is research and having a differentiated opinion you can stand behind and if you can't meet those criteria you probably think quite low of yourself, your job and your blog. I really think this guy should make a real effort to write something more educated about eSports, cuz a simple apology is just not enough and a very easy way out.
On September 08 2011 16:24 Schwang wrote: Hey guys on his twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge you can see that he has been responding to all the critisism and he has been apologizing alot. He shouldn't have written that article without some research, but at least he is realizing his mistake...
Yeah i checked out his twitter out of curiosity, he has literally spent the last 4 hours replying to every @tweet and apologizing. He has earned some respect back for manning up to his mistake. Lesson learned i suppose.
Regarding Gordon playing in the IPL3: I was kinda upset at first that a low-level player would just be invited just because of his status, but hey: If it gets puplicity and paints a more accurate picture of the huge diversity of gamers out there, I think it's a pretty good thing for esports!
He only got invited to play in the open bracket. Anyone can play in the open bracket if they pay the entrance fee. It's no diff from people paying $70 to play in mlg's open bracket.
On September 08 2011 16:24 Schwang wrote: Hey guys on his twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge you can see that he has been responding to all the critisism and he has been apologizing alot. He shouldn't have written that article without some research, but at least he is realizing his mistake...
Yeah i checked out his twitter out of curiosity, he has literally spent the last 4 hours replying to every @tweet and apologizing. He has earned some respect back for manning up to his mistake. Lesson learned i suppose.
I checked it a bit as well and all his responses look similar and automated. Personally I don't believe him. At best he is doing it because his editor told him to.
lol! This is pretty awesome. It's more than a little amusing the amount of rage the author's throwing around. I'm certainly not taking that level of comic ignorance and vitriol to heart. Plus, no such thing as bad publicity.
I also wasn't aware IPL had invited Gordon. That's a pretty smooth move.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's probably pretty stressful ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
When a 21-year-old, 207 pound forward doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the NBA to a freaking science fiction video game we know that the NBA game has been cleaned up too much. If a Zerg attack really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning shot, that's a terrible look.
First off this guy is an idiot. He doesn't even get what hes saying [in the first paragraph] Does this guy honestly assume that there isn't as much stress in winning 100k or loseing it than make a shot that can win your team a championship? They are both championships and should be treated as such and with starcraft the more stress the more times you fuck up and every little mistake hurts you unlike in basketball where you can rely on your team to pull you back into it.
On September 08 2011 16:24 Schwang wrote: Hey guys on his twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/blazersedge you can see that he has been responding to all the critisism and he has been apologizing alot. He shouldn't have written that article without some research, but at least he is realizing his mistake...
Yeah i checked out his twitter out of curiosity, he has literally spent the last 4 hours replying to every @tweet and apologizing. He has earned some respect back for manning up to his mistake. Lesson learned i suppose.
I checked it a bit as well and all his responses look similar and automated. Personally I don't believe him. At best he is doing it because his editor told him to.
If you ask me, stating over and over that his post wasn't meant to be offensive, and it was supposed to be a light-hearted post, and people are overreacting, well, that isn't an apology. It's like saying that he's sorry that you feel a certain way. He's not apologizing for his actions, he's apologizing that his post was taken out of context.
On September 08 2011 11:46 Steelavocado wrote: Edit: PLEASE stop calling the author a "F**k tard" or anything of that nature. Stay civil.
I've thought about it a couple of minutes, and I'm still not really sure how you can "discuss" this rationally.
I mean, that's like rationally discussing how to properly respond to a mosquito stinging you in your arm....the poor thing just doesn't know any better....
I've never really cared for CBS and this has not helped their case with me. Gordon deserves more respect than that and the petty insults towards E-Sports in general are appalling.
On September 08 2011 12:04 Chill wrote: This is the kind of thing where you wish you could fight the author...
fyp
On September 08 2011 12:05 thedirtyleg wrote: Yikes, people (mainly TLers probably) are flipping out on him on twitter and he's saying "it was a tongue in cheek post." I don't really believe him but I also feel like people are overreacting a little bit.
I think it's understandable. We all love this game on teamliquid.net and while it will never be truly mainstream, we would like mainstream opinion to stop totally shitting on esports. The vast majority of sc2 players are well adjusted and normal people. It's aggravating to be portrayed as obese, pale, mountain dew drinker nerds, that's Halo players obviously.
The way writers for news sites get their superiors to know they are great writers is to get hits, since that's the way you make e-dollars. Teamliquid, you have just told Ben Golliver that his article kicks ass and he should write more inflammatory stuff in the future that prays on human stereotypes.
Furthermore, he should write more anti-gaming stuff.
If a Zerg attack really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning shot, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your nerd alert being activated
When a 21-year-old, 207 pound forward doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the NBA to a freaking science fiction video game we know that the NBA game has been cleaned up too much
Haha, such hilarious views from a one sided guy. If Incontroll decided he was going to go back into professional weight lifting aswell as compete in SC2, im sure we wouldnt go "mad" like this guy would. Or if Tyler wanted to get back into swimming at a high level, im pretty sure the internet wouldnt describe it as the E-Sports community is dieing lol.
Guy needs to open his eyes, he said it in the first or second line of the article...ITS THE CLOSED SEASON meaning they all have shit loads of time on there hands and mega money in there bank account, im pretty sure the Utah coach will be happy he is not out partying every night with hookers and booze, than staying at home training and playing a video game ^_^
This is unfortunate. Ben Golliver over at BEdge is such a fantastic writer, but these NBA Bloggers are kind of too stuck up on their own opinion anyway. Pay no mind.
while it is kind of funny that a top tier athlete as some interest into starcraft i think he should be considered in starcraft as what he is in starcraft a platinum top 100k na player.
On September 08 2011 18:22 alexlemagicien wrote: while it is kind of funny that a top tier athlete as some interest into starcraft i think he should be considered in starcraft as what he is in starcraft a platinum top 100k na player.
He knows that and "becoming a pro starcraft player" is just a parody. He is in full awareness that he won't even take a game off of people.
really having fun reading his twitter lol this is what happens when you make article and you dont even have a clue what u talking about he must feel bad now xp
Evil Geniuses star zerg Greg 'Idra' Fields isn't playing professional Starcraft II in international tournaments during the down time between MLGs. Instead, he's taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away.
WhatTheFuckIsThisShit.com reports that Fields will be playing basketball professionally.
""I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember," Fields said in a news release. "I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of sports.
"Pro-athletes are really stars themselves," he added. "The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft II — and playing basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with real e-sports. I've got the best of both worlds."
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Idra waited until after Artosis went back to Korea to announce these plans. For everyone's sake.
But, wait, there's more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA. His response.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's really stressful, it's months of work and hours of grinding practise with just one series deciding if it was all worth it, and all it takes is one retarded Terran build to knock you down ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too probably. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
Well, not to go all BW forum poster on you, but we have officially reached the point where we know for a 100 percent fact that the skill ceiling for Starcraft II is too low. When a 22-year-old, tournament winning zerg doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the Starcraft II scene to a freaking playground ball game, we know that Starcraft II can't cut it as an e-sport. If a guy boucing a ball really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning counter attack, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no BW player in the 2000s ever said, "That 3 pointer from LeBron was pretty much the same as the corsairs Bisu hit me with last night." Or, "Oh man, that OSL finals was exhilarating it reminded me of the time some guy ran around some other guys with a ball and then threw it into a hole." Never happened.
Hopefully Idra's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing forum whining and arguments so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of Starcraft.
To put it kindly, there are alot of people who are, for a lack of better words, "Fucking morons" about videogames and what they mean. If they choose to cover their eyes and put their fingers in their ears that's their choice, but to then insult what you refuse to see or hear out? I can't wrap my head around it, but then, I like to imagine that I don't fall into the aforementioned category of which one lacks better words for xD
yawn. insulting eSports is a trend emerging in lazy writers.
Remember that kotaku chick from a couple weeks ago? in a couple more there'll be another one. Easiest way to get readers without the hassle of "research" or "integrity" or even "writing skill".
We can all do better for ourselves by ignoring these hacks and not giving them the numbers they write this shit for.
On September 08 2011 19:43 The KY wrote: Evil Geniuses star zerg Greg 'Idra' Fields isn't playing professional Starcraft II in international tournaments during the down time between MLGs. Instead, he's taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away.
WhatTheFuckIsThisShit.com reports that Fields will be playing basketball professionally.
""I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember," Fields said in a news release. "I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of sports.
"Pro-athletes are really stars themselves," he added. "The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft II — and playing basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with real e-sports. I've got the best of both worlds."
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Idra waited until after Artosis went back to Korea to announce these plans. For everyone's sake.
But, wait, there's more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA. His response.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's really stressful, it's months of work and hours of grinding practise with just one series deciding if it was all worth it, and all it takes is one retarded Terran build to knock you down ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too probably. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
Well, not to go all BW forum poster on you, but we have officially reached the point where we know for a 100 percent fact that the skill ceiling for Starcraft II is too low. When a 22-year-old, tournament winning zerg doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the Starcraft II scene to a freaking playground ball game, we know that Starcraft II can't cut it as an e-sport. If a guy boucing a ball really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning counter attack, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no BW player in the 2000s ever said, "That 3 pointer from LeBron was pretty much the same as the corsairs Bisu hit me with last night." Or, "Oh man, that OSL finals was exhilarating it reminded me of the time some guy ran around some other guys with a ball and then threw it into a hole." Never happened.
Hopefully Idra's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing forum whining and arguments so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of Starcraft.
Not really much else to say, it was an uninformed article that should have had more thought put into it in terms of the author delving into a topic foreign to him and the type of people who would be reading it afterwards.
I think it's cool that a lot of us were (more or less) civil with the actual comments in the article, I'm not sure about what's being tweeted on his twitter, but I think it's about time we cut the bashing: he's had enough damage control for a while.
I dont know why he's trying to dismiss it as a tongue in cheek type article, because the tone I picked up while reading it seemed pretty insulting.
Overall, people make mistakes. Lets leave this one to rest.
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
To the people who are writing very well-written responses and feedback, it's nice to see some level-headed people around here.
You have no way of knowing what he is like... He might just as well be condescending, writing whatever to please masses, doing some quick damage control.
He wrote what he wrote...it was ignorant etc.
And community is actually quite mellow . You should see the responses i get when i start bashing football
On September 08 2011 19:43 The KY wrote: Evil Geniuses star zerg Greg 'Idra' Fields isn't playing professional Starcraft II in international tournaments during the down time between MLGs. Instead, he's taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away.
WhatTheFuckIsThisShit.com reports that Fields will be playing basketball professionally.
""I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember," Fields said in a news release. "I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of sports.
"Pro-athletes are really stars themselves," he added. "The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft II — and playing basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with real e-sports. I've got the best of both worlds."
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Idra waited until after Artosis went back to Korea to announce these plans. For everyone's sake.
But, wait, there's more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA. His response.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's really stressful, it's months of work and hours of grinding practise with just one series deciding if it was all worth it, and all it takes is one retarded Terran build to knock you down ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too probably. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
Well, not to go all BW forum poster on you, but we have officially reached the point where we know for a 100 percent fact that the skill ceiling for Starcraft II is too low. When a 22-year-old, tournament winning zerg doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the Starcraft II scene to a freaking playground ball game, we know that Starcraft II can't cut it as an e-sport. If a guy boucing a ball really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning counter attack, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no BW player in the 2000s ever said, "That 3 pointer from LeBron was pretty much the same as the corsairs Bisu hit me with last night." Or, "Oh man, that OSL finals was exhilarating it reminded me of the time some guy ran around some other guys with a ball and then threw it into a hole." Never happened.
Hopefully Idra's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing forum whining and arguments so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of Starcraft.
Dude you win :D Thumbs up for taking the time to write this ! Should go to Idra fanclub ^^
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
To the people who are writing very well-written responses and feedback, it's nice to see some level-headed people around here.
You have no way of knowing what he is like... He might just as well be condescending, writing whatever to please masses, doing some quick damage control.
He wrote what he wrote...it was ignorant etc.
And community is actually quite mellow . You should see the responses i get when i start bashing football
The guy is taking time to answer twitter messages, you should give him the benefit of the doubt. Anyhow, what do you think will give the best image of e-sport: saying " lololol u stupid ignorant piece of shit" or going the day9 way? It's ok to say that you disagree with the article, and that you felt it was insulting, but try to be a little bit positive. It would be sad to give the impression that the e-sport community is a group of angry nerds ready to jump on anything critical about e-sport... Let's be positive guys!
On September 08 2011 14:55 taLbuk wrote: It's really sad to see people from the eSports community lash out at this author so harshly. After reading his responses on twitter he is obviously a mature individual who cites his own ignorance and isn't being an asshole to people, yet people are saying some disgusting things to him.
Stop embarrassing the SC community with these witch hunts.
Take the day9 route, instead of insulting people, educate them on how awesome Starcraft is.
To the people who are writing very well-written responses and feedback, it's nice to see some level-headed people around here.
You have no way of knowing what he is like... He might just as well be condescending, writing whatever to please masses, doing some quick damage control.
He wrote what he wrote...it was ignorant etc.
And community is actually quite mellow . You should see the responses i get when i start bashing football
He's a nice guy, and i've read a lot of his stuff in the past. I don't follow him like I do a lot of other sports writers/bloggers, but he's pretty responsive and engaging. He's not like some of the other snobby writers who think highly of their opinions on the sport they cover(but really, getting into discussion with any of these writers and you'll see that they kind of always think they're right).
Besides, he was originally a blogger. He's of the crowd that's used to being discredited as basement dweller because he didn't have press credentials (though I think he does, now) or wasn't recognized as a journalist, so I can see why he says that it means that it was intended to be light hearted. Regardless of the intention, anyway, I don't think our community was going to like what he said.
How about instead of bitching and moaning at him for blogging his ignorance we enlighten him instead on the progress of gaming. Articles like this will continue to churn up. Got to deal with it and the community will continue to grow. It's not our problem; it's theirs.
Usually i'm one to live and let live but this is a reminder of why high school sucks for most people. The physically stronger demanding greater respect with no worth.
Favorite part has to be, where he basically states that "normal" people should stay away from nerds. I bet he feels like the savior of humanity after writing this masterpiece.
On September 08 2011 19:43 The KY wrote: Evil Geniuses star zerg Greg 'Idra' Fields isn't playing professional Starcraft II in international tournaments during the down time between MLGs. Instead, he's taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away.
WhatTheFuckIsThisShit.com reports that Fields will be playing basketball professionally.
""I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember," Fields said in a news release. "I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of sports.
"Pro-athletes are really stars themselves," he added. "The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft II — and playing basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with real e-sports. I've got the best of both worlds."
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Idra waited until after Artosis went back to Korea to announce these plans. For everyone's sake.
But, wait, there's more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA. His response.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's really stressful, it's months of work and hours of grinding practise with just one series deciding if it was all worth it, and all it takes is one retarded Terran build to knock you down ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too probably. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
Well, not to go all BW forum poster on you, but we have officially reached the point where we know for a 100 percent fact that the skill ceiling for Starcraft II is too low. When a 22-year-old, tournament winning zerg doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the Starcraft II scene to a freaking playground ball game, we know that Starcraft II can't cut it as an e-sport. If a guy boucing a ball really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning counter attack, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no BW player in the 2000s ever said, "That 3 pointer from LeBron was pretty much the same as the corsairs Bisu hit me with last night." Or, "Oh man, that OSL finals was exhilarating it reminded me of the time some guy ran around some other guys with a ball and then threw it into a hole." Never happened.
Hopefully Idra's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing forum whining and arguments so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of Starcraft.
Thats the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life... (And I have listened to a Lil'Wayne song damn cousins). Just because he wants to play Sc2 hes not an embarassment I'm damn proud of him.(I don't even know who he is ohh well).
I've never followed sports not my thing, But have always been intrested in competetive video games, and this is just pointless abuse of a game and a human being for no damn reason. What NBA/NFL/Who ever needs to reliaze that the players are human and have choices on what they want to do in their off time even if it looks bad for the teams/Nba/etc.
He didn't say "I'm quiting ball to play Starcraft"(Afaik) so whats the big damn deal? I don't think people realize the training Starcraft pros go through, It takes the same if not more time investment as sports. With how mainstream E-Sports has been becoming I figured the idea that Pro gamers are just "Basment dwelling Nerds would be gone". Guess not.
I just can't comprehend the point of creating that article.
thats fucking retarded then.... who gives a shit...?!?!!? why is everyone making a big deal of this? he is going to lose his 1st set and go back to the NBA
all the talent in the world and going to play sc2 and he is plat.... PLAT!!!!
there is more to the story but cant be bothered to look at it after you said he was plat i lost all intreats in this
EDIT: scratch that i will give him a thumbs up.... he is giving attention to Esports Granted i think this might be unwanted attention tho
On September 08 2011 21:39 -Dustin- wrote: Thats the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life... (And I have listened to a Lil'Wayne song damn cousins). Just because he wants to play Sc2 hes not an embarassment I'm damn proud of him.(I don't even know who he is ohh well)
Someone get this tool a club so he can bash a girl on the head and take her back to his cave.
Clearly this is written by someone living in the stone age who hasn't taken a look at the rise of Esports in recent years and went into this post completely uninformed.
On September 08 2011 19:43 The KY wrote: Evil Geniuses star zerg Greg 'Idra' Fields isn't playing professional Starcraft II in international tournaments during the down time between MLGs. Instead, he's taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away.
WhatTheFuckIsThisShit.com reports that Fields will be playing basketball professionally.
""I've been playing sports for as long as I can remember," Fields said in a news release. "I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of sports.
"Pro-athletes are really stars themselves," he added. "The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft II — and playing basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with real e-sports. I've got the best of both worlds."
Reeeee-orrrrr. Reeeeee-orrrrrr. Yes, that's the sound of your jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Idra waited until after Artosis went back to Korea to announce these plans. For everyone's sake.
But, wait, there's more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA. His response.
"I think you've got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're winning a Starcraft game for the championship at IPL for the six-figure pool prize, that's really stressful, it's months of work and hours of grinding practise with just one series deciding if it was all worth it, and all it takes is one retarded Terran build to knock you down ... At the same time, if you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that's pretty tough too probably. I'd say they are both tough in their own right."
Well, not to go all BW forum poster on you, but we have officially reached the point where we know for a 100 percent fact that the skill ceiling for Starcraft II is too low. When a 22-year-old, tournament winning zerg doesn't immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress and rigors of the Starcraft II scene to a freaking playground ball game, we know that Starcraft II can't cut it as an e-sport. If a guy boucing a ball really gets his blood pumping as much as a game-winning counter attack, that's a terrible look. We don't want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no BW player in the 2000s ever said, "That 3 pointer from LeBron was pretty much the same as the corsairs Bisu hit me with last night." Or, "Oh man, that OSL finals was exhilarating it reminded me of the time some guy ran around some other guys with a ball and then threw it into a hole." Never happened.
Hopefully Idra's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing forum whining and arguments so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of Starcraft.
On September 08 2011 21:44 Dental Floss wrote: Rap music? More like CRAP music am I right??
Not sure if serious or offended >.>. Didn't want to offend anyone but I like throwing little jokes into long reads, Makes it easier for me to write it out.
On September 08 2011 11:59 EatThePath wrote: All press is good press. The more sc2 shows up in mainstream media the better.
Or maybe you should stop repeating some dumb saying that idiotic people thought up for some reason, and actually think for yourself. Because any competent human being should be able to see how untrue that is.
but honestly, its pretty sad that people like ben golliver are too ignorant to realize that starcraft takes as much dedication as any other professional sport
saying "its a freaking video game" sounds like a childish remark from someone who just hasn't had the depth of knowledge to know about starcraft, or any other topic that isn't basketball
On September 08 2011 11:59 EatThePath wrote: All press is good press. The more sc2 shows up in mainstream media the better.
Or maybe you should stop repeating some dumb saying that idiotic people thought up for some reason, and actually think for yourself. Because any competent human being should be able to see how untrue that is.
esport is very new bro, people outside of proscene doesnt know it, so it certainly will be bashed, but the sad thing is this "im superior to you guys" thing about sport > esport, it's ridiculous
funny that he writes something like "it's a freaking video game" when so many sports were seen like that when they first started. It's just a shame. Well, there are so many well written posts in his article that I don't feel the need to post one more at all. I'd just 'thumb down' if there was the option.
On September 08 2011 21:39 -Dustin- wrote: Thats the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life... (And I have listened to a Lil'Wayne song damn cousins). Just because he wants to play Sc2 hes not an embarassment I'm damn proud of him.(I don't even know who he is ohh well).
I've never followed sports not my thing, But have always been intrested in competetive video games, and this is just pointless abuse of a game and a human being for no damn reason. What NBA/NFL/Who ever needs to reliaze that the players are human and have choices on what they want to do in their off time even if it looks bad for the teams/Nba/etc.
He didn't say "I'm quiting ball to play Starcraft"(Afaik) so whats the big damn deal? I don't think people realize the training Starcraft pros go through, It takes the same if not more time investment as sports. With how mainstream E-Sports has been becoming I figured the idea that Pro gamers are just "Basment dwelling Nerds would be gone". Guess not.
I just can't comprehend the point of creating that article.
To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
This article was written with all the professionalism of a 12 year old. How to people like this land jobs at major websites like this? It's beyond ridiculous.
Well seems like the Reddit community has already contacted this guy through twitter and let him know the displeasure of the SC2 scene towards his article.
Someone should write an article to CBS and ask for an apology. We can show them the TL community and how e-Sports is already BIG on the net. Maybe this will get e-sports mainstream. Idk jus a thought ^^;
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Dear whatever your name is (and im guessing your not a top class sportsman),
Clearly although sports have evolved in just about every way during the last 20 years, 2 particular areas of development have seen the performances of athletes rise to new highs:
1. Sports Science, yes its a general term covering a multitude of medical and scientific studies of athletes and their individual sports, specific training methods, nutrition, complementary cross training and so on.
2. The biggest impact on sports over the last 20 years is without a doubt, sports psychology. Essentially if you assume that all athletes are within 1-3% of each other in terms of their physical capabilities, what differentiates the very good from the exceptional? Its in their heads.... the top clubs and coaches have recognised that this is the critical component of improving performance and have invested in it massively as Im sure you are aware.
3. Starcraft provides a mental challenge and stimulus for mult-tasking, thinking under pressure, quick reactions and in order to improve, players have to break down and analyse their play and mistakes on a regular basis. Once you learn to except your losses as part of your growing process you start to improve very quickly (on the whole). Sound familiar?
In conclusion, it is the perfect game to accompany any top athletes training schedules as it provides this mental arena in which competitors have to learn and compete. Another far more boring but encouraged game that does the same to a lesser extent is Golf. Golf has been encouraged by clubs/teams as a second sport for professional athletes for many years and doesn't provide all of the benefits that SC2 on a mental level.
Expect Gordon to grow mentally as a result of his involvement in the SC2 scene and the experiences he will gain at the IPL rather than detract him from reaching his potential as an NBA star.The concept of a "light mind" (being calm in stressful situations) is encountered everyday by most of the top Starcraft players. Starcraft has many similarities to chess but played at a high tempo, in essence its the perfect compliment to Gordons career and provides much less risk of injury than golf.
Just to let you know by the way basketball is also a niche sport for most of the world and people in this community. But we don't feel the need to slag it off.
looks like TL really has Gordon's back lol. That author comes off as quite unintelligent. He criticizes Gordon for not taking basketball seriously, when he obviously doesn't take being a journalist very seriously.
I'm sure his editor loves the now 11 pages of 100% negative comments. "Nerd alert" seriously? On CBS? That would be immature behavior in a high school setting. This Ben Golliver guy is quite the clown.
The article has so many comments from pissed off people. Its kind of unbelievable how many people came out swinging. I bet the author reallllllly didnt expect this kind of backlash haha.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
On September 08 2011 21:39 -Dustin- wrote: Thats the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life... (And I have listened to a Lil'Wayne song damn cousins). Just because he wants to play Sc2 hes not an embarassment I'm damn proud of him.(I don't even know who he is ohh well).
I've never followed sports not my thing, But have always been intrested in competetive video games, and this is just pointless abuse of a game and a human being for no damn reason. What NBA/NFL/Who ever needs to reliaze that the players are human and have choices on what they want to do in their off time even if it looks bad for the teams/Nba/etc.
He didn't say "I'm quiting ball to play Starcraft"(Afaik) so whats the big damn deal? I don't think people realize the training Starcraft pros go through, It takes the same if not more time investment as sports. With how mainstream E-Sports has been becoming I figured the idea that Pro gamers are just "Basment dwelling Nerds would be gone". Guess not.
I just can't comprehend the point of creating that article.
To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
To the people in the know, aka turbo nerds like us, traditional sports are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their so-called sports writers is opting to waste his time writing an ill-informed vituperative article.
And please, don't insult pro gamers by comparing esports to sports. Athletes are just "juiced up brainless meat heads." They stick their asses in the gym for much less than 10+ hours a day playing with their fancy equipment for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional pro gamers have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially more cerebral and skilled talent pool.
So...how does bigotry and mindless prejudice taste for you?
Disclaimer: The above paraphrasing is mere tongue in cheek parody and I believe both athletes and pro gamers should be accorded the proper respect for dedication to their craft.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
You are correct. They don't really make a ton of money, on the whole.
Why? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers. Why? Because only waste-of-life basement-dwellers would play a video game for peanuts. Why are only peanuts available for pro-gamers? Because the appeal isn't large enough for economies of scale to support living wages for more than a handful of pro-gamers. Why isn't the appeal large enough? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, really. That's why I am a little annoyed by your post. I'm certain you're a smart, good person, but I get a little upset when self-fulfilling prophecies are used as arguments. I am sorry if I have offended you, though.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
You are correct. They don't really make a ton of money, on the whole.
Why? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers. Why? Because only waste-of-life basement-dwellers would play a video game for peanuts. Why are only peanuts available for pro-gamers? Because the appeal isn't large enough for economies of scale to support living wages for more than a handful of pro-gamers. Why isn't the appeal large enough? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, really. That's why I am a little annoyed by your post. I'm certain you're a smart, good person, but I get a little upset when self-fulfilling prophecies are used as arguments. I am sorry if I have offended you, though.
Most people thought professional football/basketball/etc. were a "waste-of-life" at their conception as well.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
You are correct. They don't really make a ton of money, on the whole.
Why? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers. Why? Because only waste-of-life basement-dwellers would play a video game for peanuts. Why are only peanuts available for pro-gamers? Because the appeal isn't large enough for economies of scale to support living wages for more than a handful of pro-gamers. Why isn't the appeal large enough? Because most people think that they are waste-of-life basement-dwellers.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, really. That's why I am a little annoyed by your post. I'm certain you're a smart, good person, but I get a little upset when self-fulfilling prophecies are used as arguments. I am sorry if I have offended you, though.
Most people thought professional football/basketball/etc. were a "waste-of-life" at their conception as well.
Oh, I'm certain they probably did. I don't know.
The question is, of course, how one breaks that mold. I can't provide the answer for that.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
To be fair, it is clearly more difficult to play a sport at the highest level than to play a video game at the highest level. Saying that isn't a knock on SC2 imo. It just so happens that to play a sport professionally you have to be in excellent shape, AND THEN mechanics of the sport become important. It's a very hard thing to accomplish. Maybe it doesn't take as many hours per day, but the training is much more intense.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
What the hell is interesting about some dudes throwing a ball in a basket rofl... I cannot understand why a dude that is good at running after a ball and kicking it in a net is getting paid millions while someone that has the mental and physical (as in handeye coordination and quickness of the hand) capabilities to be a top SC2 player gets paid a shitty salary, unless you are really the best of the best.
A game is 'just' a game whether it's physical or mental. A game becomes a sport when you are payed to play. You are just as ignorant as mister Golliver. You do realise there are other motivations than money, right?
while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives
Don't make me laugh, most athletes expire by the time they reach the age of 30.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
What the hell is interesting about some dudes throwing a ball in a basket rofl... I cannot understand why a dude that is good at running after a ball and kicking it in a net is getting paid millions while someone that has the mental and physical (as in handeye coordination and quickness of the hand) capabilities to be a top SC2 player gets paid a shitty salary, unless you are really the best of the best.
A game is 'just' a game whether it's physical or mental. A game becomes a sport when you are payed to play. You are just as ignorant as mister Golliver. You do realise there are other motivations than money, right?
while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives
Don't make me laugh, most athletes expire by the time they reach the age of 30.
The same applies for professional gamers. Rarely will you see a player do well past that age. Rarely, but occasionally. Same as with athletes. That argument doesn't stand.
Besides, how long have e-sports been around for compared to actual sports? You can't compare the two. This is getting worse than BW vs SC2 threads. It's ridiculous.
You can't blame the author for being ignorant to e-sports, most people are. Especially the readers of his articles.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
What the hell is interesting about some dudes throwing a ball in a basket rofl... I cannot understand why a dude that is good at running after a ball and kicking it in a net is getting paid millions while someone that has the mental and physical (as in handeye coordination and quickness of the hand) capabilities to be a top SC2 player gets paid a shitty salary, unless you are really the best of the best.
A game is 'just' a game whether it's physical or mental. A game becomes a sport when you are payed to play. You are just as ignorant as mister Golliver. You do realise there are other motivations than money, right?
while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives
Don't make me laugh, most athletes expire by the time they reach the age of 30.
The same applies for professional gamers. Rarely will you see a player do well past that age. Rarely, but occasionally. Same as with athletes. That argument doesn't stand.
Yes? And your point being...?
Besides, how long have e-sports been around for compared to actual sports? You can't compare the two. This is getting worse than BW vs SC2 threads. It's ridiculous.
You can't blame the author for being ignorant to e-sports, most people are. Especially the readers of his articles.
You can't blame people for being ignorant? You can't blame people who couldn't have known better, but this man certainly could have. Of course we have to blame him for perpetuating the prejudices about video games.
Not to mention his weak attempt at damage control, I don't buy it that he intended it to be a joke. It would've been a whole lot better if he'd just told us the truth and apologised for it.
As always an old generation with old ideas goes out fighting and propagating their ignorance as if the new generations still buy it.
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it” -Max Planck. A quote I thought somewhat relevant.
On September 08 2011 22:15 Sankanyo wrote: Someone should write an article to CBS and ask for an apology. We can show them the TL community and how e-Sports is already BIG on the net. Maybe this will get e-sports mainstream. Idk jus a thought ^^;
He's already eaten his fair share of humble pie over Twitter. I think he knows his mistake now.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
What the hell is interesting about some dudes throwing a ball in a basket rofl... I cannot understand why a dude that is good at running after a ball and kicking it in a net is getting paid millions while someone that has the mental and physical (as in handeye coordination and quickness of the hand) capabilities to be a top SC2 player gets paid a shitty salary, unless you are really the best of the best.
A game is 'just' a game whether it's physical or mental. A game becomes a sport when you are payed to play. You are just as ignorant as mister Golliver. You do realise there are other motivations than money, right?
while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives
Don't make me laugh, most athletes expire by the time they reach the age of 30.
The same applies for professional gamers. Rarely will you see a player do well past that age. Rarely, but occasionally. Same as with athletes. That argument doesn't stand.
Besides, how long have e-sports been around for compared to actual sports? You can't compare the two. This is getting worse than BW vs SC2 threads. It's ridiculous.
You can't blame the author for being ignorant to e-sports, most people are. Especially the readers of his articles.
You can, if you're a journalist, or even a blogger on a respected news site/sports site, you should be doing research on the topic that you're writing about. Every other journalist does this, and if they didn't your articles would be full of trash and misinformed, much like this article is.
On September 08 2011 21:57 icarly wrote: To normal people, aka non turbo nerds like us, video games are still just a mindless hobby-- the same as television. It looks unprofessional while during such a tender time in basketball one of their players is opting to waste his time playing a video game.
And please, don't insult athletes by comparing sports to esports. Pro gamers are just "basement dwelling Nerds." They sit on their asses for 10+ hours a day playing a video game for money that would put them below the poverty line if they lived by themselves, while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives while being up against an exponentially bigger and more skilled talent pool.
I never compared them to E-sports, Nor did I insult them? I just stated that Pro gamers go through as much training if not more. Are you saying thats a lie? False? Sure they didn't grow up playing all their lives but some may have started at a young age because of BW and thats alot of time they have invested.
Okay they do sit on their asses never denied that, But its still training if it wasn't everyone would be Code S GSL right now, Are you? Nope. Am I? Nope. So Pro gamers don't go up against more skilled players? Then how do they lose? Just a fluke every time? They do have a bigger pool of players I would agree with because who hasn't played sports?(That isn't phsically/Mentally handicapped) But that point is completely null, As its only the BEST of the best that VS each other so they lower skilled teams that fill the brackets are completley null and void.
Do you like watching a ball game thats 100 - 0? Probably not.
Do I like watching Starcraft2 games thats 3-0 with just a bunker rush win every game? Nope.
Bigger pool means nothing, What counts is the skill of the players/teams.
Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
What the hell is interesting about some dudes throwing a ball in a basket rofl... I cannot understand why a dude that is good at running after a ball and kicking it in a net is getting paid millions while someone that has the mental and physical (as in handeye coordination and quickness of the hand) capabilities to be a top SC2 player gets paid a shitty salary, unless you are really the best of the best.
A game is 'just' a game whether it's physical or mental. A game becomes a sport when you are payed to play. You are just as ignorant as mister Golliver. You do realise there are other motivations than money, right?
while professional athletes have trained physically and mentally their entire lives
Don't make me laugh, most athletes expire by the time they reach the age of 30.
The same applies for professional gamers. Rarely will you see a player do well past that age. Rarely, but occasionally. Same as with athletes. That argument doesn't stand.
Besides, how long have e-sports been around for compared to actual sports? You can't compare the two. This is getting worse than BW vs SC2 threads. It's ridiculous.
You can't blame the author for being ignorant to e-sports, most people are. Especially the readers of his articles.
You can't blame people for being ignorant? You can't blame people who couldn't have known better, but this man certainly could have. Of course we have to blame him for perpetuating the prejudices about video games.
Actually that's a great point.
This man, who apparently respects Gordon, all of a sudden doesn't care for anything he says about Starcraft. The "masses" read this and laugh with him. E-Sports is as delicate as ever, we don't need this kind of publicity. So you can blame the author for making fun of the scene without even knowing how big it is globally.
Hopefully the people writing to this man don't make a fool out of us.
You have to understand, CBSSports is second rate, they are the most hated group in the sports world when it comes to journalism. Their journalists say things just to provoke people and everything they say must be taken with a grain of salt. Just explore some of their other articles and you'll notice pretty quickly that it's all provoking content because they have no talent.
On September 08 2011 22:51 icarly wrote: Ok. Do you honestly think the current top progamers right now are the best potential players in the world? No, because e sports doesn't attract players with the best possible skillset for their game like sports do.
Basketball attracts so many people because the reward for being pro is huge-- millions of dollars a year. E sports only attract people that grew up as nerds and currently have little obligations, such as school, work, or family. Thousands of engineers, architects, doctors, and etc have a better skillset to do well in this game than pro gamers now, but why on Earth would they want to play something professionally where, like aforementioned, they'd be making such little money?
I do not, But you got to think about it like this. Back whenever the hell Basketball was invented. "Hey guys I shot this ball into that basket, and won the game!!" Who would be impressed? Even after people play competitive everything takes awhile to pan out, Its basically the same thing as winning a Video game tourney and telling a Friend/Parent, "I won a macro game by nuking the hell out of him!" People who don't understand won't be impressed.
So eventually if ESports grows like basketball did, It would be pretty normal to say shit like that, Will we ever reach the point that ESports will be as famous as sports? I doubt it. Would I want to see it happen? More than anything.
Little obligations though? The same could be said about sports, The ball players don't have a job outside of playing ball do they? So why should gamers be required to have a job outside of gaming,
They would be making little money, I'm sure back when basketball was invented yet again they made NO money and then LITTLE money and it kept growing as interest in the sport grew as will ESports I hope.
I'm probably wrong because I don't know about any of journalism crap but wouldn't all this attention just be giving the dude more publicity? I'm sure that's exactly what he wants, or am I completely wrong?
Anyway pretty ridiculous article but not really surprised, I'm sure most of my friends IRL would say the same thing about professional gaming just because they don't know anything about it, oh but wait isn't that the journlists job to research ;o
I'm not sure why this has become a Physical Sports vs. E-Sports argument, the clear issue here is that the blog was disruptive to our community, putting down our efforts to emphasize a point that was "The NBA lockout is getting bizarre!" This shouldn't be a competition about what is harder, or who is better. They need to coexist and are going to have their own challenges. It's comparing apples to oranges, we don't say "Being in Sales is harder than Acting!" Both are personality based professions, while both are still professions.
A lot of people don't make much money starting out in any profession, and using finances to justify the significance of something is a nearsighted approach. There is no right answer here, all I know is that I feel wronged by a person with "credibility" if you can call it that, and it's unfair but unfortunately the best we can do is tell him he's incorrect and his generalizations are offensive to us and hope he gets the point.
In any case I feel that the E-Sports community is becoming a great thing with strong representatives that are now able to call these people out on their rudeness and make the world of competition a better place.
He either wrote it because he thinks that way or wrote it just to get the page views. I highly doubt he wrote it as a joke. You can't just write something provocative and then say "just kidding it was all a joke!" and expect to be taken seriously.
Stop going to his blog and giving him hits. There are plenty of good and reasonable responses on there already. If you must comment, keep it civil. There's no reason to drag the community into the mud with this guy.
Of course they are dissing esports, what they are afraid of is that esports may be as big and socially excepted as regular sports even though in there eyes players who play esports don't do anything besides sitting in front of a pc and wasting there time. Whenever something new comes up there are old fashioned people who hate on it, it's in the nature of things. Similiar to how the music industry fails to adapt to all the changes the internet brought to the way we enjoy music, people like the author will fail to adapt to the new trend called esports. It will take time till playing starcraft for a living is as excepted as playing basketball for a living.
Can we get an imgur link or some other image of the article up? I really hate giving people like this the traffic they do not deserve from the community that they are flaring up.
On September 09 2011 01:35 Magic1264 wrote: Can we get an imgur link or some other image of the article up? I really hate giving people like this the traffic they do not deserve from the community that they are flaring up.
I can't help but think that CBSsports employs idiots on purpose, trying to attract traffic by being inflammatory. No integrity. I used to be an avid poster on the site but left it because the NFL-experts annoyed the living crap out of me with their ignorance.
CBSSports is a joke. They are at the bottom of the sports journalism pool. I really wouldn't worry to much about this. Yahoo Sports is a more trusted source of valuable information than CBSSports is. If that article was on ESPN, a much more respected site, I would be more worried about it.
Not only that, it's not even an "article". It wasn't vetted by an editor, it's just a blog post from a meat head. No reason to get worked up.
On September 09 2011 01:35 Magic1264 wrote: Can we get an imgur link or some other image of the article up? I really hate giving people like this the traffic they do not deserve from the community that they are flaring up.
I actually see this as good. The article itself is terrible, but SC2 is becoming legitement enough to be talked about in major media, of course there will be negative views. Controversy breeds interest which only brings in more people.
Maybe with seeing how unpopular his viewpoint is CBS will run an article with a fair and researched look into SC2.
ignorant people are ignorant. write up angry letters to them and ignore their blatant elitism.
If this same author had written such a thing about any other sport in the world, he'd be flogged publicly for being short sighted and ignorant. nerd alerts? what are we 15 again? -_-' this entire article is dumb written by a dumb person who thinks "nerds" are lame, and "sports" are for cool kids.
On September 09 2011 03:57 MstrJinbo wrote: After reading 100+ apologetic tweets to outraged sc fans I think it is safe to say the author has learned his lesson.
On September 09 2011 03:57 MstrJinbo wrote: After reading 100+ apologetic tweets to outraged sc fans I think it is safe to say the author has learned his lesson.
Oh man this guy had to take some serious heat! I know people always talk about "don't visit their site" etc. But if you go and comment there an on twitter, you show that you will not tolerate shit being thrown all over the stuff you love, like kotaku turned out!
On September 09 2011 03:57 MstrJinbo wrote: After reading 100+ apologetic tweets to outraged sc fans I think it is safe to say the author has learned his lesson.
I posted a comment and tweeted at him. Couldn't stand that this asshole just blatantly trashed what I stand for. I would prefer to voice my outrage than just attempt not to give him more traffic. It appears that he's been backpedaling a bit on Twitter. Hopefully this idiot will educate himself.
really? he writes articles about sports players who want to play video games but when a player abuses drugs or pulls a gun on his teammate in the locker room he doesn't give a shit? Great article Ben.
pretty crazy, why would he pass up NBA to play SC2 though? The NBA has tons more money, fame, everything. Is it just for his love of sc2 over basketball?
Like yea he might win a tourney or two if he's good and make a few hundred thou but in the NBA don't they make that kind of money regardless if they win anything lol?
Checked out his twitter, unamused. Bullshit it was "light-hearted & tongue in cheek from start." As someone else stated a page back, it would've been better if he came out with a straightforward apology and spent a bit of time enlightening himself about e-sports rather than a blatant lie about it all being a joke.
I honestly believe that people who write things like this get blind sighted by the huge backlash they get from this community. Its so awesome. They post a half-joking, half-serious and very ignorant post that casually bashes esports, and get ripped a new one for it. Lol, its so fantastic that we as a community have grown to the point where we can, ahem, "correct" stupid articles like this with overwhelming outcry and backlash that it gets drowned and ends up informing a lot of people about how far-reaching we really are through comments, twitter, etc. Too great, love to see this community rallied together to defend esports!
On September 09 2011 10:28 SpoR wrote: pretty crazy, why would he pass up NBA to play SC2 though? The NBA has tons more money, fame, everything. Is it just for his love of sc2 over basketball?
Like yea he might win a tourney or two if he's good and make a few hundred thou but in the NBA don't they make that kind of money regardless if they win anything lol?
Uhh, Gordon Hayward isn't quitting the NBA he is just playing in one tournament in the offseason during this lockout, he isn't quitting and going full time sc2.....not sure if you were being serious or not.
On September 09 2011 03:57 MstrJinbo wrote: After reading 100+ apologetic tweets to outraged sc fans I think it is safe to say the author has learned his lesson.
blazersedge Ben Golliver @WilliamDecker Starcraft 2 is definitely bigger than curling.
I'm laughing hard reading this guy's twitter. It's like watching one of those comedy skits where a person is on the phone and you only understand what's going on by his responses.
Ben Golliver is pretty much like every other old ignorant journalist who feels sense of duty to abuse the freedom of speech without having solid ground to stand on. That is all there is to it.
On September 09 2011 03:57 MstrJinbo wrote: After reading 100+ apologetic tweets to outraged sc fans I think it is safe to say the author has learned his lesson.
the lesson that nerd-baiting works really well
if you want alot of views and exposure, just bash starcraft
On September 09 2011 10:28 SpoR wrote: pretty crazy, why would he pass up NBA to play SC2 though? The NBA has tons more money, fame, everything. Is it just for his love of sc2 over basketball?
Like yea he might win a tourney or two if he's good and make a few hundred thou but in the NBA don't they make that kind of money regardless if they win anything lol?
The NBA is in a lockout right now so technically he's unemployed until everything gets fixed.
I don't get why when journalists posts bad articles they got go like: "lol jk" or "OMG you didn't see the sarcasm!". I mean what the fuck. Your a journalist your not paid to be funny or sarcastic. If you repair computer for a living, you don't install viruses into your clients PC and then when they come to complain say it was a joke? I mean it's a totally unvalid argument and CBS shoudn't have let this beeing posted on their site in the first place!
Evil Geniuses player Greg “IdrA” Fields isn’t playing Starcraft II in Korea with his teammates in the coming months. Instead, he’s taking his talents to a playground outside of the school.
lemonparty.org reports that Fields will be playing Basketball professionally. The 21-year-old Evil Geniuses player has joined a professional basketball team, the L.A. Lakers. Fields will compete with the Lakers from Oct. 9th to April 18th. Fields is excited to be one player among the 30 professional basketball teams.
“I’ve been bench pressing for as long as I can remember,” Fields said in a news release. “I’m a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of athletic sports.
Pro-basketball players are really sports stars themselves,” he added. “The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft – Unless you’re terran – and playing Basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it -Unless you're Protoss -, just like with other sports. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
*Slap on the ass* *Slap on the ass*. Yes, that’s the sound of the jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Fields waited until after HuK switched over to EG to announce these plans. For all the illusion’s sake.
But, wait, there’s more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA.
His response, “I think you’ve got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that’s probably pretty stressful… At the same time, if you’re getting 2 raxed by any decent terran – not that there are any decent terrans - , that’s pretty tough too. I’d say they are both tough in their own right.” The video and others can be viewed at Chill’s getout.com account.
Well, not to go all Lim Yo-Hwan on you, but we have officially reaches the point where we know for a 100 percentt fact that we need an organization like KESPA in SC2. When a 21-year-old, 100 pound Zerg player doesn’t immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress, rigors, and cheese of SC2 to a freaking sweaty, barbaric sport we know that there needs to be some bigger authority. If throwing a ball around for an hour gets his blood pumping as much as a well-orchestrated timing attack, that’s a terrible look. We don’t want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no SC player ever said, “That German Suplex Byrd hit me with last night was pretty much the same as Zangief’s fuckingannoyingassholdfromstreetfighter2turboFUCKYOUITSRIGGEDGODDAMNIT Hold” Or, “Oh man, playing ball bounce was so exhilarating it reminded me of the GSL Code S finals between PiqLiq and BitbyBit.” Never happened.
Hopefully Field's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing shit storm that is sure to be occurring on teamliquid.net so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of the gaming and go back to PLAAAGGGUUUUUUUUUUE and GEEEEEEEE GEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
It just seems like a sports writer who quite frankly doesn't care about esports, so instead of being concerned with what people will think about the article, he just went for getting views... and threads like this bring attention to it.
I can honestly say I don't care about the writer's opinion.
On September 09 2011 11:50 MagicGunner wrote: Evil Geniuses player Greg “IdrA” Fields isn’t playing Starcraft II in Korea with his teammates in the coming months. Instead, he’s taking his talents to a playground outside of the school.
lemonparty.org reports that Fields will be playing Basketball professionally. The 21-year-old Evil Geniuses player has joined a professional basketball team, the L.A. Lakers. Fields will compete with the Lakers from Oct. 9th to April 18th. Fields is excited to be one player among the 30 professional basketball teams.
“I’ve been bench pressing for as long as I can remember,” Fields said in a news release. “I’m a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of athletic sports.
Pro-basketball players are really sports stars themselves,” he added. “The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft – Unless you’re terran – and playing Basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it -Unless you're Protoss -, just like with other sports. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
*Slap on the ass* *Slap on the ass*. Yes, that’s the sound of the jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Fields waited until after HuK switched over to EG to announce these plans. For all the illusion’s sake.
But, wait, there’s more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA.
His response, “I think you’ve got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that’s probably pretty stressful… At the same time, if you’re getting 2 raxed by any decent terran – not that there are any decent terrans - , that’s pretty tough too. I’d say they are both tough in their own right.” The video and others can be viewed at Chill’s getout.com account.
Well, not to go all Lim Yo-Hwan on you, but we have officially reaches the point where we know for a 100 percentt fact that we need an organization like KESPA in SC2. When a 21-year-old, 100 pound Zerg player doesn’t immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress, rigors, and cheese of SC2 to a freaking sweaty, barbaric sport we know that there needs to be some bigger authority. If throwing a ball around for an hour gets his blood pumping as much as a well-orchestrated timing attack, that’s a terrible look. We don’t want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no SC player ever said, “That German Suplex Byrd hit me with last night was pretty much the same as Zangief’s fuckingannoyingassholdfromstreetfighter2turboFUCKYOUITSRIGGEDGODDAMNIT Hold” Or, “Oh man, playing ball bounce was so exhilarating it reminded me of the GSL Code S finals between PiqLiq and BitbyBit.” Never happened.
Hopefully Field's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing shit storm that is sure to be occurring on teamliquid.net so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of the gaming and go back to PLAAAGGGUUUUUUUUUUE and GEEEEEEEE GEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
On September 09 2011 11:50 MagicGunner wrote: Evil Geniuses player Greg “IdrA” Fields isn’t playing Starcraft II in Korea with his teammates in the coming months. Instead, he’s taking his talents to a playground outside of the school.
lemonparty.org reports that Fields will be playing Basketball professionally. The 21-year-old Evil Geniuses player has joined a professional basketball team, the L.A. Lakers. Fields will compete with the Lakers from Oct. 9th to April 18th. Fields is excited to be one player among the 30 professional basketball teams.
“I’ve been bench pressing for as long as I can remember,” Fields said in a news release. “I’m a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of athletic sports.
Pro-basketball players are really sports stars themselves,” he added. “The mental strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing Starcraft – Unless you’re terran – and playing Basketball. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it -Unless you're Protoss -, just like with other sports. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
*Slap on the ass* *Slap on the ass*. Yes, that’s the sound of the jock alert being activated. It is a good thing Fields waited until after HuK switched over to EG to announce these plans. For all the illusion’s sake.
But, wait, there’s more. Fields was asked in a promotional video interview to compare the stress of playing professional video games to the stress of the NBA.
His response, “I think you’ve got to look at the circumstances of each. If you're going to shoot a three-pointer to win the game with someone guarding you, that’s probably pretty stressful… At the same time, if you’re getting 2 raxed by any decent terran – not that there are any decent terrans - , that’s pretty tough too. I’d say they are both tough in their own right.” The video and others can be viewed at Chill’s getout.com account.
Well, not to go all Lim Yo-Hwan on you, but we have officially reaches the point where we know for a 100 percentt fact that we need an organization like KESPA in SC2. When a 21-year-old, 100 pound Zerg player doesn’t immediately recoil in horror when asked to compare the stress, rigors, and cheese of SC2 to a freaking sweaty, barbaric sport we know that there needs to be some bigger authority. If throwing a ball around for an hour gets his blood pumping as much as a well-orchestrated timing attack, that’s a terrible look. We don’t want to live in a world where this can be true, do we?
I guarantee that no SC player ever said, “That German Suplex Byrd hit me with last night was pretty much the same as Zangief’s fuckingannoyingassholdfromstreetfighter2turboFUCKYOUITSRIGGEDGODDAMNIT Hold” Or, “Oh man, playing ball bounce was so exhilarating it reminded me of the GSL Code S finals between PiqLiq and BitbyBit.” Never happened.
Hopefully Field's interview gets entered into evidence in the ongoing shit storm that is sure to be occurring on teamliquid.net so we can turn back the clock and undo this embarrasing chapter in the history of the gaming and go back to PLAAAGGGUUUUUUUUUUE and GEEEEEEEE GEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Wow. This community sure knows how to mobilize. I'm thinking this has been a learning experience for Golliver. He seems to be reasonably engaging with all the Twitter criticism.
Any publicity in my opinion for e-sports is good publicity. That makes 2 major article carriers the "Wall Street Journal" and "CBS" writing about esports in the past 2 months. That is already a huge increase of what is usually in the news.
Yes, the article can be very aggrivating because they clearly have not been attacked by a zerg rush attack. But it makes people wonder and go "Hey what is this esports scene?" Hopefully with this article people will be curious enough and research for themselves and we can show them how great of a community we can be.
The recent bashing that SC2 has been receiving from writers really pisses me off, but what ticks me off more is the after apologies. The writer of this article apparently called his article "tongue-in-cheek" and "light-hearted" in response to the flood of twitter flames he received. Yeah I call BS. The lady writer from Kotaku also ducked and dodged constantly in her apology to SC2 fans, saying stuff like "oh that's not really what I meant in my writing. I was just making a light-hearted joke about this other thing, you see? lol"
no THAT'S BULLSHIT. Take responsibility for shitting on a growing hobby that tens of thousands of people worldwide partake in, not say "lulz jk jk I actually ♥ u guyz"
I don't get it. What's wrong with video games? Is it that much worse than sitting still in front of a television? Your brain is actually very inactive during TV (unless you take notes or listen for details). It's not like games (or specifically SC2) take no skill to get good at. Is it social isolation to play SC2? You could have a ton of fun doing team games with friends or watching MLG with others or discussing the game with peers.
What's wrong with SC2? Why must some ignorant "writers" try and shoot it down?
Oh man the "counter offensive" in the comment section from people who support the author are hilarious. Especially from the veteran forum members "Gordon is not on your team, he's the guy who beat you up in high school for being you!". I mean come on, yep everyone of the millions who play Starcraft are super stereotype nerdy. I would argue that some of us are actually capable of talking to people irl.
you know what they say. bad publicity is better than no publicity at all. this guy will benefit off of this somehow later on down the line and ignorance or not, it was probably his intent to take the spotlight.
The author is an idoit and obviously didnt research anything before spouting garbage. If he did he would find that alot more than just "nerdy" people play sc2. The center of his piece being case and point.
On September 09 2011 20:00 Scereye wrote: blazersedge Ben Golliver @ @WilliamDecker Starcraft 2 is definitely bigger than curling.
Wohooo Curling done! Next destination; next stop: Darts
You laugh, but Darts is big in England and Holland (and probably more but i only know specifically of those.) I mean the viewer count is in the millions for the finals in both countries, and the prize money pool is £1 Million with the winner taking £200,000 ($320,000 atm)