Colin would quit if he had to cover an eSport.

[Sunstroke]

So many individual points to chime in on...

Video games: Not a sport
Air hockey: Not a sport
World Series of Poker: Not a sport

Nascar/Auto racing: Sport
Track & Field: Sport
Surfing: Sport

Definitions: Dictated by popular usage

Colin Cowherd: Annoyingly lame mama's boy

[Dave Gray]

So you're basically saying that the vast majority of the Olympics are not sports.

Correct.  They are athletic competitions, but not sports, in my eyes.

Back on topic, I don't care whether ESPN covers gaming competitions or not.  I think that they probably should, since they hurt for content anyway and they already show things like fishing and poker.  So...whatever.  I don't see why it would bother anyone.

[Fau Teixeira]

air hockey is as much of a sport as billiards .. or ping pong.

explain to me the difference between professional table tennis and real tennis .. other than the size of the court and equipment ?

Gamers have died from gaming too much for too long .. to say there wasn't physical effort involved in gaming is uninformed.

Professional gamers follow training regimens, have coaches and sponsors, scout the opposition. Leagues exist with detailed win / loss stats and breakdowns. a professional starcraft 2 competitor will average 200 mouseclicks per minute .. sure they aren't driving a car and making left hand turns for 3 hours .. and they aren't pole vaulting 4 times over a half hour .. but the fast-twitch and hand-eye coordination are what defines the athletic parameters of esports.

[Phishfan]

Gamers have died from gaming too much for too long .. to say there wasn't physical effort involved in gaming is uninformed.

Crackheads have also died from too much for too long but we don't call that a sport either. What you are talking about is addiction, not competition.

[Brian Fein]

Gamers have died from gaming too much for too long .. to say there wasn't physical effort involved in gaming is uninformed.

Gotta be honest I think you went a bit far here. Gaming, at most, involves movement of nothing more than your forearms, while sitting in a chair.  I'm not sure how you would consider it to be "athletic exertion" if you're only moving your thumbs or clicking a mouse...

[MikeO]

Back on topic, I don't care whether ESPN covers gaming competitions or not.  I think that they probably should, since they hurt for content anyway and they already show things like fishing and poker.  So...whatever.  I don't see why it would bother anyone.

ESPN SportsCenter was showing highlights of pro wrestling earlier this month and doing a break down of a certain match acting like it was an NBA game or MLB game and giving it credence. Covering video games would be a step up for ESPN these days! lol

[Sunstroke]

a professional starcraft 2 competitor will average 200 mouseclicks per minute

Midget porn fanatics will yank it up to 200 times per minute for hours at a time, but I'll stop short of calling myself...er...that other guy, an endurance athlete.

Crackheads have also died from too much for too long but we don't call that a sport either. What you are talking about is addiction, not competition.

Personally, I would love to watch the Crackhead Olympics...

[Dave Gray]

I think that ESPN should give way more coverage to MMA than it does.

It's a legitimate sport that's popular and there's a pretty good amount of strategy to discuss pre- and post- fights.  Meanwhile, they show fishing.

[Brian Fein]

^^ I think ESPN should give way more coverage to NHL hockey than it does.

They barely recognize that hockey is a thing, and short of someone's earlier definition including the word "ball," I haven't see a single definition that would discount hockey as a sport.  Yet, ESPN would rather televise world series of poker while the NHL Playoffs are in full swing.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^ I think ESPN should give way more coverage to NHL hockey than it does.

They barely recognize that hockey is a thing, and short of someone's earlier definition including the word "ball," I haven't see a single definition that would discount hockey as a sport.  Yet, ESPN would rather televise world series of poker while the NHL Playoffs are in full swing.

ESPN televises based on two things: the cost to acquire the programing & the projected viewership/ad revenue generated by said programing.  Poker is quite popular and probably cheaper to acquire the rights to than NHL.   ESPN would show more hockey if people would watch more hockey. 

Odds are e-gaming is not going supplant  a college bowl game.  It will be used during dead time (e.g 4 am) or times in which ESPN can not compete with another networks sports programing (e.g. during the superbowl)

[Phishfan]

I don't get your issue with ESPN having to cover the playoffs Brian. Why does it have to be ESPN? Every game has been televised by other networks (thank you NBC).

[masterfins]

^^ I think ESPN should give way more coverage to NHL hockey than it does.

They barely recognize that hockey is a thing, and short of someone's earlier definition including the word "ball," I haven't see a single definition that would discount hockey as a sport.  Yet, ESPN would rather televise world series of poker while the NHL Playoffs are in full swing.

I'd amend my earlier statement to include a hockey puck, but please no ping pong balls or shuttle cocks.

I've said before, I think hockey on TV is really growing with the advent of Hi-Def television, it makes watching hockey on TV enjoyable.  It will continue to grow viewership, the problem is there are large sections of the country where kids can't go out in the wintertime and skate, so they don't develop a passion for the game.

[MikeO]

I think that ESPN should give way more coverage to MMA than it does.

It's a legitimate sport that's popular and there's a pretty good amount of strategy to discuss pre- and post- fights.  Meanwhile, they show fishing.

2 factors play into the UFC and NHL coverage on ESPN.

Only one company in MMA matters, and that's UFC. UFC has a deal with FOX....hence ESPN won't give MMA a lot of coverage.  If UFC was on ESPN in America it would get more coverage. Plus UFC has a "niche" audience in this country.

NHL is a very regional sport with a "niche" audience in the United States. ESPN gives the proper coverage to  hockey for the fan-base hockey has in this country. Plus they don't own the rights and NBC does. Just like MMA, if ESPN had the rights they would cover it more. But with the NHL it has more to do with the "niche" audience in the United States. It's just not that popular in this country.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'd amend my earlier statement to include a hockey puck, but please no ping pong balls or shuttle cocks.

Under what objective definition can table tennis not be considered a sport?

[Dave Gray]

Argument technique that I HATE HATE HATE but see in this thread.

Person 1 makes logical fallacy: "Drinking gatorade is good for you.  It's mostly water!"
Person 2 points out logical fallacy by using same logical fallacy: "Piss is mostly water.  It must be good for you."
Person 1 claims false equivalence: "Oh, now you're comparing gatorade to piss?"

Maddening.