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Extended Inquiry Project

Computer or Cleats, Who Are My Athletes?

Derek Drew

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1103 Honors

4 December 2019
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Derek Drew

Professor Campbell

UWRT

7 November 2019

Computer or Cleats: Who Are my Athletes?

Imagine walking into an auditorium. There was a flyer that said that there was a man that

was going to talk about the sports of the future. It continued to say that the sport is something to

begin supporting know, but it had little details about what the sport was. The hundreds of people

who the flyer intrigued are chattering calmly amongst themselves, waitinged anxiously for the

man to come. After a few minutes, he comes out from behind the stage and stands in front of the

crowd. It gets quiet until the man exclaims, “Esports is on the rise! The next generation of

athletes are here!” After this strange claimstatement, the audience is told he tells the audience

that he is a professional Esports player. He then goes on to explain that Esports is a fairly new

sport where players compete in videogames in front of a crowd of people. It sounds like most

sports in presentation, but I begin to think out loud nearby: “How are these players athletes when

they just sit and play a videogame?” What if I were to tell you Esports players are not and should

not be called athletes.

DEFINE ATHLETE

To begin the reasoning to why Esports players are not athletes, consider why not look

into the dictionary definition of the word athlete along with its origins. The Merriam-Webster

Ddictionary defines athlete as, “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games
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requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.” The definition brings on the demand for physical

skillsneeds, as in strength, agility, and stamina. These aspects are not present in Esports

competitions. In an Esports match, players sit down for a period of time in front of a monitor of

some sort, and they play their game in the same spot, getting up only to vent frustration or

celebrate. But, looking into other traditional sports such as football, soccer, basketball, and

baseball, physical strengthen, agility, and stamina are necessary for success.

As the definition is not enough proof that the word athlete cannot define an Esports

player, the Online Etymology Dictionary presents the origin of the word. In Latin, athlete comes

from the word athleta which means “a wrestler, athlete, combatant in public games." Again, the

idea of physical prowess is present in this definition. It is this reoccurring factor that can be

found in those who have possessed the title of athlete, such as soccer players, football players,

and basketball players. On the other hand, Esports players tend to fail to demonstrate these

attributes while participating in their sport.

The Online Etymology Dictionary also shows that athlete has another root that is Greek.

They used the word athletes, meaning "prizefighter, contestant in the games.” Taken out of

context, this definition could classify Esports players as athletes, but if you consider the time

period, the word game would not be the same as it is today. The International Olympics

Committee’s website states, “Full of blood, passion, and extraordinary feats of athletic endeavor,

the Olympic Games were the sporting, social and cultural highlight of the Ancient Greek

calendar…” This description is how they see the Olympic Games at the times of the Greeks,

showing how they viewed the word game. Relating this description to Esports, there has not been
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a time where a player shows “extraordinary feats of athletic endeavor” at matches or tournaments

while other athletes have.

The point that the origin and definition are here to make is that Esports players do not fit

the definition. As it is a sport and players do work hard, they do not show physical attributes

when they play. This is not the fault of the game; it is just the truth of the matter. The games they

play require small amounts of physical talent. Some may say that Esports player’s finger

dexterity should count as physical talent. What is wrong with this statement is that moving your

fingers is a talent, but it is not that physical in the sense of sports. This action is small and has a

small toll on you stamina in the end, which does not compare to what traditional athletes go

through in their sport. This then brings up another question: Are Esports actually sports?

DEFINE SPORT

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a sport is “physical activity engaged in

for pleasure; a particular activity (such as an athletic game) so engaged in.” The reoccurring

factor of physical activity is shown again in this definition. This brings the thought that

Esports should not even be considered a sport, which shows further reason why they should

not be called athletes. How can you be an athlete if what you participate in cannot qualify as a

sport?

Esports supporters will defend this claim by saying that there have been events

streamed on ESPN, such as the Fortnite World Cup. What they may not know is that ESPN

streams different games that are not necessarily sports, like poker, billiards, and even the

spelling bee. Each of these competitions are not consider sports, but they still get streamed on

ESPN. And, to further the argument towards Esports players not being called athletes , each of
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the players in these games are not called athletes. They are professional gamblers or

intelligent people, not athletes.

THE WORKOUTTRAINING ROUTINE

Building on the definitions of athlete and sport, I decided to looking into a soccer players’

training routine compared to an Esports players’ training routine can put the difference of

physical work into perspective. This will not only show the difference in physical training, but it

will also show how a lack of physicality causes Esports players to fall short from the title of

athlete.

To provide insight for training for traditional sports, I decided to look at soccer players.

Marcus Lee and Swarup Mukherjee are trained physicians in sports who were in charge of

conducting an experiment on a soccer team in Singapore. Int this experiment, they tracked the

intensity of the running the team underwent for two seasons.There was a study done with a

professional soccer team in Singapore where trained physicians in sport science Marcus Lee and

Swarup Mukherjee measured the running intensity the team underwent for two seasons. In this,

they measured running work outs at practices during the preseason, the beginning of the season,

the end of the season, and the post season. The results showed a trend: intense workouts at the

beginning of the season and, a “Variation in TL (training load) across the in-season phases

(early, mid, late) also suggests that changes in TL could be expected during the competitive

periods of the season.” (Lee, 339 and Mukherjee). This research may appear moot, but it

actually shows the purpose of physical training. This information may seem useless, but the

deeper context is what is important. The fact that the workout intensifies when competition is

near shows why they workout. In sports that are known to hold athletesathletic sports, the
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training that each player undergoes is in order to increase performance. In the case of the soccer

team, the cardio workouts prepared them for the season during preseason and prepared them for

a challenging opponent for the rest of the season.

Another example of a traditional sports workout is the workout done by running back

Todd Gurley for the Los Angeles Rams. There is a website that is called Men’s Journal that talks

about five workouts that he does to improve his work in the article, “NFL Training: Todd

Gurley’s 5 Essential Exercises for Explosive Strength.” Two workouts he does are called barbell

back squats and power cleans. Barbell back squats are where an individual puts a barbell, the

long metal rod that holds weights, on his or her shoulder and does squats. Todd Gurley does this

in order to:

Squats are a key exercise for Gurley (and his favorite) in building his lower-body strength

and power. It exercise helps improve hip flexibility and strengthens his core, quads,

calves, hamstrings, and glutes. The added strength to those areas helps Gurley decrease

the likelihood of suffering injuries and helps with his vertical jumping ability by

increasing hip strength and flexibility. (Men’s Journal)

Power cleans are where an individual grabs a bar bent over, explosively stands up, lifts the bar to

their chest, and repeats this motion. Todd Gurley does this workout to:

This exercise primarily taxes the posterior chain: glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. The

movement helps with explosiveness and jumping ability, two things that translate to the

field for Gurley and other athletes. (Men’s Journal)

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These workouts show that even though some exercise is done to avoid injury, the primary reason

for these workouts are to boost performance. In this, the exercise done is to train to become a

better athlete.

One last traditional sports workout that I will talk about will be one done by basketball

superstar Stephen Curry, which differs from that of the two before. This is more of a daily

workout for Stephen Curry, but nonetheless, it is still one that he undergoes. According to Health

Fitness Resolution, Stephen Curry workouts consists of:

Weighted Lunge Series: moves arms in arch motion with each lunge, carrying weights in

each hand; lunges out to sides to strengthen lateral movement muscles. Shooting Series:

Ball catcher hoop- must make at least 100 clean shots. Hand-Eye Coordination Series:

Dribble while training eyes on bouncing tennis ball. (Health Fitness Resolution)

But, more importantly, he also focuses on his diet. Him and his family eat, “Warm cinnamon,

apple oatmeal, saffron salmon, roasted brussels sprouts and pears, salmon burger, caprese salad,

Greek yogurt (Health Fitness Resolution).” This shows that there is still a good diet heavy

influence on a traditional athlete’s health. But, he still works out to improve his skills, as seen in

the shooting series as well as the hand-eye coordination series.

For the opposing side,It can be argued that Esports players workout as well. At this point,

people usually say that because these players workout, they are being physical in their sport.

And, since they are being physical, they should be called athletes, right? Well, while this training

is a physical action, it is done for a different reason rather than improving gaming performance.

In the Wall Street Journal article, “‘My Arms Were Really Skinny.’ Professional Videogamers

Are Working Out,” Timothy W. Martin writes:

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“To stay in the game, Dario Wünsch has adopted a dedicated routine to avoid injuries. He

starts each morning with yoga poses, torso twists, finger stretches and planks. He gulps

down ginger smoothies to ward off joint inflammations.” (Martin).

This quote shows that Esports players actually workout as well as develop better eating habits in

order to avoid injury and stay healthy and only those reasons. The workouts that these players

undergo is similar to those who go to the gym and have a personal trainer help them, as

professional gaming teams have their own trainers. This may seem like it is in favor of Esports

players, but these trainers are here to keep them healthy. They do not focus on certain aspects of

the players gameplay like they do in sports like soccer, football, and basketball.

Comparing these two, the difference is shown the use for trainingfor what physical

training is used for is shown. Esports uses its physical training to stay in shape and avoid

injuries. In this case, it is not so much training as exercise. Looking at traditional sports, soccer

in this case, the physical training done on the soccer team, by Todd Gurley, and by Stephen

Curry was to improve their performance. This fact shows that the training these players do adds

to the physicality of the sport. Some may argue that Todd Gurley and Stephen Curry also had

aspects of their training that focused on their health. The difference is that health is not the entire

focus of the training like Esports players do. This fact shows that the training these players do

adds to the physicality of the sport. Relating back to the definition of an athlete, the exercise that

Esports players undergo does not improve performance for “physical strength, agility, nor

stamina.” (Merriam-Webster).” Instead, they work out to be healthy. This being said, Esports

players fall short from being included in the definition of an athlete still.

DOES THAT MAKE YOU AN ATHLETE?

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While Esports players may not be included in the definition of the word athlete nor have

the same physical training that traditional sports do, some may believe that Esports players

should still be called athletes. Why? According to AP News, Milan Cerny who works for a

technology company said, “Gamers and traditional athletes have a lot in common… including

that both are “really, really good at what they’re doing.” (qtd. in “The Debate over Esports:

Gamers or Athletes?”).”

Cerny’s point has truth to it, Esports players are great at what they do.Cerny may appear

to have a point. Esports has leagues for various games such as Overwatch, Rocket League, and

League of Legends. A league in Esports is similar to any league in any competition. There is

variety of teams, which can be divided into different divisions. For Esports, though, they do not

divide into divisions, they have a table where you get points for wins, ties, and nothing for

losses. Each league has teams, who have their own jerseys, coaches, and trainers. Esports teams

even have arenas that they play in, like Nerd Street Gamers who play in the Wells Fargo Center

along with the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers. (Hayward) From the appearance

standpoint, it would seem like Esports players are athletes. Also, the popular game of Fortnite

was shown on ESPN.

But, does the appearance and being skilled make an individual an athlete?

If that were the case, multiple professions would be able to call their people athletes.

Doctors have to be “really, really good” at what they do, and they where they same thing as their

“team.” If they are not good at what they do, then that could create problems. Some may argue

that doctors do not have a fan base and do not work for entertainment. In that case, what about

singers or performers?. They have to be skilled in their art., Tthey may not have their own arena,
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but they travel from arena to arena, like going to away games. And they have a fan base and are

in entertainment. They can also be in competitions for money as well, like Esports players. So,

why are they not athletes? It is because they are not in a physical competition like athletes

partake in.And for streaming, poker and spelling bees are broadcasted on ESPN. So, why can

they be called athletes? It may be because their profession is not classified as a sport, but this

shows that just because Esports players similarities with other athletes, it does not mean that they

are athletes as well.

GAME OVER

With all this being said, it is not in my intentions to ridicule any Esports players and their

skill. They do put in hours to train and to make it professional is a great feat as it is. I believe that

athlete is not the correct title for Esports players. For this I have a solution: give Esports players

a new title. It would be like how we call poker players gamblers, or how we call people in

academic decathlons mathletes. So, the classic professional gamer can be what they are called, or

a new name can be created. It can be something like techlete,techlete, which combines

technology and athlete like how Esports combined sports and technology. It does not have to be

that exact word, but it should represent what an Esports player is. In this, there will be more

meaning to the title of a professional Esports player than being called an athlete and being

compared to people that have more differences than similarities. In doing this, Esports players

can be classified as something unique with being misplaced as they are when being called

athletes.
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Annotated Bibliography

“Athlete.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete. 21 Sep. 2019.

“Athlete (n.).” Index,

www.etymonline.com/word/athlete. 21 Sep. 2019.

“The Debate over Esports: Gamers or Athletes?” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 24 Aug. 2018,

https://apnews.com/6ecce0ecc3df4b26a167f8d690f1938d. 1 Nov. 2019.

Hayward, Andrew, et al. “Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center Adds Localhost Esports Arena.”

The Esports Observer, The Esports Observer, 27 Sept. 2019,

https://esportsobserver.com/philly-localhost-esports-arena/. 17 Oct 2019.

Health Fitness Revolution, et al. “Exercise Like An All-Star: The Stephen Curry Workout.”

Health Fitness Revolution, 23 Mar. 2016, www.healthfitnessrevolution.com/stephen-curry-

workout/. 20 Nov. 2019.

Lee, Marcus, and Swarup Mukherjee. “Relationship of Training Load with High-Intensity

Running in Professional Soccer Players.” International Journal of Sports Medicine., vol.

40, no. 5, Thieme Medical Publisher Inc, May 2019, pp. 336–43, doi:10.1055/a-0855-

3843. 17 Oct. 2019.

Martin, Timothy W. “'My Arms Were Really Skinny.' Professional Videogamers Are Working

Out.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 11 Oct. 2018,
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www.wsj.com/articles/drop-the-pizza-pick-up-the-weights-videogamers-get-in-shape-

1539276694. 17 Oct. 2019.

“Todd Gurley's 5 Essential Exercises for Explosive Strength.” Men's Journal, 11 Jan. 2019,

www.mensjournal.com/sports/nfl-training-todd-gurleys-5-essential-exercises-explosive-

strength/. 18 Nov. 2019.

“Welcome to the Ancient Olympic Games.” International Olympic Committee, 20 Dec. 2018,

https://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games. 21 Sep. 2019.