Are Video Games the Next Big College Sport?
时间：2018-12-07 作者：英语课 分类：2017年VOA慢速英语(七)月
Are Video Games the Next Big College Sport?
New kinds of competitors are joining student athletes at colleges and universities around the country. But not everyone agrees that these video game players are taking part in a sport.
Sports are an established part of college life and a source of income for some schools.
The football stadium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor 1, for example, holds over 107,000 people. It is one of the largest sports stadiums in the world!
The National Collegiate Athletic 2 Association 3, or NCAA, organizes and creates rules for most of the major college sports competitions in the United States. Income from television advertisements during the NCAA yearly 4 men’s basketball championships was greater than $1 billion in 2016.
Not every college sport involves throwing a ball or swinging a stick, however. More schools around the country are offering new competitions that are growing in popularity 5.
Like most traditional college sports, video game competitions involve two or more teams of students officially representing their schools. Team members wear clothing with their names and school colors. They even have coaches giving them advice on how best to win.
However, there is no running or jumping or hitting other players. In fact, these new events are different from any traditional athletic activity. They are called esports, and they take place not in the real world, but in computers or other video game systems.
Professional video game competitions have been popular around the world for years. Teams and individuals compete for prize money and awards in strategic 6 military combat 7 games like Starcraft and one-on-one fighting games like Street Fighter.
But just as in traditional sports, there is a big difference between professional esports players and those who play for fun, says Michael Brooks 8. Brooks is the executive 9 director of the National Association of Collegiate eSports, or NACE. NACE is an organization similar to the NCAA. It seeks to support the growth of college-level esports as well as create a system of governing rules for them.
Brooks says that three years ago, only about seven colleges and universities in the U.S. had esports programs. Much of the popularity for video game competitions was in Europe and Asia at that time, and still is. That is mainly because the traditional professional sports industry in the U.S. is already so strong. Also, fewer people in the U.S. have high-speed internet connections, Brooks adds.
But he says websites like YouTube and Twitch 10, where people can show videos of themselves competing in video games, have made a big difference. In addition to playing, watching others compete has become much more popular.
Now, many more young Americans are looking for a path to professional-level competition, Brooks notes. So in 2016, Maryville University of St. Louis in Missouri and 5 other schools joined together to form NACE.
Brooks says this move to treat esports seriously came at just the right time.
“Many [schools] had the feeling that esports kind of … came out of nowhere. … But … that’s not necessarily 11 true,” he told VOA via Skype. “It was just that if you’re interested in esports, that was something you had to go find. It wasn’t something put in front of you in the real world… And it’s only till recently that enough organizations have seen that there is a need here.”
Currently 12, 41 U.S. colleges and universities are members of NACE, with esports teams of their own. Brooks argues that the schools do everything they can to treat the esports teams just like their traditional sports teams.
The schools provide all the computers and other equipment that is necessary. Also, many schools provide students with some form of financial support in exchange for being on one of its teams. Southwest Baptist University in Missouri, for example, gives its esports team members as much as $10,000 in assistance 13.
Brooks adds that not just anyone can join an esports team, and esports does not include any video game available. NACE only includes video games that enough students play under the same rules for competition. Schools invite the best young players in the country to join their teams just as they do with traditional college sports. These student also must keep a minimum 14 level of academic performance in order to stay on the team.
?However, some experts do not believe colleges or the public should compare video games to soccer or baseball.
Brandon Spradley is the director of sports management at the United States Sports Academy 15. The school provides higher education in sports-related fields. Spradley also was on the competitive 16 running team at the University of Alabama when he was a student there.
Spradley says he is glad that schools are offering to help students pay for their education any way they can. But video games are just not as physically 17 demanding as traditional sports, he says.
“With esports, I do believe that the preparation is there and I do believe there is…skill to it as well,” Spradley told VOA via Skype. “It’s just…the physical exertion 18 that most athletes [experience]…the practices that we have to do, the skill that we have to demonstrate 19, day in and day out. That is what I believe separates real sports from esports.”
However, Kenneth Lam, the assistant director of the esports program at Maryville University, finds that argument pointless. After all, he says, golf is in no way as physically demanding as football. But people still call golf a sport.
Lam also notes that the five members of his school’s team practice one to three nights per week for three hours at a time. That requires a lot of physical and mental energy, he says. And all that effort has paid off since the school started the program in 2015.
His team beat eight other North American schools to win the League of Legends College Championships in May. Then, earlier this month they won third place at the League of Legends International College Cup in Wuhan, China.
“It’s really exciting to see how much we have [been able to do] for the past two years,” Lam told VOA via Skype.
Lam, Spradley and Brooks do all agree on one thing: esports are only going to increase in popularity. The sports media company ESPN began showing esports competitions although its president said in 2014 esports were not actually a sport.
In addition, esports may be having a growing effect on schools.
The number of new students attending Maryville grew by 45 percent from 2015 to 2016. Lam believes this is because of the success of his team and the attention they have brought to the school.
I’m Caty Weaver 20. And I'm Pete Musto.
Words in This Story
athlete(s) – n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength
video game – n. an electronic game in which players control images on a television or computer screen
income – n. money that is earned from work, investments 21, or business
football – n. an American game that is played between two teams of 11 players each and in which the ball is moved forward by running or passing to try and get a ball to the goals at each end of a large field
stadium – n. a very large usually roofless building that has a large open area surrounded by many rows of seats and that is used for sports events or concerts
basketball – n. a game in which two teams of five players bounce 22 a ball and try to score points by throwing the ball through one of the raised nets at each end of a rectangular 23 court
championship(s) – n. an important competition that decides which player or team is the best in a particular sport or game
coach(es) – n. a person who teaches and trains an athlete or performer
strategic – adj. of or relating to a general plan that is created to achieve a goal in war or politics
financial – adj. relating to money
academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education
soccer – n. a game played between two teams of 11 players in which a round ball is moved toward 24 a goal usually by kicking to try and get a ball to the goals at each end of a large field
baseball – n. a game played on a large field by two teams of nine players who try to score runs by hitting a small ball with a bat and then running to each of the four bases without being put out
exertion – n. physical or mental effort
practice(s) – n. the activity of doing something again and again in order to become better at it
golf – n. an outdoor game in which players use special clubs called golf clubs to try to hit a small ball with as few strokes as possible into each of 9 or 18 holes
- They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
- You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。
- This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
- He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。
- Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
- I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。
- The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
- The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
- The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
- Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。
- The army moved for strategic reasons.军队作了战略转移。
- The bridge is of strategic importance to us.这座桥对我们至关重要。
- The police are now using computers to help combat crime.警方现在使用电脑打击犯罪活动。
- A reporter interviewed the combat hero.记者访问了这位战斗英雄。
- Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
- He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。
- The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
- I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。
- More work does not necessarily call for more men.增加工作量不一定就要增添人员。
- A voter must necessarily be no younger than eighteen.选民必须在18岁以上。
- Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
- Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
- She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
- He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。
- What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
- Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。
- This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
- I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。
- Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
- These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。
- He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
- Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
- We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
- She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡，她浑身发热。
- Let me demonstrate to you how this machine works.我给你演示一下这台机器的运转情况。
- How can I demonstrate to you that my story is true?我怎样才能向你证明我的话是真实的呢？
- She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
- The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
- With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She's got a lot of bounce.她浑身都是劲。
- The ball gave a high bounce.那球弹得很高。
- He put a rectangular box on the table.他把一个长方形的箱子放在桌子上。
- The equations are written in rectangular coordinates.这些方程是在直角座标系中写出的。