Will Video kill the Racewalker star?
They may be in the game, but they're not in the Olympics.
Not yet. Maybe, not ever.
If softball can't make it as an Olympic sport, what makes those who sit in front of their TV and smack around a joy stick have a chance?
Global gamers are attempting to make their fantasy world a reality at the 2008 Bejing Olympics, and reports are that someone named Ted Owen, founder of the Global Gaming League, is lobbying the Chinese government to accept video game events as a demonstration sport.
Let's demonstrate how that'd work ....
IT WON'T.
"There's no question that the computer will be the 21st century tennis racquet," Owen said. "It smells and feels like a sport to me. It's on every continent. Why doesn't it belong on the world stage as an Olympic event?"
Because, maybe, it's not a sport?
A representative for the U.S. Olympic Committee said it is not "impossible" for video game events to be accepted as Olympic sports. But the representative added that crossword puzzles are more likely to be accepted.
Probably, too, is Scrabble. Or Monopoly. Or cup stacking. Or hot-dog eating. Or dominoes. Or any of the other crap that ESPN has been trying to pass off as "competitive entertainment" this year.
Owen is convinced that public support will push Olympic organizers to accept video games.
"It will be an Olympic sport, someday," Owen said. "It'll be that because it'll be undeniably a choice of the masses."
Owen said he plans to stage his own video game event outside the Olympic Stadium in Beijing if the Global Gaming League does not succeed.
Good luck to you on that. Hey, can you autograph my Pokemon cards while you're at it?