Swimming up Streams

                                    

You there, yes you! I can see it twinging on your lips already. You're ready to say, "man... it's bad enough that you're wasting away your life playing these games, but you actual watch other people play video games?!" To this I say, "You don't know me! You're not God!" But really, this is my least favorite sentence this side of the Mississippi; how is it any different from spending those hours of your day watching football, baseball or any other sport? Then something mindless is uttered like "These are professionals at the top of their field, facing others who have spent years of their lives training." At this point I'll just face-palm and walk away.
The differences between these two guys on the left are few and far between, one just loses every year to professional Korean teams, and the other just loses to everyone.

Streaming has become a huge industry, there are many, many people can make a complete living off of just playing video games and being entertaining to watch. It's not just about the individuals, however, it is the industry itself. October 4th, 1.4 million people tuned in to watch the world series of League of Legends between SK1 and Royals. In South Korea events of this nature are televised just as sports here in America. Again friends, the lines are blurring between the two below.

So, what some may call an unhealthy addiction, I simple call simply call...an extreme hobby. The next time you choose to pass judgement, take some time to consider, is it really all that strange or are our preconceived notions of socially acceptable behavior just skewed for the moment, and what you are really witnessing is the beginning of a revolution. I'm not trying to push for this to become a national sport televised every hour on the hour and added to the Olympics, all I say is, let he who is without sin cast the first stone and what not.
After all, lets be honest here, from the two not-biased-at-all videos below which is truly more entertaining?