[News] Marek - recent 1st round pick unlikely to play in NHL due to video game addiction

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

I can appreciate your dedication and by no means am I saying your workday is not difficult but it not the same as a developing pro athlete when it comes to pure energy exerted and the balance you need to find in sleep.

When I played hockey for a rather large university I went to bed at 9pm because at 5am I was up running 2km. After breakfast I had practice, then after practice I had school, then after school I had the weight room, then after the weight room I had video and then it was 8pm. This was the schedule for almost every person on the team. Just one late night would drastically reduce performance in all of the days activities and put me or anyone else back a day. A day that you cant make up. Serious developing althletes spend 3 hours a day eating......just eating.

These are valid points - but they've always made me wonder if perhaps aspiring pro athletes are depriving themselves to unhealthy extremes of personal and social time. Time that may very well be necessary to remember to love sport. Yes - there are people who absolutely live for putting the work in - workaholics - but there are many more who might develop resentment and frustration. The ones of that latter group who actually make "the show" are a minority who have the right combinations of talent and luck and everyone else becomes an also-ran. These are 14-20 year old kids who are actually missing out no differently from someone who did nothing but study throughout their youth without making it into an Ivy League school, so to speak. I'd hate to have been that person. And that type of person might develop feelings of emptiness and confusion and turn to alcohol or weed or worse to fill the void when the dream doesn't pan out.

Are there really talented people who probably didn't peak in their professional potential because they were passionate about making time for other hobbies? Absolutely. But that sure as #### doesn't mean they "wasted" their time. Of course, addictions are an extreme. As far as video games go I've only ever played finite ones that I probably do binge hard during periods of free time and then never touch again after I'm finished, so I can't truly understand video game addiction in the same capacity but one thing I know is that a day where I don't unwind and "do something" spontaneously is a bad day for me regardless of how 'productive' I could look back at it being. And sometimes that "something spontaneous" is literally just signing onto a forum like CP, sometimes it's not. But it's time that could but should not be spent being exclusively productive. JMO, YMMV.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

These are valid points - but they've always made me wonder if perhaps aspiring pro athletes are depriving themselves to unhealthy extremes of personal and social time.

The way hockey has become a 12 month a year thing for kids these days, starting when they're about 8, has a lot of people warning about burnout. We're starting to see highly-rated 18 and 20 year olds just pack it in. I think we're going to see it more and more.

[stone hands]

Is there anything different between being addicted to hockey and addicted to video games other than one is socially accepted? The multi million dollar payouts as a result of your addiction to either is now a wash because of certain esports

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by stone hands

Is there anything different between being addicted to hockey and addicted to video games other than one is socially accepted? The multi million dollar payouts as a result of your addiction to either is now a wash because of certain esports

Health and fitness aspects.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Health and fitness aspects.

says you

[Redrum]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Health and fitness aspects.

Hockey's got nothin on DDR.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Health and fitness aspects.

Less concussions though.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by stone hands

Is there anything different between being addicted to hockey and addicted to video games other than one is socially accepted? The multi million dollar payouts as a result of your addiction to either is now a wash because of certain esports

In general an addiction has negative outcomes.

So if you are a pro gamer who is addicted to hockey and is unprepared there is no difference than the opposite.

[Stay Golden]

I have known a few people that actually lost great salary jobs over video game addiction.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Lol yes I’m sure the professional baseball pitcher got carpal tunnel from video games and not something else full of repetitive arm and hand motions. Perhaps some type of sport that involves a lot of throwing and catching. Maybe.

Does that make any sense, though? Maybe I missed it but I've never really heard of carpel tunnel coming from pitching in baseball. You make it sound like it's obvious that it came from baseball, but he pitches with the same frequency of hundreds of pro pitchers.

[chemgear]

They just announced $100 million in prize pools for 2018-2019 Fortnite esports.

It's spread out but I wonder if they'll have a single event top the annual International event at $25 million.

[Hockey Fan #751]

eSports will be in the next Asian Games: https://www.sporttechie.com/esports-...fficial-sport/

And potentially a demonstration sport at the 2024 Olympics: https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/43893891

So what's the difference between someone who is obsessed with becoming an Olympic snowboarder who trains night and day and someone who is obsessed with playing video games and "trains" night and day?

I ask a little facetiously but you can see where the lines could start to blur a little.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Hockey Fan #751

So what's the difference between someone who is obsessed with becoming an Olympic snowboarder who trains night and day and someone who is obsessed with playing video games and "trains" night and day?

The difference is that only one of those things is actually possible for a human being. There are gamers who routinely play for 11 hours a day. Try doing intense physical training for 11 hours a day, and your body will very soon tell you to cut that out.

[Hey Connor, It's Mess]

Originally Posted by Hockey Fan #751

So what's the difference between someone who is obsessed with becoming an Olympic snowboarder who trains night and day and someone who is obsessed with playing video games and "trains" night and day?

I ask a little facetiously but you can see where the lines could start to blur a little.

One of them gets laid.

[speede5]

Remeber the days when guys just brought their toy cars on the road?

[Samonadreau]

Comparing pro gamers to pro athletes is ridiculous. Gamers trying to justify gaming. Nothing against it but c'mon now.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Comparing pro gamers to pro athletes is ridiculous. Gamers trying to justify gaming. Nothing against it but c'mon now.

Why is one any more ridiculous than the other? The entire basis of professional sports is entertainment, and I think the same goes for competitive gaming.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Comparing pro gamers to pro athletes is ridiculous. Gamers trying to justify gaming. Nothing against it but c'mon now.

Do elaborate.

[Point Blank]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Comparing pro gamers to pro athletes is ridiculous. Gamers trying to justify gaming. Nothing against it but c'mon now.

You realize the eSports scene is very much an industry now right? There’s tons of sponsorships, coaches, and players practice as a team hours per day just like pro athletes.

[rhino]

I can’t believe there are over 100 posts on this. Welcome to the off season 👍🏻