Monday, September 17th saw Twitch and Fortnite superstar Tyler "Ninja" Belvins announced that he had been chosen to be the next cover athlete for ESPN the Magazine. The appearance of Ninja on the cover marked the first time that a professional gamer had been featured as the cover athlete for ESPN the Magazine.
Unfortunately, not all of the responses to this merging of the esports and traditional sports worlds was of a positive nature as many individuals believe that Ninja should not be featured on the cover for ESPN the Magazine with the reasoning of esports not being a "real sport" and that a gamer should not be considered an athlete as the main arguments.
Other responses took to the route of citing stereotypes often associated with professional gamers, such as them being individuals who never leave their home and do not have a life.
By not leaving the house or having a life. ??
— Coach Mike #MLS2SD (@Miiikey) September 18, 2018
One individual decided to try and insult Ninja by replying to an ESPN Twitter post stating that the program of E60 had the story of how Ninja is planning on being the greatest gamer ever with the statement of "by not leaving the house or having a life". However, FaZe Clan Call of Duty player Thomas "ZooMa" Paparatto responded to the post by this particular individual in defense of Ninja and his feature by ESPN.
"Ah the typical hater. Gamers go outside and have a life. What we do is no different to an every day job. Didn’t know working hard and getting money ment having no life. Jealousy is a powerful thing, live your life and do what makes you happy... do NOT let these cowards stop you."
Ah the typical hater. Gamers go outside and have a life. What we do is no different to an every day job. Didn’t know working hard and getting money ment having no life. Jealousy is a powerful thing, live your life and do what makes you happy... do NOT let these cowards stop you. https://t.co/qn5dFDYLXT
— FaZe ZooMaa (@ZooMaa) September 18, 2018
The merging of the gaming and esports industries with mainstream culture is at an all-time high. While there will likely always be negative responses to this merging like the one above, the positive force of community members coming together to help defend one another from these outside attacks, such as the case with ZooMa and Ninja, will always outshine the negativity that is thrown at the gaming and esports communities.
(cover photo courtesy of Major League Gaming and ESPN)
