In lieu of Superbowl LVIII, there’s lots of sports talk (and Swiftie stuff whether you like it or not) sprinkled in the news. People love their sports, and there’s no shortage of trash talking and ravenous fans. I mean, there are fantasy sports. Grown men and women play pretend with their own team. Sports fans rant and rave over their team like they own them. Does that sound familiar? Gamers have been stereotyped as a toxic community, so it leads me to ponder–who is more toxic, the sports or the gamming community?
Sports fans are notorious to be complete die-hards but also their team’s worst critic. As a Boston local, I have first-hand experience when the New York teams are in town. I’ve seen family and friends scream at the radio or post on social media on bad calls, trades gone sour, or player injuries. Fans love to subject players to verbal abuse. It’s to a point where I actively avoid participating in the sports community on social media so I can simply watch the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, and Patriots in peace.
Example: New York Jets’ quarterback, Mark Sanchez, received death threats on Twitter all because of a bad game (and rough season).
The gaming community is also notorious for trash talking in multi-player games and casting death threats to people online when they aren’t happy. I could write a novel as long as War and Peace of all the death threats gamers have dealt to those working in the industry.
Example: One that garnered public attention was the actress behind Abby in The Last of Us Part II. People not only threatened Laura Bailey’s life, but that of her unborn son as well.
It’s amazing how sports and gaming fans are so alike although their respective cliques probably sat the furthest from one another in high school. While I wish to point the finger at gamers as the worst kind of community, but it’s clear that both groups can do better. All we can do is fight the stereotype and be a positive example as a gamer (and/or sports fan). Stand up against the bullies.
And for those that do participate in bullying–shame on you.
What are your thoughts on who is more obnoxious–sports or gaming fans? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
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The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, Stephanie Klimov, LeRon Dawkins, and Pat Klein come together with their friends, colleagues, and fellow creators to talk about their week in video games, discuss industry topics, conduct interviews, answer listener questions, and more. New episodes every Monday. Get each episode one week early and more perks over on the Boss Rush Network Patreon page.
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