| Sometimes at night, while I sleep, I dream | | | | tailback you can find in NCAA Football '05, |
| that I am the point guard on Michael Jordan's | | | | starring as "HB #1." "[Davis] never looked |
| Chicago Bulls. Other nights, I bat cleanup | | | | like he was running that fast, yet no one |
| for the Chicago White Sox. If that isn't busy | | | | could catch him. Our running styles are |
| enough, I still often find time to | | | | similar." |
| quarterback Jimmy Johnson's Dallas Cowboys. | | | | |
| | | | Most athletes play video games the way most |
| The bad thing about my dreams: they end. | | | | gamers play: as entertainment, for fun. In |
| | | | WVU's football player lounge, a PlayStation2 |
| By no means am I a professional athlete. Yet | | | | (PS2) is plugged in next to the team TV. |
| almost every night, I watch myself on TV | | | | Several players take the games they play on |
| draining three pointers, hitting towering | | | | the screen as serious as the games they play |
| home runs, and throwing sky scraping | | | | on the field. |
| touchdown passes with the best in the game. | | | | |
| | | | Ray Lewis, whose spastic pre-game dances and |
| I realize all my sports dreams are make | | | | primal, near death-causing hits on the field |
| believe. I live for life's little pleasures. | | | | make him one of the most intimidating players |
| | | | in the NFL, is also known to be one of the |
| The tiny light at the end of my tunnel is | | | | most competitive video game players in the |
| thanks to today's digital technology. I can | | | | league. Lewis hates to lose at anything he |
| become a professional athlete by creating | | | | does. Thanks to his competitiveness on the |
| myself in a video game. | | | | field and in front of the screen, Lewis |
| | | | became the first defensive player to be |
| I'm not the only person to do it, or to have | | | | chosen as cover man for the 2005 installment |
| ever done it. | | | | of EA's Madden NFL series in August. |
| | | | |
| Joffrey Lupul is a winger for the Anaheim | | | | Video game popularity with athletes has |
| Mighty Ducks. In addition, he is also a | | | | soared because of the free time they have in |
| featured athlete in EA Sports' NHL 2004. | | | | the off-season. |
| | | | |
| "I used to create my own player and try to | | | | "[Games are] relaxing. It's pure |
| make it look as much like me as possible," | | | | entertainment. This is the way you kill four, |
| said Lupul in an interview with John Gaudiosi | | | | five hours," Lewis said in an interview with |
| of ESPN Gamer. "I guess now I won't have to | | | | Matt Wong of ESPN Gamer. "You have your boys |
| do that." | | | | over, you have your kids over, and you have a |
| | | | big tournament. We might have three TVs |
| Sports video games have been evolving since | | | | going." |
| "Pong," a tennis-like game where two players | | | | |
| use long bars to defend their end of the | | | | "I played [EA Sports'] MVP Baseball 2004 all |
| screen from what vaguely resembles a ball. It | | | | summer long, and Rasheed Marshall and I |
| debuted on the Atari game system in 1976. In | | | | played MarioKart on [Ninetendo] Gamecube for |
| 2003, the top-selling game of the year was EA | | | | a week straight," said Harris. "I could play |
| Sports' Madden NFL 2004, which sold over 1.3 | | | | games like that all day, 10 straight." |
| million copies in its first week. | | | | |
| | | | Games are clearly the best cure for the |
| Unlike me, many athletes today do not need to | | | | off-season blues, but many athletes see the |
| create a digital image of themselves to be | | | | benefits video games have as recruiting |
| featured in a game. Today's popular sports | | | | tools. |
| video games have the characteristics of all | | | | |
| active players. Professionally licensed games | | | | "Video games can be a positive influence for |
| even have players' accurate height, weight, | | | | younger kids, who might not have started |
| and hometown. The best games even feature | | | | skating yet," said Minnesota Wild center |
| individual trademarks of certain players, | | | | Pierre-Marc Bouchard, in an interview with |
| like Vince Carter's classic double-handed sky | | | | Gaudiosi. "If you get into the realism of the |
| point after a furious dunk, or Ichiro's | | | | video games, kids might try street hockey and |
| bailout first step as he swings at an inside | | | | eventually graduate to the rink." |
| pitch. | | | | |
| | | | The National Hockey League has been |
| "When I was a little kid, everybody could do | | | | entrenched in a lockout since Sept. 16. With |
| the same dunks and lay-ups," said Jay | | | | no end in sight, holding the interest of |
| Williams in an interview with Patrick Hruby | | | | young fans will be crucial to its future. |
| of ESPN Gamer. Williams, formerly an NBA | | | | While it seems possible that the entire |
| point guard, plays video games daily as a | | | | 2004-2005 season could be cancelled, fans can |
| diversion from the rigors of rehabilitating | | | | still find excitement by turning on their |
| his left leg following a 2003 motorcycle | | | | PS2. |
| accident. "I remember last year, the game | | | | |
| version of me was doing the same hand | | | | "It's tough to replicate the battles along |
| gestures I do." | | | | the boards in video games," said Eric Staal |
| | | | in an interview with Gaudiosi. Staal plays |
| The NCAA prohibits endorsement by its amateur | | | | center for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. |
| athletes, but that doesn't mean collegiate | | | | "But if kids don't know anything about |
| athletes are less fortunate. All the player | | | | hockey, [video games] are fun to play because |
| attributes are there, only the names are | | | | it's up and down action and scoring goals." |
| deleted to protect the unpaid. | | | | |
| | | | Microsoft's Xbox, PS2, and GameCube allow |
| Jason Colson is a 6'1", 215 pound, sophomore | | | | sports to be played year round. Fans can get |
| tailback who proudly wears No. 24 at West | | | | their fix at any time of the year with a |
| Virginia University (WVU). In EA Sports' NCAA | | | | simple flip switch. Indeed, they are |
| Football 2005, his name has been changed to | | | | simulated, but the World Series can go on in |
| "HB #24," but the height, weight, and class | | | | the dead of winter, and hockey games can hit |
| rank are all the same. When No. 24 steps into | | | | the ice in the scorch of summer. |
| the backfield, the game player knows they are | | | | |
| about to hand off to Mr. Colson. | | | | For athletes, video games can help them stay |
| | | | entertained, or distracted, when they aren't |
| "As a youngster, I never pictured myself | | | | on the field. |
| being in a video game," said Colson. "It's | | | | |
| cool playing as yourself." | | | | For future athletes, gaming consoles provide |
| | | | the ultimate first step to falling in love |
| Today's younger athletes have grown up in the | | | | with a sport. |
| video game generation. All of them have | | | | |
| memories of playing games as kids and teens. | | | | Video games allow all who play to live |
| Many still play. | | | | outside themselves. Armchair quarterbacks |
| | | | become heroes. On the field quarterbacks get |
| "One of my favorite game players growing up | | | | the opportunity to dominate their most hated |
| was Terrell Davis in the Madden games," | | | | rivals. Everyone can live out dreams in cyber |
| remembers Kay-Jay Harris, another WVU | | | | world they never could on the field. |