People can use their fame to further a political cause if they want to. If you want eSports fans to see your dissenting opinion too, qualify for the GSL.

yoshi_yoshi

United States440 Posts

March 31 2011 19:49 GMT

#122

I don't really mind. Players can represent themselves however they want. A league may decide that it doesn't want these comments shown on their broadcast but that is entirely up to them.

Personally, it's just another thing I will use to decide whether I like a player or not.

FinnGamer

Germany2426 Posts

March 31 2011 19:57 GMT

#123

Maybe he thought Sen was from Japan...
Still, political statements don't fit into e-sport, especially with someone who has that much fans. If he had wrote "Donate Money to japan" I would'nt mind, it's a good thing, but using this chance for a political statement, definitly not appropriate

insaneMicro

Germany761 Posts

March 31 2011 20:02 GMT

#124

So silly to get so mad about these:
[image loading]

Still, MKP should be allowed to express pretty much anything on stage IMO. Of course there is a line somewhere, but I don't think he's crossed it yet.

hypercube

Hungary2735 Posts

March 31 2011 20:08 GMT

#125

I wouldn't say politics never has a place in sports but this is just retarded. It's a petty dispute and he's just annoying everyone with it.

Of course it is his right to be annoying if he wants to (although I imagine organizers will ban this as it threatens their commercial interests), but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

D10

Brazil3409 Posts

March 31 2011 20:13 GMT

#126

I dont care, its just words on paper.

BlackFlag

499 Posts

March 31 2011 20:19 GMT

#127

On April 01 2011 01:37 Dexx wrote:
East Asian countries have a VERY long history with each other. Japan, China and Korea being the most prominent. Therefore, nationalism is very well alive over there and promt silly debates e.g. over what scripture derived originally from where and what people originally descends from what other country.

We in the West (Europe) live in a post nationalist sociecty and can't really understand anymore how our forefather could get so heated up barely 100 years ago to go to war with eachother devestating all of Europe in WW1. But East Asia is still stuck in this nationalism and thus most political anylists think that East Asia will be the new hot spot of the world in the upcoming century.

what are you talking about? in europe we have at the moment, more nationalistic rethoric and (race)hate than in the last 50 years. germany is i think the only country where the extreme right aren't getting stronger everyday. (but racist crap obiously gets its chance too with sarrazin).
le pen in france, strache in austria, jobbik and it's fascist guards in hungary (who intimidate and fight roma), lega nord in italy etc. i could go on forever.

sport was always the playground for politics. every sport, some more or less.

Nothingtosay

United States875 Posts

March 31 2011 22:44 GMT

#128

The Liancourt Rocks are a point of heated contention, alongside other Japan–Korea disputes. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers its position "inalterable".[32][33] When Japan's Shimane prefecture announced a "Takeshima Day" in 2005, Koreans reacted with demonstrations and protests throughout the country, extreme examples of which included a mother and son slicing off their own fingers, and a man who set himself on fire.[34] In 2006, five Korean "Dokdo Riders" embarked on a world tour to raise international awareness of the dispute.[34] Another notable protest featured South Koreans decapitating pheasants in front of the Japanese Embassy.[26]

I voted no
but you have tun understand how passionate people are about these

Elegy

United States1629 Posts

March 31 2011 22:56 GMT

#129

What?

One of the most defining characteristics of European politics for the past...oh, decade at least, has been the growth, in both size and popularity, of "new" nationalist parties, notably Sweden, Hungary, Holland, etc.

Modern European nationalism puts a twist on the more traditional meaning though, especially with Cameron and Merkel's "multiculturalism has failed" statements. It's not as "bad" as it was a long time ago, but claiming Europe is post-nationalist is far too optimistic, it's just that the nationalism has changed in both audience and tone. While, for example, Switzerland banning the construction of new minarets is nominally quite harmless, I think its safe to say it reflects a much more important underlying streak in many European nations.

Anyways, I feel MKP shouldn't have done this. It wasn't the time nor the place, especially given the venue and given the events in Japan. It was tasteless at best.

BookII

Australia400 Posts

March 31 2011 22:57 GMT

#130

On April 01 2011 00:17 GrayGhost wrote:
some of us use (e)sports to escape the politics

Couldn't agree more.

Everyone is entitled to their views and should be able to express them. But this is a show for entertainment and has nothing to do with the dispute over these islands.
I don't suggest they 'ban' this, but it shouldn't be encouraged as it detracts a little from the entertainment of the show and may make some viewers feel quite uncomfortable (which they don't watch competitive SC2 to feel I'm sure).

I know going to the extreme is such an easy argument, but really just imagine if after every match we had political swipes and gestures. I feel It would really take something from the entertainment, but others might disagree.

acker

United States2958 Posts

March 31 2011 23:01 GMT

#131

It's going to happen, and there's no stopping that. International sports have always had political overtones...just look at chess during the Cold War or the Olympics during...any period of time.

I do dislike it, but part of me's happy that E-sports has come to this level of popularity that politics starts happening.

Dexx

Germany175 Posts

March 31 2011 23:04 GMT

#132

I don't want to be going off topic. So I leave it at that: You really have no clue, if you compare todays leftovers in this post nationalist Europe to the nationalism in Europe right before WW1 or to the nationalism in East Asia today.

Hatsu

United Kingdom474 Posts

March 31 2011 23:32 GMT

#133

On April 01 2011 02:50 LambtrOn wrote:
Not a big deal at all. He held up a sign for all of 5 seconds. The focus of the whole match was SC2. He's just using his platform as a top player to state his opinion. I don't think there's really anything wrong with that.

I completely agree with this. He gained the attention of a large crowd and he did not go against any standing regulation. And it takes a certain amount of political awareness and courage to do such a thing. I liked it.

Orome

Switzerland11984 Posts

March 31 2011 23:39 GMT

#134

It also takes a large amount of social unawareness to not realise that this wasn't the time or the place.

Hatsu

United Kingdom474 Posts

March 31 2011 23:54 GMT

#135

On April 01 2011 08:39 Orome wrote:
It also takes a large amount of social unawareness to not realise that this wasn't the time or the place.

Could be claimed that it makes the message stronger, actually, and I think that was the intent. I definitely do not see MKP being unaware of the situation in Japan and GOM's fundraising efforts.

Nayl

Canada413 Posts

April 01 2011 00:03 GMT

#136

On April 01 2011 08:39 Orome wrote:
It also takes a large amount of social unawareness to not realise that this wasn't the time or the place.

It's unfair to pin this on MKP, considering SC2 player council is encouraging this and considering to put the statement on all the player's uniform.

c0rn1

Germany146 Posts

April 01 2011 01:05 GMT

#137

It's so ridiculous. Most people here just express:
I wanna watch you own e-sports but I don't wanna know if you live in a hole outside town or get hunted by the government or whatever.
Please just entertain me. The rest I do not care about.
No wonder mankind seems to be stuck in evolution at the moment.

Shigy

United States346 Posts

April 01 2011 01:14 GMT

#138

i don't think that politics has absolutely no place in e-sports or any sport for that matter. but i do think that this particular statement was "offensive" in the sense that it was an attack on Japan's claims to the islets. because of that, and the current tension/drama surrounding the issue today as the textbooks were approved - this was inappropriate imo.

caelym

United States6430 Posts

April 01 2011 01:16 GMT

#139

This has probably already been said, but if athletes want to use their publicity and celebrity to make political statements, they should have complete freedom to do so, and I applaud them.