What's in a Game? As I write this, the Boston Red Sox have just lost Game 7 of the American League Championship and I can already hear shouts of "Yankees Suck" coming from outside my window. My suite is dejected, mourning the loss of what could have been the Sox's chance to finally break the curse.

I'll admit I wasn't initially excited by the chance of the Red Sox going to the World Series, but after watching them play a few games against Oakland, I was drawn in. I learned the nuances of the game and began to appreciate its finer points - such as when Don Zimmer charged Pedro Martinez in the fourth inning of Game 3.

But this isn't about baseball.

What I'm really interested in is why people get so excited over what is essentially "just a game" (please don't hurt me, sports fans!). More importantly, could they ever get as excited over video games as they are over baseball right now?

In a word - no. Nope, never, sorry video game buffs, it's not gonna happen. Forget about playing Mario Brothers in front of 10,000 screaming fans (anyone seen The Wizard?); like the Spruce Goose, the idea won't fly. Yes, I know that video game sales revenue actually surpassed Hollywood box office earnings in 2001, and that video gamers also have their own cable network station now. But face it -- it's a teensy bit harder to get excited over Ryu defeating Ken than a game-winning homerun in the bottom of the ninth.

Wait a minute. If video games have become popular enough to make their way into movies and television, who's to say they can't break into the realm of professional competition? After all, the main audience for movies and videogames is the same 18 to 34-year-old male demographic. These guys just haven't realized yet what big nerds they really are. I'll let you in on a secret: They tend to like sports and competition too! Nothing like a scantily clad, gun-toting Angelina Jolie to help gaming culture go mainstream.

Consider this: Intel and Apple already sponsor massive gaming tournaments in the United States and Europe, and small local tournaments across the nation are not at all uncommon. The emergence of these competitions, which offer cash prizes of up to $200,000, have made it possible for any kid in his parents' basement to win big so long as he has enough Jolt and Cheetos. If a 3-foot-7-inch midget can play in a professional league (look it up), why can't a pizza-faced 12-year-old?

Actually, he can. Pro-gaming already exists. Online gaming leagues are becoming increasingly popular as more gamers choose to play professionally. These "cyber-athletes" (it's a real term, I swear!), stand to win cash and prizes by competing over the internet with teams from all over the world.

Despite all this early success, however, professional gaming will never be able to capture the spirit of live sports. There are elements of sports that can only be properly experienced in a stadium environment. What would a baseball game be without a ballpark hotdog, or the possibility of catching a foul ball? Where would games be without the national anthem and a seventh-inning stretch?

There's no substitute for being in the stands and cheering for your team in person. The action is right there in front of you, creating a real-life atmosphere superior to that of the two-dimensional gaming screen. Furthermore, by being there in the stands, sports fans can come to know their favorite players and identify with their teams. Buffalo citizens know the pain of the Bills, Chicago has the glory of the Bulls, and the Boston Red Sox fans have the curse with which to contend.

Video game teams, in contrast, are composed of anonymous players who are rarely seen. No gaming competition is popular for more than a few years, since players move on to newer games with more intricate gameplay and better graphics. It's hard to be loyal to a team you don't see, and who will most likely be gone in a couple years. There's no time to develop a fan base. Compare this to the Yankees, who have been around for more than a century, or the Marlins who...oh well.

Finally, most people are simply unable to appreciate the skill level that's required for video games. Anyone who has ever taken high school P.E. knows how difficult it is to sink a three-pointer. The average person will be amazed by the feats sports players perform, but cannot understand the skills required for challenging stunts in videogames. And even if they did understand, the skill showed by hardcore gamers, while considerable, is not equivalent to that shown by most professional athletes.

Gaming fans will have to accept that their hobby will never make it mainstream the way pro sports have. Sports deliver an experience that cannot be reproduced by the impersonal interactions of video games. At best, video game competition will remain a niche market, likely to end up somewhere along the lines of professional pool or croquet. In the meantime, I'll stick to rooting for the Sox.

(Speaking of tournaments and prizes, be sure to sign up for CGX's upcoming on-campus Soul Calibur 2 and Smash Brothers tournament this November!)