I learned what esports really meant when Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok buried his head in his hands, and his shoulders shook, and the League of Legends world trembled with him.
Moments like this defined my life as a sports fan and led me into my career as a reporter and editor. Sitting in the stands at 8 years old as Mark Grace caught a foul ball to send the Chicago Cubs to the playoffs in 1998. A revolutionary Cubs roster, 18 years later, shattering a 100-plus year drought and winning a World Series on a rainy night in Cleveland. Devin Hester’s electric kick return to start the Super Bowl in 2007 and the misery that followed as a Chicago Bears fan. The Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls, and the Derrick Rose era Chicago Bulls, and the whatever-the-hell-they-are-now-era Chicago Bulls.
Esports entered my Midwest-centric life after all that went down, first with Overwatch APEX and then with a crash course on League of Legends at ESPN. I’d seen hype Evo pop-offs and clutch Counter-Strike plays, and I tried (and failed) to mimic the brilliance of Park “Bumper” Sang-beom’s Reinhardt play.
