{"id":10206,"date":"2017-02-23T17:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/02\/23\/go-to-college-play-video-games-e-sports-make-a-play-for-the-big-ten\/"},"modified":"2017-02-23T17:54:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T17:54:00","slug":"go-to-college-play-video-games-e-sports-make-a-play-for-the-big-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/go-to-college-play-video-games-e-sports-make-a-play-for-the-big-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"Go To College, Play Video Games. E-Sports Make A Play For The Big Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabriel Rosenberg<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Members of the Ohio State team practice for an upcoming Big Ten League tournament for League of Legends.<\/p>\n

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Gabriel Rosenberg for NPR<\/p>\n

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Gabriel Rosenberg for NPR<\/p>\n

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Lined up at a row of computers, five Ohio State University students stare intently at their screens amid the clatter of keyboards and mouse clicks. They’re keeping in shape \u2014 so to speak.<\/p>\n

Ohio State, along with 11 other colleges, is in the middle of the first-ever Big Ten tournament for League of Legends,<\/a> one of the most popular e-sports in the world. That partnership<\/a> \u2014 between the country’s oldest Division I athletic conference and League of Legends maker Riot Games \u2014 shows how far e-sports have come into the mainstream.<\/p>\n

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With a 2-0 record so far<\/a>, though, Ohio State still has a lot to prove \u2014 to their school, as much as to themselves.<\/p>\n

Though this Tuesday evening game is just a scrimmage, the team’s no less engaged. The battle unfolds on a 52-inch television above the table as the coach, manager and a small group of IT personnel look on.<\/p>\n

“Varus is moving up!” one player says into his headset. “Hit this one,” another calls out, signaling a teammate.<\/p>\n

In competitive League of Legends games, two teams of five players face off on a standardized battlefield, trying to destroy each other’s base first. Each player takes control of one “champion,” a fantasy character with specific abilities and personality.<\/p>\n

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