Friday, January 24, 2020

ManiStyle: Virtual Sports R Us


Britt Collins
AugSep 2013
MANIERA SL magazine
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Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teach you about life.”
- Billie Jean King

Wimbledon, The World Series, The Super Bowl, The Majors Championship, The MLS Cup, The Stanley Cup.  All these championships have one common feature.  Sports.  No matter what our choice in sport, Soccer, Rugby, Hockey, American Football, Baseball the list goes on we know our favorite teams, their stats, the players to root for.  Sports are something that encompasses so much of our lives.  We are taught at an early age to participate in team sports as a way of building bonds and developing an understanding of responsibility.  It flows and helps to develop who we are to become as an adult.  What would life have been like without such influences?

Sports surround us with clothing, merchandise, furniture, television shows, music, literature, media and now even in our Virtual World.  Over the past few years, we have seen sports take hold within Second Life® and blossom, developing its own following and fan base.  The virtual community has been given the opportunity to become a part of a variety of Leagues from Football to Rugby, Hockey to Horse-racing, Soccer to Fishing and the list goes on. 

We see designers, scripters, media, and builders all displaying their incredible talent in developing uniforms, pom poms, playable fields that bring one’s a fantasy of participating in professional sports to live, creating stadiums reminiscent of those in the real world, announcers and other media outlets such as live broadcasting expand and allow for instant viewing of games.  Communities are being built based on the pure love of sports, showing how the lines between reality and the virtual blend and merge as people of varied nationalities come together to build relationships and bonds through the love of teamwork. 

What will the future of sports within Second Life® hold?  Why anything is possible if one can simply dream.  So it's the fourth quarter.  Bases are loaded and watch out because of Second Life® is going to go all the way!  The ball is out of the stadium!

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.”
-Michael Jordan









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