Rivalries in eSports

I was on twitter and i noticed something on Geoff “incontrol” Robinson’s twitter. My response may have flown over his head. And that got me thinking: do people who aren’t aware of what happened in 2008(when Evil Geniuses took compLexity’s renowned CS team after the CGS’s fall) still take sides? And if so, why? Furthermore does the relationship in one game influence another?

I know that my opinion of organizations - particularly the two in question - changed greatly in how they handled the rivalry. The moment Evil Geniuses took fRoD storm and warden i lost all respect for that organization and pulled for compLexity the entire time. That did not change until they left the American CS scene out to dry in order to sign a Brazilian counter-strike team.(much like how many fans don’t care about the team once they leave their market).

Now this leads back to the original question. Does the rivalry which started in counter-strike continue on into the other games? I know the Boston Red Sox don’t hate the Los Angeles Dodgers for what happen in the latest Lakers/Celtics series. But FC Barcelona's Basketball team still does have a rivalry with Real Madrid's over similar reasons.

I don’t know if this is the case for most people, but as a compLexity fan during the 3D and reconstruction(of NA CS) eras i would watch every 3D/EG series and mark the calendar in advance for the games. This even occured when 3D and coL moved to source for the CGS. This also occurred when EG played compLexity.br later. And i know HLTV.org blows up everytime SK-gaming plays Fnatic and Mousesports plays Alternate.

Does this happen in the starcraft II scene - do these rivalries among organizations have the same kick to them in team leagues as they do in a 1v1 setting as they did in the CS scene in a purely team setting?

I’m hoping to get some feedback on this topic from all the (twenty) people who read this blog.