Esports Commentator Goldenboy Goes Mainstream on 'Titan Games'
*By Zane Bhansali*
Esports fans tuning into Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's new show on NBC, "The Titan Games," may be surprised to see a familiar face: Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez, who is more likely as a commentator for "Overwatch" or "Halo" than for an athletic obstacle gauntlet.
Goldenboy's appearance on "Titan Games" marks one of the first times that an esports commentator has crossed over to mainstream entertainment. “It was very humbling to see that they had appreciated what I did," Goldenboy told Cheddar Sports.
"Titan Games," which premiered Jan. 3, caps off a stellar year for Goldenboy that includes 57 different events casted across 18 different games. He attributes that growth to an increased acceptance of esports as a fully-fledged industry in its own right.
“I think as a whole the industry has just really trended upwards as far as acceptance with mainstream media," Goldenboy said. "We’ve started to push away the stereotypes ... Now, more and more people are starting to accept that this is an industry, a growing industry, a business that has tons and tons of eyeballs and ears that are just glued to every little bit of content."
One of the things that Goldenboy said was most enjoyable about working on "Titan Games" was the production's understanding of the ways in which esports sets itself apart, right down to the gamer tags. When he asked if it would be "ridiculous" to go by his tag on the show, he said the showrunners responded, "No! That’s who you are. That’s your brand, we want that."
"If [Johnson] can go as 'The Rock,' then I can go as Goldenboy."
That homegrown sense of fun and levity is what Goldenboy says makes esports unique ー and what will draw in new audiences.
“What’s so great about this is, you don’t need any formal training, you don’t need a degree. I’m not very smart,” he laughed.
He's critical of attempts to grow esports by forcing it to fit a traditional sports model, and of cynical corporate attempts to capitalize on the industry boom.
"If you’re not having fun, people are going to sniff that out right away," Goldenboy said. "That is the raw character that makes video games and esports so amazing. When you try to corporatize it, you lose all of that. As long as we're entertaining and everyone's having fun, I think that resonates with the audience."
Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight,' a biography series about the intriguing people who capture our attention, fill our social feeds, and shape pop culture.
"Anything Is Possible," a documentary about NBA superstar Kevin Garnett recounting his career from being drafted out of high school to a championship with the Boston Celtics, is set to premiere on Showtime. Executive producer Marc Levin and co-directors Daniel Levin and Eric Newman joined Cheddar to provide some background on the project and discuss Garnett's legacy. With KG considered a pioneer for modern NBA draftees straight out of high school (the fifth pick in 1995), the filmmakers also discussed the possibility of the league reversing course on its current rule that requires a player to be at least 19-years-old and a year removed from high school to play.
Professional sports is facing a reckoning right now over several stories painting an ugly picture of a toxic work environment, encompassing multiple teams in multiple leagues and dealing with different issues.
This week, the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks ousted their general manager and senior director of hockey operations after an investigation confirmed former player Kyle Beach's claims that the team's former video coach Brad Aldrich sexual assaulted him back in 2010, with upper management ignoring his claims until after the team won the Stanley Cup that season. Last night, Joel Quenneville, now the coach of the Florida Panthers but Chicago's coach that season, stepped down from his post.
This comes just a few weeks after the NFL was rocked by leaked emails showing now-former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden using racist, sexist and homophobic language. He resigned soon after the emails came to light. We can't forget, though, that those emails come from a much broader investigation of the toxic work environment in the offices of the Washington Football Team. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week the league wouldn't publicly release anything from its investigation of the team, but lawyers for many of the women interviewed in the case say they want a public report.
And last January, just one month after hiring him, the New York Mets had to fire then-General manager Jared Porter, who admitted to sending explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he worked for the Chicago Cubs. ESPN had been in possession of the texts since 2017, but the woman in question asked the network not to run the story out of fear her career would be harmed. She only reached back out to ESPN after she left the field of journalism altogether. Porter has been banned from the sport through next season.
If you believe in the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire," professional sports is a five-alarm blaze.
Julie DiCaro, senior writer and editor at Deadspin, joins None of the Above to discuss.
Jill and Carlo discuss the scenes of joy at American airports as borders reopen, another tool in the Covid toolbox, the latest in the Astroworld crowd crush tragedy and more.
Gaming technology studio Mythical Games recently raised $150 million in a round led by Andreesen Horowitz, bringing Mythical's valuation to above unicorn status at $1.2 billion. Mythical Games' mission is to create a new generation of gaming with play-to-earn games that allow players to play to win actual cryptocurrency. Now the company is taking it to another level with NFT technology, allowing players to play with characters they can truly own. Mythical Games CEO John Linden joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Evan Vandenberg, the founder and CEO of Dibbs, a sports card trading platform, joined Cheddar to break down how his company allows sports fans to buy and sell fractions of sports cards. The physical trading cards are typically held in a vault while fans are provided with a digital representation of that card that they can go on to sell or even buy more fractions of the item. Vanderberg also talked about the company's $13 million Series A funding round and investments from major sports figures like the NBA's Chris Paul and NFL's DeAndre Hopkins.
A Freitag pod with Carlo and Baker, talking about the upcoming federal vax-or-test deadline, the most shocking upset of this week's elections, an incredible story of selflessness and Love, Hate, Ate.
