I was searching through the NYTimes.com technology articles and came across one about the first video game tournament to be aired on a broadcast network. It seemed like a pretty straight forward article, but then I noticed something in this excerpt:

“CBS, the august home of the Masters and March Madness, will become the first broadcast network in the United States to cover a video game tournament as a sporting event. The network’s broadcast will consist of edited moments from the World Series of Video Games tournament, held in Louisville, Ky., last month.Advertisers for Sunday’s broadcast include KFC, Intel and the Marines.”

…Did I miss something or does it feel weird to have the Marines advertising at a video game tournament?

KFC, I get. The people who love video games may not leave the house for much, but they’ll waddle out to the car faster than you can say “bucket of chicken” if KFC is their goal.

But the Marines? I mean, that’s a lot of effort, huh? I didn’t see the ads, but I’ll bet anything they make the Marines look like a glorified video game you get paid for. That could possibly be one of our problems in Iraq, no? Recruiting people who have chosen to live their lives in a fantasy world instead of participating in the real one might lead to some sticky combat situations.

Also, is there any way the Marines can keep their slogan as “The Few. The Proud. The Marines” when half of these people watching the video game tournament are huddled in a basement wondering if their mom has any pizza bagels in the fridge?