Clash of Clans almost caused the Royals to miss the playoffs

Should the Kansas City Royals not have made the postseason this year, video games would have been to blame. Well, one video game in particular: popular mobile game Clash of Clans.

The game was reportedly first introduced in the Royals locker room by reserve Jarrod Dyson, when he showed the game to Lorenzo Cain. From there, the popularity spread to toher Royals, including Danny Valencia, Mike Moustakas, and Eric Hosmer.

"The game’s verbiage entered the clubhouse lexicon, as players debated the relative merits of their clans and beseeched each other for orders of goblins and witches," The Kansas City Star reports.

It wasn't until midway through the season, as the Royals withered away their division lead to the Detroit Tigers, that Clash of Clans was recognized as a locker room distraction — or at least used as the scapegoat for the Royals' struggles.

"As the season burned, “Clash of Clans” acted as the fiddle," the article continues, pointing out that manager Ned Yost held a closed-door meeting in which he "impored players to show more energy." I guess that meant less Clash of Clans playing and more of a focus on baseball.

The Kansas City Star goes on to say that after the meeting, the Royals went on to win 16 of their next 19 games, highlighting that "the iPad usage became less conspicuous."

From what it sounds like, it seems that the meeting resulted in players putting down the iPad, and focusing more on baseball activities and less on Clash of Clans.

Video games being used as a scapegoat for other activities is nothing new. There's no denying the addictive nature of a game like Clash of Clans, but I have to say this is the first I've seen it used to blame for a struggling sports team. It's a good thing the Royals wound up in the World Series. I'd hate to see the headlines bashing games should they have missed the playoffs.

[Fansided]