I don't agree on every point in Jonathan Holmes latest Destructiod article, but I did love tripping in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though I tend to be a fan of arbitrary randomness in my games (It's called gambling people!). Life isn't a series of awesome moments of looking totally cool. Sometimes people trip, haven't you seen Cool Runnings? I'm in love with the idea that during an intense battle for the fate of multiple universes, a dude might slip and fall and land on their ass.
I'll admit that I find tripping in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as aesthetically pleasing, but can see the issue when I look at SSB as a sport rather than a hilarious past time with friends.
I don't really see the analogy of randomness in pro sports as a perfect one-to-one comparison to the tripping, as the tripping is programmed into the game to happen essentially at random, and it is not like gamers have their own real world issues to overcome (nervousness, sweaty hands, unfamiliar controllers, ... sneezing?). The article is an interesting read though, so check it out.
Do you play any videogames competitively? If so, do you view them differently from games you play casually?