Debate II: What do you consider a sport?

[nash61]

Adding some stuff to this list.

 

Sports which are actual sports

Football

Baseball

Soccer

Basketball

Ice Hockey

Cycling

MMA

All Track & Field

Tennis

Badminton

Rugby

Swimming

Boxing

Olympic Wrestling

Water Polo

Skateboarding

Snowboarding

Skiing
Martial Arts (karate, judo, etc)

Surfing
Lacrosse
Handball
Polo (with horses)
Ultimate Frisbee
Speed skating
Squash
Slamball

-----------

Sports in which the human does none of the work

Horse Racing
Equestrian sports

NASCAR

Monster Trucks

Iditarod

-----------

Sports which you can drink/smoke while doing

Golf

Darts

Bowling

Billiards

Curling

Frisbee

Ping Pong

Hunting

Fishing

Roller Derby

Celebrity Softball
Bocce
Orienteering

-----------

Sports which are sports because ESPN

World Series of Poker

Competitive Hot Dog Eating

Spelling Bee

Daily Fantasy
E-sports

-----------

Not a sport

WWE

[jc...]

Some of you don't think auto racing takes "physical exertion?" Haha. Ok. 

[BBTV]

I think people think that saying that something is not a sport is somehow disrespectful or demeaning to whatever that activity is.  We're too hung up on "words".

 

I see no way that diving is a sport.  You're competing against judges, not another competitor.  It's an athletic art, and requires every bit as much skill and athleticism as things that we consider "sports", but it's simply not a "sport".  There's nothing you can do to impede your opponent's ability to succeed.  I'm not sure why people think that somehow demeans it - it doesn't - not at all.

 

 

 

 

[Cujo]

3 hours ago, jc... said:

Some of you don't think auto racing takes "physical exertion?" Haha. Ok. 

 

Yea. All those left-hand turns can be excruciating.

[jc...]

36 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Yea. All those left-hand turns can be excruciating.

 

Have you ever tried it? Or are you forming an opinion of something you have never done before? 

[Cujo]

12 minutes ago, jc... said:

 

Have you ever tried it? Or are you forming an opinion of something you have never done before? 

 

I spent a good amount of time at the go-kart park as a kid. Yea, it's fun and requires some thinking, but not really difficult or required any athleticism.

[Sport]

1 hour ago, BringBackTheVet said:

I think people think that saying that something is not a sport is somehow disrespectful or demeaning to whatever that activity is.  We're too hung up on "words".

 

I see no way that diving is a sport.  You're competing against judges, not another competitor.  It's an athletic art, and requires every bit as much skill and athleticism as things that we consider "sports", but it's simply not a "sport".  There's nothing you can do to impede your opponent's ability to succeed.  I'm not sure why people think that somehow demeans it - it doesn't - not at all.

 

If it doesn't demean it then what's the harm in referring to something like diving as a sport? If I call diving a sport that doesn't mean football is less of a sport. 

 

Diving is a good example and it's not as simple as you make it. You're competing against judges (who have objective criteria for judging, mind you), but you actually are competing against another competitor who is competing against those same judges in the same place on the same board. The meet doesn't happen in a vacuum where the other divers are unaware of their opponents. The stakes get upped, the dives get harder, and divers are forced to perform increasingly difficult dives. Can I tackle another diver while they're diving? No, but if I perform a difficult dive well and that forces an opponent to try a dive they're not comfortable with have I not just impeded their ability to succeed? I think so.

 

Also, our favorite rough and tumble team sports are loaded with judged elements that greatly affect the outcome. Every sport has officials. Baseball, for example, is more reliant on judges to execute a game than something like golf, for instance. 

 

I think it's best just to recognize anything competitive with physicality and/or skill as a sport rather than categorize into arbitrary boxes. I don't know what you get out of the latter. What's accomplished? 

[Kevin W.]

1 hour ago, BringBackTheVet said:

I think people think that saying that something is not a sport is somehow disrespectful or demeaning to whatever that activity is.  We're too hung up on "words".

 

I see no way that diving is a sport.  You're competing against judges, not another competitor.  It's an athletic art, and requires every bit as much skill and athleticism as things that we consider "sports", but it's simply not a "sport".  There's nothing you can do to impede your opponent's ability to succeed.  I'm not sure why people think that somehow demeans it - it doesn't - not at all.

 

 

 

 

If being unable to impede your opponent's ability to succeed is a criterion for being a sport, then does that mean that golf isn't a sport? Golf is based on scoring and not judging, but your play cannot affect an opponent's play.

[Needschat]

2 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

I spent a good amount of time at the go-kart park as a kid. Yea, it's fun and requires some thinking, but not really difficult or required any athleticism.

 

Not the same thing, not in the least.  What was the maximum speed, 20 mph?  Did you have to wear a helmet?  Did you have to spend hours learning to drive within inches of others going well over 150 mph?

 

Yeah, you're one of those people that believe only football is a sport.  

[Cujo]

1 hour ago, Needschat said:

Not the same thing, not in the least.  What was the maximum speed, 20 mph?  Did you have to wear a helmet?  Did you have to spend hours learning to drive within inches of others going well over 150 mph?

 

Everything you listed were driving skills -- just like how truckers have to be skilled to get their CDL. No difference there, unless you consider 18-wheeling a sport.

[dont care]

1 hour ago, Cujo said:

 

Everything you listed were driving skills -- just like how truckers have to be skilled to get their CDL. No difference there, unless you consider 18-wheeling a sport.

18-wheelers aren't competing with other drivers, they also aren't having to withstand 2-3 G's every corner, which is the equivalent of having a 500 pound person roll on top of you. Also do this in 100+ degree heat for 4 hours. I does get physically exhausting.

[Cujo]

25 minutes ago, dont care said:

18-wheelers aren't competing with other drivers

 

Try again!

 

 

And almost everything else you listed is something truckers do on a daily basis as they navigate 'Merica's highways.

[dont care]

20 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Try again!

 

 

And almost everything else you listed is something truckers do on a daily basis as the navigate 'Merica's highways.

No it's not even close

[BBTV]

7 hours ago, McCarthy said:

If it doesn't demean it then what's the harm in referring to something like diving as a sport? If I call diving a sport that doesn't mean football is less of a sport. 

 

Diving is a good example and it's not as simple as you make it. You're competing against judges (who have objective criteria for judging, mind you), but you actually are competing against another competitor who is competing against those same judges in the same place on the same board. The meet doesn't happen in a vacuum where the other divers are unaware of their opponents. The stakes get upped, the dives get harder, and divers are forced to perform increasingly difficult dives. Can I tackle another diver while they're diving? No, but if I perform a difficult dive well and that forces an opponent to try a dive they're not comfortable with have I not just impeded their ability to succeed? I think so.

 

Also, our favorite rough and tumble team sports are loaded with judged elements that greatly affect the outcome. Every sport has officials. Baseball, for example, is more reliant on judges to execute a game than something like golf, for instance. 

 

I think it's best just to recognize anything competitive with physicality and/or skill as a sport rather than categorize into arbitrary boxes. I don't know what you get out of the latter. What's accomplished? 

 

I disagree completely that diving is a good example.  It is as simple as I make it.

 

7 hours ago, CRichardson said:

If being unable to impede your opponent's ability to succeed is a criterion for being a sport, then does that mean that golf isn't a sport? Golf is based on scoring and not judging, but your play cannot affect an opponent's play.

 

You can impede your opponent's ability to succeed by simply being better than him.  You can complete the same hole in fewer strokes.  I guess I don't literally mean physically impede him, like block a shot.

 

I loathe golf, and only begrudgingly acknowledge it as a sport, but it is.  

 

 

[HedleyLamarr]

2 hours ago, dont care said:

18-wheelers aren't competing with other drivers, they also aren't having to withstand 2-3 G's every corner, which is the equivalent of having a 500 pound person roll on top of you. Also do this in 100+ degree heat for 4 hours. I does get physically exhausting.

I got physically exhausted driving 11 hours from Cleveland to Atlanta.

 

Driving a car is not a sport.  Dress it up however you wish.  Driving a car is not an athletic feat. 

[The Six]

And competing against someone doesn't make it a sport. It turns it into a race. I wasn't playing a sport when I drove to work this morning; trying to go faster than someone else wouldn't suddenly transform it into a sport.

[BBTV]

So I think where we're at is that there's simply no way to make a catch-all definition, and it's more of an arbitrary "I know it when I see it" kind of thing. 

[Needschat]

Racing against someone WITHOUT a car - That's a sport

Racing against someone WITH a car - NOT a sport.

 

Those who are in the latter opinion, try it sometime.  

[HedleyLamarr]

16 minutes ago, Needschat said:

Racing against someone WITHOUT a car - That's a sport

Racing against someone WITH a car - NOT a sport.

 

Those who are in the latter opinion, try it sometime.  

Driving a car - NOT a sport.

 

Again, glorify it all you want...harsh conditions, G-forces, whatever.  No one says racing a car is easy.  It doesn't take away from the fact that it's just driving a car.

[Needschat]

2 minutes ago, HedleyLamarr said:

Driving a car - NOT a sport.

 

Again, glorify it all you want...harsh conditions, G-forces, whatever.  No one says racing a car is easy.  It doesn't take away from the fact that it's just driving a car.

 

I have the same opinion with football, it's not a sport: It's just violence compounded and interrupted by committee meetings.  Sort of like Congress meets playground red Rover.