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What is a "sport"?

Cap said:
You don't know the difference between throwing a 300 game in a league and bowling successfully on Tour. I've bowled EIGHT 300 games and had a composite average of over 210 for TEN YEARS. That is VERY different than bowling on tour and making money, something with ONLY those credentials, I could not do. The conditions are different, the amount of games are different, the level of competition and stress is different. Just because some guy can make a few free throws in a pick-up game of basketball, doesn't mean he can be in the NBA, NOR does it negate basketball as a sport. Same with bowling and all of the sports that are being mentioned. To participate, you don't need a high level of skill. To be a professional, you need a VERY high level of skill.

As I've been saying...
 
Yes, you do. But it's not transitive. You need skill in a sport. You need athleticism to excel in a sport. However, skill is not synonymous with athleticism.

I can think of many skills that are not sports because of the lack of athleticism required to function well at them.
 
Yes, you do. But it's not transitive. You need skill in a sport. You need athleticism to excel in a sport. However, skill is not synonymous with athleticism.

I can think of many skills that are not sports because of the lack of athleticism required to function well at them.

And in order to excel at the highest level at any of the sports mentioned, you have to have some athleticism. I can be very skillful at a sport, but without the athleticism, I can only go so far. One needs BOTH.
 
I absolutely agree. In a sport, you need both.

Problem is that you don't need both in NASCAR. Or bowling. Or ping-pong. Or Scrabble.
 
I absolutely agree. In a sport, you need both.

Problem is that you don't need both in NASCAR. Or bowling. Or ping-pong. Or Scrabble.

In the first three you do. I don't do NASCAR, but I do the other two, bowling at a very high level. Without athleticism, one cannot excel at the professional level at either.
 
I absolutely agree. In a sport, you need both.

Problem is that you don't need both in NASCAR. Or bowling. Or ping-pong. Or Scrabble.

I have had this conversation many times before and I doubt I will sway you one bit. To be competitive in racing these days it takes a very skilled and fit driver. The competition has become very aware of fitness over the past 20 years. Look at old races and notice the physic of drivers from the past and today. You will notice the majority are very fit these days. Most spend many hours in the gym and are on a regular diet. The entire team including the pit crew diet and train for the rigors of a weekend of racing. I would go as far to say that most professional drivers and their crews are more fit than pro football players. It is common for a driver to lose several pounds during a single race. The heart race is up and it has been said that one race is like a 4 hour workout.

The skill it takes to make it in the big leagues is mind boggling. They make it look easy but trust me it is not. Offense and defense are part of the game every weekend. Decisions are made in seconds and can and have life or death consequences. Not many other sports have as much on the line as racing. Although racing has become safer with advances in technology, it wasn't long ago that several drivers a year were lost to accidents.

Competition wise name any other sport where 43 other teams all compete on the same field for 4 hours at a time.
 
I absolutely agree. In a sport, you need both.

Problem is that you don't need both in NASCAR. Or bowling. Or ping-pong. Or Scrabble.

that is idiotic

table tennis is one of the most technically difficult sports on earth

coordination, technique, strategy and footwork are at the very highest levels in that sport.

a 1/32" error in racquet angle means missing a ball completely

 
that is idiotic

table tennis is one of the most technically difficult sports on earth

coordination, technique, strategy and footwork are at the very highest levels in that sport.

a 1/32" error in racquet angle means missing a ball completely

I totally agree with you about TT being a sport. I personally think that all these types of games being in the olympics have watered down the olympics ways too much. They should probably cut the sports that are now medal awarded in half.
 
TurtleDude said:
that is idiotic

table tennis is one of the most technically difficult sports on earth

coordination, technique, strategy and footwork are at the very highest levels in that sport.

a 1/32" error in racquet angle means missing a ball completely

Why can't people differentiate between a skill and a sport? I've made this distinction so many times until I'm blue in the fingers.

Coordination, technique, strategy...SKILLS. They are SKILLS. Do you have to run miles a day to train in ping pong? No. If you're not in peak physical shape for baseball, basketball, football, tennis, etc. you simply cannot compete at the highest level. Being able to put a paddle on a hollow plastic ball requires minimal levels of endurance or athleticism.

ESPN has ruined everyone into thinking anything is a sport. Hell, they show the national spelling bee for middle schoolers. Is THAT a sport?
 
Ping Pong is a sport by current definition, it does take a good deal of athleticism during a long rally and they aren't thinly built because they can't afford food. If you are saying its not a sport because the technicality of the event outweighs the physicality needed then that is just nitpicking. If you break down the two sports its very hard to argue for Baseball, but against Ping Pong... Imo they are around the same level of Skill vs Physicality. Just because a Ping Pong player has to fine tune their diet and training for arm speed and footwork to compete at the top, and not strength like baseball, doesn't make a wad of difference.

The definition of sport is out of date anyway, anything that is treated as competition is called a sport these days. That's the case in most languages. The dictionary makers need to catch up with the times and redefine the words entry, so its more encompassing.
 
Why can't people differentiate between a skill and a sport? I've made this distinction so many times until I'm blue in the fingers.

Coordination, technique, strategy...SKILLS. They are SKILLS. Do you have to run miles a day to train in ping pong? No. If you're not in peak physical shape for baseball, basketball, football, tennis, etc. you simply cannot compete at the highest level. Being able to put a paddle on a hollow plastic ball requires minimal levels of endurance or athleticism.

ESPN has ruined everyone into thinking anything is a sport. Hell, they show the national spelling bee for middle schoolers. Is THAT a sport?
God dammit Gipper, even in the so called sports such as football, you have some players who don't even need to be any kind of real athletes. Kickers especially, how much true athleticism does it take? Do they really need to run several miles every day, or work out with weights? They have a skill as in kicking the ball a long way and have it go where they are aiming it. But I will tell you what, as for table tennis, look for one of them which is in the slightest bit overweight. It actually takes a lot of physical endurance at THAT level. A lot of speed and agility as well. Don't base it off of your experiences in a YMCA or boysclub. Its not at all the same.
 
Someone, early on in this thread mentioned Marching Band as being a sport and their members being athletes. I totally agree.

Synchronized swimming is considered a sport and is included in Olympic competition. Here is a definition of the sport:

synchronized swimming 
noun
1.
a sport growing out of water ballet in which swimmers, in solo, duet, and team efforts, complete various required figures by performing motions in relatively stationary positions, along with a freestyle competition, with the contestants synchronizing movements to music and being judged for body position, control, and the degree of difficulty of the moves.
Synchronized swimming | Define Synchronized swimming at Dictionary.com

Now. Take these qualities, increase the number of athletes by a factor of 20 or more, increase the field of competition to the size of a football field, require them to entertain the spectators while they are impressing the judges...and require them to to produce their own music. That is marching band.

Right now, marching band's big brother, drum and bugle corps, is engaged in their world championship. The semifinals are today and the finals take place tomorrow. Here is Carolina Crown in a recent performance. They are better today...and they are currently in second place. According to the scores they've received this season, they are not even the best. But they most definitely are athletes engaged in a sport.

 
Someone, early on in this thread mentioned Marching Band as being a sport and their members being athletes. I totally agree.

Synchronized swimming is considered a sport and is included in Olympic competition. Here is a definition of the sport:



Now. Take these qualities, increase the number of athletes by a factor of 20 or more, increase the field of competition to the size of a football field, require them to entertain the spectators while they are impressing the judges...and require them to to produce their own music. That is marching band.

Right now, marching band's big brother, drum and bugle corps, is engaged in their world championship. The semifinals are today and the finals take place tomorrow. Here is Carolina Crown in a recent performance. They are better today...and they are currently in second place. According to the scores they've received this season, they are not even the best. But they most definitely are athletes engaged in a sport.


Very impressive. It does take a lot to be in one of those, and it takes a lot physically. As broad as my definition is of sports, I can't go with that though. And, judging by the empty seats, the ticket prices must have been way too high lol
 
Why can't people differentiate between a skill and a sport? I've made this distinction so many times until I'm blue in the fingers.

Coordination, technique, strategy...SKILLS. They are SKILLS. Do you have to run miles a day to train in ping pong? No. If you're not in peak physical shape for baseball, basketball, football, tennis, etc. you simply cannot compete at the highest level. Being able to put a paddle on a hollow plastic ball requires minimal levels of endurance or athleticism.

ESPN has ruined everyone into thinking anything is a sport. Hell, they show the national spelling bee for middle schoolers. Is THAT a sport?

You just demonstrate profound ignorance on sport

sport is different than a discipline. Sport requires you to act or counteract physically based on what your opponent does

table tennis players are fitter than baseball players. You mentioning baseball players really proves you are clueless about athletics.
 
Very impressive. It does take a lot to be in one of those, and it takes a lot physically. As broad as my definition is of sports, I can't go with that though. And, judging by the empty seats, the ticket prices must have been way too high lol

All those empty seats are there for a reason. The audience is restricted to one side of the field only. The corps performs to that side only. If you were watching from any other part of the stadium, you would not be experiencing the show as it is intended to be experienced. In tomorrow's finals performance, Carolina Crown can expect to perform in front of 30,000 people.

Anyway, since you can't accept this activity to meet your broad definition of sports, does that mean you don't consider synchronized swimming to be a sport?
 
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But what about:

Bowlingbarely
Synchronized swimmingwater dancing
NASCARanybody can be good at it with some practice
Horse racing (for the jockey, not the horse)yes, because you bet on it
Chessno
Shootingokay
SCUBA divingno
Sky divingno, because racing to the ground is too dangerous
Rock climbingno

Also, I watch the Outdoor channel at my barber and it seems like technology today takes all the 'sport' out of hunting and fishing. The deer doesn't stand a chance. Hunt a bear with a pocket knife, that's fair fight.
 
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All those empty seats are there for a reason. The audience is restricted to one side of the field only. The corps performs to that side only. If you were watching from any other part of the stadium, you would not be experiencing the show as it is intended to be experienced. In tomorrow's finals performance, Carolina Crown can expect to perform in front of 30,000 people.
I am just busting on you about the empty seats. I did the marching band thing in high school. I am very impressed with what these kids do and know that it takes a lot out of them doing it.
 
Bowling is not a sport, IMO, it's a game. Any game that I get better at the more I drink, is not a sport.
 
Things like ballet, synch swimming and gymnastics are performance arts. Excercise and diet do not a sport make. An actor may need a specific body shape for roles (see Christian Bale from The Machinist to the The Fighter to Batman). Without an objective scoring system you're no different than an actor relying on critical scores, awards and box-office takes to assess your skills against others.
 
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