Yes, the nature of the sport is to have more guys moving. Thus, the nature of the sport is to have more action. You seem particularly aggressive on this topic, as if I’m denigrating your favorite sport. I am not denigrating any of the activities I mentioned. Specifically, yes, the CFL has more action than the NFL by virtue of having more players.
As for your laundry list of “but that means such-and-such isn’t a sport”, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I expressed my specific position a while back in [post=7115019]this post[/post], with much added detail in a [post=7123551]followup post [/post]. (Content from both reproduced below.)
Sports are organized head to head strategic competitions with active, physical defense employed by the opponent, and are purely human-powered.
If you don’t exert yourself, you’re playing a game, not a sport.
If determining the winner involves going to the judges, or the humans involved don’t supply all the energy, it is a competition, not a sport.
Boxing is usually brought up as the counter to the judging qualifier, but sports are “played”. Nobody ever “plays” boxing. The fighting arts are just that: arts. Not sports.
Tennis involves athleticism, active defense, is organized, etc…, so it easily qualifies as a sport.
Golf, OTOH, is a game.
All races are competitions. Auto and horse racing could only be considered sports from the point of view of the cars and horses. For the humans involved, they are competitions. Similar with those new-fangled snowboarder and skier cross events, where the riders can tangle. Gravity is supplying the energy, thus they are competitions, not sports.
Standing around with no defensive option is a big strike against the activity being a sport.
While you might consider it odd to not call the Olympic events sports, I find that to be a very common sense conclusion. Sports are all about pitting humans against humans in head to head physical competition. Racing against a clock makes your opponent time, which is not what sports are about. That’s what races are about.
Of course, my personal definitions are no more valid than any other native English speaker’s, so take of that what you will. But I subscribe to the following classifications:
Races: Racing against the clock, and also potentially other competitors in your same field of play. Incidental contact may be allowed, (rubbin’s racin’), but you can’t just flat out knock a guy out of the race intentionally. Examples would be downhill skiing, sprints, marathons, NASCAR, horse racing, short & long track skating, etc… One of the primary characteristics of a race is that the defensive strategy can usually be summed up in under a paragraph, and sometimes in just a single word: inapplicable.
Fights: Boxing, wrestling, the UFC, and basically all hand to hand combat events are a class unto themselves. More serious than sports, and very much more hardcore.
Games: Passive activities that simulate characteristics of sports, such as board games and video games. Can be broken down further into real-time games (like most video games) and turn-based games (like board games.) Some physical activity may be involved, such as bar games like pool, darts, and foozball. The last is the ultimate example of the distinction, as foozball is clearly simulating the sport of soccer. This is also the category of card games and casino table games, and the aforementioned curling. (Damn the US women’s team is smokin’ hot! Too bad they choked, as I’m head over heels for the Johnson sisters.)
Competitions: Athletic events with no competitor interaction whatsoever, often decided by judging. No defense is possible. Figure skating, gymnastics, X-Games (both summer and winter) that focus on tricks and style would all be good examples of competitions. Also included would be weightlifting, the world’s strongest man/woman contests, bodybuilding, marching band, cheerleading, equestrian, golf, field events such as those that make up the decathalon, and no doubt countless others.
Activities: Often competitive, and often involving athleticism, and even sometimes organized, but not truly a sport. Paintball is the prime example that comes to mind. Pickup games of sports would also fall here, such as a two on two playground game of hoops.
Sports: Athletic, head to head strategic competitions with active, physical defense employed by the opponent. Sports are purely human-powered, have highly structured rules, and objective means of determining the winner: the score. Most sports have amazing strategic depth, and all sports have a dizzying array of tactics. Sports are basically a hybrid between games and competitions, employing the best attributes of both. Usually, but not always, they are team oriented. Football and all its derivations (Australian rules, arena, flag, etc…), basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, beach volleyball, cricket, ice and field hockey, ultimate frisbee, singles and doubles tennis, rugby, lacrosse, and no doubt many others I can’t think of right now.
These classifications may not be universally held, but they do have the bonus of including like with like. While there are a few wildcard activities that I would find difficult to classify, such as polo, the vast majority fit neatly into these groups. And I would be a bit surprised if a participant in one of them would be offended by the grouping they found themself in.
Except the curlers. While it is true that they definitely require more athletic ability than playing cards, it is hard to get past the obvious comparison to it being a gigantic game of marbles. Even still, I could justify calling curling a sport, but it’d be with reservations; when the opponent is on offense, you are only allowed to watch. That’s just not sports-like.
