# Sports writers that seem to enjoy the taste of their foot! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 23, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396 "2003-07-23T16:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/21 "2003-07-24T13:16:17Z")
Once and for all, YES, it’s a sport. Golf? Yes. Cycling? Yes. Freestyle rock climbing? Yes. Skateboarding? Yes. Bowling? Yes. You can argue that some sports don’t lend themselves to competition, usually for lack of an objective way to score the event. One example is figure skating, scored by corrupt machine politicians with one hand out and one eye closed, yet nobody who knows skating would argue that it doesn’t require highly developed skills and athletic talent. Anything with a panel of judges is difficult-to-score-prone-to-bullshit-results sport. Arguing that cycling is not a sport is just stupid. Racing (conveyance) is one of the oldest sports, from our ancestors running away from Smilodons on the backs of Harlan’s ground sloths (a classic tortoise-hare matchup) to Formula 1. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/22 "2003-07-24T13:26:39Z")
If you can do it sitting down while drinking Keystone Light, it’s not a sport. Yes, I mean fishing. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/23 "2003-07-24T13:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Knowed Out \* > \*\*Well, it seemed obvious to me the guy wasn’t writing a serious column. Not only does he put down cycling, but he snipes at soccer, the French, OLN, Europeans, and especially himself. But this one line > > was pretty low. \*\* Yes. The entire article was tongue-in-cheek. It was joke, people! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/24 "2003-07-24T15:17:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\*I don’t think that cycling is a sport. Then again, I don’t think that Nascar is a sport either. Neither is golf, bowling, pool, sailing, or Magic: The Gathering. This is, of course, just my opinion. > > BTW, I’ve seen all of the above being covered by ESPN. \*\* My rule of thumb is that if you can drink beer and smoke cigarettes while you’re doing it, it’s probably not a sport. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/25 "2003-07-24T15:37:39Z")
Then sportfucking is right out. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/26 "2003-07-24T15:56:16Z")
Okay then, can we add other sportswriters to the list? I fucking HATE Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. Or is it the Detroit News? Either way, he’s a fool. One great example came during this Ed Martin crap. When the ugly stories about U-M’s basketball fuckups first came to light, U-M came up with its own sanctions, one of which was barring itself from post-season play this year. Early in the season, Drew Sharp bitched to high heaven in his column that this particular self-punishment was “meaningless” because U-M’s team pretty much sucked ass and would never make it to the tournament. Then, when the team played its heart out all year and started looking good, he said that all the punishments weren’t severe enough because U-M wasn’t sucking. You can’t win with this guy, playing well or playing sucky, he’ll find something wrong. Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/27 "2003-07-24T16:33:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Devil’s Grandmother \* > Not really, the Swedish judge didn’t give me a score. The Swedish judge gives you 5.3 ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/28 "2003-07-24T22:06:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*Then sportfucking is right out. \*\* Hey, man! I’m up for consideration for the Hall of Fame! ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/29 "2003-07-24T23:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beagle \* > \*\*One example is figure skating, scored by corrupt machine politicians with one hand out and one eye closed, yet nobody who knows skating would argue that it doesn’t require highly developed skills and athletic talent. Anything with a panel of judges is difficult-to-score-prone-to-bullshit-results sport. \*\* That’s why I would argue that figure skating is _not_ a sport. Ballet requires highly developed skills and athletic talent too, but it isn’t a sport. To me, if there is not a completely objective way to measure performance, then that particular athletic endeavor is a performance art and not a sport. After all, there is not anything fundamentally different from a judge’s score and the evaluation of a performance art critic writing for the local newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/30 "2003-07-25T03:28:33Z")
I hate to admit it but I lean towards Monkey’s point. A sport, to me, is a contest of physical skill with objective criteria for determining a winner. How HARD it is is not the point; moving furniture is hard, but it’s not a sport. Figure skating is partially a contest of physical skill, but it’s also partially a subjective preference for artistic expression. There’s nothing particularly wrong with having JUDGES. I mean, a basketball ref is sort of a judge. But judging based on costume and music is clearly an element that detracts from the sport element. Figure skating is certainly an athletic thing, but its status as a sport is sullied by the “Artistic expression” malarkey. Cycling is obviously a sport. I’ve never heard anyone **seriously** suggest otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/31 "2003-07-25T04:11:15Z")
Of course cycling’s a sport, anyone who doesn’t think so has zero understanding and appreciation of it. Especially when it comes to the grand Tours, such as this one. Individual talent, physical stamina, and ability of course means alot, but those who insist cycling isn’t a sport don’t understand how important a role a team plays. It’s little different than basketball, football (either version 😉 ) or baseball…it’s just that it happens over a longer time period. Witness Tyler Hamilton’s stage win the other day…sure, he won it by a great individual performance, but anyone who paid attention knew (as he himself mentioned) that he wouldn’t have had that opportunity without the fact that his team helped pull him even at the beginning when he was dropped from the peloton. Mainly it’s just ignorance that claims it’s not a sport. Pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/32 "2003-07-25T07:16:17Z")
The coolest part of having a team is when one cyclist gives up his bike for the star of the team when the star’s bike breaks. The negative side is when a teammate of the star has a golden chance to blow away the rest field, only to be restrained by the coach in the team car. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396/33 "2003-07-25T13:52:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Miskatonic \* > \*\*So what, IYHO, makes something a sport? \*\* I have to enjoy it. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-writers-that-seem-to-enjoy-the-taste-of-their-foot/190396.md?page=1)