You should see the way we use to play softball, hell you probably have. That was no true sport the way we played. Only slightly more activity than bowling, actually maybe less.
Also how I shoot pool and how the greats shoot pool is on two completely different planes of existence. Great billiards players are great athletes as far as repetitive hand eye coordination goes and it doesn’t matter if they carry a goodly roll of fat. What I do is knock the balls around the table while drinking beer.
Sure, billiards, darts, and bowling are sports. They’re all sports more of agility than of strength, but physical ability is still the primary component.
Physical exertion is definitely a thing in motorsports. They ain’t just tooling around in an Accord to get groceries. They are cramped in a hot car and subjected to massive g forces (5-6 g’s lateral in fast corners and forward during breaking) lap after lap for hours and the slightest fuckup can mean many deaths. All the while dealing with extremely complicated car systems/settings. Top level drivers are fit. They are constantly training in the gym just as any other athlete.
And I am perfectly ok with calling a cooking competition a sport.
To me, horse racing is no more a sport than playing slot machines or blackjack. Take away the gambling aspect and see how long it lasts.
If I know the name of someone who plays it/has won it, I am willing to consider it a major sport. Football, I have forgotten all the names, but it’s a big deal. All right, OJ Simpson, there we go. Basketball, same, plus I know a current name! (LeBron James.) Baseball (A-Rod). Boxing (Muhammad Ali). Tennis (come on, Serena Williams). Golf (Tiger Woods). Olympic sports (Simone Biles, that dude who used to swim). Horse racing (Mine That Bird).
See I am not very sporty (well I do watch tennis and horse racing when available [sob]) and I know all these names without Googling them. If I know them anybody who’s paying the slightest bit of attention ought to know them. So those are major sports.
Oh wait. Auto racing. Somebody Unser. Al, I think. So that one too. Could I count chess? Bobby Fischer.
There are other sports, but these are Major.
I’ve lived in NC 50 years and I only have known 2 guys that were fans of NASCAR. Most people here are fans of college FB and BB and the NFL and MLB. NBA and NHL are pretty popular but not as big as college sports and the NFL.
Well let me tell you something, brother.