# What do you think are the saddest excuses for a sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854 "2002-04-21T20:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/61 "2002-04-24T21:24:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > \*\* > Of course all sports, ALL SPORTS, are wimpy when compared with Shirling. Leave it to the Scots to invent that. _shudder_ > > \*\* I have googled on Shirling. but can’t find it. Anyone want to tell me what the hell it is? Are you possibly referring to shinty? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/62 "2002-04-24T21:36:43Z")
**ElwoodCuse** , I can’t help but laugh. > [@](#): > > Golf is a sport because it takes physical ability to play. It’s not grueling like ice hockey, but it’s still a physical test. > [@](#): > > And I’ll join with several others in saying auto racing is not a sport. [snip] I think auto racing is more a mental than physical test. [snip] But come on, driving in circles for 500 miles? So… _golf_ is more physical than _auto racing_. You have obviously never paid much attention to the latter. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/63 "2002-04-25T02:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ivar \* > \*\* > > I have googled on Shirling. but can’t find it. > Anyone want to tell me what the hell it is? > > Are you possibly referring to shinty? \*\* Maybe the Irish game of Hurling? A game that, when you slow down, you retire from and take a gentler game - like Aussie Rules Football? Maybe we should make figure skating a sport again - Ultimate Figure Skating - put all the pairs out at once, and the last pair standing wins…“Tonya has a pipe…OOOHHH!!! Nancy’s down!..” ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/64 "2002-04-25T03:13:43Z")
Lamest “sports” to watch on TV(yes, I know I’m changing the criteria) 1.Professional women’s golf. 'Nuff said. 2. Anything involving a car, though NASCAR is, in my view, slightly less offensive than Formula One racing (or whatever it’s called) because the cars don’t all look the same and the drivers are more ‘colorful’ (i.e., redneck personality forced into the media spotlight and doused with champagne after a win). ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/65 "2002-04-25T03:18:50Z")
Sorry, I posted before I finished my darn list. Let me add . . . 1. All variations of bowling. 2. Anything using a rifle and a paper target 3. All types of golf not mentioned in #1. 4. Hmmm. I know there are some others, but I’m drawing a blank right now. ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/66 "2002-04-25T03:23:33Z")
Ok, I’m breaking some rule posting 3 times in a row, but I’d hate to leave out . . . 7. Anything whose outcome is predetermined, such as ‘Professional’ ‘Wrestling’ or ‘Professional’ boxing (the latter is also objectionable because of the inevitable camera shot of Don King’s hair). ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/67 "2002-04-25T03:29:56Z")
In defense of professional wrestling, **Pablito** , it’s been a while since they bothered with the pretense that it was a sport. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/68 "2002-04-25T06:35:17Z")
**Racin** , I don’t mean to say that golf is tougher on the body than 500 miles in a race car. My point is this. Does auto racing require physical strength as a skill? Yes, you have to sit in a broiling car for hours and endure G forces, but it’s not a test of how hard you can push the pedal. As I see it, the skills involved in auto racing are mental (strategy and positioning) and mechanical (designing the actual car). ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/69 "2002-04-25T06:39:28Z")
It’s not strength, but clearly there’s some dexterity involved in passing between another couple of cars driving four times as fast as the speed limit in most places with a few inches of clearance on either side. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/70 "2002-04-25T06:45:58Z")
It’s not strength so much as it is stamina. Professional race car drivers work out on a regular basis and those that don’t don’t perform as well. Hours of driving and manhandling the car in intense heat takes its toll on you physically. It’s not like a leisurely drive to the mall during Christmas season. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/71 "2002-04-25T07:56:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*1. Golf > 2. Golf > 3. Oh yeah, golf. \*\* And I’d like to add…golf. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/72 "2002-04-26T06:29:53Z")
Hey, lay off golf. There’s more fatties in Major League Baseball than the PGA Tour. John Kruk’s autobiography is titled, “I Ain’t an Athlete, I’m a Baseball Player”. I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854/73 "2002-04-26T08:06:07Z")
Some fine sentiments! Here’s what I object to: Some “invented last year”, “we’re wonderfully hip and extreme”, “admire us because we have huge adolescent egos” sports. Sorry. I watch sports (rarely) because I want to see classic confrontations between trained experts. I want to appreciate skills I can only imagine on a good day. I don’t agree that skateboarding or curling are inherently worthless skills. However. I do have to ask why, if these guys are so good, they couldn’t compete in one of the traditional sports. Just to stave off a knee-jerk reaction, I’ll posit an answer: The skateboarders can’t compete, so they’re inventing their own rules. Big f\*\*\*\*\*\* deal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-are-the-saddest-excuses-for-a-sport/104854.md?page=3)