What makes something a sport?

Great Debates
1

So I’ve had many debates with friends and acquantinces over whether or not something is a sport. Some of the things I’ve said are not sports are:

-figure skating
-running
-golf
-skateboarding
-sprinting
-swimming
-gymnastics
-shooting (guns or archery)
-hunting (not a sport if your opponent doesn’t know you’re playing)

I can’t think of anymore right now, but there are plenty out there. I’m not saying that these activities do not require a great deal of skill. I would only consider something a sport of you have someone in direct competition with you, like if they’re out there the same time you are and are trying to keep you from doing your best. Those sports I listed are more or less individual sports. You don’t have other skaters trying to knock down other figure skaters while they’re trying to land some spinny type move. Those are more like activities or aerobic exercises or something like that.

Anyway, what would you define as a sport and what are some more that you don’t think are sports?

2

If you can place bets on it.

3

A SPORT is a complete contest of physical skill or prowess with objective criteria for winning and losing.

You are indisputably wrong to say that golf is not a sport - it’s very obviously a sport - and running, swimming, gymnastics, shooting, figure skating, sprinting, and even skateboarding are all sports as long as they’re being done competitively. The act of sprinting it not itself a sport, but if you are sprinting in a competition to see who wins, it’s a sport.

The only argument against some of these is that things like figure skating don’t have objective criteria for winning. I’d be willing to say, therefore, that figure skating and gymnastics might not be sports.

Going out running in the morning isn’t a “sport” per se. Of course, you may be practising for a competitive run, which is a sport. I think it’s fair to say that football players who are just practising are engaging in sport, so it stands to reason the same can be said of runners; in the end it’s competitive.

Hunting is NOT a sport because it’s not a “contest.” You’re not competing with the animal, you’re killing them; there are no intrinsic rules.

Anything that’s competitive and physical is a sport. Billiards is a sport, darts is a sport, bowling is a sport, curling is a sport, target shooting is a sport. Chess is not a sport (it’s not physical.)

4

**

While most hunting is not sport hunting, there are forms of hunting which are sport hunts. Ethics of such events aside I would stipulate that the only “sport hunting” entitled to the name involves set rules where hunters attempt to get larger kills or captures than one another. Sport Bass fishing is an example. Actually it is probably the most ethical example as I am under the belief that they also release the captured fish.

I punched someone for trying to sneak a castle in after he had allready moved his king once. Does that make chess a sport? Also there is that SCA lifesized version of chess that has duels and in some versions a capture does not count unless the attacking “piece” actually defeats the defending piece. If you have never seen this version of chess it is worth looking in to. More fun drunk than regular chess.

5

Mentally, I make a distinction between actual “sports” and what I consider to be “competitive leisure activities.” Things like golf, bowling, billiards would fall in the latter category.

I’m not making a distiction based on skill. Many activities I would not consider a bona fide “sport” require a huge amount of skill that I could never dream to attain.

For me, the key is some degree of sustained vigorous activity or muscle exertion in the competitive pursuit of a “winning” effort.

6

Looking at the original list, in my opinion :

-figure skating
-gymnastics
and I would add diving

These are not sports in my book, because the “winner” is determined by judges. It is a subjective process, even though the judges theoretically have very strict guidelines. If it were completely objective, you would not have different judges holding up different scores.
-running
-golf
-sprinting
-swimming
–shooting guns and archery

All have a clearly defined winner, the guy who either has the least points in golf, or finishes before the other guys in running, sprinting, and swimmng, or the guy who hits the target the most times. So they get the sports thumbs up from me.

-skateboarding

I have no idea how this is done … is the first person to skateboard over the finish line the winner (in which case, SPORT) or are they judged on style (in which case, NON SPORT)?

-hunting (not a sport if your opponent doesn’t know you’re playing)

But if a hunting contest was set up so that the person who shot the most deer or elk or pedestrians or what-have-you wins, then again, we have a sport because there is no doubt that if you have five kills, and the other person has three, you have won. Or, who can shoot a deer/elk/pedestrian in the shortest amount of time?

But, for the sake of argument, perhaps sports that involve animals should get their own category. Then they can be called animal competitions, so that all those people who think bullfighting is a sport can’t complain.

Of course, I haven’t yet gotten any phone calls from the IOC asking what I think they should yank from the Olympics. When that call comes, I am for sure nixing gymnastics, diving, and figure skating. Also equestrian, for the same reasons, plus I think it’s weird that so much of the work is done by an animal other than the athlete (and I am a horseback rider, so I know it’s hard, it just doesn’t seem like a sport to me). I’m not sure about Ping Pong yet … it seems pretty active, but it was originally marketed as a table game, and I’ve seen some pretty similar physical activity in a really good game of Spit…

7

I never thought of bullfighting. That one is certainly a sport but I think the competition is between the toreador or matador and the bull. I enjoy bullfighting in it’s pure form , but almost as an abstract. I used to be very much against it but had never really SEEN in. After watching a tape of an authentic bullfight and the pre-fight pageantry I found i could agree with Hemingway and Picaso. Sorry, slight hijack.

mia culpa.

8

What is a sport? Well, the loosest definition would be “any form of competition”, which would then include taking tests in school, attorney work, running for political office, or playing video games.

A stricter definition would be “a form of competition consisting of two entities, each capable of directly influencing the actions of the other”. By that definition, things like cheerleading or gymnastics wouldn’t be sports, since most of the time you’d just be sitting there watching the other competitors perform, and hope that they screw up big time in one way or the other.

The strictest definition I’ve ever seen… well, my Geometry teacher believed that there were only three sports: Football, Baseball, and Basketball. Everything else he considered an “activity” (except Hockey, which he considered a half-sport). He absolutely loathed Soccer, which he believed should be called “Kick” (and no, his name wasn’t Krispy Original).

9

Somehow, to me, you have to work up a bit of a sweat for it to be a sport. This rules out billiards and darts (though I am in a competitive league for billiards; it’s a “game,” not a sport). Also, as others may have mentioned, the competitor, not his equipment, must be the main focus. This eliminates auto racing. (I have a friend who insists that auto racing is something that takes much skill and therefore is a sport; I contend that typing and speaking Japanese take a certain skill, but that doesn’t make them sports.) Thirdly, the winner must have accomplished a recognizable superiority over others; I like the distinction some have made about “objectivity” vs. a subjective point system. This eliminates skating, skateboarding, and other “extreme” sports, along with cheerleading. Finally, it has to be real; this eliminates pro wrestling, which so many people insist is a sport.

10

Personally, I have a problem with “sports” that are judged subjectively. This would include gymnastics, figure skating, diving, and the like. When you golf, you know how many times it takes to hit the ball in the hole. When you race, you know who crosses the finish line first. When you play football, you know who has more points at the end of the game.

But when you compare figure skaters, it’s all up to a group of people who may or may not have prejudged the situation, may or may not see things the same way, etc.

11

Divemaster,

I’m not going to dispute golf and billiards (don’t know enough about them), but bowling can be a sport. Not going bowling one night with your friends ( that’s recreational bowling} and probably not even if you bowl in a league once a week, but when you’re bowling 12-15 games in a day at a tournament pace ( one or two people per lane) with a sixteen lb. ball, that’s enough vigorous activity and muscle exertion to qualify as a sport. (makes you sweat, even)

12

I wasn’t going to comment but I figured somebody would bring it up. Pardon the rant.

Ping Pong as delphica referred to it can very much be a sport. Table Tennis requires all the elements that any good sport does. For a long time I played ping pong, beating everyone I encountered in the backwoods where I grew up. When I went to college I discovered that definate line between ping pong and table tennis. After a year of practice against several players who were trained to possibly become professional table tennis players I no longer played ping pong, I was a table tennis player. I had learned most of the subtle things, discovered proper footwork, etc.

When I attended my first major tournament I sat amazed as I watched the best players in America (not from America) at work. I was watching some guys practice and talking with a friend. I commented on footwork of one particular player who grew up in China. I was told that he grew up in a training camp where they practiced footwork for 4 hours a day. No wasted energy in his motion, the ability to move rapidly from side to side while keeping his head at the same height. Hard to know where the ball and the table is when your head is bobbing up and down (took me a long time to learn that one).

It was a 2 day tournament, total prizes given out exceeded $10,000. On the second day I lost a match due to conditioning. While the sport involves many mental aspects it also relies highly on physical ability at higher levels.

I don’t expect anybody that reads this to understand it, but trust me, its a sport in every way. Most American’s play it for recreation.

Jan-Ove Waldner carried in the flag for Sweden at the opening ceremony of the 96 Olympics. He is a national hero. Next time you meet somebody from Europe or Asia ask them if table tennis is a sport.

Alantus (highest USATT rating obtained: 1636)

13

As a hunter (even though I haven’t done it in years), I take exception to the exclusion of hunting as a sport.

The general idea some of you seem to have is that some guy just picks up a gun, walks into the woods and BLAM! Instant dead critter. :rolleyes:

In hunting, you are competing against animals with generally better senses than humans, with a better perception of the environment (the sights, sounds and smells), who will “go to ground” at the first sign of any irregularity, or stealthily move away from any oddness.

You would be suprised to learn just how quietly a 400lb. buck can move.

So in hunting, you are competing against the earth (to move quietly), the wind (to remain downwind of your prey), the elements, the forest (to read the land and determine where the game trails are), and an animal that can hear and smell further than you, and generally has good, if not excellent visual acuity.

Hunting is a multi-billion dollar a year sport industry, with millions of participants, decked out in scientifically created camouflage patterns, scent eliminators, hearing and visual enhancers, expensively accurized firearms and optics, etc., etc…

And humans still can’t keep the burgeoning deer populatioon in check.

Hunting may not be as physically demanding as football, and arguably has its moral detractors, but the physical and mental discipline involved in a successfull hunt equals, if not exceeds in many cases, the “accepted” sports.

Just because your competition is a four-legged herbivore doesn’t mean it’s not a sport.

ExTank
“Mostly Harmless :p”

14

Well, us humans do have guns. That kind of levels the playing field. But I still don’t think that hunting is a sport. You’re not competing against other people, which I think is necessary for any sport. You’re not trying to do something better, faster, or in fewer shots than somebody else. You’re just trying to accomplish an (admittedly difficult) task.

Would you consider trailblazing a sport? My sister worked for the park service for several summers creating and maintaining trails in national and state parks. It required a bunch of equipment; she had to read the land to determine where best to put a trail, or how to build steps. Is that a sport?

How about being a lumberjack? Sport? Unless it’s one of those ESPN outdoor games where you try to cut down a tree faster than someone else, I don’t think so.

15

A sport has to have criteria that is black and white, or it either isn’t or is. No grey areas.

The Yes list: (So far)
-Running
-Golf
-Skateboarding (For speed only)
-Sprinting
-Swimming
-Shooting or Archery

Ok, to narrow it down furthur, muscle must be used.

The final yes list:
-Running
-Golf
-Skateboarding (For speed only)
-Sprinting
-Swimming
-Possibly Archery.

16

Remember “Archon”?

Friends of mine once published a book of cartoons; one was captioned “Australian Rules Chess” and was a picture of a guy delivering a devastating left hook to his opponent over a chessboard.

Extank, hunting still isn’t a sport.

You’re making the common error (IMHO) of equating “difficult to do” with being a sport. Hunting can be a tricky business, but it’s not a sport the way baseball is a sport. It’s not a competition. You and the buck you’re killing are not seeking the same outcome. A sport is generally played for its own intrinsic purposes; you play baseball for the sake of playing baseball, even if you’re making money off it. Baseball serves no other practical purpose.

Hunting isn’t the same thing - the buck isn’t “competing,” he’s trying to stay alive. I’d say a fairly common test for something being a sport is that the competitors have to be consciously, voluntarily competing. If I walked up to you on the street and kicked you in the teeth without any warning, we would not be competing in a tae kwon do contest.

And no, bullfighting is not a sport.

17

<i> In hunting, you are competing against animals with generally better senses than humans, with a better perception of the environment (the sights, sounds and smells), who will “go to ground” at the first sign of any irregularity, or stealthily move away from any oddness. </i>

Like someone else said the gun levels the playing field. Not to mention you have those guys that go out there wearing camo and putting on scent and using special calls. I might consider thinking of it as a sport if it was bow hunting. As in a bow and arrows that you made out of raw materials and went out and hunted naked.

I agree that judging something can diminsh it’s qualifications as a sport. What about boxing or wrestling (like olympics, not the fake stuff)? I think those are definately sports.

18

I don’t know enough about boxing or (real) wrestling … aren’t there some parts that are objective (you knock out the other guy) and some parts that are judged?

Now I’m really pondering the sports/games/contests that involve animals … can these really be all one category? So far, I have:

hunting
fishing
rodeo
bullfighting
the dog/frisbee thing
dog sled racing
horse racing
steeplechase
falconing

Perhaps the ones that involve the demise of the animal should get grouped together …

19

Nah, nowadays most people call it “Sports Entertainment”… a “charicature” of sports, if you will. In fact, it started getting good when they stopped trying to pretend it was “real”.

But it’s still not a sport.

20

If pro wrestling is not a sport, then pro boxing, which is on record as being at least as fixed as, if not more fixed than, pro-wrestling, must not be a sport either.