Originally Posted By jonvn You know what really ISN'T a sport? Competition eating. Anyone ever see any of that? It's utterly revolting.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <///- you have 2 - 3 golfers tied in a tournament - walking up to the par 5 18th hole - each has to decide - do I try and reach it in 2, do I play it safe - and many times this is dictated by who they are playing. If you are playing Tiger - you know he is going to try and reach it in 2 - so it changes your approach to your shots, and challenges your skill level...//// good point! but that scenario sounds very momentous and applies to only part of 1 hole out of 18 and that scenario is not even a given in every tourney. But for what it's worth I see what you are saying.< okay - fair enough, I'll bring it down to everyday level. You and you friend at playing for $5 a hole, or for beers or whatever and the same scenario applies. and for the pros -- look at what usally happens to Tiger's playing partners on the last day of a tournament. Many try and play his game and faulter badly that day -- they usually try to do things they just aren't athletically capable of doing
Originally Posted By hightp Weightlifting requires a lot more coordination than you think. Sure it requires brute strength to get a 350 lb bar off the ground, but it's balance and coodination to get it to your shoulders, then a perfect hold to get it above your head. If your coordination is a little off in baseball, you might end up with a foul ball. If it's a little off in weighlifting, and you could end up with a crushed foot.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 is it not called the Sport of Kings ? I think it's a sport for the jockey and the horse..
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<So danger is an element in making something a sport?>> There is only one TRUE sport... Christians vs. Lions ;-)
Originally Posted By peeaanuut hey Ice dancing may be a little feminine. Oh a lot feminine, but it still is alot of physical exhertian and skill. It may not be the manliest of sports, but its not a sport.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>now race car driving I can honestly say that I don't know and if I don't know that one then I don't know about sailing either. But race car driving is more sport like than boating or sailing.<< >>The only two necessary elements to make up a sport is phyisical athleticism and competition. All sports must have at least these two elements.<< Seems like you're contradicting yourself a bit, since race care driving requires NO physical atheticism whatsoever. Would you consider a nascar driver an athelete? Golf requires FAR more athletic prowess, obviously.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>Ice dancing may be a little feminine. Oh a lot feminine, but it still is alot of physical exhertian and skill. It may not be the manliest of sports, but its not a sport.<< Assuming you meant to say it IS a sport, I'll disagree. It's a form of dance, not a sport. So is figure skating. Just because something requires a lot of physical exertion and skill does not make it a sport. Just look at ballet (and figure skating and ice dancing and all that stuff have a LOT more in common with ballet than any other "sport").
Originally Posted By Mr X It's interesting, Clint, that you seem to have differing opinions regarding "types" of racing and whether they are sport or not. In fact, you seem to lean more in favor of race car driving compared to horse racing, which to me is a little weird. I think if you're going to qualify any types of "racing" as sport (and I think they are), then you might as well throw them all in...yachts, sailboats, cars, planes, horses, dragons, whatever.
Originally Posted By Lake Nona >>How many elderly and retirees get out and play golf??????<< Just go to "Flordia's friendest home town"... <a href="http://www.thevillages.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thevillages.com/</a>
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Is ballet a competition though? I think what constitutes a sport is a combination of two things: 1. Athletism 2. Competition Definitions of these words: Sport: –noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc. 2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors. 3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime. 4. jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry: What he said in sport was taken seriously. 5. mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him. 6. an object of derision; laughingstock. 7. something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything. 8. something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc. 9. a sportsman. 10. Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person: He was a sport and took his defeat well. 11. Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler. 12. Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant. 13. Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation. 14. Obsolete. amorous dalliance. Athlete: –noun a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill. Competition: –noun 1. the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc.: The competition between the two teams was bitter. 2. a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage: Both girls entered the competition. 3. the rivalry offered by a competitor: The small merchant gets powerful competition from the chain stores. 4. a competitor or competitors: What is your competition offering? 5. Sociology. rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, usually resulting in a victor and a loser but not necessarily involving the destruction of the latter. 6. Ecology. the struggle among organisms, both of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements. So for me as long as there is winning and losing involved and a special skill set required (let's see how many of us are good ice dancers) to me it's a sport. I think there are varying degrees of sport but it's still sport nonetheless. I completely disagee with race driving having no physical athletism involved as I do figure skating, are we forgetting the triple spins and such? Most people gauge sport on what they like and dislike. ;>
Originally Posted By ClintFlint2 ///Seems like you're contradicting yourself a bit, since race care driving requires NO physical atheticism whatsoever.//// I don't see it as contradictory because I was saying that I viewed racing cars as MORE LIKE a sport than sailing but I stopped short of calling it a bonafide sport for the very same reason you gave which is there is pretty much no athleticism involved. Clearly one would need an awsome skill set to drive at those speeds using unbelievably quick decision making and possess nerves of steel and concentration as well as be able to handle extreme heat inside the car for long durations like peeaanuut was saying but it still lacks typical athleticism. ////Would you consider a nascar driver an athelete?/// I don't know. Like weight lifters I just don't know. But peeaanuut, I thought, brought up some strong points.
Originally Posted By Mr X I thought Peeaanuut brought up good points to, however the mental endurance aspect of race car driving could also be, in every way, compared to a soldier on a battlefield. That takes skill, 100% concentration, and all the rest, under the same sort of life or death situations. So is a soldier an "athelete"? I'd say the same for a race car driver. Again, semantics. >>Is ballet a competition though? I think what constitutes a sport is a combination of two things:<< There are ballet competitions, piano competitions, all kinds of competitions. That doesn't make all the stuff "sports". Sorry, but a competetive pianist is NOT an athelete.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I'm not disagreeing with that. LOL! I said it had to be a combination, not one without the other. ;>
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Sorry, but a competetive pianist is NOT an athelete.>> Is a competitive penis an athlete? (Sorry, but ever since I was ten I thought the similarity of those two words was amusing...)
Originally Posted By Mr X So this guy walks into a bar, and says to the bartender "give me a free beer, and I'll give you the most amazing entertainment you've ever seen for your bar". Bartender pours the beer, and the guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out this teeny tiny little man, and a miniature piano. The tiny man, wearing a tux, sits down and starts playing some tunes. Everyone in the bar is amazed. So the bartender goes "that's incredible! never seen anything like it! where'd you find that little guy?". The guy replies, "well, it's a funny story actually. I happened to find this magic lamp one day, and I rub it and out pops this genie! he said he'd grant me one wish, anything I want". He continues, "but I guess this genie was a little hard of hearing, cause he thought that I wished for a 12 inch pianist".
