What Is A Sport? The Debate Thread

[bpytnjr58]

Bowling and Billiards???

[1/28/01]

[quote name='bpytnjr58' timestamp='1328822816' post='990578']
Bowling and Billiards???
[/quote]
Skilled games...

[cursona pirate]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1328822942' post='990584']
Skilled games...
[/quote]
yes. Not much physical effort in them. There is some.

[bpytnjr58]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1328822942' post='990584']
Skilled games...
[/quote]
I have to put Golf in there too...That is also skill and the Caddies carry the golf bags plus there are golf carts a plenty to keep the bags.

[cursona pirate]

[quote name='bpytnjr58' timestamp='1328823397' post='990600']
I have to put Golf in there too...That is also skill and the Caddies carry the golf bags plus there are golf carts a plenty to keep the bags.
[/quote]
yeah we discussed golf earlier and it is 50/50 to if its a sport or not. The golf cart as silly as it sounds adds a diffrent aspect to this.

[hawkprey]

[quote name='berad' timestamp='1328820922' post='990534']

Word!



The goal isn't necessarily to break a world record, it's to win, to get the gold. Obviously, if you have a world record you won but that's akin to saying NFL teams attempt to break scoring records every game - not necessarily, they just want to win.

And it doesn't matter whether gymnastics is a sport to me, I'm going off of your definition - a head-to-head competition. The runners run on the same track, at the same time, and actively impede each others progress. And, no, not the 100m dash - they all stay in their separate lanes - but longer races, where they can break their lanes after a lap or two and the fight for the inside track begins.
[/quote]
Runners draft off each other. Bicyclists draft off each other. They use each other to improve their own times. Why do you think there's always a "front pack" for the bulk of races before competitors sprint to the finish? Good runners want other runners to run comparable to them so they can improve their own time. That's because head-to-head wins aren't as important as peak time. Because it's an event. I don't consider events to be sports.

Besides the fact of how people run or why they run is the question of what running is. Running is the same challenge over and over, as it's designed to be because everyone is judged by a universal system - time and course. Yes there are small disruptions, but you don't run primarily by anticipating other people's moves. Boxing in is a side effect, not what the event is about. A sport is more of a physical chess match.

[berad]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1328836734' post='990800']
Runners draft off each other. Bicyclists draft off each other. They use each other to improve their own times. Why do you think there's always a "front pack" for the bulk of races before competitors sprint to the finish? Good runners want other runners to run comparable to them so they can improve their own time. That's because head-to-head wins aren't as important as peak time. Because it's an event. I don't consider events to be sports.

Besides the fact of how people run or why they run is the question of what running is. Running is the same challenge over and over, as it's designed to be because everyone is judged by a universal system - time and course. Yes there are small disruptions, but you don't run primarily by anticipating other people's moves. Boxing in is a side effect, not what the event is about. A sport is more of a physical chess match.
[/quote]

We can go back and forth on this forever. I'll say this, it's the same thing I've said from the beginning: there's a lot of head-to-head competition and positional sparring that goes into a race. You have to account for other runners because they're actively trying to keep you from passing them, they want to finish ahead of you. Runners, like every other athlete, take more pride in winning than in posting a decent time. I think it's a sport and I think it falls in your definition, you think otherwise... I guess that's the magic of a debate thread.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='bpytnjr58' timestamp='1328823397' post='990600']
I have to put Golf in there too...That is also skill and the Caddies carry the golf bags plus there are golf carts a plenty to keep the bags.
[/quote]
I can see golf going either way, but IMO, being an avid golfer, I have to say its definitely a sport!

[chesapeakeaviator]

I think any type of competition that requires any amount of honed skill is a sport. Even chess. It may not be the same KIND of sport as football, but I generally like competition and things that require massive amounts of practice and experience as being the definition.