What makes it a sport?
I have been issued a challenge to define what makes a sport a sport. According to dictionary.com, a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. Although Wikipedia lists bowling as a sport, under the definition provided, I don’t believe that activities such as bowling, darts, and even juggling could fall under the label of a sport since they all require a skill and have rules and involve competition, but they require little or no physical exertion.
The argument could be made that golf is not a sport because it requires no physical exertion, but I would argue that combining walking 6 or 7 kilometres over an 18 hole course and maintaining the skill of hitting the golf ball does constitute physical exertion. Golf carts are not permitted in professional competition.
I would add that my personal definition of a sport would require the paricipants to possess some level of athletic ability. Can anyone else actually say that from the photographic evidence provided below that either of them would have any athletic ability?
Athlete #1?
Athlete #2?
Especially compared to these two?
Real Athlete #1
Real Athlete #2
Although some definitions may state that bowling and darts, for example, can be considered sports, I believe that different people can have different opinions on what constitutes a sport. My personal belief is that for any activity to be considered a sport, there has to be some level of athletic ability involved (combined with the competition, skill etc.). I don’t believe that the 3-5 metres you walk before you release the bowling ball constitutes athletic activity, nor do I believe that standing in a stationary position before throwing a dart constitutes athletic ability either. People may disagree with what I’m saying, but that’s my take on it and you’re all welcome to your beliefs on the matter.
Well done! I basically agree with everything you said. I will take issue, albeit nitpicky, with your use of photos to illustrate athletic ability.
The man playing darts is a fat slob, this is true. But what about weight lifters and sumo wrestlers that are just as fat but are without question competing in the realm of sport and most assuredly have “athletic ability.” Another example: http://www.gvrec.org/Sports/2005%20Senior%20games%20Pics/Copy%20of%20Tennis6.jpg . The gentleman playing tennis doesn’t *LOOK* like an athlete compared to your “real athlete” photos, but is tennis not a sport? My point is that one’s current physical condition has nothing to do with whether they are playing a sport or not. The fact that someone is a fat slob does not disqualify their actions as sport. It is the constructs of the game that determine whether it’s sport or not, not the physicality of the person playing. Just my 2 cents, and playing devil’s advocate
Other than that, I agree with what you’ve said. I wonder about those “skills” though. How could we group these non-athletic “skills” together under a single name? It’s obvious that billiards, darts, bowling, etc. require skills that few people can master. If they’re not shown on ESPN, where else would they be televised? Hmmmm.
The difference between the fat slob darts player and the guy in the tennis photo you provided is that the fat slob was probably playing in real competition for actual prize money, while the tennis player was trying not to bust a dookie in his depends while chasing a tennis ball. I was trying to provide examples of real people at the top of the respective ’sports.’
Maybe we could call them skills games and create a skills network to rival ESPN. I would hope it wouldn’t go belly-up after a short while though because then the crap would be back on ESPN in no time!
Thanks for your comments!
There are lots of ‘men’ channels like the Outdoor channel, Speed channel, Golf channel, Spike tv, etc…I’m surprised there isn’t a skills/hobby channel already. It’s probably just a matter of time. Stick those stupid eating competitions on that channel, too. ;P