Work debate

[Jefe]

Technicly, from what your all agreeing on, playing a card game such as MTG or Yu-gi-oh, is considered Sport?

No wonder them faties dont exercise.

I don't think so. There needs to be some sort of physical effort involved, not sitting on your ass playing that shit. Hell, I don't even think chess qualifies as a sport let alone yugio crap

Edit: I guess curling is a sport <_<;

[Skyylya]

Technicly, from what your all agreeing on, playing a card game such as MTG or Yu-gi-oh, is considered Sport?

No wonder them faties dont exercise.

That's a bit of a stretch, i think it would be reasonable to assume that for anything to be considered a sport there has to be some physical exertion involved in addition to any ball, puck or tool used to play the game.

[Vertabreaker]

Edit: I guess curling is a sport <_<;

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Elesirdur]

What about activities like auto racing or equestrian sports like horse racing, dressage, jumping, etc.

Those all require a great deal of physical and mental stamina, concentration, and skill but in terms of the race itself, there's another 'thing' doing the moving for the actual participant.

I think there needs to be a distinction between athletics and sports. The former clearly requires physical ability and prowess but not all sports are based purely on athleticism. I would never consider a F1 or WRC driver an athlete, same as I wouldn't consider a racing jockey an athlete on the same level (or almost any level) as a participant in organized soccer, basketball, football, and so on.

I should clarify that I do consider auto racing, equestrian sports, and the like to be 'sports' in all senses of the word. Look at drivers as they get out of their cars after a race, they're drenched in sweat (the average F1 driver loses something like 3-5 lbs in perspiration during a race) and the bodies have been stressed to amazing limits from severe G-forces and all the concentration required to do the task. Similarly, you can't get any fat, untrained fuck on a horse and expect it to jump and show for you. That requires the physical ability and knowledge to control your mount, and stay on it through a routine or race without being bucked off or looking like an epileptic retard.

[archibaldcrane]

I define a sport as a game that meets the following criteria.

A.) Requires athleticism.

Chess, card games, board games, video game competitions, etc. do not apply.

B.) Involves -direct and active- competition between competitors.

This is the sticking point for most people. When I say direct and active, I don't mean "turn based". This eliminates a ton of things that many others consider sports. For instance, in golf - you try to shoot the lowest score possible. In bowling, you try to score the highest score possible. In racing, you try to run/bike/swim the course in as short a time as possible. In skateboarding/cheerleading/gymnastics/etc. you try to get the highest judged score possible. These are individual pursuits, independent of an opponent, and therefore while often requiring extreme athleticism, are not "sporting" in my mind. Frequent to constant changes of action depending on what your opponent does in a real-time scenario is "sporting" to me.

The other important thing here is this: Just because something is or is not a sport, doesn't make it more or less valuable. Golf, track and field, bowling, and chess are all perfectly fine ways to spend your time, and not being sports doesn't make them not valuable in any way. I find them all more valuable than women's field hockey.

[Tricen]

Yo could break sport down into a cardio vascular sport, a leisure sport etc, to make it easier.

[Norelco]

I think there needs to be a distinction between athletics and sports. The former clearly requires physical ability and prowess but not all sports are based purely on athleticism. I would never consider a F1 or WRC driver an athlete, same as I wouldn't consider a racing jockey an athlete on the same level (or almost any level) as a participant in organized soccer, basketball, football, and so on.

At my last job two co-workers got in a fight whether or not race car driving was a sport. It got REALLY heated.

I don't think race car drivers are necessarily atheletes, but when was the last time you saw a fat slob driving an F1 or stock car? Have you ever seen the heart rate monitors attached to drivers as they were racing? I'd say they have to be pretty athletic to sustain a high heart rate like that as well as handle the G-force on turns.

[Charla]

The op actually listed swimming, which doesn't use a "device". I think the more important part of the definition is whether it's done competitively. Therefore, hunting is a little more iffy, because I wasn't aware of a hunting tournament.

Now, there are some things that provide counterexamples to a few of the criteria suggested here.

Boxing: uses device, score/consciousness decides winner, sport.
Fencing: uses device, score decides winner, sport.
Skiing: uses device, judge decides winner, sport?
Swimming: no device, clock decides winner, sport?

Skis and ski poles are as much a device as boxing gloves, but I think skiing would be at least as borderline as gymnastics, for instance. Swimming isn't judged in the same way as gymnastics or surfing, but it doesn't use a device as far as I can tell.

[Elesirdur]

I define a sport as a game that meets the following criteria.

A.) Requires athleticism.

Chess, card games, board games, video game competitions, etc. do not apply.

B.) Involves -direct and active- competition between competitors.

This is the sticking point for most people. When I say direct and active, I don't mean "turn based". This eliminates a ton of things that many others consider sports. For instance, in golf - you try to shoot the lowest score possible. In bowling, you try to score the highest score possible. In racing, you try to run/bike/swim the course in as short a time as possible. These are individual pursuits, independent of an opponent, and therefore while often requiring extreme athleticism, are not "sporting" in my mind. Frequent to constant changes of action depending on what your opponent does in a real-time scenario is "sporting" to me.

The other important thing here is this: Just because something is or is not a sport, doesn't make it more or less valuable. Golf, track and field, bowling, and chess are all perfectly fine ways to spend your time, and not being sports doesn't make them not valuable in any way. I find them all more valuable than women's field hockey.

There's a big hole in your argument about racing. You're describing time-trial style races, but those are often the exception, not the norm. And if you're competing in a time-trial against others where the best time determines the winner then, ipso facto, there is direct competition between participants regardless of if they are spaced out or directly clumped together on the racing course.

Oh and curling is totally a sport, as is golf, field hockey, cricket, rugby (union, league, or sevens - they're all fucking crazy), ultimate firsbee, and a whole host of other sports that aren't popular in down-home America but millions of other people around the world love and enjoy.

[Merlyn]

I consider swimming a sport, because the person who wins is the one who finishes swimming the distance set the fastest. I don't understand the clock situation.

Skiing down a mountain...is a tough call. I don't necessarily agree with not accepting turn based events not counting as sports. They are still competition and involve physical skill, and depending on both of those factors there can be a winner or loser. Besides, technically, aren't baseball and football turn based? You get a set amount of time to control the ball, and to go up for bat, amirite?

[Khamsin]

the person who wins is the one who finishes swimming the distance set the fastest. I don't understand the clock situation.

A clock can be used to time how quickly someone finishes, and since time is closely correlated with speed, it can be helpful when judging the winner of sports involving speed trials. See also many winter olympic sports.

[Merlyn]

Oh ok, I see. Yeah, that works.

[Remyo]

as for stock car driving, not any joe schmoe can drive those cars at 180+ and keep it turning correctly. they basically have only "power assist" which is a huge difference from power steering you have in your regular car, couple that with the weight of the car, the force from the speed, and you have hell trying to turn.

and what makes wrestling gay? not pro wrestling mind you but freestyle and greco-roman, those are pretty tough sports.

[Vedder]

NASCAR is a sport, but drivers are not athletes.

Figure skating is not a sport, but skaters are athletes.

Discuss.

[Merlyn]

NASCAR is a sport, but drivers are not athletes.

Figure skating is not a sport, but skaters are athletes.

Discuss.

Fact. End of discussion.

[Charla]

Fencing? Archery? Sharpshooting? Any martial art you can name?

[Khamsin]

and what makes wrestling gay? not pro wrestling mind you but freestyle and greco-roman, those are pretty tough sports.

Tough sports played by rough-and-tough gay guys who like groping and being groped by other tough guys.

[Skyylya]

It's just personal opinion, I don't like wrestling either college competitive or fake/pro wrestling on TV. Juiced up men wearing next to nothing or wrapped in tight spandex and getting all sweaty and groping each other and grabbing each others crotches to try and mount the other dude I just think is gay, pardon my use of terminology.

I'd still say it's a sport though.

[Khamsin]

It's just personal opinion, I don't like wrestling either college competitive or fake/pro wrestling on TV. Juiced up men wearing next to nothing or wrapped in tight spandex and getting all sweaty and groping each other and grabbing each others crotches to try and mount the other dude I just think is gay, pardon my use of terminology.

I'd still say it's a sport though.

It's not just gay, it's bordering on gaia.

[Merlyn]

Is there a clear winner or loser? I dunno if they 'fence' to the death, but if they do, obviously the one left standing wins.

Archers nor sharpshooters can be considered athletes. They aim and shoot. I guess from what information int his debate we've come up with, archery and sharpshooting would be considered sports by some and not others. As for me, they have a clear winner or loser, so they would be considered sports.

Same applies to martial arts as does boxing and wrestling, I would think. Whoever is left standing...wins.