Cheerleading not a sport

[Eliseos]

No its not. Any game you can play where you don't even break a sweat isn't a sport.

I'd like to see you pitch an inning without breaking a sweat. Or take batting practice. Or catch fly balls. The list can go on.

[guartz]

well shit, golf is a sport.

and that involves swinging a stick once every 20 minutes and drinking ice tea and lemonade.

[Yabby]

No its not. Any game you can play where you don't even break a sweat isn't a sport.

I sweat watching it in the stands, it is normally hot as balls out there.

[Moss]

you'd break the same amount of sweat in competitive cheerleading too.

Not tackling the issue in the OP, thread would go on for years. Just pointing out bagel's argument is both foolish and flat out wrong.

[BerenTebogo]

Honestly, I defy someone to prove me wrong in my assertion that professional (competitive) cheerleaders and gymnasts are at least as strong (if not stronger), per pound body weight, than any other type of professional athlete. Especially Olympic gymnasts.

It's such a lol assertion that these exceedingly strenuous activities that involve insane amounts of stamina and strength are less equal just because of some backwards-ass opinions they developed in high school.

I'd honestly like to meet the 200lb High School Quarterback who can lift another 200lb Quarterback up above his head and support him standing upright. If you know of someone who can do this, please, by all means, prove me wrong.

[Not not Mattaru]

Honestly, I defy someone to prove me wrong in my assertion that professional (competitive) cheerleaders and gymnasts are at least as strong (if not stronger), per pound body weight, than any other type of professional athlete. Especially Olympic gymnasts.

It's such a lol assertion that these exceedingly strenuous activities that involve insane amounts of stamina and strength are less equal just because of some backwards-ass opinions they developed in high school.

I thinks its silly to give sports a baseline of physical prowess to be considered a sport. There is no cut and dry bright line.

Whether something is a 'sport' or not depends on the money it can bring in to people who say so.

[Caiti]

That's bullshit. Injuries and lack of safety regulation aside, it is a lot of work. The all night practices with one day off a week, multiple hours spent exercising and running, practicing routines over and over, comptetitions. There is a shitload of stress involved on even getting on any squad alone (there is the A squad and a B just like in other sports) then add in weight and self image issues on top of that. These girls have to literally be in perfect shape at all times, or risk a serious injury. From my understanding, men go through the same issues with various sports.

[Lucavi]

No its not. Any game you can play where you don't even break a sweat isn't a sport. Sure they are physical freaks that can manage to propel a ball at awesome speeds. In that case, they should be in a carny side show. Let's send the Yankees down to the fair grounds and get a few barkers for 'em.

So Wii boxing on a humid summer day is a sport?

People define sports by different things. I agree with your assertion that the scoring system in cheerleading (or lack thereof) would make it difficult to define it as a sport when only using scoring as a method of determining one's sport-iness, but I'd have to also agree that based on the fitness level of cheerleaders (fatty high school ones notwithstanding), it could be classified as a sport.

The title of sport shouldn't mean much anyway. They slap "sport" on the back of shitty, slow minivans and SUVs.

[BerenTebogo]

I thinks its silly to give sports a baseline of physical prowess to be considered a sport. There is no cut and dry bright line.

Whether something is a 'sport' or not depends on the money it can bring in to people who say so.

I agree with this. I'm just addressing the stigma that is present (whether it's defined clearly at the moment or not, I think we both know it's there) that these events cannot be sports because they're "fluffy lady activities."

Cheerleading does generate an extremely large amount of yearly revenue. I'd say easily more than Women's Softball or the WNBA, but honestly I'd be talking out of my ass.

Gymnastics, eh, not so much.

[bigrougabagel]

I'm missing the point where you actually have an argument and aren't just throwing your opinion around.

Wait...no I'm not. You ARE just throwing your opinion around. Silly me, thinking you may have some legitimacy to your posts.

I never said it wasn't my opinion and after a bit of point and click checking, one could find support or argue any position on any sport depending on many parts of the definition of a sport.

Spoiler: show

Merriam-Webster
Sport n.
1 a : a source of diversion : recreation b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in

The Free Dictionary
sport (spôrt, sprt)n.
1.
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.


sport
   /spɔrt, spoʊrt/ Show Spelled[spawrt, spohrt] Show IPA
–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.

http://www.stanford.edu/~sehealey/sport.html

This is such a wide range of definitions, one could take any of them and ascribe it's properties to an activity and call it a sport. My assertion that baseball does not constitute a sport could be argued based on the level of physical exertion required to define a sport. It must be argued here because it does fit other necessary requirements of a sport, such as the component for physical skill, competition with a set of governing rules and a method to determine a winner or loser.

On that note, how does someone determine physical exertion. A generally accepted method that could be used is to assess how many calories are burned while performing a specific task.

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

Listed are caloric requirements for an hour of the listed activity. I am selecting the middle value for the 155lb player for comparison. 352 calories on average are burned during an hour of baseball. This is by no means a 100% accurate number as differing games will require different levels of activity. Looking at the next item shows that officiating a game of baseball or softball requires 422 calories on average per hour.

INCOMING OPINION!!!!!!

Any sport that require the officials burn more energy per hour of activity than the participants is not a sport. Which is not a good argument when discussing whether judging a wet t-shirt contest is a sport.

THERE WAS AN OPINION!!!!

[Not not Mattaru]

Any sport that require the officials burn more energy per hour of activity than the participants is not a sport. Which is not a good argument when discussing whether judging a wet t-shirt contest is a sport.

Riddle me this. I'm wanking it, who is the official in this scenario?

[BerenTebogo]

I never said it wasn't my opinion and after a bit of point and click checking, one could find support or argue any position on any sport depending on many parts of the definition of a sport.

Spoiler: show

Merriam-Webster
Sport n.
1 a : a source of diversion : recreation b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in

The Free Dictionary
sport (spôrt, sprt)n.
1.
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.


sport
   /spɔrt, spoʊrt/ Show Spelled[spawrt, spohrt] Show IPA
–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.

http://www.stanford.edu/~sehealey/sport.html

This is such a wide range of definitions, one could take any of them and ascribe it's properties to an activity and call it a sport. My assertion that baseball does not constitute a sport could be argued based on the level of physical exertion required to define a sport. It must be argued here because it does fit other necessary requirements of a sport, such as the component for physical skill, competition with a set of governing rules and a method to determine a winner or loser.

On that note, how does someone determine physical exertion. A generally accepted method that could be used is to assess how many calories are burned while performing a specific task.

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

Listed are caloric requirements for an hour of the listed activity. I am selecting the middle value for the 155lb player for comparison. 352 calories on average are burned during an hour of baseball. This is by no means a 100% accurate number as differing games will require different levels of activity. Looking at the next item shows that officiating a game of baseball or softball requires 422 calories on average per hour.

INCOMING OPINION!!!!!!

Any sport that require the officials burn more energy per hour of activity than the participants is not a sport. Which is not a good argument when discussing whether judging a wet t-shirt contest is a sport.

THERE WAS AN OPINION!!!!

I am impressed by your ability to find such accurate values that are clearly defined by exactly what activity is going on during that hour of baseball and for what person, at which position, etc.

I especially like the part where it outlines the process of officiating a game of baseball for an hour as well.

It is very good that the factual, non-opinion part of your argument has such a solid baseline so that it can be looked upon with respect and not the stupid fucking disdain that it deserves for claiming solid, factual figures without a single baseline present.

I yield to your superiority.

Edit: Maybe I'm blind, but I'm pretty sure baseball isn't on that link you posted, anywhere.

Aerobics, general
Aerobics, high impact
Aerobics, low impact
Archery (non-hunting)
Automobile repair
Backpacking, general
Badminton, competitive
Badminton, social, general
Basketball, game
Basketball, nongame, general
Basketball, officiating
Basketball, shooting baskets
Basketball, wheelchair
Bicycling, <10mph, leisure
Bicycling, >20mph, racing
Bicycling, 10-11.9mph, light effort
Bicycling, 12-13.9mph, moderate effort
Bicycling, 14-15.9mph, vigorous effort
Bicycling, 16-19mph, very fast, racing
Bicycling, BMX or mountain
Bicycling, stationary, general
Bicycling, stationary, light effort
Bicycling, stationary, moderate effort
Bicycling, stationary, very light effort
Bicycling, stationary, very vigorous effort
Bicycling, stationary, vigorous effort
Billiards
Bowling
Boxing, in ring, general
Boxing, punching bag
Boxing, sparring
Broomball
Calisthenics (pushups, sit-ups), vigorous effort
Calisthenics, home, light/moderate effort
Canoeing, on camping trip
Canoeing, rowing, >6 mph, vigorous effort
Canoeing, rowing, crewing, competition
Canoeing, rowing, light effort
Canoeing, rowing, moderate effort
Carpentry, general
Carrying heavy loads, such as bricks
Child care: sitting/kneeling-dressing, feeding
Child care: standing-dressing, feeding
Circuit training, general
Cleaning, heavy, vigorous effort
Cleaning, house, general
Cleaning, light, moderate effort
Coaching: football, soccer, basketball, etc.
Construction, outside, remodeling
Cooking or food preparation
Cricket (batting, bowling)
Croquet

[bigrougabagel]

This is by no means a 100% accurate number as differing games will require different levels of activity.

Read please sir.

Edit:
Softball and baseball are listed together.

[BerenTebogo]

Nevermind! I found the holy grail of standards that Baseball should be held to:

Softball or baseball, fast or slow pitch

Oh, good! It's strictly looking at the act of pitching! That definitely is an accurate way of judging whether baseball is a sport or not.

Your opinion is based on shit that isn't even true, nor relevant to the argument. You're basing the argument on shit that doesn't exist.

You don't get to clarify shit, you're wrong. Go home.

[bigrougabagel]

And the size of the ball! Holy crap.

However, i just noticed the values for cricket and softball/baseball/wiffleball are all exactly the same. Seems too convenient and thus it is probably a terrible source.

[Furionstormrage]

Rather than argue the validity of the word sport, ill chime in with this.

I was under the impression that school boards do not want cheerleading classified as a sport because doing so would require safety and medical training, along wth other expenses that they are unwilling to take on to ensure the cheerleaders safety. Sport or not, it does require a degree of physical training and skill, and does lead to injuries that the untrained coaches cannot treat nearly as well as if they had first aid training and regulations in place to avoid some injuries in the first place.

Tldr: I thought it wasn't classified as a sport for monetary reasons, nothing else.

[Eliseos]

However, i just noticed the values for cricket and softball/baseball/wiffleball are all exactly the same. Seems too convenient and thus it is probably a terrible source.

Especially the part where umpires exert more than the actual players. That will never happen.

[BerenTebogo]

All that aside, I fucking hate baseball. However, if I were to have the opinion that baseball shouldn't be a sport because of my narrow understanding of it and personal opinion as to the entertainment value and level of physical activity, well, I might as well have the opinion that grass shouldn't be green because it was meant to be red.

Both opinions are the same level of fucking stupid, baseless, asinine shit that hold no weight whatsoever, and should be looked upon as, "wow, that statement was so fucking stupid my brain is starting to melt out of my ears."

[tyven]

cheerleaders make my dingle dance

[bigrougabagel]

Your opinion is based on shit that isn't even true, nor relevant to the argument. You're basing the argument on shit that doesn't exist.

You don't get to clarify shit, you're wrong. Go home.

Explain to me what doesn't exist, and how it is unrelated to the argument. So physical exertion has zero bearing on whether something is determined as a sport? I guess bocce ball is a sport, along with bingo and checkers.

ok