But is it a sport?

If a judge or official determines the winner, then it is not a sport, in my humble opinion. A sport is something where the average or even casual fan can clearly see who is winning based on objective criteria (score, time, etc).

Referees and other officials "shouldn't" determine the outcome of a game, although there are times where such things have happened.

Figure skating, cheerleading, body-building all require a great deal of fitness, athleticism, skill, and commitment. But they are not sports.

ZOO wrote: If a judge or official determines the winner, then it is not a sport, in my humble opinion.

Good point. I'm tired of all those sissy boxers pretending what they do is actually a sport.

Josh wrote:

ZOO wrote: If a judge or official determines the winner, then it is not a sport, in my humble opinion.

Good point. I'm tired of all those sissy boxers pretending what they do is actually a sport.

I never denied the skill or athleticism of boxers (or cheerleaders, I don't have a death wish). But boxing is an interesting anamoly because a KO is pretty obvious, but an official's decision may not be.

I'm in the camp where a sport has to have an objective winner. Everything else is a competition, some athletic, some not. Boxing is a sport, you can count punches thrown and hits and knock downs to determine a winner even when there is no KO.

JeepinMatt wrote:

alex wrote: There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. - Ernest Hemingway

Didn't this pop up a few days ago on this forum, and I forget who it was that pointed out that Ernest Hemingway never said that.

Robert Ruark wrote that, it was his grandfather, the Old Man, from the Old Man and The Boy. However I remember the saying did not include motor racing but big game hunting.

Pretty much all this stuff qualifies as a sport. Even playing darts is a sport. Possibly even golf is a sport. The word is pretty loosely defined. The question should be where does cheerleading fit into the continuum of sports.

They do sustain injury though...

ZOO wrote: I never denied the skill or athleticism of boxers (or cheerleaders, I don't have a death wish). But boxing is an interesting anamoly because a KO is pretty obvious, but an official's decision may not be.

Yeah, because letting two big apes beat the piss out of each other is a sport.

Sorry, boxing and it's redneck cousin UFC are not sports.

They're not even games.

racerfink wrote: They do sustain injury though...

Stressful job...

Anyway, many skateboarders don't even want skating to be considered a sport. It's more of a life/lifestyle.

Trans_Maro wrote:

ZOO wrote: I never denied the skill or athleticism of boxers (or cheerleaders, I don't have a death wish). But boxing is an interesting anamoly because a KO is pretty obvious, but an official's decision may not be.

Yeah, because letting two big apes beat the piss out of each other is a sport. Sorry, boxing and it's redneck cousin UFC are not sports. They're not even games.

one could reasonably argue that boxing and running are the two purest sports there are. no special equipment needed, no ball, no goal. the types of competition involved are as fundamental as it gets.

It's not a sport, it's an activity designed to support a sport.

As long as it encourages more cheerleading, and produces more cheerleaders, who cares? I just want MOAR.

integraguy wrote: The news tonight (ABC) had a spot on the argument being made that cheerleading IS a sport and should be treated by schools/school systems as such.

My daughter went to a charter middle school of limited budget - they didn't even have any inter-school sports teams at all, just general Phys Ed.

The one thing they DID have was a regionally competitive cheerleading team... cheerleaders who didn't even have any athletes to cheer for. Weird.

And NO, she didn't participate, or even want to. I've tried to raise her right.

carguy123 wrote: It's not a sport, it's an activity designed to support a sport.

There's the disconnect right there. Pom-pom cheerleaders are there to support a sport, to distract the fans from a boring game (why aren't there cheerleaders for baseball or golf???). Competitive cheerleaders don't exist to support other sports, they exist in their own right. Sure, they might go to the games, but that's not their main concern.

Keith wrote:

carguy123 wrote: It's not a sport, it's an activity designed to support a sport.

There's the disconnect right there. Pom-pom cheerleaders are there to support a sport, to distract the fans from a boring game (why aren't there cheerleaders for baseball or golf???).

Then Tiger would never make any money

Otto_Maddox wrote: Possibly even golf is a sport.

Now that's crazy talk right there!

Even at the PGA level, a few golfers might be in the gym but many go straight to the bar. I play probably 100 rounds a year and golf is at best a game, and at worst an expensive excuse for beer drinking and misbehaving in motorized carts.

In reply to bludroptop:

I despise golf, but I own a golf cart. Go figure.

I don't understand golf, but I completely get golf carts. A friend has a hilarious story about using the golf car paths at his local course as a rally stage in his modified Subaru at night - repeatedly. Complete with roadblocks set up by the rent-a-cops.

My friends and I came to the conclusion that in order for something to be a sport. It must have physical activity and a championship which according to my thinking makes pole dancing the best sport to watch.

96DXCivic wrote: My friends and I came to the conclusion that in order for something to be a sport. It must have physical activity and a championship which according to my thinking makes pole dancing the best sport to watch.

Reminds me of the old saying "Going out for some power drinking and sport xxxxxxx"

In the end though... they are All games. So really... whats the point of worrying about it?

but anywho, getting back to ESPN, i saw the National Spelling Bee as well as competitive Arm Wrestling... are those sports?

In my little world, sports require some level of athleticism, strength, coordination, endurance and an objective way of determining a winner.

IMHO... my thoughts would be that cheerleading, while very athletic is not a sport... golf while not so very athletic ... to me ... is a sport

there are many more activities that I would use the same sort of classification to differentiate between sport and athletics...

Otto_Maddox wrote: In my little world, sports require some level of athleticism, strength, coordination, endurance and an objective way of determining a winner.

That can describe golf if you play it right. We would stay in the carts and keep our ball moving and try to stop the others. It was like Polo, Golf and a demolition derby at the same time