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what is/isn't a sport

if you are racing against someone else then definitely

Going to have to agree to disagree

Beauty of this debate is that there are no right or wrong answers

Am sure some people will say that snooker is a sport (bbc site says it is!) for example, but for me I think controlling a vehicle is not a 'proper' sport, its a skill game...
 
fair enough

snooker's definitely in for me though, i'd put controlling a cue in the same envelope as controlling a vehicle
 
So it's really 'What do you think is/isn't a sport' then?

No correct answer guys. Move along nothing to see here.
 
So it's really 'What do you think is/isn't a sport' then?

No correct answer guys. Move along nothing to see here.

Sorry, were you expecting me to have an indisputable list? Of course its what people think! Just a little debate on peoples opinions.
 
Sorry, were you expecting me to have an indisputable list? Of course its what people think! Just a little debate on peoples opinions.

Not a dig at you I assure you. It's those who say things like 'Snooker (or whatever) is NOT a sport with such authority. I think they actually believe their opinion is right and anyone who disagrees us wrong'
 
A sport - I would have thought, was a competition involving human endeavour, humans displaying skill and mastery of what they do, that sets them aside from other humans, either individually - or collectively. Coupled with a measurable metric of achievement to determine a winner and not a basis in artistic interpretation.

The fact that some sports involve greater strength, or ingenuity (skill) is immaterial, surely? Its humans pitted against each other in a defineable competition where one or one set of humans is judged to be better than others.

I would say that a cooking competition isn't - despite fulfilling most of the criteria, but darts is a sporting competition, as it involves human skills, both physical and mental, despite the absence of great physical prowess.

Anything involving the manipulation of a mechanical vehicle, whilst involving human intervention and skill, is far too reliant on the machine, and often a raft of backroom people. Some team stuff there, but no boundaries - the backup team can be as big as you can afford, so the team bit dies (for me.)

Dressage? A sport for me. The horse won't do it on its own.

Golf is a sport, if it isn't, then neither is cricket or baseball. Human skill, mental, physical and teamwork. The macaronic assumption that it ceases to be a skill because a 50 year old can beat a 20 year old is mind boggling. Bobby Charlton at 35 was a far better footballer than just about any 18 year old at the time, did that devalue football as a sport?

From a personal perspective (sorry to bore some of you) I think that competition skydiving should be an olympic sport. Apart from needing an airlift, the sport is entirely down to human skill and endeavour, its not age or sex dependant, although it is often split into gender at competitive level and is all about physical and mental endeavour, with measurable attainment levels that don't require subjective judgements. (although some disciplines do in some competitions)


Just my take on things.
 
I've used this analogy a million times in the past, usually when a Spurs player cannot even beat the first man from a corner or free kick, they consider themselves to be sportsmen while snooker or darts players are just boozers playing pub games. I know for a fact it takes a great more skill, mental strength, training and practice for Rocket Ronnie or Jockey Wilson (RIP) to achieve a 147 or 180 respectively than it does for Luka Modric to fail to even get the ball into the penalty area ten yards away from a dead ball situation.
 
A sport - I would have thought, was a competition involving human endeavour, humans displaying skill and mastery of what they do, that sets them aside from other humans, either individually - or collectively. Coupled with a measurable metric of achievement to determine a winner and not a basis in artistic interpretation.

The fact that some sports involve greater strength, or ingenuity (skill) is immaterial, surely? Its humans pitted against each other in a defineable competition where one or one set of humans is judged to be better than others.

I would say that a cooking competition isn't - despite fulfilling most of the criteria, but darts is a sporting competition, as it involves human skills, both physical and mental, despite the absence of great physical prowess.

Anything involving the manipulation of a mechanical vehicle, whilst involving human intervention and skill, is far too reliant on the machine, and often a raft of backroom people. Some team stuff there, but no boundaries - the backup team can be as big as you can afford, so the team bit dies (for me.)

Dressage? A sport for me. The horse won't do it on its own.

Golf is a sport, if it isn't, then neither is cricket or baseball. Human skill, mental, physical and teamwork. The macaronic assumption that it ceases to be a skill because a 50 year old can beat a 20 year old is mind boggling. Bobby Charlton at 35 was a far better footballer than just about any 18 year old at the time, did that devalue football as a sport?

From a personal perspective (sorry to bore some of you) I think that competition skydiving should be an olympic sport. Apart from needing an airlift, the sport is entirely down to human skill and endeavour, its not age or sex dependant, although it is often split into gender at competitive level and is all about physical and mental endeavour, with measurable attainment levels that don't require subjective judgements. (although some disciplines do in some competitions)


Just my take on things.

This is post of the year

Mick for mod
 
Not a dig at you I assure you. It's those who say things like 'Snooker (or whatever) is NOT a sport with such authority. I think they actually believe their opinion is right and anyone who disagrees us wrong'

Surely anyone who takes the time to post an opinion thinks its right.

Are you saying you do something different? ;)
 
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