Did the Winter Olympics sneak up on anyone else?
While watching curling with Chris on a recent broadcast of events, the topic of what constitutes a "real sport" came up again - always a favorite topic for guys, I've found. Today, I came across this quote from an old Sports Guy article from the last Winter Olympics, in 2002:
THUMBS DOWN ... for curling. It has been the chic comedy angle of these games to make fun of the curlers, so I'll hold off, except to say one thing: If this can be an Olympic event, why can't actual bar shuffleboard? What about bowling? What about billiards? Or five-card stud? Or darts? Or Scrabble? Or Monopoly? Why draw the line at curling? Let's get every pseudo-sport in there, so I have a chance at an Olympic medal before I die.
In case you've never had the pleasure of seeing curling in action (especially at the highest Olympic level!) check out the following video:
So what makes this, or any other activity, a sport? Let alone a sport worthy of being included in perhaps the world's most popular and famous athletic competition?
Debating what makes a sport and what's just a pseudo-sport/game/competition is always fun. While any competition may have participants who are incredible athletes, in my mind, a true sport should have two primary components:
1) it should utilize several aspects (a subjective number) of human physical capability, namely, strength, speed, stamina, lateral quickness, leaping ability, hand-eye coordination, etc.
2) it should have the athlete performing against an objective opponent to determine a winner - in other words, against another human opponent/team, or against a clock. No purely subjective judges allowed.
Under these guidelines, basketball, swimming, football, soccer, hockey, volleyball, track and field, etc. are all sports (most ball sports, and most races).
Curling? Bowling? Golf? Games/pseudo-sports. Doesn't exercise enough aspects of physical capbility.
Gymnastics? Figure skating? Diving? Incredible athletes... but depends on subjective judges.
Baseball is a tough call. Incredible amount of hand-eye coordination is needed, but you don't need much more than that to be reasonably successful... with the exception of the pitchers and catchers.
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!
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23 comments:
there was a girl in HS that adamantly insisted that cheerleading was a sport.
i think curling just looks stupid.
a sport is just a physical game.
your second criteria has some problems because football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, just about any physical game you can think of involve subjective judges that make penalty/foul, strike/ball, safe/out calls. and as we all know, those calls affect the course and sometimes the outcome of a game.
~abe
did you hear the excitment in the announcers voices? that really pumped me up! ... next youth group event: curling :D
there's a lotta things that people call "sports" that i would simply call "competitive games."
baseball and golf are two of them.
poker's another(how in the world do some people believe this to be a sport? let's call chess a sport then).
basically, i look at it that if you can't consitently get a physical workout playing the game, it's not a sport.
(yes, you DO see diving catches on espn concerning baseball a LOT, but those are the rarities, not the rule, hence why you can't get a consistent workout playing that game)
that said, these games DO take skill to play. no one's saying that, but maybe pro-baseball, pro-nascar, pro-poker, etc ppl say that right off the bat, accusing others of saying their game takes no skill to play; NO ONE SAID THAT, but it's still NOT A SPORT; tekken and street fighter take skill to play; does THAT make them sports?
there's other issues that differentiate a "sport" from a "competitive game," but really, the exercise is the main focal point. that's it.
(football's IMO a bit open to discussion, but i see that all players on the field have to keep moving, so i think it qualifies; if you don't, then maybe at least ARENA FOOTBALL might qualify)
btw, i believe it's called the "olympic games." not the "olympic sports." hence any "competitive game" is really acceptable.
i mean, i don't really think in the summer that the discus throw really qualifies as exercise, does it?
neither the shot put.
but these are mainstays in the summer olympics.
excuse me, cheerleading IS a sport. it was more intense and a bigger workout than PE, hands down. if badminton is considered a sport, cheerleading is considered a sport. i want to see YOU try it and then come tell me. :)
hahaha i like karens cheerleading defense :)
beth was actually just visiting my mom's school that day, she cant walk yet (only 10 months old) - but she THINKS shes a lot older than she is and wants to do everything the "big kids" can do :)
i'll tell mo about elton brand :)
Karen: I'm sure cheerleading is a great workout and super intense. It sure looks hard. But is there really competition? Do you keep score? What are the goals of the "sport"? A mom at the grocery market juggling a baby in one hand while carrying a 60-pack of diapers in the other is also engaging in a great, intense workout... is that a sport?
Abe: the reason why I draw a distinction between referees/umpires and judges is that the winner/loser is unequivocally determined by the judges in competitions such as figure skating, gymnastics, and cheerleading. In sports, the referees are there simply to enforce the rules when the players go outside of them. A sports game can be played with minimal involvement from refs.
Cheerleading should be in the Olympics Games.
I'll even volunteer to judge.
Sports were kinds of another matpher "war" to cover or present humban beings desire.
Olymics Games is instated of "war." Olymics date from history. It is not hard to see that in Roman, people like to see "fight" which reflicts human beings ambious,emotional and mental state (excitement from visual) Also, it represents civilization during the time.
Each sport present human beings hope and beauty and stregth. I think sport presents "Hero" like Ackils (sp)
But no natter whether pleasure, it will be better" strike a balance " in any sport. or it will lose its "pretty" & "stenth" disapointed at our creator.
S.C
Everyone makes fun of curling. But no one ever doubts the validity of ski jump as an olympic event. Is the physical strain and intensity of ski jump any different from curling? In fact, I'd say curling appears more a showcase of athletic ability (a la coordination) than ski jumping. If ski jump can be in the olympics, then I don't see any objective reason why curling can't either.
well without trying to invent new meanings for words, try looking up the definition of "sport" in any dictionary.. exercise is certainly not a criteria, nor is having judges or not, or even the degree of physical capabilities required. some of you just have to live with the fact that some not-so-macho activities are sports.
well, i don't agree with your definition of a sport. almost everything has subjectivity in it - basketball, football, etc. rely on referees (was that a touchdown? goal-tending? should that foul have been called? lots of games' results have been controversial). look at the speed skating controversy from the olympics 4 years ago. even swimming can be subjective(did he do an illegal butterfly kick?). what's the difference between cheerleading and a mother? cheerleading has rules, is competitive, has scores, and teams competing against each other. last i remember, a mother juggling a baby does not. you need to get over your preconceptions of cheerleaders as girls in short skirts yelling cheers at a football game. :)
haven't watched much of the Olympics at all this year, it certainly did sneak up on me. Other than Thursday night's "Dancing with the Stars" I don't think there are any other shows I follow!
are you going to WCC this year? I'll be going up with church friends, looking forward to the whole experience. It's nice to have a Friday off work. :)
Anonymous: please see http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sport.
Almost every definition has "physical activity" or "physical exertion", so not sure where you're getting your definition.
Which of the following do y'all think are sports:
poker
NASCAR
darts
pool
the NBA All-Star slam dunk contest (what's the difference between this and gymnastics?)
iron chef should be a sport?
my post said "exercise is certainly not a criteria, nor is having judges or not, or even the DEGREE of physical capabilities required." and your last reference just proved my point. no formal definition lists the DEGREE of physical exertion required for an activity to be considered a sport.
oh yeah, this is abe again, forgot to put my name in the last post =)
Abe: This is why I listed some of the "non-macho" activities that some would consider sports to see what the general public who reads this blog think. Is bowling a sport? Darts? Billiards? They all require some physical exertion and coordination. If no implied degree of physical exertion is required, then they're all sports, but I suspect that most people would not consider darts a sport.
Keep sporting.
sport
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sporty
Fianlly, do not sport with each other.
I've never read such an intense debate about the definition of sports.
I've had thoughts of a similar kind when I heard that water ballet was included as an event in the Olympics. It just seems bizzare to me how judges can possibly judge water ballet when most of the time the dancers are underwater. The only way I can reconcile this is that water ballet's a bit like gymnastics.
I definitely disagree with golf being a sport. There's some hand-eye coordination and walking (if you're driving around the greens) involved but I probably won't break a sweat playing it. Hence I don't. :-)
Gleefully
Olympic cheerleaders booed
haha
well truth be told, i have no problem with darts being considered a sport.
here's an article i read today that agrees with your stance on judges.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/torino2006/figure_skating/news?slug=dw-figsnosport022006&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
but even he admits that curling is a sport =)
~abe
I'd thought this was already hashed out on someone else's blog before? And I recall a view such as the one below being posted:
Instead of looking at hard digital categories, one could consider instead an analog spectrum (or 2-D graph) of competitive events, with one axis being something relatively physically uninvolved (e.g. online gaming or archery) to something very physically demanding and the other axis a scale of increasing objectivity (e.g. w/ a footrace being one end and something that incorporates style (such as figure skating) at the other).
Consequently, competitions such as figure skating or cheerleading are acknowledged for their demands of athleticism, while also allowing for their (relatively) subjective determination of rank. At the same time, more objective competitions (such as a footrace) are acknowledged for their objective measures and great skill in a limited arena (running fast).
Incidentally Formula 1 racing requires a great deal of physical fitness. Just imagine trying to maintain consciousness and control of a car barreling 180+ mph around a track while enduring several g's while in a turn or under braking and simultaneously not crashing into the other cars on the course.
5th Gear has an episode in which Tiff Needel(sp?) - long distanced from his competition automotive career - has to spend a few weeks preparing physically to drive a modern BMW-Williams F1 car.
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