when is a sport not a sport ?

timb64

Splottboy wrote:

SPORT: Competitive.
Has Rules.
There is a Winner/Loser.

LEISURE: A concept of time, when you're not working. Unpaid activity.

RECREATION: To "re-create" yourself, physically or mentally.

+1 Which means for most of us most of the time cycling is a leisure activity and/or recreation but not a sport

Garry H

disgruntledgoat wrote:

jedster wrote:

As Sid Waddell once said "At the age of 32 Alexander of Macedon looked around and wept salt tears that there were no worlds left to conquer... Eric Bristow is 29."

That is just....awesome

It's my favourite ever piece of sports commentary. And the only time, I believe, that Waddell has ever used his degree (in classics, from Cambridge!)

"Steve Beaton, he's not Adonis, he's The Donis"

His degree's in Modern History, btw

softlad

bompington wrote:

Ever been hit in the face by a hard object thrown at you at 90mph? Or attempted to catch said object when it's coming at you out of the sun from 50m up? Or raced it over a 22 yard sprint, wearing awkward padding, and dived full length onto hard ground to beat it? Or stood there on your own, racking your brain trying to work out which way it will go next, knowing that it's the difference between victory and defeat?
While it's true that cricket takes a ridiculous length of time, and is much too subtle for the simple-minded or easily bored to appreciate, I don't think you can deny it's a sport.

Since when has being hit in the face by a flying cricket ball been relevant to its categorisation as a sport..?? I'm sure people have been hit in the back of the head by flying darts, but that doesn't make it a sport either. However, I did once break my little finger trying to catch a cricket ball which was on its way to a four.

The biggest irony is that while training, the players all wear shorts and t-shirts - but then insist on putting on long trousers and a sweater before they actually play. In proper sports, they usually do it the other way round....

RichN95.

As a rule of thumb: If it's dominant champion is an obese 49 year old from Stoke, then it's not a sport.

joshtp

when its Golf

Ollieda

Ands wrote:

When you're allowed to drink pints between turns - that is not a sport.

What like cycling for instance?

andy162

Garry H wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

jedster wrote:

As Sid Waddell once said "At the age of 32 Alexander of Macedon looked around and wept salt tears that there were no worlds left to conquer... Eric Bristow is 29."

That is just....awesome

It's my favourite ever piece of sports commentary. And the only time, I believe, that Waddell has ever used his degree (in classics, from Cambridge!)

"Steve Beaton, he's not Adonis, he's The Donis"

His degree's in Modern History, btw

"Here comes Steve Beaton, ah the ladies love a bit of beefcake". That was one of Sid Waddell's.

Then this one when the commentator got his French a bit wrong..." it's not goodbye, it's a-vou-voir"

gotta love yer arras!

dennisn

Wasn't it Hemingway who said that there are only 3 sports, auto racing, bullfighting,
and mountain climbing? The rest are just games.

softlad

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Hemingway who said that there are only 3 sports, auto racing, bullfighting,
and mountain climbing? The rest are just games.

clearly, Hemingway didn't have Sky sports or ESPN.....

dennisn

softlad wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Wasn't it Hemingway who said that there are only 3 sports, auto racing, bullfighting,
and mountain climbing? The rest are just games.

clearly, Hemingway didn't have Sky sports or ESPN.....

.....never understood why he picked those three and the rest were "ONLY" games. Could have been his favorites????? :? :?

Pross

Thought he enjoyed a bit of big game fishing too?

TheDrunkMonk

Big game fishing. It's a game.

desweller

TheDrunkMonk wrote:

I guess the one's who are still alive have won, and they often change into wellies.

Is there any video of this process on Youtube? I'm a little dubious that people are frequently changing into items of footwear round here. I'm convinced I would have heard something.

iain_j

If you can fall asleep while participating it's not sport.

ie. fishing.

_Brun_

I agree that anything which is judged rather than measured absolutely isn't a sport.

Horse racing isn't a sport since it only exists to accommodate the gambling. To be fair it may well still happen without the betting, but would be relegated to the same level of interest as the other daft horsey stuff. None.

I think I must be a bit of a traditionalist, because while I consider skiing a sport, I don't think the same of snowboarding - despite (or maybe due to) me being a snowboarder myself.

Same extends to cycling, where road racing/track events feel like they have more legitimacy to be considered sports than any sort of downhill/bmx stuff. I can understand that's harsh considering the amount of skill involved, but I guess it goes back to the tradition thing.

geoff_ss

I always understood that there were only 3 sports : Huntin' Shootin' and Fishin' and that the rest were 'merely' games. So I guess a proper sport involves killing something.

Actually, I would rule out anything which doesn't have an objective measure of who wins. That would be a necessary but not complete description or we could include (say) Bridge which I used to enjoy but would never describe as a sport.

Geoff