Is boxing a sport, how are sports defined?

shm_uk

winning or losing is based on someone elses subjective points awarded isn't a sport

The above is exactly what I meant by my earlier post:

1 - anything where a referee/umpire (or panel of) is required to decide a result based on his/her judgement is not a sport (ice-skating, gymnastics)

shm_uk

proper sports are also more dangerous :twisted:

Jay dubbleU

Anything that can be played in a pub is not a sport

Anything that involves risk and competition is a sport - OK DDD this includes boxing but it doesn't mean I have to like it

Anything played on a pitch with rules is a game - in some instances eg chess the pitch may be very small

Monkeypump

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Anything that can be played in a pub is not a sport

Anything that involves risk and competition is a sport - OK DDD this includes boxing but it doesn't mean I have to like it

Anything played on a pitch with rules is a game - in some instances eg chess the pitch may be very small

Does your second point contradict the third, or are you saying that something can be a game AND a sport?

i.e. rugby, football, hockey, basketball, etc. - not sports?

Jay dubbleU

Correct - rugby, football, hockey, cricket etc are games not sports

rolf_f

WGWarburton wrote:

Nah, I don't buy that- darts and golf are about accuracy. Arguably more challenging than competing on the basis of strength and/or stamina. The quest for "physical perfection" is perfection of control instead of power.
Then there's tactics, strategy, use of external factors... A complication in some sports and an inherent part of others.
As long as the playing field is level and the competition fair (arguably ruling out judging, but including refereeing?), surely it should be considered a sport.

Cheers,
W.

I hear what you say and I'm not sure I have a great counter argument. However, golf is a sport where the pros avoid physical exercise by travelling around in electric milk floats and darts - well, if you want to do something, do it properly. How can darts be anything other than a very poor relation to archery. Archery is to darts what Formula 1 is to Scalextric

Libraio

Rolf F wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

Nah, I don't buy that- darts and golf are about accuracy. Arguably more challenging than competing on the basis of strength and/or stamina. The quest for "physical perfection" is perfection of control instead of power.
Then there's tactics, strategy, use of external factors... A complication in some sports and an inherent part of others.
As long as the playing field is level and the competition fair (arguably ruling out judging, but including refereeing?), surely it should be considered a sport.

Cheers,
W.

I hear what you say and I'm not sure I have a great counter argument. However, golf is a sport where the pros avoid physical exercise by travelling around in electric milk floats and darts - well, if you want to do something, do it properly. How can darts be anything other than a very poor relation to archery. Archery is to darts what Formula 1 is to Scalextric

Ah, but the pros don't ride around on milk floats do they? Only the wannabees ride around on litle cars. The pros have slaves to carry their bags for them...

Anything you can play with a beer in your hand while playing is not a sport.

Monkeypump

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Correct - rugby, football, hockey, cricket etc are games not sports

What absolute tosh.

EKE_38BPM

Any definition that means that golf is included as a sport is wrong.
It is a game (like tiddly-winks or Jenga), but not a sport.

MichaelW

“People play baseball...Nobody plays boxing.”

EKE_38BPM

MichaelW wrote:

“People play baseball...Nobody plays boxing.”

As said by Ving Rhames' character George 'Iceman' Chambers in the film Undisputed, starring the late Peter Falk.

rick_chasey

MichaelW wrote:

“People play baseball...Nobody plays boxing.”

Do you play cycling then?

:roll:

Jay dubbleU

Sport requires you to recite the mantra 'Oh sh*t I'm going to die' at least once during each event - everything else is just a game. Anything that can be played in a pub is a passtime

tailwindhome

If you have to change your shoes to 'play' it then it's a sport.

If it can be 'played' in an ordinary pair of shoes then it is just a game.

EKE_38BPM

TailWindHome wrote:

If you have to change your shoes to 'play' it then it's a sport.

If it can be 'played' in an ordinary pair of shoes then it is just a game.

I like that, but it still falls foul of my golf test. I say again, golf is not a sport.

tailwindhome

EKE_38BPM wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

If you have to change your shoes to 'play' it then it's a sport.

If it can be 'played' in an ordinary pair of shoes then it is just a game.

I like that, but it still falls foul of my golf test. I say again, golf is not a sport.

I say golf is a sport.

The level of physical strength, coordination and control to hit a golf ball 350 yards and land it where you want to is extraordinary. This to be seperates it from non sports which despite involving great skill are devoid of any 'physical' requirements.

Not Sports---

Archery
Darts
Shooting


Sports

---

Golf
Javelin
Shot put
Hammer Throwing

rjsterry

Depend what sort of archery - using a longbow requires a great deal of strength, albeit that is a pretty niche activity.

shm_uk

in reality, they're all just hobbies or pastimes

EKE_38BPM

A 'sport' that people take up in their retirement (when they are heading towards being doddery) cannot be a sport.

How many OAPs take up (or even still play) rugby?

ride_whenever

Sports don't have breaks in them, and are generally of a racing variety.

Everything else is a game, especially anything involving a ball.




That said, generally Faster, Higher, Stronger (the olympic motto) is a pretty good acid test for sports. Even though it classes boxing as a sport.

walkingbootweather

Consider the following activities. All require the participant to propel an object towards a target with perhaps differing degrees of physical effort:

Shove ha'penny Green Bowls 10-pin bowling Curling Snooker Golf

Precision and skill are arguably greater than athletics 'throwing events' where distance is prized more than precision. Does this make them any more or less of a sport?

Is fishing a sport?

Jay dubbleU

EKE_38BPM wrote:

A 'sport' that people take up in their retirement (when they are heading towards being doddery) cannot be a sport.

How many OAPs take up (or even still play) rugby?

Bit less of the doddery, young man - I may be over sixty but I can still ride faster than people half my age

tailwindhome

walkingbootweather wrote:

Consider the following activities. All require the participant to propel an object towards a target with perhaps differing degrees of physical effort:

Shove ha'penny Green Bowls 10-pin bowling Curling Snooker Golf

Precision and skill are arguably greater than athletics 'throwing events' where distance is prized more than precision. Does this make them any more or less of a sport?

Is fishing a sport?

The bit in bold is the key point.

The physical effort of hitting a golf ball 350 yards and on target far outweighs the other 'sports' you name.


No fishing isn't a sport.

If fishing is a sport, then doing the 'Big Shop' is a sport

EKE_38BPM

Jay dubbleU wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

A 'sport' that people take up in their retirement (when they are heading towards being doddery) cannot be a sport.

How many OAPs take up (or even still play) rugby?

Bit less of the doddery, young man - I may be over sixty but I can still ride faster than people half my age

Just because you are heading towards retirement it doesn't automatically make you doddery. A friend of mine is planning his retirement next year. He'll be 37! Git!!

tailwindhome

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

A 'sport' that people take up in their retirement (when they are heading towards being doddery) cannot be a sport.How many OAPs take up (or even still play) rugby?

Bit less of the doddery, young man - I may be over sixty but I can still ride faster than people half my age

Just because you are heading towards retirement it doesn't automatically make you doddery. A friend of mine is planning his retirement next year. He'll be 37! Git!!

Why would the age of the competitor have any bearing on wether or not it should be considered a sport?

In fact you've probably undermined your own position with that comment.

A 70 year old snooker player (eyesight permitting) can take on a 20 year old and still compete. A 70 year old against a 20 year old on a golf course would be a total mismatch.

walkingbootweather

TailWindHome wrote:

A 70 year old against a 20 year old on a golf course would be a total mismatch.

See I don't think this is true. Golf is a game of great skill and subtlety. I play a bit of golf and being reasonably fit and strong can hit the ball a fair way, but I'm often beaten by old fellows in their 70's that don't hit anywhere nearly as far as me, but keep it straight. Putting is probably the most important part of the game and that element (like the other activities I mention above) requires precision over physical strength.

EKE_38BPM

TailWindHome wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

A 'sport' that people take up in their retirement (when they are heading towards being doddery) cannot be a sport.How many OAPs take up (or even still play) rugby?

Bit less of the doddery, young man - I may be over sixty but I can still ride faster than people half my age

Just because you are heading towards retirement it doesn't automatically make you doddery. A friend of mine is planning his retirement next year. He'll be 37! Git!!

Why would the age of the competitor have any bearing on wether or not it should be considered a sport?

In fact you've probably undermined your own position with that comment.

A 70 year old snooker player (eyesight permitting) can take on a 20 year old and still compete. A 70 year old against a 20 year old on a golf course would be a total mismatch.

The 70 year old snooker player would (probably) have a less steady hand so would miss the shot, but the old are devious and sneaky. The gamesmanship learned over the decades would have taught them how to snooker their 20 year old opponent.
On the golf track, the fogie would be out of the running if not for a handicapping system.

walkingbootweather

You guys don't play golf do you? There are lots of variations, but the most popular game is stroke play i.e. the winner is the one who takes the fewest number of strokes in the round (it's not how far but how many). There are loads of club golfers in their 70s who can get around in good scores, that younger players can only dream of. Sure being a bit younger, stronger and more flexible helps, but the likes of Tom Watson are still competitive with the best in the world tnto their 60s.

Ben6899

These threads always highlight the posters who used to get smashed at school rugby or who never had the ball passed to them because they're unco.

Just sayin'

CrackFox

Boxing is a sport. But golf? I think that if participants can compete at the professional level without meeting certain standards of physical athleticism, then it's a game and not a sport. Golf requires skill, but so does playing Quake.