What is a True Sport?

by user Madproof9

All~In~Chicago started a topic about ESPN airing Dominos (view it here), and then at the end of the article wrote "I swear, please nobody start a Domino page on here. Sports are sports...no exceptions."

This made me begin to wonder. What should officially qualify as a sport, and what is not a true sport. It's a debate that's been going on for years. Is figure skating a sport? Is canoeing a sport?

One person cannot decide if it's a sport or not, or else I would declare myself the world champion at the sport of "Watching way too much TV."

There is no better group of people to decide the fate of a "sport" or "non-sport" than a group of sports fanatics. ArmChairGM users, what's are the true sports, and what shouldn't qualify as a real sport?

A little humor on the subject to start it off, George Carlin's List of what is not a true sport:

- Swimming is not a sport...swimming is a way to keep from drowning.

- Running is not a sport...it's a way to get somewhere.

- Sailing is not a sport...riding a bus is not a sport, why should sailing be a sport?

- Gymnastics is not a sport because Romanians are good at it.

- Volleyball is not a sport...it is team ping pong played while standing on the table with a raised net and an inflated ball.

- Hockey is not a sport...hockey is two activites - skating and beating the **** out of somebody.

- Boxing is not a sport...boxing is beating the **** out of somebody, and in that respect it is a more refined version of hockey.

Date

Mon 06/26/06, 11:05 pm EST

All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

Score 0

I guess it's hard to classify a sport to a sigle definate description. We have events like curling, archery, fishing and so on. Now I fish tournaments regularly and I also golf, target shoot, play poker and so on as well.

But to classify a sport...Obviously it takes skill, stratagy and finess. Maybe Dominos are considered a sport because of this? I disagree with that; this should be on the gameshow network or Bravo along with Celebrity Poker Showdown. I love poker but I won;t call it a sport, I call it a game.

A sport should be classified as an activity that involves physical activity to achieve a goal. Actual definition: an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition.

This is giving me a great idea for an article to continue. I wrote a paper on this in college but I have some new ideas now. I'll have it posted on my page in a few days. But in the mean time; leave the Dominos to Bravo. Hell, lets play some Gladiator re-runs if anything.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

Score 0

The "competition" clause could realistically put chess in that category. Is that a sport?

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

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Then Tic-Tac-Toe would be a sport if competition was the factor. So sports should include: Competition involving physical exertion including but not limited to extreme sports.

So under these qualifications, bowling is a sport, right? Is it easier to bowl a strike than land a triple axel? Um, yes. Well, I would classify this as a low cardio sport. But this takes a certain cordination...COORDINATION!

Coordination(skill, stratagy and finess)+Physical Exertion+Competition= SPORT

Physical exertion defined in means of sport as an activity that raises cardio activity above resting heart rate but limited to only occuring from physical actions. Therefore heart rate increase from bluffing at poker would not classify as a raised cardio level for sport classification.

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

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EUREKA! This as close as I'm getting to my conclusion tonight.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

Score 1

Applying your formula to chess... Coordination (incredibly skillful+finesse) + (very little) Physical Exertion + Competition (lots of it)= a sport then. Albeit, due to the absence of the middle entity in your formula, probably not a very good one. The most physical activity a chess player would do during a game is walk to the buffet table...

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

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My mistake. Thats why I added the Physical Exertion into the formula.

I defined it as that: The activity must raise the cardio level above that of a resting heart rate. That raised cardio level cannot be from nervousness or feeling pressure from the activity. It must come from an physical action.

I wrote this wrong:
Coordination includes (skill, stratagy and finess) therefore:
Coordination+Competition(Physical Exertion)= SPORT

In case of chess Physical Exertion = 0, therefore Sport = 0

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

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It's not though... coordination (including skill) is, for arguments sake, 100. Therefore 100+Competition(Physical Exertion)=100+0=100. Do you mean Physical Exertion (Coordination+Competition)=SPORT ? That would work to make chess 0.

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

Score 1

Coordination level added to Competition level multiplied by Physical Exertion Level Equals SPORT

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

Score 0

3 variables:

Coordination = A
Competition = B
Physical Exertion = C
Sports = X

(A+B)(C)=X

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

Score 0

Fair enough... I just normally write it (using your lingo) x=c(a+b) Gets rid of a bracket that way. Fair enough. Different ways of writing the same thing. (Coming soon to armchairgm, the weekly Maths debate...)

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All~In~ChicagoVarsity

1290 days ago

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I don't know if we can classify a debate a sport. LOL. I'm actually going to write a article on this formula. I was looking on the internet and there is alot of crap on what makes a sport, but it is all opinions. Time to start a actual meaningful way to rate a "Activity". Maybe I'll win a Nobel Prize for Math. Yeah right.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

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As long as you call it Maths not Math in your article, it sounds good to me!

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1290 days ago

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By the way... There is no Nobel Prize for Mathematics... So you wouldn't be on your own!

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

1290 days ago

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I've developed a test for this:

1. Is it a race? Racing is racing, but they are not sports. 2. Is it athletic? Can your opponent physically challenge you, directly through physical contact or indirectly through a ball?

3. Is it a game? Sports are scored, not judged. Boxing has judges, but they are more punch-counters (ideally) than judges that issue an opinion (like gymnastics.)

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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud

1290 days ago

Score 0

wow. I love how we break down a question into fifty definitions, which in turn are broken down into mathematical equations. We should submit this to ESPN headquarters, proving that Chess is not a sport.

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1289 days ago

Score 0

WHy don't we do the AGM classification of sports like we were going to do with the Hall of Fame?

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