For ALL of the posters here in this forum, what do consider to be a real sport.

[madinmaryland]

There seem to be some here who believe there are "real" sports and others that are just amusements. I would be interested in knowing the good folks here believe "real" sports are and what they actually consider these to be.

Thanks all!!

[trotsky]

1. DUH

"Real" sports are what's played in your HOMETOWN dammit!

[Forkboy]

2. Well, I dig curling, so I can't say.

:silly:

And really, after hockey, does any of it matter anyways? :shrug:

[two gun sid]

3. Bowling, Croquet and Horse Racing are hobbies...

posting flamebait and measuring testicle size are real sports.

[madinmaryland]

4. You haven't played croquet with us!

It is definitely a full contact sport, with many a broken mallets!!

[two gun sid]

6. Ahh, Jungle Rules Croquet....

now that is a fucking sport. Is it played fully nude or shirts and skins?

[two gun sid]

51. Oops. I forgot about Pissing Contests: Real Sport!!!!

[petronius]

5. If it makes you sweat, it's a sport

However, fear and spicy food are excluded - that sweat isn't true sport-sweat...

[madinmaryland]

7. That definitely makes chess a sport. I sweat alot while playing because

of nerves while concentrating!

:hi:

Does that make sex a sport??

[petronius]

10. Well, that depends if it's fear-sweat or brain-flexing-sweat

:)

Sex is absolutely a sport - sometimes competitive, sometimes professional, sometimes spectator, but always a sport...

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Sport

Human competition in a contest of strength or ability (could be mental or physical). The fan is taking things way too seriously if his team or guy loses, because after the fact the sky is still blue and the grass is still green.

[madinmaryland]

9. Thanks for your chess reports. I wish I had someone to play against,

though I am definitely rusty.

[Forkboy]

11. There ya go.

:thumbsup:

[trumad]

12. The Spelling Bee

[joeybee12]

13. It's real if steroids will help you to improve at the "sport".

:evilgrin:

[madinmaryland]

14. I don't recall sweating when I had to take a steroid a few years back.

What does that mean?

:shrug:

[joeybee12]

18. See my edit...I doubt steroids will help you move those chess pieces around

any quicker or better!

Actually, I have no opinion as to what constitutes a real sport. What is art? It's in the eye of the beholder.

[madinmaryland]

19. I'm sure there is something that will make those pieces move

a bit faster around the board!

Like you say, there are many definitions on what is a real sport. Who am I to try and define that.

[joeybee12]

24. Then again, wasn't Bobby Fischer known for his tantrums?

Was that roid rage?

[madinmaryland]

27. That would explain what happened to him when he was in his late 30's.

A chess guy getting roid rage and moving away from his country.

[joeybee12]

28. Yeah, and it was before Dubya was President, so that couldn't have

been the reason...probably steroids.

[madinmaryland]

30. Uhmmm. So does that make

Barry Bonds the Bobby Fischer of baseball??

:hide:

[Jack Rabbit]

44. No, it appears to have been a natural personality disorder

Fischer's vices ran to his bigoted views. He may have been a fruitcake, but he was a clean and sober fruitcake.

[madinmaryland]

15. Post moved to the Lounge.

[flvegan]

40. Oddly enough, steroids may well help with just about any sport.

Strike that. ANY sport.

[H2O Man]

16. Boxing.

I'm fond of the sport of boxing. Most of my best friends either boxed, or were closely associated with boxing.

I also have respect for all other sports. I'm not a "fan" in the sense of having favorite teams, etc, but I really enjoy watching other athletic events, and listening to people who follow them.

[Forkboy]

17. And the man in your avatar is pretty much the best in any sport.

Both in and out of the ring.

[H2O Man]

20. ESPN Classic is showing

a few hours of film on The Champ tonight. I never get tired of watching Ali films!

[Upton]

21. Yeah, they just got done showing the first Liston fight

[madinmaryland]

31. I remember watching the Ali/Foreman and Ali/Frazier fights "live" on ABC

back in the 70's with Howard Cosell commentating. Actual boxing matches on TV that were free and not $50.

:wow:

[H2O Man]

32. Great fight.

It's Ali's favorite film of his fights to watch these days. Liston was a tough, intimidating man.

[Forkboy]

22. Figures...I don't get Classic.

I remember when I was kid seeing him fight and I just thought he was the coolest. He was funny, he could kick butt, and I loved it. And of course my dad cheered him on every time. It wasn't until I was in my teens that I learned about all the things he had done outside of the ring as well, and the things he stood for. There's very few people that I truly look up to, especially athletes, but he's one of them.

[H2O Man]

33. Earlier,

they had the Tereell and the first Liston fights .... two of his best. He was cruel against Ernie Terrell, but the guy asked for it. The first Liston fight is a definite high-point in his career.

Now, they have on "Ali Rap," followed by "Ali's Dozen" then "Ali's 65."

Few people really know how generous Ali was/is. He gave away millions of dollars, mainly in private, without the media or public knowing about it.

[madinmaryland]

34. Ali was and still is one of the classiest men in sports.

[H2O Man]

48. Yep.

He is perhaps the single best example of an athlete who is important beyond sports.

[MrSlayer]

23. If there is no physical contact, it's not a sport.

For example, Hockey is a sport, Golf is a game. Football is a sport, Bowling is a game. And so on and so forth.

[Capt. America]

25. Baseball?

[MrSlayer]

37. It has sissied down a bit from the spike filing days of Cobb.

But there is still enough physical contact for it to be a sport. The takeout slide, running over the catcher, chin music. Still enough there.

[madinmaryland]

26. You are talking about contact sports? The others you mention are

non-contact sports.

etc, etc,!

[MrSlayer]

38. They are games.

If there is no contact or no defense it's just a game.

[Jack Rabbit]

35. Basketball?

Basketball is defined as a "non-contact sport."

How about track and field? If you've got a definition that exclude the most ancient sports of all, you might want to revise it.

[MrSlayer]

36. Basketball has plenty of physical contact.

Elbows flying everywhere, hard fouls, charges. Lots of physicality there.

[Jack Rabbit]

39. True, that is part of basketball, but . . .

. . . it's still against the rules.

Since you didn't respond to my critique that your definition leaves out track and field, can we assume you believe that is a "game"? I guess we need to take that out of the Olympics. And golf? Do we tar and feather the next sportscaster who leads his report with news of Tiger Woods winning the Masters?

[MrSlayer]

42. Against the rules or not, it's certainly part of the game.

Track is just running, not running into anything or anyone. No one is trying to impede your progress down the track. No defense, not a sport. You are competing against a clock. Notice that it is called the Olympic Games, not the Olympic Sports. I like the field events but they too are games.

I'd like to tar and feather anyone who mentions Tiger Woods regardless of why. Golf is a game.

Full contact golf would be great. Do this and it becomes a sport.

Crappy video of the commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA97kzai-Ew&feature=related

[a la izquierda]

52. Tell distance runners that there's no

contact. I got spiked, elbowed, kicked-all on purpose, in track and cross country. Other runners try to impede your progress. Objects impede your progress (steeplechase, hurdles).
Cycling isn't a game, but according to your definition, it is. Triathlon swimming? Definitely not a game. You can really get your butt kicked out there.

[Awsi Dooger]

57. You're burying yourself

Hardly surprising. You try to dismiss Olympic competitions as games because the overall label is Olympic Games. By that wobbly standard, your so-called sports which are included in the Olympics, like hockey and basketball, apparently are downgraded to mere games during the Olympiad itself.

Everyone who attempts these simplistic disqualifying rules, desperate to favor the activities they prefer and exclude anything else, ends up looking remarkably foolish. Let's look at skiing, in terms of this lame definition, requiring contact. The downhill and slalom events are long term classic sports, rituals in Europe. Is the downhill really less of a sport than the newfangled X Game crap, the skiboarding events that can feature contact? Hmmm. I suppose Eric Heiden never competed in a sport, but Apolo Anton Ono does. Is a downhill race not a sport, unless the competitor bangs against a gate? Is the biathlon elevated to a sport because there is contact between the bullet and a target? :rofl:

[ProfessorGAC]

46. It's Not Against The Rules!

Certain types of contact may be, but physical contact sure isn'.

Hands free fighting for position, off the ball, is specifically allowed in the rule book. Setting a pick and making contact with a defender is specifically allowed for in the rules. Incidental contact around a loose ball is mentioned specifically in the rule book as not being a violation.

So, it's not against the rules to have physical contact in b-ball. My rule book is at least 10 years old, but i'm quite sure those elements of the rules have not changed.
GAC

[hughee99]

43. I'm not sure about that...

For me, anyway, Tennis and Cricket seem more like "sports" than arm wrestling.

[MrSlayer]

45. Do you think ping-pong is a sport?

Do they ever intentionally hit a guy with the ball in Cricket? My cricket knowledge extends only to what I've read in the Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker" books.

[hughee99]

49. They do intentionally hit people with the ball in cricket.

And while not big ping-pong watcher, it would sort of hypocritical to consider tennis a sport, but not ping-pong, badminton or volleyball.

[MrSlayer]

54. Ok then cricket makes it.

Thank you for making my other point. Ping-pong is not a sport and thus none of those others are either.

[fishnfla]

29. One I dont even follow

Hockey has to be the purest of sports

[flvegan]

41. A "real" sport is in the eye of the beholder.

Doesn't really matter what another thinks or what a group may think.

[TZ]

50. This is the correct answer.

:thumbsup:

[ProfessorGAC]

53. Bingo!

If someone feels like it's a sport, or the participants think they're in a sport, that's good enough for me.
GAC

[cboy4]

47. Baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf and boxing

are off the top of my head real sports.

NASCAR? No.

Horse Racing? Absolutely not.

Skiing, cycling, track and field, figure skating ....

you get the idea.

NO

[RT Atlanta]

55. Ultra running & Triathlons

Both are endurance-based and require not only good physical health, but a "healthy" dose of mental stamina too.

Here's link to an ultra running group I belong too:

http://www.getguts.com/

Yes, we are a little crazy, but that's fun too. :)

[LisaM]

56. Figure skating and snowboarding

:rofl:

Actually, I do consider figure skating a sport. But I'm trying to yank some chains.