What is a sport?

[GuidoHunter]

My friends and I were having this debate the other day. What is it that defines if something is a sport? Now, I honestly think that this is a personal matter and there is no absolute answer, so I'm asking y'all what you value in sports.

I'm not too sure myself, so for the sake of this argument, I'm going to adopt my friend's very stringent definition. Basically:

1. You have to be able to "play" it.
2. It has to be a team event.
3. There has to be action going on.
4. There has to be much physical prowess exhibited

(I may be missing something, but this is pretty much it). Examples of things that aren't sports by this definition: Swimming (violates 1 and 2), curling (violates 4), track and field (1 and 2), marksmanship events (all of them). Baseball nearly violates 3 but has enough action and meets the other criteria enough to still be a sport.

Where does that leave everything else? Everything else is either a game or a competition. Now, just because something isn't a sport doesn't mean it isn't deserving of respect; all it means is that it shouldn't be called a "sport" by this definition.

This debate raised a couple of good questions. First, what sports/games/competitions should or shouldn't be in the Olympics? What should the Olympics be about?

Secondly, is war a sport? Whatever definition you use, would war fit the criteria? It certainly can. The only thing that I think it may lack is sportsmanship and the spirit of competition. Of course, war was treated like a game many years ago by certain people. It's an interesting thought.

So yeah, I'd like to hear y'all's opinions. Especially after I took the time to learn how to use the list code in BB.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com