Your "How's that a sport?" moments

[Vegosiux]

And no I'm not talking about chess here. Though I suppose some would say that. Anyway, about the moments where you wondered how a certain sport is actually considered a "sport". I mean, okay, "it's a sport, but it sure doesn't feel like one."

For me boxing would be one such thing. I mean, I get martial arts like judo and the like, but two people hitting each other until one of them is all but unconscious? Ugh.

Another one would be the fancy diving thing they even run at the Olympics. Seriously, to me, that's just a bunch of people showing off.

Any other moments like this?

 

[Aris Khandr]

Racing. Not like track and field, I get that. I mean auto racing. I just don't get how that is actually a sport. A competition, sure. But a sport?

Also, e-sports as a genre. Sorry, League of Legends, I enjoy you, but you're not a sport.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Dressage, for me. It's less about the skill of the rider, and more about how much cash they have to spend on a horse. If the horse decides that maybe it just doesn't want to perform that day, you're shit out of luck.

Plus I can't take their little horse dances seriously. It looks ridiculous.

 

[madwarper]

Curling? A Sport? More like janitors on ice.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Yeah I will agree with racing. I'm one of those assholes who watches the first corner to see if anyone wrecks their car on it then fucks off after. It's just cars going round in a circle and i'm not interested in the mechanics and horsepower and omg mach speeeddddz stats and stuff so whatever.

Inb4 this turns into an e-sports hate thread. There needs to be a new name for it really, I can't allow people to just dismiss it as "lol not a sport end of" because that sounds like just flat out refusing to acknowledge the hours and hours of hard work people have to do just to even get into a serious tournament. Not to mention evolving the metagame.

Something i've never liked about stuff like Football (that's Soccer if you're wrong) nothing ever bloody changes. Oh right header the ball in from a corner ok, other team marks people to prevent it etc etc. Meanwhile, OH SHIT AD BRUISERS MID NEW META! AP TRYNDAMERE! AP YYIIIIII! DARK WESKER! DARK VERGIL! TAC INFINITES! MORRIDOOM! CHRISG YOU ASS!

You get the picture i'm sure.

 

[tkioz]

Golf. Seriously Golf. I know it takes skill, it's a very hard game, but seriously, it's not a bloody sport. Sports to me involve breaking a sweat.

 

[Lawnmooer]

Freediving.

It's essentially just drowning yourself, with a combination of innate ability to hold your breath combined with some training to lower your heart rate to maximise breath holding and ability to withstand the pain of the pressure.

At a glance it doesn't seem like it takes a huge amount of skill to do (Outside of staying conscious and managing heart rate) whereas things like motor racing (Need to think about how much acceleration/braking to use, when to use it and best way to handle the next corner etc) or e-sports (Things like Starcraft where you have to manage your base, making units, creating buildings, managing resource gathering and then manage units, positioning, any abilities they have, scouting etc or Dota-likes where you have to think about your positioning, what lanes need help, last hitting, item and skill builds, what your allies are doing, what the enemy is doing, what the enemy could be doing etc) have lots of aspects that need to be constantly on your mind aswell as having the reflexes and stamina to be able to perform the necessary tasks for prolonged periods of time.

 

[Cazza]

It seems like whenever a competition has enough of a following it's called a sport.

I bet if enough people wanted to roll down grassy hills sideways it would be called a sport. Now does make it a good sport? Maybe not to some but you get my point.

 

[prophecy2514]

Curling as well for me, how the actual fuck did that become a sport

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Well apparently from what I've heard, racing is QUITE demanding physically and requires a top-notch physical condition so... I suppose I could call it a sport.

I don't get starcraft and game tournaments in general. Yeah, it makes for interesting competitions but NOT strictly speaking sports. I've also had others but I've forgotten.

 

[Zantos]

Golf. Seriously Golf. I know it takes skill, it's a very hard game, but seriously, it's not a bloody sport. Sports to me involve breaking a sweat.

Dude, some of those holes are really far away from each other, and you need to get a right jog on if you're going to get all 18 down in time for afternoon tea.

OT: Darts. I like darts, I like to think I can play a passable game of darts, it takes a lot of practice to play darts properly, but it's a pub game. Says the man who plays pool.

 

[Tropicaz]

In my mind a sport is something where you need to be in shape to do it well, ergo i count racing as a sport as you really get a workout doing it. So as much as I love playing darts, I have to say that any game where the liver gets the biggest workout isnt really a sport.

 

[K84]

Table tennis, seriously, i don't see fussball/tablesoccer/airhockey as sports.....

 

[Genocidicles]

'eSports', although I'm not sure if they're really considered sports or they're just called that to give them some validation.

Pro gaming I can understand, But don't compare sitting on your ass playing video games to actual sports.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

i remember during the summer olympics, while eagerly awaiting the brazilian beach volley ball girls team, i saw a few strange "sports" in there. handball, water polo, something else... i dont remember.

 

[Nickolai77]

And no I'm not talking about chess here. Though I suppose some would say that. Anyway, about the moments where you wondered how a certain sport is actually considered a "sport". I mean, okay, "it's a sport, but it sure doesn't feel like one."

For me boxing would be one such thing. I mean, I get martial arts like judo and the like, but two people hitting each other until one of them is all but unconscious? Ugh.

Another one would be the fancy diving thing they even run at the Olympics. Seriously, to me, that's just a bunch of people showing off.

Any other moments like this?

Personally, boxing as a sport makes much more sense to me than some of the stuff you get in martial arts, like pattern's in taekwondo.


Sparring certainly is a sport, but i think the pattern rehearsals they involve are basically dance competitions. Kind of why i stopped doing taekwondo really!

 

[NightmareExpress]

"Sport is all forms of competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants".

Thus, if there is a following to it, it involves physical exertion and win/loss conditions are defined, it could be a sport. Wanking contests could even be a sport if there was enough people behind it. They could even be put into the Olympics.

What in the actual fuck, world.

Anyway...chess and eSports.
Sitting on your arse, eating Doritos and living in horrible conditions is not sports.
They are only sport-like on the entertainment/following side of things.

 

[Steambroom]

Cricket, it´s just a waste of time..

 

[SSJBlastoise]

It seems like whenever a competition has enough of a following it's called a sport.

I bet if enough people wanted to roll down grassy hills sideways it would be called a sport. Now does make it a good sport? Maybe not to some but you get my point.

Not quite always rolling down a hill but it's pretty damn close haha

Spoiler: Cheese Rolling

Well apparently from what I've heard, racing is QUITE demanding physically and requires a top-notch physical condition so... I suppose I could call it a sport.

I don't get starcraft and game tournaments in general. Yeah, it makes for interesting competitions but NOT strictly speaking sports. I've also had others but I've forgotten.

Well, just look at every professional drivers in the world, there aren't any fat ones. Racing can come down to how much lighter your car is so if you're heavier it's not a good start. Then you've got the fact you wouldn't even fit in most racing cars, especially not a F1. I remember hearing Mark Webber often came out of races with bruises all over his arms and legs and that was just from him being a bit taller. The major reason for needing to be fit though is the fact that the body is put through so much in cornering (g forces) that an unfit person will struggle to even handle it.

OT: I put things like chess and esports but I'm not sure how many people really call them sports anyway (I know esports has the word sport in it but that's because it's easier than saying competitive computer games ).