Defining "Sports"
Written by Hopper, Saturday February 21 2009
For years, there has been an off-and-on debate about whether or not certain so-called sports really are sports. On this very site, the debate has been sparked again. So, I decided to do a little research to solve the "sport" debate once and for all. Here is what I came up with, according to "The Standard Book of Essential Knowledge":
"Sport, n.: A pastime or amusement in which a person engages; a game; a diversion; a merry-making; an out-of-door recreation such as grown men indulge in, more especially hunting or fishing, also horse-racing."
Wow, that opens up a can of worms, doesn't it? A sport is any kind of game or outdoor recreation. This would include golf, soccer, NASCAR, almost anything done during the Olympics, as well as football, baseball, and hockey which, last time I checked, qualifies as a game.
The above statement from said source is interesting because it defines "sport" almost specifically as "racing"(as well as hunting and fishing), which, according to many, isn't even a sport at all. Let's continue resolving this great debate by defining "game":
"Game, n.: Sport of any kind; jest; play; some contrivance or arrangement for sport, recreation, testing skill, and the like(as baseball or football): a single contest in any such game; specifically diversions and contests, as in wrestling, running,and other athletic exercises."
Alright then. Specifically, baseball and football are sports, but we already knew that, didn't we? The one that intrigues me is wrestling, which most believe is also not a sport. WWE is fake. Everybody knows that. But wrestling, defining "game"? Definately shocking.
"Game" is also defined by the word "contest", meaning "to contend" or "struggle for victory". Which means that any time one person/team goes up against another, we officially have a game. In NASCAR, golf, soccer, ping-pong, gymnastics, figure skating, rock-paper-scissors, ballroom dancing, etc. etc. etc., we have a contest, and by connection, a sport. This is because "contest" defines "game", and "game" defines "sport". Thus, any time a contest takes place, we have a "sport".
Many people will probably be upset by the fact that some of these are indeed sports. But the fact of the matter is, they are. The Standard Book of Essential Knowledge says so. That does not take away from the fact that football, baseball, basketball, etc. are still the most popular sports. It just means that they have to share the word "sport" with lesser(or greater, if NASCAR, hunting, fishing, etc. is your cup of tea) forms.
As for those of you that truly believed that these were indeed sports all along, congratulations. You just won "The Great 'Sport' Debate"!
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5 comments
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Tough pill
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Sorry B-Dub. I know that the "NASCAR, hunting, and fishing are sports" is a tough one to swallow. Make sure you have lots of water ready. LOL
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Yeah Andy is so bad at time management he probably does get his advice from a book that tells us that things like hunting and fishing are sports.
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Sorry bud, only hard-cover. If you ask your buddy Andy, he may have a pop-up one you can borrow.
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Hopper, does this "Standard Book of Essential Knowledge" come in a hard-cover version or it only a "pop-up" book?