What is a sport?

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  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    Golf is not a sport. It's a skill....What's next throwing darts is a sport.

    Let the argueing begin

    Golf is totally a sport. Cheerleading is totally not a sport.

    As a cheerleading coach, I'd like to ask how you've decided it's not a sport. Competition cheerleaders compete against other squads, which makes it a sport by definition. Besides that, the level of gymnastics, coordination, agility, etc. that is needed is up there with any (and sometimes beyond) any other activity that you would consider a sport.

    It's not a sport because it is not objective. This has been covered pretty well. It is an athletic competition, but definitely not a sport. Is body building a sport?
    I didn't think so.
    Further, I could find better coordination and flexibility at a yoga class. But is yoga a sport?
    Cheer leading is objective.

    There are clear and defined goals and there are objective standard for what a squad can and must do during a routine.

    You can have points deducted for failing to go long enough or not finishing your routine in time.

    Their events are filmed and the watch replays to ensure that maneuvers are completely cleanly and to prevent cheating.

    They have a scoring system and they have brackets that dictate their movement through a competition.

    I do not see how you could justify your comparison between cheer leading and yoga.

    They have a scoring system that is judged by humans. In the end, humans are not perfect. Cheerleading is not akin to yoga, but practitioners of yoga have excellent strength, flexibility, and coordination. These things are thusly not a criteria for a sport, instead they are a criteria for an athletic endeavor.
  • 1PatientBear
    1PatientBear Posts: 2,089 Member
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    So, to go back to boxing, what if the match is won by knockout? That removes the judges from the equation. So, a boxing match won by knockout is a sport, but a boxing match decided by the judges is an athletic competition?

    We've covered this and I would say that boxing is an exception to the rule. Boxing is absolutely a sport IMO but it is occasionally open to judging. So, I guess the original definition needs to be amended to say if something CAN be decided by the participants/officials on the field, it's a sport. Something to that effect.
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...
  • mrs_mab
    mrs_mab Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Golf is not a sport. It's a skill....What's next throwing darts is a sport.

    Let the argueing begin

    Golf is totally a sport. Cheerleading is totally not a sport.

    As a cheerleading coach, I'd like to ask how you've decided it's not a sport. Competition cheerleaders compete against other squads, which makes it a sport by definition. Besides that, the level of gymnastics, coordination, agility, etc. that is needed is up there with any (and sometimes beyond) any other activity that you would consider a sport.

    It's not a sport because it is not objective. This has been covered pretty well. It is an athletic competition, but definitely not a sport. Is body building a sport?
    I didn't think so.
    Further, I could find better coordination and flexibility at a yoga class. But is yoga a sport?

    You've obviously never seen a cheerleading competition or you wouldn't make the crack about yoga. Do you not consider gymnastics a sport? Because I seem to recall it being in the Olympics last I checked...And I realize that it's been covered, but I already covered the fact that you can debate all you want about what a sport is but the definition is clear.

    And that's what we're debating P-Dawg. Because I would argue (and have) that neither gymnastics nor cheerleading is a sport. Athletic competition, yes. Talented athletes, yes. But not a sport.

    Understood. But you also said that weight lifiting is a sport, and some are saying that it's not just like cheerleading isn't. I disagree with your definition, but I see what train of thought you are following. Others are not.

    And to the one who said I'm taking this way too seriously, sorry, but I've been arguing with someone all day at work who says cheerleading isn't a sport and all women's athletics are a waste of money. I'm a little riled up. lol
    Ohhhh this would rile me up to! My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow on scholarship to play softball! One of her best friends is a competition cheerleader and made the squad at the University of Georgia this year. My daughter went to a couple of her comps and said she had gained a new found respect for cheerleaders (comp cheerleaders) after watching her compete.

    Soooo....what about beer pong?
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...

    And I thought my yoga comment was bad.
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    Golf is not a sport. It's a skill....What's next throwing darts is a sport.

    Let the argueing begin

    Golf is totally a sport. Cheerleading is totally not a sport.

    As a cheerleading coach, I'd like to ask how you've decided it's not a sport. Competition cheerleaders compete against other squads, which makes it a sport by definition. Besides that, the level of gymnastics, coordination, agility, etc. that is needed is up there with any (and sometimes beyond) any other activity that you would consider a sport.

    It's not a sport because it is not objective. This has been covered pretty well. It is an athletic competition, but definitely not a sport. Is body building a sport?
    I didn't think so.
    Further, I could find better coordination and flexibility at a yoga class. But is yoga a sport?

    You've obviously never seen a cheerleading competition or you wouldn't make the crack about yoga. Do you not consider gymnastics a sport? Because I seem to recall it being in the Olympics last I checked...And I realize that it's been covered, but I already covered the fact that you can debate all you want about what a sport is but the definition is clear.

    And that's what we're debating P-Dawg. Because I would argue (and have) that neither gymnastics nor cheerleading is a sport. Athletic competition, yes. Talented athletes, yes. But not a sport.

    Understood. But you also said that weight lifiting is a sport, and some are saying that it's not just like cheerleading isn't. I disagree with your definition, but I see what train of thought you are following. Others are not.

    And to the one who said I'm taking this way too seriously, sorry, but I've been arguing with someone all day at work who says cheerleading isn't a sport and all women's athletics are a waste of money. I'm a little riled up. lol
    Ohhhh this would rile me up to! My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow on scholarship to play softball! One of her best friends is a competition cheerleader and made the squad at the University of Georgia this year. My daughter went to a couple of her comps and said she had gained a new found respect for cheerleaders (comp cheerleaders) after watching her compete.

    Soooo....what about beer pong?

    Keyword: COMPETITION cheerleader. You don't see them being called sport cheerleaders.
  • ihad
    ihad Posts: 7,463 Member
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    Wife Carrying.

    Pure sport.

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  • Vain_Witch
    Vain_Witch Posts: 476 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...

    And I thought my yoga comment was bad.

    Your yoga comment at least garnered a response. I'm totally ignoring this other bit of idiocy. lol
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...

    And I thought my yoga comment was bad.

    how is this bad? arent they more alike than unalike?
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...

    And I thought my yoga comment was bad.

    Your yoga comment at least garnered a response. I'm totally ignoring this other bit of idiocy. lol

    you must never have tried ballroom dancing if you think its a world apart from cheerleading.
  • 1PatientBear
    1PatientBear Posts: 2,089 Member
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    Ohhhh this would rile me up to! My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow on scholarship to play softball! One of her best friends is a competition cheerleader and made the squad at the University of Georgia this year. My daughter went to a couple of her comps and said she had gained a new found respect for cheerleaders (comp cheerleaders) after watching her compete.

    You ladies seem to be stuck on the mistaken impression that I'm saying cheerleaders aren't athletes. I'm not saying that AT ALL. Cheerleaders are amazing athletes and have talent and skill. I'm just saying that, based on how the outcome of the event is decided, cheerleading is an athletic competition, not a sport.
  • agggie550
    agggie550 Posts: 281 Member
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    Lawn Darts has neither Judges, or officials, just winners and people that end up in the hospital. Thus classifying it as the single greatest Sports Game of all times.. and not the new lame one with bean bag tips, i'm talking about the 5 lb weight steel finned lawn darts of yester-years.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    You're rehashing the games investigation done by Wittgenstein:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_resemblance

    At the end of the day sports have a kind of "family resemblance" in which members of the group sports have "overlapping similarities, where no one feature is common to all...." thus to take a reductionist tack and try to boil down the essential features that all sports must have, will always leave you with examples that don't seem to easily fit your schema. Boxing has been an example of this in this thread.
  • Vain_Witch
    Vain_Witch Posts: 476 Member
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    isnt cheerleading kind of in the same category as beauty pageants and ballroom dancing? they take dedication, skills, athleticism etc...

    And I thought my yoga comment was bad.

    Your yoga comment at least garnered a response. I'm totally ignoring this other bit of idiocy. lol

    you must never have tried ballroom dancing if you think its a world apart from cheerleading.

    The bad part of your comment was not the ballroom dancing part (although, there is still little correlation between the two...cheerleading is more like gymnastics), the bad part was comparing it to beauty pageants...
  • Vain_Witch
    Vain_Witch Posts: 476 Member
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    Ohhhh this would rile me up to! My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow on scholarship to play softball! One of her best friends is a competition cheerleader and made the squad at the University of Georgia this year. My daughter went to a couple of her comps and said she had gained a new found respect for cheerleaders (comp cheerleaders) after watching her compete.

    You ladies seem to be stuck on the mistaken impression that I'm saying cheerleaders aren't athletes. I'm not saying that AT ALL. Cheerleaders are amazing athletes and have talent and skill. I'm just saying that, based on how the outcome of the event is decided, cheerleading is an athletic competition, not a sport.

    Celo! We're not arguing with YOU! I keep trying to explain this to you! lol!
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    The bad part of your comment was not the ballroom dancing part (although, there is still little correlation between the two...cheerleading is more like gymnastics), the bad part was comparing it to beauty pageants...

    fwiw ballroom dancing is much more physically demanding than cheerleading.

    Source: my sister who is an instructor in both.
  • bigphatcat
    bigphatcat Posts: 7,843 Member
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    I still say golf is not a sport....A skill yes, however it is not a sport.
  • Vain_Witch
    Vain_Witch Posts: 476 Member
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    The bad part of your comment was not the ballroom dancing part (although, there is still little correlation between the two...cheerleading is more like gymnastics), the bad part was comparing it to beauty pageants...

    fwiw ballroom dancing is much more physically demanding than cheerleading.

    Source: my sister who is an instructor in both.

    I never said it's not physically demanding. I have no experience with it so I can't debate that. I'm just saying that the two aren't really related. I think boxing is physically demanding and I think that track is physically demanding...doesn't mean they have much else in common, though...
  • 1PatientBear
    1PatientBear Posts: 2,089 Member
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    Ohhhh this would rile me up to! My daughter is leaving for college tomorrow on scholarship to play softball! One of her best friends is a competition cheerleader and made the squad at the University of Georgia this year. My daughter went to a couple of her comps and said she had gained a new found respect for cheerleaders (comp cheerleaders) after watching her compete.

    You ladies seem to be stuck on the mistaken impression that I'm saying cheerleaders aren't athletes. I'm not saying that AT ALL. Cheerleaders are amazing athletes and have talent and skill. I'm just saying that, based on how the outcome of the event is decided, cheerleading is an athletic competition, not a sport.

    Celo! We're not arguing with YOU! I keep trying to explain this to you! lol!

    Oh. Ok. Carry on then. :bigsmile:
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    The bad part of your comment was not the ballroom dancing part (although, there is still little correlation between the two...cheerleading is more like gymnastics), the bad part was comparing it to beauty pageants...

    fwiw ballroom dancing is much more physically demanding than cheerleading.

    Source: my sister who is an instructor in both.

    I never said it's not physically demanding. I have no experience with it so I can't debate that. I'm just saying that the two aren't really related. I think boxing is physically demanding and I think that track is physically demanding...doesn't mean they have much else in common, though...

    they are related in that the performers are judged by a group of people. so they are both in the same type of category.

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