What are sports and what are activities?

[Thermo]

My definition of a sport is the more direct and physically intense the competition between two people is the more of a sport it is.

Sports:
Boxing
kickboxing
full contact fighting
hockey
football

Activities:
bowling
golf
tennis

[crule81]

Tennis is a fairly direct competition between two, or two groups of two, people. So is the difference actually direct physical contact between the opposing players?

[booyalab]

Sport
a : a source of diversion : RECREATION b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in


*makes a jet dive sound then exploding sound to signify end of stupid thread*

[Dunearhp]

There appears to be an unwritten law that no thread will die if it is actually called upon to die.

[booyalab]

There appears to be an unwritten law that no thread will die if it is actually called upon to die.
I know, wishful thinking.
A lot of these threads could be averted if people were familiar with dictionaries.

[jimkopelli]

There appears to be an unwritten law that no thread will die if it is actually called upon to die. I know, wishful thinking.
A lot of these threads could be averted if people were familiar with dictionaries.
Interesting theory. There are other examples... ask Jemma... I wonder... is it possible to create an unkillable thread? I submit that the "Please make this thread die" section cannot be contained in the first post, it must come later.

Intimately familiar. Like, impacted to the back of the skull.
(goes off to find a hefty unabridged...)

[songbird36]

My definition of a sport is the more direct and physically intense the competition between two people is the more of a sport it is.

Sports:
Boxing
kickboxing
full contact fighting
hockey
football

Activities:
bowling
golf
tennis

I don't think the two things can be contrasted in this way - sports are a sub-set of activities, so that all sports could be regarded as activities, whereas only some activities are sports (if they embody a competitive element).

And I don't agree that bowling, golf and tennis are not sports. Clearly they are, as they are competititive, and tournaments are held.

[Thermo]

A lot of these threads could be averted if people were familiar with dictionaries.


My definition of a sport is...

When you check your dictionary look up the word my.

[cjs55]

So is counterstrike or chess a sport? They are competetive and tournaments are held.

[Thermo]

Tennis is a fairly direct competition between two, or two groups of two, people. So is the difference actually direct physical contact between the opposing players?

I have never liked tennis. I only played a couple times. I can't think of the right words to describe it right now other than I consider it unmannly.

I consider something a sport when there is a good chance there will be physical contact between opposing players and the more violent the better. I guess thats why I like boxing and the martial arts. I never really got into it, but I think hockey or football could be entertaining.

[booyalab]

When you check your dictionary look up the word my.

oh, sorry I didnt know the point of this thread was to tell us what your definition of a word is. My Mistake.

You might consider changing the title of the thread to "my definitions of sports and activities"

[songbird36]

Poor Thermo - the pack of wandering braineaters has swooped down and snatched his brain for later consumption..

[Thermo]

You might consider changing the title of the thread to "my definitions of sports and activities"

You are right. I gave it a better title.



Poor Thermo - the pack of wandering braineaters has swooped down and snatched his brain for later consumption..

I think I am doomed to be misunderstood and brainless. :(

[Last Song]

So is counterstrike or chess a sport? They are competetive and tournaments are held.

Chess is.

[booyalab]

Once in high school there was some spontaneous debate during a class about what constitutes a sport. We were supposed to give informative presentations and a couple of girls gave theirs on cheerleading, as they were cheerleaders. They called it a sport and a bunch of guys begged to differ, so a heated debate ensued. It's funny because the cheerleaders (who are often accused of being muddle headed) were the clear-thinkers in that situation, since it was obvious to everyone else that these guys had personal and prideful biases against cheerleading and gymnastics and other 'girl sports'. Ever since then, I've suspected that people who have a definition of sports stricter than the dictionary one have probably derived it from a dislike of the sports they've omitted.

[songbird36]

Cheerleading is clearly a sport as it is a competitive endeavour involving physical exertion.

I don't regard non-physical games (such as Chess and Bridge) as sports, even though they embody a competitive element.

[cjs55]

Cheerleading isn't inherently competetive to my knowledge. The reason I think competetion needs to be inherent (if you are going to define a sport by competetion): Just about anything could become a sport if you were to hold competetions for it. From holding your breath for a long time, to extreme cooking (iron chef baby), to whoever can jump and down the longest, to who most gracefully can take out the trash. This would mean though that figure skating, sprinting, pretty much everything that doesn't involve inherent direct human competetion wouldn't be considered a sport.

And if chess is a sport, so's competetive gaming of any sort.

[crule81]

The way I separate various "sporting" activities is whether the result is wholly based on a judge. In otherwords, in figure skating, gymnastics, and diving, to name a few, the outcome is completely determined by several judges. Although there may be some objective standards, it still comes down to the judges subjective opinion. In football, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball, there are referees, but they do not completely determine the outcome of the game (although one could argue they did in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl with the phatom pass interence flag - that game is a sore spot for me). One hybrid is boxing, where one can knock out an opponent and win, yet the match can be stopped by the ref's subjective judgment that the loser is getting pummeled too much or the judges can render a decision at the end of the match.

[Pedro_The_Lion]

I say they take a man put him in a giant tank with a great white shark, give him a 9mm pistol with a clip in it, and let them go at it.

[Thermo]

Ever since then, I've suspected that people who have a definition of sports stricter than the dictionary one have probably derived it from a dislike of the sports they've omitted.

Yeah, I guess you could say that about me, too. I think men should play very physical sports with contact. Before the PC Police come by, this is just my opinion. I guess you could say that my strong opinions about male and female social roles.

I don't consider cheerleading a sport, because there is really no possibility of physical contact between teams. Although I do respect the athleticism gymnastics and cheerleading require.



I say they take a man put him in a giant tank with a great white shark, give him a 9mm pistol with a clip in it, and let them go at it.

That would definitely qualify as a sport in my book.

[Hypnos]

My $0.02:

* Sport: athletic competition on objective criteria

* Game: same as above, but not requiring much athleticism

* Pastime: something athletic or not, which could be based on objective criteria, but you play just for fun

* Crap: competition based on subjective criteria, like figure skating

The problem with these kinds of definition is that you run into the Platonic problem of universals. But tennis is definitely a sport.