Bruce, Pricey has exported followers to the US!! Aaaaaaagh!!!!!

J

Jedi Oomodo

New member
For anyone who wonders what in the name of Jack Nicholson's toilet seat I'm talking about first read Bruce's topic about an idiot of an Aussie DJ who doesn't think shooting is a sport.

About 10 minutes ago, I was listening to the John and Jeff show (their website), and the subject of the Olympics and sports came up. I'm not sure which of these two [sarcasm]paragons of civic virtue [/sarcasm] said it, but it was opined that NASCAR racing is not a sport, and archery is not a sport, and anything else that does not have a ball, goal, or puck, is not a sport. While guns and shooting were not specificall ymentioned, it follows logically that they would also argue that shooting is not a 'sport'.

This is weird, considering that I read Bruce's topic mere hours before hearing this mental flatulence propagated over the airwaves. If anyone cares to rip 'em a new one, their email addy is: johnandjeffshow@aol.com .

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Only in America/ We're slaves to be free
Only in America we kill the unborn/ To make ends meet
Only in America Sexuality is democracy
Only in America we stamp our god "In God We Trust"

What is right or wrong?
I don't know who to believe in
My soul sings a different song
In America
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My EOSM pix
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If it isna Scottish, it's CRAP! Pray as though it's all up to God, act as though it's all up to you...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>... anything else that does not have a ball, goal, or puck, is not a sport.[/quote]

Wow! Brilliant minds at work!! Let's see, that excludes, inter alia, track and field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, equestrian, biathlon ...

Sorry, I get tired (and intensely angry) just thinking about fu**wits like these!!!!!!

B
 
To many people a sport requires direct opposition to your efforts. This excludes most individual sports... including Golf and Bowling.

NASCAR and cycling are marginal from this point of view.

In some way, I agree with them. These are skills to be proud of, but I don't think I'd call them sports either. Would you call woodworking a sport? Why not? How about a competition of who could carve a duck in the shortest time? What is the difference between that and marksmanship? How about Olympic Plumbing, Blacksmithing, or Oil Painting?

At least Plumbing has a practical application. What the heck is the point in developing a skill in the paralell bars?
 
So those mental giants would say chess isn't a sport because there's no bat and ball involved? I guess since they've never exercised their minds they can't appreciate what mental exertion means.

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"Get yourself a Lorcin and lose that nickel plated sissy pistol."
 
These guys have their own radio show, and yet they use an AOL email address? That's sad.

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The Alcove

I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist

The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me
 
My class has been working on this for awhile. Unfortunately, since they're eighth graders, they've been more interested in whether cheerleading was a sport than anything else. I just collected the final drafts of their essays this afternoon, but we basically decided that a sport MUST have these elements or it isn't a sport:

1. Competition against an opponent, not necessarily direct competition. Swimming counts because, although your opponent has little opportunity to stop you, he can still swim faster than you if he's able and you'll lose.

2. Definite rules which make the goal more difficult than it would otherwise be, along with specific goals to be achieved. For instance, if you could drop a golf ball into the cup from a foot away, that's not a sport even though there's a goal. But force every competitor to use a set of clubs and move the ball only by hitting it, and you have a different story.

3. It must demand some kind of athletic skill or exertion. Chess, I'm afraid, does not qualify. It is a fine game, but it is not a sport because its challenge is not athletic. Shooting is, so it qualifies. (Requires coordination, steadiness, sensory sharpness, etc.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Don Gwinn:
1. Competition against an opponent, not necessarily direct competition. Swimming counts because, although your opponent has little opportunity to stop you, he can still swim faster than you if he's able and you'll lose.

2. Definite rules which make the goal more difficult than it would otherwise be, along with specific goals to be achieved. For instance, if you could drop a golf ball into the cup from a foot away, that's not a sport even though there's a goal. But force every competitor to use a set of clubs and move the ball only by hitting it, and you have a different story.

3. It must demand some kind of athletic skill or exertion. Chess, I'm afraid, does not qualify. It is a fine game, but it is not a sport because its challenge is not athletic. Shooting is, so it qualifies. (Requires coordination, steadiness, sensory sharpness, etc.)[/quote]

Chess is most definitely a sport. It requires mental "exertion" and great "coordination" of thought. Sports can include mental as well as athletic components. In my opinion it meets the 3 quoted rules. :)
Shooting has a mental component when compensating for wind and distance.



[This message has been edited by gRAVEdgN (edited September 23, 2000).]
 
Of course sports "can" include mental exertions. In fact, all do, and the ones that require the most are generally the "best" or at least most interesting. But that doesn't mean that an athletic component isn't required. Chess lacks the athletic component, so it still doesn't qualify. When you develop a definition based on several criteria, as we did, unless you state otherwise, ALL the criteria are required. If a sport meets most of your criteria but not every single one of them, and you still think of it as a sport, you must change either your perception of that game or your definition of sport to match.

Now, if you want to use a personal definition of sport which does not include a requirement that it be athletic, that's fine. You'll be out of step with the general definition, but it won't hurt you.

Someday it would be interesting to do some research on why calling something a "sport" seems to connote more respect than "game." Honestly, isn't it a little strange how much energy we use insisting that our favorite games are sports? A sport is just a certain category of game, after all.

BTW, we were forced to include that cheerleading is a sport, much to my chagrin.

Oh yeah, and does anybody know where I can get a replacement powder tube for a Belding and Mull visible powder measure? (gun content) :D
 
Don...check your hobby supply etc for plastic tubing of the right diameter for the B&M visible.

If I get aerobic while watching cheerleaders, wouldn't that qualify cheerleader watching as a sport?

Sam..dont waste the effort tilting at windmills, move em closer together and let them tilt each other.
 
Sometimes we should remember that a fair number of talk show hosts will say outrageous and silly things just to fill the 'board' with calls. And, some of them operate like this all the time.

Some 'windmills' just aren't worth the effort ... ;)

Regards from AZ
 
Don Gwinn,
OK I will cede the point. The difference between sport and game is recognized by your definition by the general population. I personally will still think of games of mental exertion as sports also. ;)

Ric
 
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