What is considered a sport?
My family and I had an interesting debate over the weekend about what constitutes a sport and what does not. We tried to come up with a pat definition, but we seemed to find exceptions for every ’sport.’ Wikipedia says, “Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. ” We felt their definition was lacking, so we tried to come up with one of our own…
First definition: A sport requires a goal, a team, and a ball.
We all agreed that basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, hockey, rugby, lacrosse, and soccer are sports. They have a goal, a ball, and a team. But there were some exceptions that didn’t fit into our neat little definition.
Tennis has a ball but not a team. Does that mean it’s not a sport? Since it doesn’t have a ball does that mean boxing isn’t a sport? What about skiing, or skating? Running or track? “Activities,” my son said. “But these events are in the Olympics,” I replied. “So are a lot of games I don’t consider sports,” he retorted.
Is golf a sport? I know it’s hard to do well, but when big, fat guys with cigars can play it without breaking a sweat, is that really a sport? Bowling can’t really be considered a sport, can it? ESPN covers poker as a sport. POKER! That can’t possibly fit anyone’s definition.
Second definition: A sport requires training, a goal, and exertion.
Okay, then dancing must be a sport, right? It requires extreme training and exertion. “No, it’s a performing art.” Hmmm. I guess that might be so. Still, ballroom dancing is a judged event, as is cheerleading. Sports? What about body building? That is definitely an activity that requires pain for gain.
What about ’sports’ involving animals like horseracing? Is race car driving a sport? Bicycling? You can see my dilemma. What are your thoughts? What is a SPORT?
May 24th, 2009 at 7:48 am
I had this article and wanted to share it on your blog.
WANT AN ENVIABLE UPPER BODY?
Got 45 minutes to spare? Sweat through these seven exercise and you’ll have arms like the model in these pages in six to eight weeks.
There is a common misconception many inexperienced female exercisers share when it comes to working their upper body – that of getting bulky and building too much mass in their arms. True, these exercises will help build muscle, but unless you’re taking steroids, bulk is not going to happen. Rather, you’ll be tightening and streamlining those batwings that are currently standing in for triceps. To get sleeveless-worthy arms, you must lift heavy. Your arms should be quivering on your last three reps. Your goal is to be exhausted after you finish this arm sculpting routine.
Don’t think an upper body workout is limited to just biceps and triceps; you must get some shoulder and chest work in there too. Again, most women are afraid of looking manly, but the truth is, nothing is more attractive than a well-defined upper body - chest and shoulders included - which, by the way will also make your waist look trimmer without a single crunch
Dumbbell chest press
Lie face up on a flat bench, holding dumbbells above midchest Slowly. inhale as you lower the weights so your elbows are at 90 degrees. Press the weights back up as you exhale, squeezing your chest muscles at the top of the movement. Avoid arching your back and do not lock your elbows at the top of the movement.
Incline dumbbell curl
Sit back on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging at your sides. Curl the weights up to shoulder level, then lower again in a controlled motion. Make sure your elbows are forward throughout the movement Once you return to the staring position, pause. This will help you avoid swinging the weights back up. Kristia says these curls-are great for overall biceps development.
EZ bar triceps extension
Sit on the end of a flat bench with your feet firmly on the floor and your back straight. Hold an EZ bar (or a barbell) straight above your head, with your hands six to eight inches apart. Slowly lower the bar behind your head. Return to starting position. Don’t move your elbows and upper arms. This exercise can also be done standing
Good Morning
Position a barbell across the back of your shoulders and gasp the ends with an overhand grip. Bend at your hips to lower your torso forward until almost parallel to the floor. Then raise your torso until hips are extended. Start with a very light weight and keep adding additional weight gradually to allow your body to adapt.
Rules to live by
As we all know, the key to a stellar upper body is not only in the training; diet plays a large role as well. Load your diet with plenty of muscle-building protein - fish , chicken, beans (chole, rajma, channa, paneer). One hard and fast rulet live by is, within one hour of training, restore your energy levels with a complex carb (banana, dalia porridge or whole wheat sandwich). If you’re not getting the results you want, chances are the problem is in your diet. If you’re new to weight training, aim for three sets of eight to 15 for each exercise in this routine. But where weights are concerned, heaviness really depends on the individual. Keep your pace as follows: up for a count of two, down for a count of three. The slower the better. You want resistance and control.
Triceps dip
Facing away from a flat bench, hold on to the edge with your hands shoulder width apart to support your body weight. Keep your arms straight without locking your elbows. The small of your back should be close to the edge of the bench. Keep your feet together and knees bent at about a go-degree angle. When in the start position, you should look as though you’re silting in an invisible chair.
To start the move, slowly bend your elbows to lower yourself as far as possible so you get a full range of motion. Return to the start position. When you’re ready, you can increase resistance by having a partner place weights on your lap.
Overhand biceps curl
Hold the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart, with an overhand grip. In a slow, steady motion, raise your forearms until they are almost vertical, then lower the bar in a slow arc back to the starting position. Keep elbows and upper body motionless with elbows level with the body.
Back press
Sitting on a bench with your back straight, hold a barbell behind your neck. Press up slowly until your arms are straight above your head. Don’t lock your elbows. Lower the barbell back to the starting position.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
a sport should be anything with a ball and requires strenous activity. i would consider a sport like golf a game and not a sport.
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January 5th, 2010 at 4:47 am
a sport is a competitive activity that is accompanied by a set of rules
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February 18th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Rob gives an interesting opintion.
http://www.robarnieanddawn.com/newsite/rulesforsports.html
RULES THAT MAKE A SPORT
1.The activity MUST require hand/eye coordination (This eliminates soccer along with non-physical activites like chess and spelling bee competitions)
2.There must be a projectile involved, i.e.; a ball, puck or gloved fist. (This eliminates video games and competitive eating)
3.The person MUST be the athlete. (This eliminates all driving activities, where the car is the athlete, as well as all animal related games like rodeo, horse racing and cock-fighting)
4.There must be legitimate potential physical contact with other people and/or legitimate injury potential (This eliminates asinine entries like bowling, croquet, golf, fishing, pool, tennis)
5.The game must either be American by birth or America must have stolen it from its birth nation (goodbye rugby, cricket, running with the bulls and karate)
6.The activity MUST have national appeal across all of America, not just regional pockets of popularity. (This eliminates lacrosse, rowing and fluffernutter eating)
7.The game cannot be played in water (All swimming related activities, diving and of course water polo are gone, as well as marco polo)
8.Women can’t be good at it (This kills softball, volleyball, roller derby and tennis)
9.The activity cannot fall under the heading of “extreme, ultimate and/or adrenaline rush activities.” Things you do to cheat death are not sports, they’re just showing off. (Goodbye all motorbiking, rock climbing, fighting that isn’t boxing, skateboarding and the rest)
10.Can’t be stupid (paintball)
February 20th, 2010 at 6:02 am
This is what I use to judge a sport:
1. Can a whole family watch it, including kids, fathers, and mothers?
2. Can both genders compete in it?
3. Is the game exciting to all genders?
4. Does it require some skill?
5. At any point in the game do you wear a helmet?
If the sport answered yes to 3 out of theese 5 questions, it is a sport.
March 19th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for posting this. I am fairly new to social media and my blog traffic is slowly increasing. I am fairly confident it’s due to me spending a good deal of time commenting on other blogs. Not only does it get my blog out there, but more importantly, I can keep up with what bloggers and readers are talking about! I also spend a great deal of time on Facebook and Twitter… But I really want to reach out to other bloggers in my same arena.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:42 am
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July 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 am
ok in refrence to chis’s post if it has a professional league and their heart rate goes above 120 bpm then it is a sport.
so… 1. paintball is a sport. the nppl is (national professional paintball league). soccer is played world wide! how dare you not call it a sport.
karate def. a sport. its is done world wide. there are multiple leagues of karate. rskc,naska,ikc! wow you trying doing karate. it takes talent. how do i know im used to complete nationally and was ranked #6 for the yr 06-07 naska tourney. women can’t be good at it huh? that is slander against women. women are prolly way more talented than you then half of the sports in the world! b-ball soccer tennis track and field! wow. so ufc isnt a sport. that deal with boxing as well. you conridicting you points. and lacrosse? you contact with ppl, you run around like soccer which i haven proven my point about. you need to seriously take a look at the rules of being a sport