I listen to ESPN radio. I enjoy it, particularly Mike and Mike in the Morning.
This evening, I was listening to whoever was filling in for Calvin Murphy (I never heard their names). They were debating whether or not Poker was a sport.
Professional Poker is certain a competition - you enter the contest, you try to be the last one left after all the eliminations are handled. But I don't know that I could refer to it as a sport. I have played several sports. Competitively, I have played Baseball, Soccer, Bowling, Racquetball, Volleyball, Softball, and Chess. In the non-competitive environment, I have also played football, basketball, and Tennis. I have hunted and fished. For exercise, I have run and been swimming. Most of these would qualify as sports.
The key lies in the definition, obviously. What qualifies as a "sport?" In my mind, a sport is an activity that taxes your physical skills in some way. I think there are competitive activities that tax your mind in a comparable fashion, but fall short of the qualification of "sport." To this end, I would not qualify Poker or Chess as sports, though there is definitely a competitive spirit to both (though I don't know that nations have been subjugated or lives forfeited because of poker games, unlike Chess matches). While Hunting and Fishing require some skill (and patience), I am less convinced that these activities are "sports" as I would define it. They are activities that require skill, some physical ability, and can be mentally taxing, but ultimately both end up being more about outsmarting an animal's instincts than anything else.
I think of the list I've provided above, the rest of the activities would qualify as sports. While they all have some mental component, the physical component outshines it (except maybe softball).
What do you think?
2 comments:
The broadest definition of sport includes any competitive activity, the narrowest including only those where physical activity is also part of it.
I, too, go along with the narrow definition, but haven't we been socialized to think that way? If we watched Sportscenter for the last 20 years showing poker highlights while tape of football games was played on the network at 3 in the afternoon (the way they do with poker tournaments or the national spelling bee), our conception of sports would be different, no?
Hmmm...I guess you also have to wonder if law school would qualify as a sport. You compete for the highest grade(whether you like to or not) and sometimes it's physically more taxing than mentally challenging.
Post a Comment