Sports involve skill, points

by Robert Box, staff writer

Sport or Not a Sport, That is the Question

I have had many an argument over what is and isn’t considered to be a sport. 

The biggest argument usually comes from girls who want boys to acknowledge that what they participated in is actually a sport.  Well, I’m here to set the record straight and tell everyone what exactly qualifies something to be a sport.

For something to qualify as a sport, it must meet two requirements.  First, it must involve some form of athleticism or skill.  Second, and most importantly, points must decide the winner, not a judge’s decision.  A judge may award points, but since the judge decides the winner, instead of a clear-cut method, it doesn’t count.

There are several activities that fit into one of these categories, but not both.  If something does not fit into both, I’m sorry to say, it’s not a sport. 

This is the thing that will end up making several girls mad.  Based on my two rules, this disqualifies things such as cheerleading, dancing, and gymnastics.

Some people will argue that gymnastics is an Olympic sport, so it has to be a sport, right?  Wrong, as a matter of fact, there are several events included in the Olympics that I think should not qualify as a sport, such as diving and synchronized swimming.  The funny thing is that there are a lot of sports that people don’t think of as sports that actually qualify as a sport.

I think that curling is the best example of this.  It doesn’t seem to be a sport, but it does require skill and is based on points.  This makes it a sport, but not dancing.

I am not saying that dancing, cheerleading and gymnastics are not hard or that they do not require skill or athleticism.  I’m just saying that they aren’t sports.  I think that cheerleaders are athletes, but they don’t participate in sports.  Besides, as my grandfather use to say, you can have a football team without cheerleaders, but you can’t have cheerleaders without the football team. 

My rules also qualify all forms of racing as sports.  That includes everything from NASCAR to drag racing as sports.  This means that down hill racing is a sport but free style skiing is not, because it’s based on a judge’s decision.  Horse racing qualifies, but it’s more of a game of chance to people than a sport. 

Games of chance are not sports.  This means that poker is not a sport.  It is based almost entirely on luck, and, therefore, I have disqualified it as a sport, even; though it technically meets my requirements. 

The next thing I’m going to say is also going to bring me some grief.  Have you noticed that they call them the X Games and not the X Sports?  Almost all the events involved in the X Games don’t qualify as sports.  I’m not saying that they’re easy.  I almost broke my hip one time trying to learn to skateboard.  I’m just saying that they’re not sports. 

Many of the activities that people want to call sports fall into a category that I like to call competitive art.  These are activities such as cheerleading and dancing.  They involve athleticism, but they are closer to art forms than sports.

For all of the people who I have offended because they participated in these non-sports, don’t be mad.  You still have something to be proud of.  You should actually thank me because someone has finally been brave enough to tell the truth.