And are the participants athletes? Football, Baseball, Basketball & Hockey - Sports Football - Athletes but some kickers might not be athletes Baseball - Former Philadelphia Philly John "I am not a" Kruk once said "I ain't no athlete, hell, I'm a baseball player." David Wells is a Fat Tub of Goo but he once pitched a perfect game while suffering from a hangover. Basketball - You are gasping for breath before the first quarter is over if you're not an athlete. Hockey - Even though they have a puck instead of a ball it is a sport and they are definately athletes. Bowling - Uses a ball so it is a sport. Participants train with multiple 12 ounce curls with the beer bottle of their choice to get in shape. Boxing- I have a problem with the "Sweet Science" because the outcome of so many bouts are the result of the judges decision but they are athletes. Figure Skating - Athletic skill required but winners and losers determined by predjudiced judges. Synchonized Swimming - Same as Figure Skating Tennis - A sport with great athletes. Professional Bass Fishing - See Bowling but without a ball Extreme Sports - Great athletic skills required along with a suicidal mindset. Chess - I only included chess because I once saw a story in Sports Illustrated about chess. Not a sport - players not athletes. A quadreplegic could be a better chess player than a winner of the marathon or decathlon Golf - Uses a ball so it is a sport. Tiger Woods is an athlete but John Daly is a drunken Fat Tub of Goo and he has won 2 majors. Poker - Since they showed the World Series of Poker on ESPN they must consider it a sport but I don't. BUT - You gotta have balls to play for the kind of money they do. Bicycling - Lance Armstrong might be the greatest athlete in the world even if his doctors took his balls off. Hunting - Sport or not? Depends on whether you go out and stalk Bambi, Donald or Daffy or Bugs on your own or if you pay big bucks to a professional guide to drive your prey into a can't miss shot. Auto Racing - No ball involved but the wheels are round. Takes great eye - hand - foot coordinatation to be competitive. Not Athletes - Great video game players have those "motor skills" too. Swimming - Gotta be a great athlete to win. Diving - Takes balls to do flips off the high board but results determined by judges decision - Not a Sport Weight Lifting - Whoever lifts the most weight wins - A Sport Wrestling - No doubt that The Rock is a great athlete but Stone Cold Steve Austin is looking a little soft these days and how about 50 year old guys like Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair who are still doing it? Gymnastics - Great athletes but winners and losers are still determined by judges - Not a Sport. Saltwater Fishing - Not only a sport but those of us who regularly make the grueling 3 + hour drive from Baton Rouge to the Gulf Coast in conditions that are sometimes so foggy that you can't see 3 feet beyond the windshield to stalk the wily Speckled Trout and Redfish are the Greatest athletes in the world. I had to hire 2 personal trainers just to keep in shape. Bud Weiser keeps me tuned and sharp with his regimen of 12 ounce curls and without Jack Daniels making me get out of a warm bed at 3 AM I would never make it.
Yup my argument exactly, anything that is subjective or "voted" on is not a sport its entertainment. Not saying they are not athletes, or what they do requires skill. But what they do is NOT a sport. Figure Skating - Its dinner Theatre or Ice - To me that is the best example of something that DOES NOT BELONG in the olympics, if you allow figure skating you must add Broadway dancing and Ballet. Its the same damn thing. Anyway great post.
Here's another one - Pool - A sport because it uses a ball but not athletes. - Minnesota Fats was another Fat Tub of Goo but he was a great pool player. Ping Pong - Uses a ball so its a sport - Are Ping Pong Players athletes? Gotta say yes. During a period of my life when I was a Fat Tub of Goo I was able to compete on an equal level with some of the best players in the state. Why? Early in my Ping Pong playing days I had zip for offensive skills but was able to beat most players with a good offense due to my defensive skills even using a generic sandpaper paddle by returning slam after slam until my opponent made a mistake. It was not until the intoduction of high tech rubber paddles capable of imparting incredible spin on the ball that I developed an offense to go along with my defense.
A fat tub of goo can still be an athlete. Athleticism does not equate to being in shape. That said, the greatest athletes are NFL WRs, NBA SGs and SFs, and soccer players. Baseball is a sport, but like hockey, more skill is needed than athleticism.
Bengal B, no offense, but your citerion for whether some activity is a sport or not, namely whether a "ball" is used or not, is simply silly. Your argument rules out such things as all track and field sports save the shotput, all types of skiing, horse racing and basically every winter sport EXCEPT hockey (although a "modified ball" is used). By your definition, croquet, bocci ball and badmitton are sports, but Greco-Roman wrestling is not. Interesting. Can you tell it is the off-season?
The uses a ball, dosen't use a ball criteria was tounge - in - cheek and was meant to be faceitious. I know a guy (he is a lawyer) who once told me that if you don't use a gun or a rod and reel its not a sport. The only time I ever watch things like gymnastics or figure skating is during the Olympics. I hate it when some American kid gives what looks to me like a great performance and some Russian or French judge lowballs their score. And yes, it is most definately the off season - Last Sunday there was an Arena football game on one channel and an NFL Europe football game on another. I tried to watch some of it but got bored real quick. They just don't excite me like NFL or NCAA football. Thank God for LSU baseball and the NBA playoffs. Lets hope the Tigers play deep into June and the NBA finals go 7 games.
We were bored last week so we checked out the Women's Softball College World Series. Texas has one thing going for them, they have a hottie for a pitcher. We didnt have anyone particular to pull for since LSU wasnt in it so we pulled for the hot ones. It was a slow week.
I watched some of the womens softball world series last year. Arizona or Arizona State, I forget which had a real hot babe as their pitcher
You gotta remember LSU's own Britni Sneed was very attractive as well. I remember she struck out Wally Pontiff during halftime of the LSU v Tenn Basketball game. I guess I have a thing for tall chicks. Although I dont stand much of a chance with them being I am 5'9 on a good day.
Tall chicks - short chicks - gotta love em all. I'm 6'3' so I never had a problem with tall chicks not wanting to be seen with somebody shorter than them but I have had a few girlfiends in the 5'0' - 5'3' range. I can talk about that here because the lady I live with dosen't read this forum (5'7' Not too tall- not too short) Oops - shes awake - gotta minimize this website and bring up something that makes it look like I'm working - Aaaarrrgghh - not that one- its a porn site! I clicked on the wrong icon!
