Sports that shouldn't be sports.......

[Deleted]

Only problem I have with that chart is that it says if there are judges its not a sport. While in many cases thats true but in the case of Boxing I dont see how that cant be considered a sport.

Boxing is in the special position of having two ways of judging the outcome, the referee/judges' decision or a KO. As Pacquiao/Bradley proved, the first method is stupid. I'd say boxing is a sport, as long as it ends in a decisive victory. Otherwise it is an event.

[Commander Jaco]

Mountain climbing isn't a sport.

If you consult the chart you'll see that it fails the first question. Mountain climbing is an activity.

I have a chart that says if I think a chart is crap it isn't a chart...

If you consult it the first question you will see it fails

[Tzalix]

I'm guessing most people here have not heard the expression "mind sports"...

That would be stuff like Chess(which a lot of people seem to bash on for some reason?).

The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources, with no universally agreed definition. The closest to an international agreement on a definition is provided by SportAccord, which is the association for all the largest international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports and more), and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.

SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:

• have an element of competition
• be in no way harmful to any living creature
• not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
• not rely on any 'luck' element specifically designed in to the sport

They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard sports) or primarily animal supported (such as equestrian sport).
There has been an increase in the application of the term 'sport' to a wider set of non-physical challenges such as electronic sports, especially due to the large scale of participation and organised competition, but these are not widely recognised by mainstream sports organisations.

[Kuniku]

I must say i'm extremely shocked at what some people are claim aren't sports . . .

sport, IMO, means its got to have a physical element to it - someone on the first page pointed out "things you can do while smoking" and to an extent i'd agree, while things like darts/pool/snooker etc take a high amount of skill to perform at the higher levels, they aren't physically taxing - fat people could do just as well as atheletes etc etc

i'd agree that sports ideally should have an element of competition, but i disagree about peoples claims that anything involving judges doesnt count, perhaps dancing comes down to "what the judges like best" but most judge based sport competitions have benchmarks - things are marked on technicallity, execution etc etc.

I enjoy wakeboarding, and have partaken in a few competitions as well as judged a couple, pretty much every trick has a pre-determined score, while repeat tricks are scored lower. at higher levels of competition i'm sure how well a trick is performed is taken into acount as well. . . (this is applied to most "extreme sports")

there are a few grey areas imo - things like archery and golf, that are more skill, but you need a strong arm for etc . . . on the fence regarding those . . . driving as well, its mroe skill, but it can be very taxing on the body at high speeds, and high levels of fitness are often required . . .

[Deleted]

Darts.
Speed walking.
Equestrian.
Shooting.

[Deleted]

Darts is so not a sport!
And as the person above me stated:
Speed walking, a brisk walk is NOT a sport!

[McNeil]

- Poker (seriously... how did this get to be a sport??)

- Darts. While this sport might take extreme precision, aiming and lifting your arm in the best way, its still not enough for me to actually be a real sport.

- Fishing. Again, seriously how did this become a sport aswell? You basically use a shitload of equipment to perform this ''sport'', the only time when something actually happens is if you have to pull the fish on shore.

- Bowling. Basically for the same reason as darts, I see them more as normal activities or hobbies rather than sports.

- Competetive gaming. Well, it never became a sport , and I don't think it ever will, so we don't have to worry. Outside of South Korea, it is just a normal activity or hobby.

- Chess. I know you need to be very smart for this ''sport'', but I wouldn't like to call it a sport, because I see sports as more ''outdoor activies'' that require excersise rather than just looking at a board or a screen.

- Mountain climbing (kinda a tie with this one). Again, its your equipment that basically do all the work. Sports shouldn't use that many equipment if you ask me, like with fishing.

Having a hard time to see curling and golf as sports aswell, those are really close ones.

[anyaka21]

No there isnt their speed does not affect your speed. "Pusing you to excel" is one of the dumbest things Ive heard you run your fastest thats your job, they are not effecting you, "mental games" is not a direct competition as you could claim that for just about any facet of life. Nobody is asking you to like the rule but in my mind running around for a short period is not a sport. I can have people do wheelbarrow races competitively too, the rest of the world can sit here and call it a sport and Id just call it a joke

clearly you have no idea what you are talking about. For example, in swimming, the waves that someone else creates affects your water, thus affecting your race. Even more so on the turn where there is a large wake.

And even in terms of track and field, apparently you've never had someone push you to get better. Sure in that way it is solo, but people push you to be better. You fight for every inch to stay in the lead or to catch up.

Going back to swimming, Remember those 2 races 4 years ago, the one Phelps won by .01 seconds. He fought to catch up. Because that guy was ahead of him, he worked that much harder. Same with the relay where the US was down by about a length going into the final swimmer. He had to bust balls to catch up.

I still make that statement and stick by it, your rule #2 sucks. Besides, your rule number 2 clearly doesn't matter in the world of sports anyways, the Olympics clearly thinks of races like that as sport. So, you can post all you want, but clearly you don't have the ear of the International Olympic Committee and we are all glad of it.

[apepi]

I find this relative.

[Deleted]

It really comes down to wether you are classing the activity as proffesional or recreational.

[Asics]

I'd like to say that the World Series of Poker does not belong on ESPN. Might as well play E-Sports and get more viewers.

[Giants41]

Don't hate on American Football. The people playing it are well aware of the dangers. It's a sport.

[sentryofjustice]

Bowling.. That should not be a sport. I don't understand.

[Supernex]

My sport will choke out your sport: Jiu Jitsu.

------
"Boxing is a more sophisticated form of hockey."

[Zoma]

Motorsports and e-sports.

I won't deny that they require mental and physical skills, but I just can't think of them as sports. Attempting to do so makes me physically ill (though that could just be something I ate).

[muto]

Anything you can play competitively while smoking a cigarette. [Curling, pool, bowling, etc]

Bowling is actually pretty physically demanding after about 3 games your wrists start to ache, and sometimes you can get blisters on your thumbs, this is assuming of course that you are putting a curve on the ball, and not throwing it straight.

For me I would say anything involving a motor vehicle. NASCAR, Drag Racing, etc...

[Wildtree]

I'd like to say that the World Series of Poker does not belong on ESPN. Might as well play E-Sports and get more viewers.

Of all the things people claimed here that shouldn't be a sport, I totally disagree for most of them.. They are a sport. be it physical or mental...

But card games are not a sport.. No friggen way...

[vep]

Curling, Golf, Horse Racing, Darts.. All the ones what don't actually require physical exercise.

My dear friend: you have no idea how much physical exercise it takes for horse racing. Maybe not for the gallop races, but those require different exercises for the horse. But for endurance races, for example, (which are not that widespread) it takes a lot of physical condition to go 100 kilometers on a horse. Try riding just for an hour and you'll see.

FYI: I used to ride horses so I know what it's like.