All-Sports Widow

Sport or Not-A-Sport?

January 21, 2008 8:41 AM | 0 Comments

I rarely (once or twice a year) read the sports section of the local newspaper. However, I couldn’t help myself last week. The headline of the Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper (1.17.2008) sports section posed the question: Sport Or-Not-A-Sport? What defines a sport? Like a ping-pong match, the debate goes back and forth by David Andriesen (P-I Reporter).
David Andriesen attempts to provide a definitive answer the question: “What’s the definition of sport?” Until I read his story I had no idea that “taking nested stacks of plastic cups and arranging them into pyramids and back again” had been declared a sport. “Cup Stacking” was officially renamed to “Sport Stacking” in 2005 by the World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA). In fact, cup stacking has become a must-see-event on YouTube (there are more than 1,000 videos posted). And you can compete in the World Sports Stacking Championship in Denver on April 3 and 4, 2008.

So What’s the Definition of Sport?

Andriesen interviewed Rodney Fort, professor of sport management at the University of Michigan, to get an academic definition of sport. According to Professor Fort, the definition must include three parameters:
• Must use a “large motor skill”
• Must have an objective scoring system
• Must use nothing, more complicated than a “simple machine,” such as a baseball bat, vaulting pole or golf club.

However, there are a number of other definitions of sport (depending on who you ask). According to Wikipedia : Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as “mind sports” and “motor sports” where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.

So does that mean that darts and billiards are sports? What about poker, Wii, X-Games, bull riding, fishing, ballroom dancing, synchronized swimming, cheerleading and ping-pong?

If it’s on ESPN or Fox Sports is it a sport?

If it's on ESPN and/or Fox Sports it must be a sport. You and/or your sports fan can now watch sport stacking on cable TV, along with other fringe sports including competitive eating, cheerleading, poker, arm wrestling, ballroom dancing, bass fishing, and ping-pong.

If you have an opinion about the definition of “sport” drop me a note. And if you are a Sports Stacking Widow or you know one…please share your story. The positive things I can say about this sport are that it's generally quiet and doesn't require a hefty financial investment. Got to dash, because I need to stack dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Hey, is that a sport?

The Sports Widow
(aka Nan Hall)

Coming soon: Free Sports Widow Tattoos