Commentary: That’s absurd, golf isn’t a sport
Friday, July 27, 2007
By ANDREW GOODMAN
www.njherald.com
A sport is defined as an athletic activity where one competitor or a team of competitors plays against another competitor or group of competitors.
There must be a conclusive method of scoring, meaning a competitor’s score cannot be determined by a judge.
Therefore, figure skating, gymnastics and snow boarding are not sports because a judge is in control.
Track and field is a sport because the skills involved are of an athletic nature and the competitors are in control of their time on the track and marks in the field.
Golf, however, is not a sport.
It takes no athletic ability to hit a golf ball. Although it is a unique skill to have Tiger Woods’ ability, there is nothing athletic about standing still and swinging a club at a ball that is also standing still.
…Baseball doesn’t require as much athleticism, but almost all baseball players are athletes. Even San Diego Padres pitcher David Wells — known for having a body like comedian Kevin James instead of NBA superstar LeBron James — has some athletic ability. When he has to field his position, he can because he is an athlete.
The average golfer doesn’t have the imposing physical stature of an athlete like Peyton Manning or Alex Rodriguez. John Daly or Colin Montgomerie don’t intimidate. Even Tiger, who is the world’s best golfer and would probably be considered one of the most athletic golfers, has nothing physically on the top athletes in other sports.
…But realize this the next time you go golfing: What you are doing is competing in a non-athletic activity, like poker or chess. Leave the sports to athletes like Derek Jeter and Jason Kidd.
Here is the full article.
I strongly believe that intellectual games such as chess, checkers, GO, backgammon, and poker are sports.
I think this is especially true with chess and checkers.
Poker and chess are not sports!
If you go that way, you can also say collecting stamps and breeding pigeons are sports!?
there can be two types of sports..atheletic and non atheletic. Atheletics are the ones with physical efforts. all others are non-atheletics
Poker and Backgammon aren’t sports because they depend on luck.
“there can be two types of sports..atheletic and non atheletic. Atheletics are the ones with physical efforts. all others are non-atheletics”
Well… in that case EVERYTHING is sport!! From making dinner to shopping to going to school/work. It’s all sport. Getting a bit ridiculous….
poker and backgammon are not sports because of the money involved. It is however a game.
Chess is a sport if I have a sportsman’s attitude toward my game.
“There must be a conclusive method of scoring, meaning a competitor’s score cannot be determined by a judge.”
Obligatory joke — so does this mean that basketball is not a sport?
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As far as I can see, this question is important only as far as sponsorship or news coverage goes.
Wikipedia gives the following rather fair description of what ‘sports’ is: “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.”
Founded in Paris on 20 July 1924, the World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs, known as FIDE from its French acronym) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the supreme body, responsible for the organization of chess and its championships at global and continental levels. Following its recognition as an International Organization in 1989, FIDE was recognized by the IOC in June 1999 as an International Sports Federation.
the word sport is not synonymous with competition, it is a sub-category with athleticism being a key distinction. I think people become offended when told games like chess or poker are not sport, because they feel its a slam at the legitimacy of the activity. Not so. Embrace your game for what it is, not what it isn’t.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports
Includes Chess and Chess Boxing.
Checkers and chess are considered a sport in several school districts in California. Both the American Checker Federation and the U.S. Chess Federation consider themeselves as representatives of a sport.
Both chess and checkers are based not on luck but tactics, strategy, and logic. They both help children become better at critical thinking and reasoning skills.
If you don’t think their sports, that’s fine. But do you also believe the earth is square and no person ever went to the moon? You can “believe” anything, but “belief” is not the same as the “truth.” The truth is that both chess and checkers are sports.
Tiger Woods can bench press 300 lbs.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=2657381
If you look at baseball and football players, they have muscular bodies. So to say that baseball doesn’t require athleticism seems a bit odd because – are you saying is it a coincidence that all baseball players happen to be athletic?
Picking on Tiger Woods or picking on baseball makes the article seem like it was written by a hack.
Gymnastics I can agree with, but keep in mind that gymnysts are lean muscular and require great muscle control and dexterity.
It is a stupid article.Golf is definitely a sport as much as tennis or any other. You have to have some athletic ability to swing a club. With chess maybe it’s a little different… you could call out the moves, which would take a jump of perspective to call athleticism. Maybe since you can do it with an extremely small amount of movement it can’t be defined as “athleticism” or as a sport.. but golf most definitely is!!! In the first two paragraphs he explained it well, and I think chess is a sport. If golf isn’t a sport then is curling a sport? Is bowling a sport? It’s silly to say it’s not a sport with THAT argument, and for what it’s worth I don’t care in any way for golf. I have to say I don’t like this article.
Susan, please don’t allow any more garbage like this article to comprimise the integrity of your site. Of course golf is a sport, gymnastics is a sport… “Cannot be determined by a judge” lol what a moron, so boxing is not a sport… Sheer idiocy!
anon 12:03 wrote:
{there can be two types of sports..atheletic and non atheletic.}
The two types are really (A1) analog, and (A2) digital.
– – – – –
Another bifurcation is (B1) interactive, and (B2) non-interactive.
By interactive I mean the two competitors affect each other directly.
Golf and bowling are non-interactive analog sports.
Chess is an interactive digital sport.
– – – – –
I do not feel that poker and backgammon are sports, because they include luck.
GeneM
Without judging the issue, here are a couple of data points on this question.
1. Here is a perspective from a sports historian.
2. For administrative purposes, the Chicago Public Schools classify chess as a sport and manage it their sports department. Not that they’re the experts, of course.
3. Hasn’t the New York Times changed where they place their chess column over the years, sometimes putting it in the sports section, sometimes not? If so what does this mean? That they’re confused?
4. Today the Chicago Reader published this chess story — in their sports section.
So, is chess a sport? I dunno.
I get sick when I heat people calling fishing a sport.
The writer quoted in the article is either limited in imagination or deliberately trying to stir up discussion – sort of like flamers do on the internet by posting “xxx stinks” and sure enough all of the fans of xxx rise to the bait.
The concept which unifies all of these activities (the usual team sports, individual sports and intellectual games) is that to succeed reguires the mind and body to be disciplined and trained. None of these activities can be conducted at a high level without some sort of training or preparation and experience and skill all are favored.
The great footballers (World and American) aren’t just quick, fast, and strong but also skillful – skills acquired through practice and training which honed their natural abilities. Why should it be hard therefore to accept that one could do the same with the mind?
Susan:
I’m an expert sportsman and believe me, this guy does not know a darn thing about sports. Please, oh please! next time this guy makes a comment in your blog…slap him in the hand!
If golf is not a sport, “no athletic activity of hit a golf ball”, then why are there allegations (collected and voiced by Gary Player) of golfers using steroids?
The author is very keen in his observation. I also feel that Baseball and Golf fall in the same gray area as Chess. The rampant use of Steroids and emphasis on physical conditioning cannot fudge Baseball tradition of Tobacco chewing and all the idle time sitting around
Tiger leisure walks to the next hole instead of riding his golf cart does not suddenly turns Golf into a sport either. I will certainly pick up Golf once old age starts breaking down my body.