This should go over well.
With the return of regular season football coming a week from today, as well as the returns of hockey and basketball on the near horizon, baseball can finally rest after nobly carrying the sports world through the dog days of summer. With postseason baseball and the arrival of the sports artillery in the upcoming days, we’re in good shape.
With all these sports on the way, it got me thinking about what I like about these sports, and what makes a sport a sport. Then I thought: what things are considered sports that I might not agree with.
Before I begin, I will address what many of you might be thinking: What gives Jack from A2Z Sports (me) the right to decide what is and isn’t a sport? Who made that admittedly very handsome and hunky blogger (aw shucks, thanks imaginary critic) the foremost authority on the categorization of athletic competition? Why would that outstandingly brilliant man (okay, that’s enough) feel the need to seemingly degrade activities to below sport-level?
In all seriousness, I mean no personal offense to any of the athletes – yes, athletes – of what I will deem to not be sports. I will come out and say that I am not able to do what these people do anywhere near the level that they compete at. I just see these activities as lacking in the components of what makes a sport a sport. I cannot stress enough that this is just my opinion (although that may hold some serious weight as a blogger for the trustworthy and thought-provoking sports media outlet known as A2Z Sports).
I’ll do it in two categories.
Non-Athletic
This one is pretty easy to explain. While these games may feature the competition of sports, there’s simply nothing athletic going on. I don’t think these will be at all controversial, but I have heard them referred to as sports and seen at least one of the two on ESPN, so I’ll make my opinion known.
I’m referring to chess and poker here. These are mentally challenging games with real strategy and competition, with objective ways to measure victors (checkmate/money), but they’re simply not sports. They require no physical skill, therefore they don’t count. They’re still cool, though.
Not sports, but electric nonetheless.
I’d like to point out that motorsports and hunting/fishing are not included here. Although the physical performance is highly dependent on the machines and gear being used, there’s still a ton of precision, endurance, reaction time, and strength required to succeed at the highest level. There is also a defined and measurable winner of the competition (race winner, biggest fish/game), which brings me to my other sport-disqualifier.
Subjective Competition
Here’s where people might get mad. If the scoring system is decided strictly by judges with no way to truly get an objective victory, I don’t think it’s really a sport. I’m sure that there are technicalities in these judging that I’m not privy to, but as far as I’m concerned, if people (judges) just get to pick the winner, it’s not true sporting competition.
Shut your mouth about umpires and referees in major sports being able to subjectively influence a game. You’re being pedantic and you know it. I know there’s some truth behind it, but there are still ways to win these games beyond that influence. If you’re already making that argument without having even seen the sports I’m saying yet, deep down you understand what I’m saying, and you know I’m at least partially right.
Alright, here it is. Dance is not a sport. Cheerleading is not a sport. Gymnastics (floor routine in particular but the whole thing really) is not a sport (I’m so sorry Livvy Dunne, please forgive me, I would never question your talent). Half-pipe snowboarding is not a sport. Figure skating is not a sport. Cheerleading is not a sport; I know I already said that but I know I needed to say it again to really get the point across. Bodybuilding is not a sport. I could go on, but you get the picture.
Quite frankly, these activities have winners that are defined by the same process seen in beauty pageants and teenage boys’ hot girl power rankings. It’s basically judges saying which display they liked better. I know there’s nuance and technicalities to the judging process, and often it’s easy to tell who should win, but it boils down to appeasing a person or group of people to come out on top. This is blatantly subjective and, again, not really true sporting competition.
I’ll take a moment now to share some cool highlights from the above games, because I do believe they can still be amazing displays of performance.
If you disagree with anything I said here, feel free to sound off in the comments or tweet at us @A2ZSportsTakes. We enjoy hearing inputs, even though we’re confident in our takes. That’s why we run the blog, baby.
I will once again stress two things:
- I enjoy watching some of these things from time to time. The level of performance can truly be incredible, and the athletes perform feats with their body that I could not dream of doing. Just because I don’t think they’re really sports in a traditional sense doesn’t mean I can’t be impressed by them.
- Cheerleading is not a sport. Grow up.