touching a catcher's back

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Boxing not a sport? Uh, yes it is. If it weren't, it would not be a Summer Olympic sport.

Poker, pro wrestling, not sports...I agree. No athleticism required to play cards, and pro wrestling has a fixed outcome, and includes a great deal of acting, which disqualifies it from "sport" status.

NASCAR, and other auto or motorcycle racing, while not traditional sports, require a high degree of athleticism. They all take tremendous physical training and talent, and the outcome of the event is not pre-determined. If racing were not a sport, they would not carry it on ESPN, or Wide World Of Sports, for that matter.

Ultimate Fighting requires so much athleticism that only the most physically fit can participate. It is very much a sport. Try it sometime if you don't believe that it is.

A ball or puck is not required to qualify as a sport.

Boxing is a contest, not a sport.

NASCAR, does require a high degree of athleticism, endurance, physical training, etc, however, it is not a sport. i did not say it was not difficult and physically demanding, just not a sport.

UFC is a contest that most certainly does require its participants to be in prime physical shape, it isn't however a sport, and not only have I tried it, but my job requires me to do it almost daily, however, I do it with a gun and my opponents are bad guys.

[LMan]

...but is touching a catcher's back a sport?

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

If racing were not a sport, they would not carry it on ESPN, or Wide World Of Sports, for that matter.

Equestrian events, ice skating, poker, lumberjack events, skateboarding, fishing, hunting, ballroom dancing, bowling, darts, motocross, drag racing, billiards, world's strongest man, paintball, horse racing, cheerleading.....all on ESPN, all entertaining (to someone).....none of them are sports.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I'm glad you have an opinion. Please respect the rights of others to have their own, ocifer.

[Tim C]

" . . . all on ESPN, all entertaining (to someone).....none of them are sports."


. . . that is precisely why ESPN stands for:

Entertainment & Sports Programming Network.

Even ESPN couldn't define "sport" because of discussion just like this one.

Regards,

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I'm glad you have an opinion. Please respect the rights of others to have their own, ocifer.

I merely gave my opinion, and pleaded my case, I don't remember disrespecting anyone's rights or inferring anyone's differing opinion is less valid or not as important as mine. I thought we were engaged in discussion and debate, my apologies if I have shown you disrespect.

[mbyron]

I dunno - according to one source, a sport is any "activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

Doesn't rule much out...

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by BigTex

I merely gave my opinion, and pleaded my case, I don't remember disrespecting anyone's rights or inferring anyone's differing opinion is less valid or not as important as mine. I thought we were engaged in discussion and debate, my apologies if I have shown you disrespect.

You have not shown any disrespect, and I do appreciate where your opinion is coming from. There are many activities that you named which are not sports, but in my opinion, you listed a few that actually qualify as sports.

Your beating up on bad guys for a living is not a sport, but I think if you got to do it in a ring, with a crowd, and a referee, it would be at least "sport," if not a sport.

[3appleshigh]

Tex, where is the line, when is it a sport rather than a contest, What makes Baseball a sport but boxing a contest??

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by 3appleshigh

Tex, where is the line, when is it a sport rather than a contest, What makes Baseball a sport but boxing a contest??

I guess the line is in my own head. What i said was 85% in jest, I guess I just wanted to stir things up now that it is the off-season. It is good to know that I can get SDS riled up if I need to. (SDS-I was trying to put a bee in your bonnet, in fun, not like PWL does.) I think this is where I should put a smiley, but I don't know how to do that.

[FVB9]

Brian, my perspective on this comes from a slightly different angle than what I've read here. I wouldn't want to give some paranoid parent a reason to tell the AD that I was touching his child. This is a weird society we live in, and unfortunately a lot of it is warranted. So to me, the touching of a catcher's back on every pitch is taboo at the HS level, but probably not so much at the Collegiate level, and definitely accepted at the pro level.

Couple this with it's inconsistent with what we've learned in terms of a locking mechanism. My words, for what they're worth.

[TussAgee11]

Originally Posted by BigTex

UFC--not a sport
Boxing--not a sport
Wrestling--not a sport
Poker--not a sport

and the big one:

NASCAR is not a sport

Careful about NASCAR. You're speaking to the biggest NASCAR fan ever Alot of the reason why people don't think something is a sport is because they know very little about it, and its requirements for success. Its more than just left hand turns and gas pedals.

Stepping off soapbox.

Don't touch catcher's backs.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

Careful about NASCAR. You're speaking to the biggest NASCAR fan ever Alot of the reason why people don't think something is a sport is because they know very little about it, and its requirements for success. Its more than just left hand turns and gas pedals.

Stepping off soapbox.

Don't touch catcher's backs.

Reminds me of one.....what has twenty legs and twenty teeth?


Ten NASCAR fans.

[TussAgee11]

2nd most watched SPORT in America, Garth... Funny joke, but not really true - most of the typical NASCAR fans you'd think of are disgraced by what it has become and don't watch anymore.

And only 13 of its 36 races are in the states that you think of as being "redneck".

Its everywhere, even New England. Did you know they run at Las Vegas, close to LA, Phoenix, Kansas City, Chicago, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire?

Also, lower series races have been run internationally.

This next year a Columbian driver will be running the whole schedule as well; its expanding internationally.

Anyhoo... I'm now done defending NASCAR to YA'LL

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

2nd most watched SPORT in America, Garth... Funny joke, but not really true - most of the typical NASCAR fans you'd think of are disgraced by what it has become and don't watch anymore.

And only 13 of its 36 races are in the states that you think of as being "redneck".

Its everywhere, even New England. Did you know they run at Las Vegas, close to LA, Phoenix, Kansas City, Chicago, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire?

Also, lower series races have been run internationally.

This next year a Columbian driver will be running the whole schedule as well; its expanding internationally.

Anyhoo... I'm now done defending NASCAR to YA'LL

Yeah, yeah, yeah and soccer is the number one international sport.

It means about as much.