tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post1011935430929440199..comments2024-03-18T05:15:30.666-04:00Comments on Foma*: A Good Sportyellojkthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09592683505688819187noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-46614152401838985452008-08-21T12:16:00.000-04:002008-08-21T12:16:00.000-04:00Thanks for putting together this list. I will use...Thanks for putting together this list. I will use it as a reference.<BR/><BR/>To the person who said that gymnastics is a beauty contest: It would be a talent contest by these rules, as would any olympic judged sport I can think of.<BR/><BR/>My personal pet peeve is the ski jump. Whoever jumps the farthest doesn't necessarily win, as there are judged points for form. It is so utterly ridiculous.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00961730330848873802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-37474702218485032412008-08-11T22:00:00.000-04:002008-08-11T22:00:00.000-04:00Once in a while my husband will make fun of me for...Once in a while my husband will make fun of me for being a pom pon girl. I'll tell him to "knock it off, it's a sport!!" I guess I shouldn't let him read your definitions!<BR/>:)Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06544076384942487436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-2791719607476127472008-08-11T17:49:00.000-04:002008-08-11T17:49:00.000-04:00The important thing here is thank God for women's ...The important thing here is thank God for women's beach volleyball as an Olympic sport...Ed & Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00730956006290504616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-59255162042825605012008-08-11T12:26:00.000-04:002008-08-11T12:26:00.000-04:00I agree with 2fs about gynastics. It's abosolutely...I agree with 2fs about gynastics. It's abosolutely a sport, and one with pretty strict judging. I know that some events (floor exercises, for example) involve music, but the music always seems like an afterthought, and the gynastics are hardly moving in time to the music.<BR/><BR/>I watched synchronized diving yesterday (and it was awesome!). Is that a sport?Cedarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11828779727874213014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-11296057093336507282008-08-10T22:57:00.000-04:002008-08-10T22:57:00.000-04:00Agility dogs are athletes. Show dogs are, well, sh...Agility dogs are athletes. Show dogs are, well, show dogs.yellojkthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09592683505688819187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-69847780894915062752008-08-10T17:15:00.000-04:002008-08-10T17:15:00.000-04:00How about agility competitions where a person and ...How about agility competitions where a person and their dog run through a certain obstical course. They have to run the course in a certain order and the dog with the best time and most points wins. What do you think?Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06544076384942487436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-1716627354317315562008-08-10T09:29:00.000-04:002008-08-10T09:29:00.000-04:00As promised, here are the authoritative answers:Da...As promised, here are the authoritative answers:<BR/><BR/>Darts and billiards: They fail the caloric intake test. Not nearly athletic enough to jump from Game to Sport. Of the two, I'd have to give the edge to billiards since, like cheerleading, whenever it is on ESPN that is my clue that real sports is on some other network at that moment.<BR/><BR/>Boxing: Watching two guys try to inflict concussions on each other has its own moral quandaries without delving into how the scoring makes the 'sport' more fixed than it already is.<BR/><BR/>Competitive eating, by definition, fails the caloric intake test.<BR/><BR/>I'm going to have to search my photo archives for my one foray into beach volleyball, which is a sport, albeit a massively prurient one.<BR/><BR/>That NYT op/ed piece pulls no punches whatsoever. PETA protests horse racing as cruel and unusual, but has nothing to say about gymnastics?yellojkthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09592683505688819187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-43185212450074790252008-08-09T23:37:00.000-04:002008-08-09T23:37:00.000-04:00I think your categories are pretty much sufficient...I think your categories are pretty much sufficient. The last one (as you intuit) is controversial, since gymnastics (no matter how <A HREF="http://tinyurl.com/6jm968" REL="nofollow">obscenely abusive its training regimen</A>) quite clearly is something more than merely a subjective "beauty contest." <BR/><BR/>Another problem is when things that actually are sports move closer to performing arts, talent contests, or merely entertainment by taking on the characteristics of those fields. Volleyball is clearly a sport...but when the sponsors of women's volleyball encourage its competitors to wear tiny bikinis, that clearly is happening for reasons that have little to do with athleticism (except insofar as a lithe ass might be described as "athletic"). <BR/><BR/>Sheer coincidence that I'm echoing my last two blog entries here, right?2fshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17813487704459856169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-59675790108245203712008-08-09T13:42:00.000-04:002008-08-09T13:42:00.000-04:00How about hot dog eating or beer chugging?How about hot dog eating or beer chugging?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-16618077464573971302008-08-09T13:15:00.000-04:002008-08-09T13:15:00.000-04:00Hmmm, you know, by that last rule, any boxing matc...Hmmm, you know, by that last rule, any boxing match which does not end with a KO or one side throwing in the towel is not a sport. Also, a lot of those events like gymnastics and figure skating are not quite as subjective as it often appears. They actually do have very strict criteria for judging how well a given maneuver is performed, and often the artistic bit is all the audience at home sees, even though it is only a small part of the total score. Not that there isn't subjectivity involved (even in scoring boxing), else we wouldn't have the "East German judge" meme.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-52297953414607549422008-08-09T10:39:00.000-04:002008-08-09T10:39:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04528549821608330424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11920826.post-11747262755455180462008-08-09T09:57:00.000-04:002008-08-09T09:57:00.000-04:00darts?billiards?How about life-sized chess like th...darts?<BR/><BR/>billiards?<BR/><BR/>How about life-sized chess like they have at renaissance festivals--I think there is actual or mock combat involved, not sure if the outcome of the combat is predetermined by the rules of the game.<BR/><BR/>How about a version of poker where instead of chips you bet pushups or laps around the track, and the winner is the last one standing?<BR/><BR/>--KarenRead/Think/Livehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09946730359021209276noreply@blogger.com