Motor racing is "not a real sport".

[imdying]

Often it is a showcase of engineering skills, the equipment plays too heavy a role in the results.

Oops, we just cut swimming out in that case...

[Mystic13]

the actual link

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news...nes.cfm?c_id=4

Motorcycling is the ultimate sport. Every racer is a full on athlete and the best are super-fit. Their performance is based on their ability to adjust to an incredible amount of variables at high speed.

What puts them in a league of their own is the consequences of a mistake. If you miss a serve or a pass etc you lose nothing. Heck in tennis they give you two goes to get over the net.

Sports that should be banned at the olympics;

4x100 relay or any relay - it says we ain't good enough to win but if our country is big enough we can probably find 4 guys combined to win a gold.

Any team sport such as soccer, rugby, team gymnastics. Douubles tennis, table tennis etc. They all compromise on individual personal performance.

And what's with synchronised swimming. Some dad at the pool saw his daughter do a hand stand and voila.

How about synchronised running, synchronised high jump, synchronised boxing or synchronised javelin. Give me a break.

Synchronised motor bike riding I'd watch.

Motorcycle riders have skin in the game.

[bogan]

I would have to say that Motor racing is generally not what I would consider a sport. Often it is a showcase of engineering skills, the equipment plays too heavy a role in the results. Of course riders in competitions such as MotoGP have amazing levels of skill, but I personally believe that sport should be a competition between individuals or teams of people with the equipment playing a negligible role, not a competition between manufacturers, mechanics or engineers. A sport (at its pinnacle) should also require a high degree of athleticism from the participants, so that rules out Golf and Snooker as well. Perhaps I would count motorcycle trials or something similar as a sport, but I simply don't know enough about it.

does a sport have to be between humans though? Dog trials etc, greyhound racing, surely machines can get in on the action and still be called a sport. Any compeditive er competition can probably be called a sport to some degree.

[kave]

does a sport have to be between humans though? Dog trials etc, greyhound racing, surely machines can get in on the action and still be called a sport. Any compeditive er competition can probably be called a sport to some degree.

Personally I wouldn't count frog jumping as a sport, nor would I count horse racing or dog racing. I guess it is just my personal preference. When I was in Fiji I bet on crab races and I didn't really feel that what I was doing could be called placing a sports bet. As for any competition being a sport then you start allowing Chess, Monopoly and computer games to be called sport as well. I just feel that it cheapens the whole idea of sport.

[wysper]

So lets see then...

A sport needs a strong physical component.
No artistic merit scoring.
No subjective results.
A winner and losers.

By my definition Motor Racing makes it.

If you are not allowed machines or teams then almost every human endeavour is out. If you can't allow technology to come into it, then every racquet sport is out, ball sports are out (balls have evolved and gotten better through technology), sports with bats and sticks are out. Archery, Shooting, Fishing, Skiing - all out. Sports where athletes wear boots are out, rugby, soccer, sprinting etc. So nothing left then. Shit, sport just vanished. BUGGER.

[bogan]

i gotta wonder, does this question come up in other languages, or is it just english that has ambiguous terms. We have competition which describes anything with winners/losers, althetics, motor racing, etc terms which describe subset of competitions, is 'sport' just a superfluous word?

[ukusa]

So lets see then...

A sport needs a strong physical component.
No artistic merit scoring.
No subjective results.
A winner and losers.

By my definition Motor Racing makes it.

Generally I agree, but although the word motorsport seems to infer it is a sport, you don't actually need an athlete. You could in fact get a 50 kg weekling driving in a race. He may not be any good (as many motorsport drivers/racers need to build a little muscle for endurance & strength), however he could refer to himself as a sportsman.

Horse racing is deemed as a sport, is the jockey an athlete? (or is the horse?)

Is pie eating a sport (you get a winner & loser in the pie eating competitions!)

[Bass]

It's really very simple.
If it doesn't have a motor, then it's not a sport.
The end.

[ynot slow]

Only one true sprot I know of without a referee or judge,called Bullrush,but the mamby pamby's banned it from school grounds.

[McWild]

I was going to say that sport is anything that gets its own segment on Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, or ESPN.

Then I realised that they show Spelling Bees.



So how about we just call sport anything that can be broadcast within a pub without enraging the patrons?

[Hiflyer]

I was going to say that sport is anything that gets its own segment on Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, or ESPN.

Then I realised that they show Spelling Bees.



So how about we just call sport anything that can be broadcast within a pub without enraging the patrons?

Chess? haha,

I think there are the obvious ones like rugby while there are grey areas like chess....



if you are competing against someone its a sport isn't it?

[Fatjim]

A classic case of misquote and misrepresentation.

The Indians said F1 wasn't a sport in that it didn't fit their criteria for tax breaks. F1 doesn't encourage people to participate etc.

I'm sure SPARC would say the same thing if F1 came asking for a handout.


I think F1 is more of a sport than Golf, but thats not saying much.

[MacD]

Didn't Ernest Hemingway say, that Motor racing and Bullfighting were the only 2 true sports on the planet....?

Close, it is usually quoted as:
"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."

[High_Voltage]

so theyre saying motor racing also called motorsport isnt a sport? so why is the word sport in motorsport?

[Big Dave]

Dictionary
sport |spôrt|
noun
1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment : team sports such as baseball and soccer | [as adj. ] ( sports) a sports center.
• dated entertainment; fun : it was considered great sport to trip him up.
• archaic a source of amusement or entertainment : I do not wish to show myself the sport of a man like Williams.
2 informal a person who behaves in a good or specified way in response to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation : go on, be a sport! | Angela's a bad sport.
3 Biology an animal or plant showing abnormal or striking variation from the parent type, esp. in form or color, as a result of spontaneous mutation.
verb
1 [ trans. ] wear or display (a distinctive or noticeable item) : he was sporting a huge handlebar mustache.
2 [ intrans. ] amuse oneself or play in a lively, energetic way : the children sported in the water.
PHRASES
in sport for fun : I have assumed the name was given more or less in sport.
make sport of dated make fun of.
the sport of kings horse racing.
DERIVATIVES
sporter noun
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [pastime, entertainment] ): shortening of disport .

Thesaurus
sport
noun
1 we did a lot of sports (competitive) game(s), physical recreation, physical activity, physical exercise, athletics; pastime. See note at winter sports .
2 dated : they were rogues out for a bit of sport fun, pleasure, enjoyment, entertainment, amusement, diversion.
verb
he sported a beard wear, have on, dress in; display, exhibit, show off, flourish, parade, flaunt.