I say no, no, no, and no. Sure there is a certain amount of skill in each activity, but there is a certain amount of skill in peeing my name into a snow drift - but I have yet to sign a lucrative contract for my snow peeing skills. I wonder if there are such organized events in Minnesota ... or maybe Canada? I should check into that. I imagine that would be a somewhat male dominated sport, but you never know, there might be some very nimble female competitors.
Bowling is the process of rolling a black ball of about 15 or 16 pounds in weight at some stationary wooden pins, although the ball doesn't necessarily have to be black. Knock all the pins over and you get a strike, but if you don't knock all those pins down have no fear, we'll send your 16 pound ball back to you and you get another roll at those pins still standing. You need only be capable of walking from your seat (and alcoholic beverage of your choice) to the place where your ball awaits you.
Just so you're official, we'll make you wear these 50's style wingtip shoes while you're present at the ball rolling place.
That's not a sport, that's Happy Hour. I enjoy bowling, but I can't in good conscience label my drunken times at the local bowling alley as "sporting events".
Bass Fishing is (as the name fittingly suggests) fishing for bass. Again, you're required to perform very little movement on your own. Simply motor your boat to a nice secluded spot on the lake, river, pond, fjord, ocean, or whatever body of water you happen to be inhabiting, and put the little metal hook in the water, and .... wait. At that point it's sort of basically up to the fish to do the rest of the work, although you will be required to turn the little #### on your fishing pole to bring a fish in. As with bowling, you may partake of your alcoholic beverage of choice while you wait, and it helps to have a radio so you can listen to actual sporting events as they happen. Be aware that there are Boat Cops lurking out there, so know when to say when, or have a designated boat driver with you. Just ask Cedric Benson. A three hour tour?
That's not a sport, that's a prelude to Gilligan's Island or something out of Deliverance. I also enjoy fishing, but again that's just an excuse to drink too many cold beers, it's not a sporting event.
Ping Pong is an Olympic sport?! Who decided that? I bet it can be traced back to the Chinese. After all, they even name themselves Ping and Pong and Hu. They possess a cultural advantage to excel at Ping Pong, but I doubt very seriously we can consider smacking that little white wiffleball around a green table as a sporting event. I understand that there is some hand/eye coordination involved, and I'll admit that's respectable. But let's be honest there's quite a bit of hand/eye coordination involved with swatting a fly as well, isn't there? And masquerading Ping Pong as "Table Tennis" isn't fooling anyone.
That's not a sport, that's recess in junior high school during the winter months. I haven't played Ping Pong in many years, but I suspect that I could pretty much pick up the game right where I left off.
Golf comes dangerously close to a leisure game as well, but I'll let golf slide because there is alot of walking involved - at least there is movement. On the downside, whatever sporting benefits golf gains from having Tiger Woods as an athlete/competitior, those benefits are canceled out by the exploits of John Daly. Golf is on the fine line between sport and not-a-sport.
Badminton? If badminton is a sport then should Lawn Darts or Horseshoes also be considered sports? It's a conundrum, for sure. Where do we draw that line? How about dog racing? Or horse racing for that matter? Must the athletes be human for it to be considered a sport? I'm not sure.
Is hunting a sport? Once upon a time it was about survival, but not so much anymore. If we do it just because we can, is that considered a sport?
Professional wrestling? Hahah, I kinda laughed a little as I typed that. If pro wrestling is a sport then so is body building and/or teaching a 5th grade class.
Lastly, we come to billiards, or pool as you and I commonly call it. That's not a sport, that's a Friday Night at the local bar. Pool is marbles for adults, with sticks, and beers, and loud music. And it's great.
I'm a mechanical engineer and sci-fi geek by nature, and I love sports. Once upon a time I played some sports and was pretty good at them, but somewhere along the line I found I could actually make good money in the engineering business. So now I will write about sports and my goofy thoughts about them. Somewhere in these ramblings there might be some value for someone. I'm not sure.
