It appears that my own personal idea of exactly what a "sport" entails is not exactly the most popular one.

Last night at a birthday dinner for a friend, I was surrounded by one male co-worker, the birthday girl, and 3 of her birthday girlfriends when I slipped up and said that figure skating was not a sport. One of the 3 birthday girlfriends happened to be a 14-year figure skater.

Oops.

While I still think my argument is very much a valid one, I'll proceed to break down in further detail the rules of what I consider is and is not a sport.

NOTE: It is important to start off by saying that what I consider a "sport" and what I consider an "artistic athletic competition" are absolutely on the same level. I just believe they should be in different categories. Just because I don't consider figure skating a sport, that doesn't mean it is "lower" than golf, for instance.

Sports:
1. Points are determined by black and white measures. You either did or you didn't score. Granted, there is usually a human official determining whether or not you crossed the plate, but the act of getting a score is determined by a measure that is black or white.

2. Sports can never include "style" or a "program." It should never matter how pretty or ugly you did something as long as you did it.

Examples: Football, Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Bowling, Darts, etc.

Artistic Athletic Competitions:
1. Humans play a crucial factor in determining scores. You might have "stuck the landing" perfectly, but according to this judge, you didn't. Everyone else saw it, including the two other judges, but this judge believes you twitched somewhat and gave you a 9 instead, thus costing you the win.

2. There must be some type of dramatic element involved in the process. You must dance, dress, or act a certain way to increase your chances of winning. Music is usually involved and so is a certain amount of acting or other form of artistic influence. You may have a certain number of jumps, flips, dives, and dashes that you must do. However, you cannot just go out, do them, and leave. You have to add some type of artistic element to make your performance stick out to the judges.

Examples: Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Marching Band, Figure Skating, etc.



There ya go. The only other competition I can't seem to place is boxing. With the judges making decisions as to who boxes better than the other, I just can't seem to put it in the category and feel good about it.

Again, just because I think something is not a sport, THAT DOES NOT MEAN I THINK IT IS LOWER THAN WHAT I CONSIDER A SPORT. As soon as I get that through people's heads, I believe they'll stop thinking of me as such a pig and more of a person that likes to have a little organization in life. Is it such a bad thing to no longer want to see bumper stickers saying that "Marching Band is a Sport?" There would be no need for such "campaigning" if we just a little order in this world.

There you go. Hate me all you want.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.