On the way to Atlanta to cover the Southeastern Conference Championship game in early December, I had a very interesting and heated conversation with the four other people riding in the car with me.
After all, the trip took about eight hours, so we had a lot of time to kill. What better than a good ole’ drag em’out argument to pass the time?
The raucous revolved around what I thought was a sport and what wasn’t.
Of course, with girls in the car, dancing competitively had to be considered a sport, although I have my doubts about that.
But my argument is as follows: For something to be considered a sport, in order for it to be played at the highest level, the athlete had to be born with the talent. It has to be natural — not forced.
Obviously, a professional athlete can get better through practicing, but if you don’t have it when you’re born, you’re not going to get paid for it when you get older.
For example — basketball. There are some people who could pick up a roundball in their infantile stages, practice five hours a day and not even be able to make their school’s seventh grade team. They just don’t have it.
But there are some things that everybody could be good at, as long as they practice religiously for hours a day. And unfortunately, they are considered a sport in mainstream society.
And remember this — just because it involves competition does not make it a sport. Need an example? ESPN airs a spelling bee every year, and it involves competition.
Here is a small non-sports list:
NASCAR: This one will probably get me in the most trouble, but driving a car around a circle, no matter how fast you’re going, cannot be considered a sport.
Yes, I realize it gets hot in the car and I realize races are a test of endurance, but if you put me in a mini-stock car when I’m three and make it my life for my whole childhood, I think I could drive professionally one day.
Race car drivers are not born with a skill, but they are brainwashed to think they are the best athletes in the world by mom and pop. What a joke!
Pool: Some people think pool is a sport because it is on ESPN. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Knocking around some ceramic balls with a wooden stick doesn’t mean you’re an athlete. If I played pool every day for one year straight, I think I’d be pretty darn good.
Just think if I played my whole life. We’ll consider pool a hobby.
Cheerleading: I appreciate cheerleaders. I really do. They get the crowd loud and give us something to look at.
But it does not constitute being called a sport.
Now the male cheerleaders are all very strong and agile, but I wouldn’t necessarily call them athletes. And while most of them are proficient at gymnastics, I just don’t think cheerleading is a natural ability.
Now I struggled with golf, because as Max Kellerman of ESPN pointed out, if a 14-year old girl can compete with the best men in the world, I have trouble calling it a sport.
But there is no doubt Tiger Woods was born with a special ability to play golf, and he makes a little bit of cheddar doing it.