Hopster
06-30-2003, 12:35 AM
Below is a column from the Las Vegas Review Journal. All the words are the writers, take what you will from it.
Hopster
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Joe Hawk
Games people play outside sports' realm
Undoubtedly, you've seen the bumper stickers.
You know, the ones with the double entendres about what type of "equipment" it takes to play a certain sport? They're generally harmless -- considering some of the outright obscene things you hear in movies and music today -- and, what-the-hey, when a little creativity is put into their phrasing, these tailpipe ticklers can be good for a chuckle.
The other day, I saw one for billiards on the back of a dented, late-'70s pickup -- suffice it to say it had to do with one of the properties of a good cue stick -- that led me to think:
What is the difference between a sport and a game?
As a teenager, I had a pool table. I played on it almost every day for three years, and I became fairly skilled in eight-ball and rotation. I was no Minnesota Fats; more like Oregon Tubby. Yet, I was feared in my neighborhood.
But was I an athlete? Was this truly "sport" -- anymore than the sport I got from taking my buddies' after-school burger-and-fries money?
Of course not.
Still, those who compete in billiards at the professional level see their activity as sport. As do those who compete in darts. And those who compete on skateboards.
I cite these examples because this week all three are holding events here, all while continuing to seek credibility from those who follow mainstream sports.
Today, it's the finals of the $250,000 Boost Mobile Pro of Skateboarding being held at the Hard Rock. Tuesday through July 6, the $120,000 Las Vegas Desert Classic II Darts Championship will be contested in the MGM Grand Conference Center. And Wednesday night, the Billiard Congress of America will stage a come-one, come-all Challenge the Stars benefit for the Billiard Education Foundation inside the Sands Convention Center.
What's a sports columnist to do? Risk becoming a games columnist by covering one or more of the three?
If you go by the most liberal definition of "sport" as provided by Webster's -- "an activity, when competitive, requiring more or less vigorous bodily exertion and carried on, sometimes as a profession, according to some traditional form or set of rules" -- skateboarding would qualify, but billiards or darts, by lack of even "or less vigorous bodily exertion" wouldn't.
However, if you check with the International Olympic Committee, which should have set standards, billiards somehow qualifies but skateboarding and darts do not. Then again, while not sanctioning the following, the IOC does recognize as sports: ice dancing, kite-surfing, mountaineering, paintball, roller skating, tug of war, Ultimate Frisbee and competitive life-saving.
The esteemed organization also considers korfball, orienteering and wushu, whatever they may be, as sports, as well as -- count to 10 before screaming -- bridge and chess! ... Eight, nine, 10!
So much for "vigorous bodily exertion."
If we can't get a precise definition from the dictionary or the IOC on what level of physical activity qualifies as "sport," let us turn to that great American arbiter, ESPN. The vaunted cable network has televised billiards and skateboarding over recent years, mostly on ESPN2. But much to the chagrin of darters worldwide, not one leg, let alone match, of their "sport."
Apparently, ESPN officials, whose network also proudly carries the finals of the annual National Spelling Bee every May, are "pococurante" when it comes to darts. ("Pococurante," the winning word in this year's bee, means "caring little.")
Darts has made some progress, however, with Fox Sports stepping up to the "oche" (pronounced OCK-ee) -- the line from which darters throw -- and televising portions of Desert Classic II, beginning Thursday and running through the finals July 6.
Note, that's Fox Sports!
Perhaps the best definition of what separates sport from game is one provided by a close friend: If you can successfully compete while holding a beer in your hand or a cigarette in your mouth, it's a game.
That would seemingly draw the line between bowling (sport) and billiards (game). Our apologies, too, to those who compete in darts.
Still, I can see their double-entendre bumper sticker now: "Darters aim to please!"
Joe Hawk's column is published Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 387-2912 or jhawk@reviewjournal.com.
Hopster
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Joe Hawk
Games people play outside sports' realm
Undoubtedly, you've seen the bumper stickers.
You know, the ones with the double entendres about what type of "equipment" it takes to play a certain sport? They're generally harmless -- considering some of the outright obscene things you hear in movies and music today -- and, what-the-hey, when a little creativity is put into their phrasing, these tailpipe ticklers can be good for a chuckle.
The other day, I saw one for billiards on the back of a dented, late-'70s pickup -- suffice it to say it had to do with one of the properties of a good cue stick -- that led me to think:
What is the difference between a sport and a game?
As a teenager, I had a pool table. I played on it almost every day for three years, and I became fairly skilled in eight-ball and rotation. I was no Minnesota Fats; more like Oregon Tubby. Yet, I was feared in my neighborhood.
But was I an athlete? Was this truly "sport" -- anymore than the sport I got from taking my buddies' after-school burger-and-fries money?
Of course not.
Still, those who compete in billiards at the professional level see their activity as sport. As do those who compete in darts. And those who compete on skateboards.
I cite these examples because this week all three are holding events here, all while continuing to seek credibility from those who follow mainstream sports.
Today, it's the finals of the $250,000 Boost Mobile Pro of Skateboarding being held at the Hard Rock. Tuesday through July 6, the $120,000 Las Vegas Desert Classic II Darts Championship will be contested in the MGM Grand Conference Center. And Wednesday night, the Billiard Congress of America will stage a come-one, come-all Challenge the Stars benefit for the Billiard Education Foundation inside the Sands Convention Center.
What's a sports columnist to do? Risk becoming a games columnist by covering one or more of the three?
If you go by the most liberal definition of "sport" as provided by Webster's -- "an activity, when competitive, requiring more or less vigorous bodily exertion and carried on, sometimes as a profession, according to some traditional form or set of rules" -- skateboarding would qualify, but billiards or darts, by lack of even "or less vigorous bodily exertion" wouldn't.
However, if you check with the International Olympic Committee, which should have set standards, billiards somehow qualifies but skateboarding and darts do not. Then again, while not sanctioning the following, the IOC does recognize as sports: ice dancing, kite-surfing, mountaineering, paintball, roller skating, tug of war, Ultimate Frisbee and competitive life-saving.
The esteemed organization also considers korfball, orienteering and wushu, whatever they may be, as sports, as well as -- count to 10 before screaming -- bridge and chess! ... Eight, nine, 10!
So much for "vigorous bodily exertion."
If we can't get a precise definition from the dictionary or the IOC on what level of physical activity qualifies as "sport," let us turn to that great American arbiter, ESPN. The vaunted cable network has televised billiards and skateboarding over recent years, mostly on ESPN2. But much to the chagrin of darters worldwide, not one leg, let alone match, of their "sport."
Apparently, ESPN officials, whose network also proudly carries the finals of the annual National Spelling Bee every May, are "pococurante" when it comes to darts. ("Pococurante," the winning word in this year's bee, means "caring little.")
Darts has made some progress, however, with Fox Sports stepping up to the "oche" (pronounced OCK-ee) -- the line from which darters throw -- and televising portions of Desert Classic II, beginning Thursday and running through the finals July 6.
Note, that's Fox Sports!
Perhaps the best definition of what separates sport from game is one provided by a close friend: If you can successfully compete while holding a beer in your hand or a cigarette in your mouth, it's a game.
That would seemingly draw the line between bowling (sport) and billiards (game). Our apologies, too, to those who compete in darts.
Still, I can see their double-entendre bumper sticker now: "Darters aim to please!"
Joe Hawk's column is published Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 387-2912 or jhawk@reviewjournal.com.