I love the Summer Olympics.
I especially love watching gymnastics and the shooting sports.
But many of the Olympic events are simply not sports,
including gymnastics.
Sports don’t require judges to assign points. It’s really that simple. Gymnastics, synchronized swimming, ballroom
dancing, diving… All of these events are athletic. All require skill and talent. They are certainly contests and fun to
watch. But they are not sports.
A sport requires only that an objective be achieved. Style doesn’t count. Get the ball in the basket. Put an arrow in the 10-ring. Pin an opponent. Finish the race first. These are requirements of sports. No one judges the technique, only whether the
objective was met. Did the ball go
in? Yes?
Point awarded. There are no
subjective scores, no artistic value. Just
yes or no. Did you do it. Period.
I love the artistic athletic events. I just can’t call them sports. And since they are not sports, I question
whether they should be part of the Olympics.
I feel sorry for your kids.
ReplyDeleteThat is an extremely personal attack, Jennifer. Please justify your remark.
ReplyDeleteI believe I'm a pretty good father...
First off Rich we need to look at the definition of a "Sport" before hand right."SPORT:1. a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
ReplyDeleteb. A particular form of this activity. 2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. 3. An active pastime; recreation.". Now with looking at the definition does Gymnastics meet the requirments? YES it does, why you say. Because 1. it is a physical activity. 2. it has rules and customs ( I.E. form and technique)3. Participants compete against each other? why yes they do. So if it meets the definition of a sport it is a sport regardless of personal opions or not. Saying gymnaastics is not a sports is just the same as saying Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, and any other disciple of Martial arts is not a sport. Because what happens if you do not score the knockout or submission, it goes to the JUDGES scorecards. Bodybuilding its a sport and judge too.
Curtis, maybe we need a new definition of "sport" to put into Websters.
ReplyDeleteBy that definition, ballroom dancing really is a sport. So is DDR on the Wii.
Boxing and MMA are certainly sports. An arm bar isn't given a score for style. Either the arm was locked or it wasn't. A punch landed in a score zone or it didn't. Boxing judges don't award more points for a beautiful right cross. They only award one point, and only if it connects. The only subjective element of sport judging is that some judges see better than others.
If gymnastics were purely the execution of technique with no points awarded for style, I'd change my position on this. It's certainly athletic, and I love watching these athletes perform.
Rich, you are correct about the style of an armbar. But what does happen in these fight is there are judges that score the fighter on overall performance. Ring/Cage control, agressiveness, dominance, effective striking, being proactive when on the ground (not lay and pray), take downs, beaing able to stuff a take down. So now take all that in to consideration and apply it towards gymnastics difficulty score and execution score. The difficulty score evaluates the content of the exercise, and the execution score is the scoring for form, technique, execution and landing. So to me it looks like competitors are being judged on technique
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of that. Traditional MA matches don't use subjective judging (except for Kata demos--Correct me if I'm wrong here, I've never competed).
ReplyDeleteI guess MMA would have to be classified as a hybrid sport then. Maybe gymnastics as well.
Ballroom dancing and synchronized swimming are still not sports, though.
I have heard some people call it a hybrid sport before. Taekwondo, karate,and kickboxing all use a point system for its matches. you can check it out at WTF (taekwondo), WKF (karate), and WKA (kickboxing). Rich I am in 100% aggreance that Ballroom dancing and Synchronized Swimming are not a sport.
ReplyDeleteI think most people agree on that, but I'm struggling to define why. We need a definition of "sport" that will include true athletic competitions while excluding physical activities that are really performing arts contests.
ReplyDeleteI think it a bit misleading to assume the premise that all events in the Olympics are even supposed to be "sports".
ReplyDeleteIt is called the "Olympic Games", not the "Olympic Sports".
The Olympic creed:
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
I would argue that the purpose of the Olympics is to showcase the height of human endeavor in athletic skill and talent. It is up to the participating countries through the IOC to determine what goes into the Olympics. If there is enough interest, then we all win by seeing these athletes showcasing their skills, and by besting their opponents (whether by objective-based activities like scoring a goal, or technique based judgements).