People who dont consider golf a sport

[JunkyII]

I just did a 15 mile road march with 80 pounds on me in 3 Hours and 17 minutes. It made me think why I was leading the pack for my platoon, Im not the strongest and definitely haven't done more then all my NC Os but then I thought back to those days when I carried my 30 pounds of golf clubs and other dumb stuff around a long course for 4+ hours everyday while I was on the golf team in high school. Golf takes more physical strength then most people think. Now Baseball is for girls honestly, zero physical contact and alot of sitting around doing nothing. 

[1pLUs44]

I just did a 15 mile road march with 80 pounds on me in 3 Hours and 17 minutes. It made me think why I was leading the pack for my platoon, Im not the strongest and definitely haven't done more then all my NC Os but then I thought back to those days when I carried my 30 pounds of golf clubs and other dumb stuff around a long course for 4+ hours everyday while I was on the golf team in high school. Golf takes more physical strength then most people think. Now Baseball is for girls honestly, zero physical contact and alot of sitting around doing nothing. 

Last Friday there was a baseball fight, and it gave the Student Section at our highschool plenty of physical contact and a good workout. 

[B17Skull12]

ill agree with golf, but disagree on baseball.  Baseball is more of a techinque driven sport imo, and even more so at a high level.  Batting, if you don't have good techinque on your swing you'll never bat above 200.  Pitching is really all techinque and 1% muscle.  There is a reason Tim Lincum can throw 96 mph being only 5'9.

[moot]

As I stood on the green this morning watching my son practice hitting golf balls, it struck me that it really doesn't take much to qualify as a sport any more in America.

As a summer activity the boy has taken up golf; first, golf lessons and now he likes to go to the practice greens some mornings and hit a bucket full of balls, one by one. Although I am anti-golf, I supported this activity because it seemed to be a decent activity for a seven year old with lots of summer vacation time on his hands. It's something he will have to work at in order to become competent, and after becoming competent at it, some people seem to enjoy golf. To each his own.

I cannot hide my distaste for golf. Yet, I did not force the issue either way. And when he asked once why I never swing at the little white ball, I told him the story of Kenny Roberts taking Eddie Lawson golfing once back in the mid-1980s.

Roberts is an accomplished golfer and thought Lawson would enjoy it. Racer lore has it that Lawson made it to just two holes, when he suddenly looked at Roberts and asked, "Are you out of your mind? Is this some kind of a joke? Are you serious that you do this?!" Lawson then tossed the clubs, and walked back to his car. There's another version where Lawson throws the clubs into a nearby pond, and that's the one I laid on the kid.

"Do you think they're still there, in the pond, I mean," he asked.

"Yeah, I don't know," I said, thinking to myself 'you can bet your bellybutton Lawson didn't go get them'.

"Because we could go get them, and you wouldn't have to buy me a set of clubs," the kid said.

Fighting a losing battle I am, as Yoda might say.

There are always other people at the driving range when we hit it, even early on Sunday mornings. They all seem to take the activity of golf amazingly seriously.

I study them. They do not speak, they analyze their motions down to the last detail, and some even set up cam-corders on tripods and shoot footage of themselves to later be analyzed. Whenever I see these cam-corder types, I always try to walk through their shooting area at some point, and just when I'm in focus, I scratch my ass, in the most exaggerated way I can without getting arrested. Just my way of adding to the already ridiculous behavior.

Two men who were hitting balls by us once broke the silence by discussing another friend of theirs who golfed, but they refused to play with because he was "too competitive". "He takes this sport too seriously," one said, while they both shook their heads in agreement.

I said nothing but pondered that sentence. Golf is not a sport. Golf is an activity, like bowling, throwing horseshoes and playing dominoes. It takes skill, talent and practice to be good. But it is not a sport.

The difference between a true sport and an activity is that true sports have the added dimension of real danger to them. To be a pure sport, there must be a chance that if things go horribly wrong you may get your pelvis smashed or your life stolen away. True sports require skill, talent and practice, and they also require bravery. Some true sports carry the risk that if things go wrong, your body will momentarily lose control of its bowels. True sports require that participants know these dangers going in, but willingly take part anyway.

Almost a long time ago, my friends and I listened to a man in a crowded bar as he told us about a softball game he had played in that afternoon. Mid-sentence, one of my oldest friends stopped him and said succinctly, "Hey buddy, if it don't go 150 mph, I don't want to know about it, okay?". We loudly toasted his honor for saying what we all felt, as the ballplayer walked away.

This morning I slumped on the steel bag support as the kid whacked away at the balls, the grass and the dirt. An older fellow carrying a bag of clubs walked towards us and then past us, and as he passed I said, "Hi, how's it going?".

He said nothing. He looked down at my clothes, which today happen to be a circa 1993 Yoshimura Suzuki t-shirt, shorts and deck shoes, no socks.

He looked at my motorcycle shirt, then looked at my face and kept walking. He looked like a thinner Ernest Hemingway, sort of, with white hair, tanned skin and piercing eyes.

Hemingway said it better than anyone: "There are only three true sports," he wrote, "bull fighting, rock climbing and motor racing. The rest are merely games."

[Seraphim]

What's really funny is 'zero physical contact and alot of sitting around doing nothing.' Like golf is so physical.   

Try swinging at 90mph fastball, or running down a line drive.

Anyone in the world can train their bodies to carry weight, wear plaid shorts & be self centered.

Baseball takes teamwork, non-egos, studying, and constant adjustments, to what you think your opponent might do.

That is what a sport is.

[Holden McGroin]

Baseball takes teamwork, non-egos, studying, and constant adjustments, to what you think your opponent might do.

Of all team sports, I believe baseball to be the least team oriented.

Pitcher vs batter, everyone else watching.

Hitter hits hot ground ball to the SS.  SS alone makes the play.  If it gets past him, base hit. 

SS catches the ball and throws to first.  As soon as the ball leaves his hand, he is out of the play, and now, if the throw was true, is all up to the first baseman.

Baseball is a series of individual efforts.

This is a team sport:


All pulling to make the boat go faster, all constantly contributing to the crew.

[JunkyII]

What's really funny is 'zero physical contact and alot of sitting around doing nothing.' Like golf is so physical.   

Try swinging at 90mph fastball, or running down a line drive.

Anyone in the world can train their bodies to carry weight, wear plaid shorts & be self centered.

Baseball takes teamwork, non-egos, studying, and constant adjustments, to what you think your opponent might do.

That is what a sport is.

Honestly golf isnt more physical but Im personally disgusted by baseball, being in a sport played during same season I just dont understand why people would watch it over the sport I played in high school, which is Lacrosse (check baltimore sun paper i made front page sports section for it) Baseball has more down time then football but has the physical contact of golf.....Ive personally hit my own teammates with golf balls due to really good shots going too far , and in Lacrosse you dont even want to get me started about how many times I took a 90 mile an hour ball to the nutz, shoot I dont think I can even have babies anymore after being hit probably every other game.(In LAX they teach us that if you step to the shooter,even as a goalie it cuts down the angle where the ball can go so I would always be right in the way of a JOhns Hopkins full ride attackmen shooting for corners )  btw m00t that quote is too long im too drunk lol

[dedhero]

First off an element of danger is not a defining component for an activity to be considered a sport. Skill level, proper equipment, rules, fair play and good sportsmanship on the other hand are defining components. Most sports (aside from mental sports ie cards, chess etc) have an element of danger. One could be hit by an errant fastball and die playing baseball. One could also fall off a horse and be crippled for life playing polo. Also one could be killed in a 250 mph collision with a wall while racing cars; or at 45 mph in a bicycle race when some guy loses control. This is not what makes them sports. There are plenty of other examples that show an element of danger is present in almost any physical activity. Even just walking to your mailbox can be a dangerous; but it is not a sport. Why? Because there is no skill involved, no rules or expectation of fair play.

Golf and baseball require: one to play fairly by the rules, skill, the proper equipment, good sportsmanship. All of which are part of a definition of sport. What makes an activity just an activity and not a sport? Outside human judgement that impacts the outcome of the match. Some examples would be platform diving, gymnastics and "competitive" dancing. Judges determine the winner of those activities, not the competitors themselves. Joe Blow could go out and give his best performance on the dance floor but all it takes is one judge to cause him to lose, not a sport. There are no judges in golf or baseball or football or soccer etc. There are umpires and referees to enforce the rules; but they do not affect the outcome by arbitrary judgements as to the skill level or accuracy of the performance. If Joe Blow plays baseball and singles on a grounder no judge is going to take that away because he didn't hold his bat in just the correct manner, he gets the single on his own merits. If Joe Blow makes an eagle on a par three no judge will take that away because his golf swing was not to their liking.



Now with all that I will go on to explain why baseball is not a sport (satire warning). A game where you have enough time to shell sunflower seeds with your mouth while waiting for a pop fly to land in your glove is not a sport. A game where the objective is to get home is not a sport, that's what you do AFTER the game is over. A game which has a designated time for the fans to get up and stretch is not a sport. A game that is almost always described as being more fun after a few beers is not a sport, just an excuse to drink. O.K. that last is more for city softball leagues. Although any game where you can scratch your nether regions on national television and get away with it is full of win.

[DJ111]

Try hunting a human being, that's the greatest sport ever.

 

[Anaxogoras]

In Russia and the former Soviet republics, chess is a "sport."

[Bosco123]

It's just like when people think NASCAR isn't a sport.
You try racing a car going 190mph. couple inches from the wall and another car, with at least 20 cars behind, rubbing you the whole time, wile keeping concentrated on racing.
Most racers lose about 6lbs of sweat in one race.

[minke]

It's just like when people think NASCAR isn't a sport.
You try racing a car going 190mph. couple inches from the wall and another car, with at least 20 cars behind, rubbing you the whole time, wile keeping concentrated on racing.
Most racers lose about 6lbs of sweat in one race.

sounds like my journey to work these days

[Seraphim]

I'm Always amazed at baseball haters, usually people who have no idea, or experience, what the game is about. I say it takes teamwork, because it takes defense to back up your pitcher. It takes teamwork, to know where the outfielder will throw the ball when a fly ball is hit, and there is a man on base.  Teamwork, to Sacrifice, your at bat to get a run, or just to get your teammate over to the next base. I know how much skill it takes to play golf, but for me, not being able to cheer your team and have to sit silent at all times, keeps me away from golf. Baseball is not just individuals, as some have said. it's not just pitchers & batters, again. It's about knowing what your teammates will do, how to outsmart your opponent, and getting runs. Not just getting home.
In fact, it's not too far from chess. But, I'm sure the haters will hate that game too.

I even started watching racing since last year, because I know there are teams involved; A lot of skill, as Bosco said.

But to just hate on a sport, because you don't understand the rules, shows nothing but immaturity.

[FYB]

People who don't consider golf a sport.

That's me! Carry a screwed up bat and a heavy ping-pong ball and what does it equal, GOLF!
Ill tell you something though, get into a fight with a man carrying a screwed up bat and you're bound to be in pain that day, and for the rest of the week.

I still find golf a non-sport. As for baseball, swing a metallic rod and hit a leather ball doesn't sound like it concentrates on being physically fit.

-FYB

[Seraphim]

FYI, FYB

Major leagers don't use metal, they use wood. It's also been scientifically proven, the hardest object to hit, is a round ball by a round bat (a moving object, that is).
However, to any skeptics - try it out.