-120 Table tennis isn't a sport, and neither is ping-pong, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Why not?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Dude, there is direct competition involving physical movement. That makes it a sport. Something like dancing isn't a sport because you're judged, so it's just a competition. There is no inherent two-player-ness in dancing. Two-player-ness is not essential, but the lack of subjective-ness is.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Dance, in a competition, is a sport. It is a sporting competition. Without competition, it is an activity.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Dance is an art. Dancing in competition can be considered a sport, but it is not fundamentally a sport. Before you bring up running, saying you can run alone, it doesn't count. In order to be a sports runner, you must win actual races against other people under the same conditions and you can't say things like, " well, 6 crosses the finish line first, but I like 4's style more, so I think 4 should win." In my book, a pure sport must not be subjective, and must be inherently competitive. Dancing etc can only be considered sports under certain conditions, and even then some people don't because the teams do not compete simultaneously. While that is another key aspect of sports, I don't consider it so important to say that dance can never be a sport.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Exactly. In an artistic sport, it is how you get there that matters, not just your end pose. In pure sports, only the final result matters, (who scored the last point, or crossed the finish line first) unless you did drugs or something. That's why I count them in two separate categories of sport. The main thing is, in a pure sport, people compete together and each has the power to force the other to adapt to the new position of the ball or whatever. In an artistic sport (assuming competitive environment and highly qualified judges) both just do whatever routine they designed and memorised and are judged on it's awesomeness. There is no reason to adapt unless you think the judges might prefer something else. Plus, unless a computer program is the judge, which is impossible with today's tech, a small amount of personal opinion will com into play.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah. I also consider those sports somewhat artistic. And more skill-like than sport-like.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I do consider them sports. It's just that they have artistic elements, as shown by things other than the final result mattering. I consider things like weight lifting more like skills than sports because they're not really games that test physical prowess, but just shows of said prowess.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Oh sorry, I wasn't aware that you were the one who decided what qualifies as a sport. And table tennis and ping pong are the same thing, idiot.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

ono table tennis=ping pong

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I have to say that you picked a pretty good Olympic event to insult. I can't even imagine what those weight-lifting chicks would do to you

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I consider weight lifting more of a skill. It meets most of the criteria to be a sport, but it doesn't feel like watching a sporting event. I think it may be because stamina is much less important than in other events. I'd consider it beyond a doubt a sport if it was two people pushed up on either end of a see-saw and whoever could keep the gradient in their favour for, say, twenty seconds continuously, wins. The platforms would be adjustable to account for height differences.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I feel as if it's more of a skill...like juggling.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Just because it isn't super popular like football doesn't make it not a sport. It involves crazy reflexes and movement. Next thing you know, people will say elephant polo isn't a sport.

by Anonymous 11 years ago