Is golf a sport?
There was brief but animated discussion about this at work the other day with the wandering 'annoying graduate student' of the day.
Argument of the sane (everyone but the student) was that playing golf doesn't require one to be athletic. It doesn't involve heavy lifting (caddy does it and really if you are a caddy you are not 'playing golf') or running (most intense is a fast stroll out of the sand and you 'drive' to the next hole) or any particular gymnastic skill either. Sure with golf you are required to focus and concentrate and there is a minor swing motion of the uppper arm involved, so does chess. You don't see chess players or watchers of a game of chess (on TV even) froth at the mouth with declarations of "chess IS a sport".
Why different for golf?
Conclusion: Golf a game, not a sport.
Speaking of 'games on TV', the other day was flipping through the 500 or so channels my parents have on their satellite and stopped at a live broadcast of Poker. Yes Poker.
What the hell is going on here? Okay sports is not a daily (or yearly) activity of this blogger... but I had to wonder who in their right mind (other than drinkers of shampoo maybe) watches Poker on TV?
But if its on TV, someone out there must be watching Poker players sitting poker faced while *cue drum rolls* cards were laid out on a posh green table.
Oh the excitement. The drama. The anticipation.
Its those damn golfers I tell you. They started this. If Tiger Woods wasn't so cute he would have had some major explaning to do. I might have even gotten him down at the lab doing VO2 measurements(no its not something dirty nor does it involve Woods without his pants...maybe just his shirt :) ) to test his fitness level ......but I digress...so back to poker/chess/golf/pool .....
I get where might be exciting and kind of fun to actually play these games but watch it? On TV?
Why?
Okay so there seems to be no end to what constitutes a 'prime time program' these days (24 hours of one man shooting down a country of terrorists anyone?) and the other options, i.e. reality TV (Who wants to divorce this desparate housewife who just had an extreme makeover and has turned into a self absorbed bitch from hell?) are not great, but shouldn't there be a line somewhere as to what gets considered as sport and is on TV?
So what IS valid sport on TV you ask?
A Kabadi match between the cast of 'Sex and the City' and 'Seinfield' !
Think how much fun its going to be to watch Samantha tackle Kramer down!
......
hmm wonder if I should patent that idea :)