January 30, 2004

The votes are in: FISHING is NOT A SPORT (9-4) and FISHERMEN are NOT ATHLETES (12-1)
=next week's challenge inside=

posted by forksclovetofu to navel gazing at 05:19 PM - 20 comments

For now and forever more, fishing is no sport. Pretty unanimous decision there. This week's contender: HORSE RACING: Sport or Not a Sport? JOCKEYS: Athletes or Not Athletes? RACING HORSES: Athletes or Not Athletes? Seemed appropriate with the Oscar nods to Seabiscuit. Have at it.

posted by forksclovetofu at 05:21 PM on January 30, 2004

Anything which only exists for people to bet on is not a sport, I'd say.

posted by dng at 05:32 PM on January 30, 2004

Sport? - I agree with dng. Athletes? - definitely. Horses? - I dunno. I guess they're fitter than the average horse, booboo?

posted by squealy at 05:49 PM on January 30, 2004

Oh, and I'd go for a probably with the jockeys/athletes question, if forks'll allow me too. The horses I have no idea about - I mean I assume they do loads of training and everything, but do they actually know that they're competing, because competition is probably the most important aspect of whether your an athlete or not.

posted by dng at 06:12 PM on January 30, 2004

HORSE RACING: Not a Sport JOCKEYS: Not Athletes RACING HORSES: Not Athletes Anything that involves animals -> not a sport.

posted by jasonspaceman at 06:20 PM on January 30, 2004

Horse Racing: Not a Sport- for the humans Horse Racing: Sport- for the Horses Jockeys: Not Athletes Racing Horses: Athletes dng: I've heard the horses are very much aware of the competition, dng- that's how top horses compete, because they want to outrace the horse next to them. I compare horse racing to the 100m dash. The sprinters are athletes in a sport. Their shirts and shorts are not athletes. The Jockeys, like NASCAR drivers, are akin to the shorts or shoes that a sprinter wears.

posted by hincandenza at 06:31 PM on January 30, 2004

Horse Racing: Not a sport (not even a sport of kings) Jockeys: Not athletes, although very skilled folks. Horses: Athletes as far as animals go, but most animals are more athletic than our pasty flabby human selves. Seabiscuit: Not an Oscar movie (okay, i didn't see it, but it looked like a steaming pile of...horse apples)

posted by Ufez Jones at 07:06 PM on January 30, 2004

Horse racing: not a sport Jockeys: not athletes Horses: not athletes

posted by grum@work at 07:52 PM on January 30, 2004

no to all of the above.

posted by jerseygirl at 08:03 PM on January 30, 2004

sport: yes athletes: yes (jockey and horse) it takes strength and agility to manuever and 1000# animal running 30-40 mph. not to mention avoid getting killed (or killing the horse) in the process. jockeys just aren't along for the ride.

posted by goddam at 10:59 PM on January 30, 2004

Fishing is more of a sport than NASCAR.

posted by StarFucker at 04:13 AM on January 31, 2004

Horse Racing: SPORT Jockeys: NOT ATHLETES Horses: ATHLETES

posted by mbd1 at 08:42 AM on January 31, 2004

This is Locker Room thread #420. Were I still in college, I would feel the need to point this out.

posted by rocketman at 09:15 AM on January 31, 2004

Horse Racing: Not a sport Jockeys: Athletes Horses: Beasts that cloveth not the hoof (not athletes)

posted by rocketman at 09:16 AM on January 31, 2004

rocket: yeah, but we're discussing horse, not weed. /stickyickyicky

posted by forksclovetofu at 12:00 PM on January 31, 2004

Sport: horse - yes. jockey-can a jockey have an off day and blow the race? no. besides, the best asset for being a jockey is to be light and small. so, there isn't alot of contribution from the driver's part of things. Athlete: horse - yes. jockey - no.

posted by garfield at 02:08 PM on January 31, 2004

Horse Racing: Yes, it's competitive and there's always a definitive winner without the need for judges, one jockey can perform better than another, just as one F1 driver can perform better than another Jockeys: Most of them are very fit, I'd say yes. Horses: Well, no. They're animals ferchrissakes.

posted by BigCalm at 05:34 PM on February 02, 2004

Sport - Yes Jockeys - Not Athletes Horses - Athletes Anything which only exists for people to bet on is not a sport, I'd say. Don't let the folks at the NFL hear you say that!

posted by rocket88 at 05:05 PM on February 03, 2004

And people, please try to differentiate between "athletic" and "athlete". Many non-athletes are athletic. And many athletes are not.

posted by rocket88 at 05:08 PM on February 03, 2004

Sport: no Jockeys: not athletes Horses: athletes I find it hard to believe that some of you don't consider racing horses to be athletes. Horses (or any species, including humans) aren't just genetically tapped for greatness - it takes determination, training and a killer instinct.

posted by dusted at 05:43 PM on February 03, 2004

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