11/21/24
February 24, 2002
Is this: a legitimate sport? Sure, something like Fox's The Glutton Bowl is more spectacle than sport, but there are also more legitimate events, a governing body, records to be broken, rankings, a documentary, and ESPN even covers it.
I think of this as more of a spectacle or circus.
posted by RGarraud at 12:20 PM on February 24, 2002
I'm not a 100% convinced it's a sport either, but I can't just dismiss it out of hand, as it shares many characteristics in common with most sports, such as: competition, training to increase ability, success partially dependent on physical abilities, etc. If you are arguing against it on the basis of athletic ability of the participants, I point you towards such sports as chess, billards, bowling, auto racing, and even baseball, where there isn't a requirement for general athletic ability, as long as you are proficient at the specific skills needed to prosper in the sport. If you refer to the area of spectacle, I submit that wrestling can be as much of a spectacle, and yet the legitimate form of it is unquestionably a sport.
posted by joehyuk at 04:49 AM on February 25, 2002
No.