IMHO, I think we've strayed far from the original ideas of competitive sport. Sports were non-lethal ways of developing skills for survival, whether that entailed hunting, offensive warfare, or defense against attack.

Modern definitions of sport often ignore this, especially in the USA, where cheerleading, dancing, and curling are considered sporting activities. No doubt, there are certain physical requirements and even great levels of athleticism required for success...but in a traditional sense, no attacker would be scared away by a sparkly unitard and a swirling ribbon.

Some may take offense at that view...but it's just one opinion.

Some sports are obvious: archery, wrestling, boxing, American football, shotput, javelin.

Weightlifting demonstrates strength. Animals do this to intimidate trespassers. Knock down trees, claw through bark, slap tails on the water.

Baseball and basketball are less obvious. Team tactics and expert throwing abilities are important. But there are many artificial rules and regulations that make the game...not the guidance of physical activity. The artificialness (if that's a word) is what causes people to question the label of "sport". Look at softball...it takes the artificial game of baseball and makes everything less strenuous and less dangerous, more open to recreational participation by people with zero experience. Less of a sport? Or the same level of artificial activity?

Don't take me wrong. My wife used to play softball. She tells me I throw like a girl. (I'm happy she doesn't make me use her pink glove.) She throws harder than most guys I know. But I still tell her that it's not a real sport.

I was a coxswain for a short bit. Hard to see the application as a traditional sport, until you see the guys I worked with. Imagine 8 men ranging from 160-200+ pounds. These guys could row for miles fast enough to pull a water skier, then jump out of the boat for a 3-4 mile run, then into the weight room for another half-hour. Sounds like a perfect assault team, if you ask me.

Baseball? Stand in one place for 90% of the time on defense. Sit in place for 99% of the time when on offense. Chew tobacco. Spit.

Big contrast to having your arm bashed by a saber in fencing. Or skiing cross-country, then shooting tiny targets while forcing your heartbeat to drop. Or throwing another wrestler with nothing but your own strength and skill.

The debate will continue. The farther we are from hand-to-hand combat, the more we need competitive sport to satisfy basic survival instincts. It would be improper (un-civilized) to bash each other over the head with no real prize of food, property, territory. So, as civilized people, we must find ways to get the rush, the stress, the feeling of victory, and the satisfaction of rest and recovery.

Pole dancing? Well...that's a different set of instincts that come into play.

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