If things have to go wrong, they will, or so Murphy's Law states. In today's ever changing world, definitions keep popping up much like popcorn in a microwave. The Sport or The Game keeps changing much like a chameleon changes its colors.
What a sport is today may not have been a sport yesterday. What sport is for some may not be a sport for many. So, do we stick to the parlance that is in vogue, or to the one that has seen an obituary. Or do we coin our own terminology to satiate ourselves?
Sport is anything that is activity based. Does it include role playing? Yes. Methodology? Yes (more about that in Game below). Skill? Not exactly.
To be a sport you just need to be a part of the activity or the activity itself. For some, killing is a sport where they derive their pleasure from the pain of others, or the execution (doing) of that act. For some others, earning money is a sport, which implies that making money and the method to make money is the sport. For some, playing a game is sport - like a game of football (physical and mental activity), or a game of chess (mental activity). So, what are all the things that are involved in a Sport? We have pleasure, pain, activity (physical, mental, etc.), and a type of sport (i.e. Game) to involve themselves in.
A Game is the construction of an activity along with its object set (the props, etc.). While anything can become a sport, not everything can become a Game. For some life is a game that they play along with a set of rules and methods that they established. For others, a game is pretty much the set of rules, regulations, and props, such as a ball and a bat in baseball.
So, my dear Bleachers, here are some common adages that we can mark in our scratch notes.
Sports do not build character. They reveal it. ---Haywood Hale Brown
Mr. Brown must have swallowed his lunch at the time he made that statement, or his dog must be eyeing that big pork chop on his luncheon plate. He does not understand that to wait for that pork chop, and not to snatch it as soon as he sees it, is a strength of character that is built. It required the dog to be trained, motivated, and an attitude to stick to the rules of the game, i.e., not to seize the meat until it is his chance.
To build the character is itself a sport, and only a thing that can be revealed can be built upon, as it allows you to measure the starting point. Mike Tyson was forced to learn to adapt to the world's changing view of him, otherwise he would have been just the bad boy of boxing. When one plays rugby, one might feel omnipotent, but then at the end of the day, one has to learn to adapt and accept the vagaries of change; of fickle loss and gain.
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then, you have to play better than anyone else. ---Albert Einsten
To know the rules, to compete, to have a vision, and an ambition to succeed. The game is about "to play" than more about being a sport. You can play while being anything. A Shakespearean actor can play while being Othello or Macbeth, and that is a game for him. When a bounty hunter hunts for the man who will fetch him his bounty, he is hunting for his game. "Hunters hunt for the game! So the hunted becomes the game!" So, on the same lines, duck hunting is a sport where the duck is the game for the hunter (sportsman)!
Every game is an opportunity to measure yourself against your own potential ---Bud Wilkinson
To compete against one's own self and overcome all obstacles. So, every game in the end should provide you an opportunity to best yourself. Does field hockey, or tennis, do that?! I guess they do. It is not only about records, or statistics. It is also about how well you strike a penalty corner in a hockey game, or how well you play at baseline.
Life, Death, and all the rules that define life and death are a game.
That is why we have a life game and death game.
The things that make life and death games possible are the sport. That is why, we have living and killing.
The hallmarks of SPORT are sportsmanship; while the hallmarks of GAME are gamesmanship. An archer needs to have gamesmanship i.e., SKILL to be good at the Game. But, when he fails to win against a better archer; he needs to have SPORTSMANSHIP to accept that the other archer has better GAMESMANSHIP than him.
So, in the end, SPORT and GAME are BOTH RELEVANT, be it FOOTBALL, GOLF, ARCHERY, BOXING, FENCING, or AUTO RACING!
[Photo Courtesy: West Net]
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3 months ago
Great analysis from a wide view-point and that I love. I'm so disappointed with the many voices that try to rule out this sport and that sport because of some narrow-mindedness.
Wonderful, meaningful lines:
"The hallmarks of SPORT are sportsmanship; while the hallmark of GAME are gamesmanship. An archer needs to have gamesmanship i.e., SKILL to be good at the Game. But when he fails to win against a better archer; he needs to have SPORTSMANSHIP to accept that the other archer has better GAMESMANSHIP than him."
What's your view on the elsewhere uttered opinion that sport is only sport if there is a serious risk to be injured involved?
(My own plea for a broad view on sport got smothered in tiredness and premature (discouraging) publication. Pray for me I'll find time and heart to complete it)
from 3 months ago
Thank you Maria, the best thing about Bleacher is we can all have different views and yet thrive as a community :-) does that sound like an official line, my friend. Well, for one, let me say this, writing this article was a tough call cause I myself did not understand much of what I wrote after I wrote it or as to where it all came from :-)
Okay, coming back to the topic, sport is an activity and game is the thing or so :-)
Best of luck with your article!
Regards,
Sarah
3 months ago
This is a remarkably deep article. Outstanding.
from 3 months ago
Thank you BabyTate!
3 months ago
Its weekend or near end of it... and I realized... I hadn't read any of your articles during the week and now after this one... I am not even whining or complaining!
Deeply thought provoking! Its an absolute treat and fodder for my gray cells to read your articles... as always!!!
Thanks Sarah....
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