Is Pool a Sport?

It's called the Olympic GAMES...

...Just for the record...

& Chess has been considered numerous times since 1924.

I'm not saying it is a game or a sport but how about being both.

It was originally a recreational parlor game I think for royal families so that the females could also take part.

Then when played at a tournament level repeatedly over time it would probably be more apt to be termed a sport.

Then as someone said when played for gambling reasons it's a War.

Best Wishes to ALL.
 
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(((Satori))) said:
But the Olympic Games are made up of Olympic Sports.
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Is ice skating a sport?

Not really... it's a performance that is judged & contrived to be a competition based on the subjective judgement of human beings.

Is the 100 meter dash a sport or simply a race?

Horse racing is called the Sport of Kings. Do the Kings actually compete or is it the wagering of sorts that is the 'sport' in that 'the animal that I own is faster than the animal that you own.'. 'Well... let's make a sporting wager on it & then race them.'.

Athletic competition or cerebral games or sporting wagers?

Best 2 You & ALL.
 
jay helfert said:
You're damn right it is, just about the hardest one going! Right there with golf for difficulty.
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LOL. Yeah, I think there are a few baseball players that beg to differ. Nobody gets $300M contracts if someone else could do it.

There might be a few hockey players, NFL players, basketball players, soccer players, gymnasts, etc willing to put up on that one ;)

PS: Golf is NOT even in the top 20. Pool I think was around 50th on the list.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
I've seen professional football players out of breath after running 25 yards. A lineman somehow picks up a fumble, and off he goes. He almost needs help getting off the field ;)
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I was a lineman in highschool ball. :)

As far as I can tell to play world class pool you can be of any body size/type and in virtually any physical shape. To me, given the minimal physical efforts involved, it's not a sport. I can't think of any other sport where Niels Feijen and Steve Mizerak would be equals.
 
MuchoBurrito said:
I was a lineman in highschool ball. :)

As far as I can tell to play world class pool you can be of any body size/type and in virtually any physical shape. To me, given the minimal physical efforts involved, it's not a sport. I can't think of any other sport where Niels Feijen and Steve Mizerak would be equals.
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Baseball has some very funny "folks". Take a 5'6" shortstop that weighs 150 and a 6'5" 275 monster DH, and yet, they play the same sport because they have the skills. I'm not arguing the pool is a very athletic sport, but that it takes a certain amount of eye hand coordination that is NOT required in games.

And it's because of the "lesser" skills needed that folks can learn the game faster than many other sports. You don't need quickness, or strength, etc. But if it were a game, I should be able to make a 65 year old woman play pretty good pool, but I can't, and I've tried ;)
 
ChicagoRJ said:
But if it were a game, I should be able to make a 65 year old woman play pretty good pool, but I can't, and I've tried ;)
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That's a fair point. I guess I would suggest that trying to get a 65 year old individual to learn anything from scratch and become "good" at it is a challenge, neural plasticity declines with age, so even learning to play good bridge starting at 65 wouldn't be an easy feat.

I maintain that it's in the grey area. The level of athleticism required (however we want to define athleticism: coordination, strength, resilience, balance, speed, endurance, flexibility, etc. etc.) to play good pool is higher than to play good monopoly, but still very low compared to any other sport. You can play well in virtually any shape. The same cannot be said of baseball, soccer, hockey, football, etc. (even linesmen are in very good shape btw when you look at how huge they actually are. :)
 
As much as I'd like to say pool is a sport, I just can't quite get there. If you define sport as any contest involving physical skill, anything qualifies. Two watchmakers could see who could build a pocket watch the fastest and you could call it a sport. Sport should clearly involve physical skill, athleticism, etc. but to say that any level of physical effort/skill converts any activity into a sport just doesn't fly. It's not enough that physical skill is present; there should be an emphasis on it. I once had this very discussion with a friend who was north of 400 pounds. He candidly said, "If I can do it, it's not a sport."
 
Clusterbuster said:
As much as I'd like to say pool is a sport, I just can't quite get there. If you define sport as any contest involving physical skill, anything qualifies. Two watchmakers could see who could build a pocket watch the fastest and you could call it a sport. Sport should clearly involve physical skill, athleticism, etc. but to say that any level of physical effort/skill converts any activity into a sport just doesn't fly. It's not enough that physical skill is present; there should be an emphasis on it. I once had this very discussion with a friend who was north of 400 pounds. He candidly said, "If I can do it, it's not a sport."
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Sooo...is wrestling and Sumo wrestling not a sport?
...your friend isn't even close in weight to some of these guys.

I suspect I can draw a ball farther than most wrestlers....
...they can move a chess piece as good as anybody, though...'cause that is a game.
 
There's jumping, kicking, throwing, pushing and even some strokes are punches. That counts, right? I've even heard of people needing a walking stick after a bad beating.
 
victorl said:
It's just like any other sport where you need thousands of hours of physical practice to develop the proper muscle memory and hand-eye coordination.

Games like chess, etc. only require knowledge and have no real physical component, so you can get better by reading and playing online.
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nicely put - i am convinced that pool is a sport!
 
Chees is not a sport, and neither is pool.
Shooting ducks is also not a sport.
Pool does combine mental and physical game, but it's far too less of both.

Cheers.
 
pt109 said:
Sooo...is wrestling and Sumo wrestling not a sport?
...your friend isn't even close in weight to some of these guys.

I suspect I can draw a ball farther than most wrestlers....
...they can move a chess piece as good as anybody, though...'cause that is a game.
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Sure, wrestling and sumo wrestling are sports. They both, as I said, have an emphasis on physical skill. My point isn't that big guys can't be athletic (I'll admit the anecdote about my friend was maybe a little beside the point); it's that pool doesn't emphasize physical skill. Pool clearly involves physical skill but that isn't it's central feature as in football, swimming, sumo wrestling, etc.
 
Hey, they sell cue sticks at Big 5 sporting goods, so it MUST be a sport :grin-square:

Ice skating, curling, shooting, ping pong, 'sports' ? It's only recently that snowboarding got accepted in the winter Olympics, and that takes a hell of a lot of physical ability.

I think pool IS a sport, a so-called 'indoor' sport... but it's closer to poker and gambling games than athletics.

BTW, go to a batting cage and crank up the pitch machine to 100, try hitting that..:eek:
 
Pool is WAR in the minds of bar bangers!

Pool is an ART in the minds of aficionados!

Pool is a GAME in the minds of enthusiasts!

Pool is a VOCATION for the elite!

Pool is a SPORT for the physically challenged!

But above all, pool is, what it seems to be for the person who plays it!

Colin
 
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