Foo - Perspective - Different styles of Sports

I am a mountain biker. I enjoy being in the woods, being alone, being high up in the mountains with no concrete to be found (even better if I can get out of range from my freaking cell phone). Certain sports I view as boring, slow and just not my style. Its a personal thing and not a reflection of that sport. I like sports that don't allow your brain to drift into a zone without still focussing. Even when I played "regular" sports, I prefered football and basketball because they were constant mobile action, constant pain and explosive. Same reasons I like mountain biking. Heck even when I was a workout nut, I was a powerlifter.

Two sports I could never see myself doing actively is road riding and rock climbing. To me these are equal beasts. Both are slow in the their own way. Road work, while fast, is inherently slow. You can zone out and think of...anything. Rock climbing is physically slow, the danger/thrill that comes from it is reliant on catastrophic failure. These sports are different, but in my mind they work the same way.

That said I love to watch road riding and rock climbing. I find this an odd view. Road riding is incredible to watch, I love the pain of a 6hour ride reflected on the fact of a rider. I love knowing that their 6hours of pain (which they love) reminds me of sitting under a 45 degree weight rack and moving weights that would crush most people. Rock climbing just baffles me. So much strength in one finger, maybe thats it for me, considering I am missing some fingers, but its just phenomal to watch this person hanging off huge rock faces with just a pinky holding them up.

Anyways I am not really saying anything, how very foo. I just realized after speaking with my buddy, an avid xc rider who climbs mountains just to see if he can, but is terrified of the side of the sport I love. That perspective got me laughing as we are different in every way. For a "workout" I hit the weights, he jogs. When we ride, he LOVES the up and I LOVE the challenge of the down. When we want to chill out, he goes climbing and I likely go find a remote spot on my mountain bike. Different perspective, lots of respect, same love of the challenge (whatever it is) :)

Rock climbing is the best. Back when I was doing it, I developed great forearms and back muscles. What I liked about rock climbing is just the thinking aspect. Finding a crevice or a nook, positioning myself, finding my foothold(s), breathe hard, heart rate way up from the anticipation and fear of hanging 200 feet above, etc. I actually got into rock climbing because I had a bad fear of heights. I figured it was the best way of conquering the fear. I still have a fear of heights, but it's nowhere near paralyzing as it was before. I mainly stopped because I lost my climbing partners. Oh well... I picked up the cycling and I don't miss it.

Koffee

Papa Hemingway said that there are only three real sports, rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting... guess he's never gone skydiving...

I like just about all sports. Favorites being in order
Surfing/cycling - same level, both allow me the peace and serenity nature can provide when out all alone and if I need a challenge I will surf in 15'plus surf or hit a hardcore dh/freeride trail

Football/hockey - both about the same, both allow me to get my aggresion out and be an arrogent SOB that I can be :D

I have been doing all the above since I was 4 so they are all intragal(sp?) parts of my life and always will be.

Bull riding - allows me to the oppertunity to try and not get f'ed up and over come my fears of being paralized (I did not say death because that would not be as bad). It is also an EXTREAM adrenaline rush but I have not ridden in almost 8yrs now

there are A LOT of others that I compeat in but those would be my top picks. The only other sport I am aching to try is base jumping. Now that looks like a rush :D I need a few more jumps before any of my friends will let me jump off a cliff with them. Hahahahaha, just had a funny thought, now when some one asks, "If your friends jumped off a cliff/bridge/building would you do it too?" I would have to say yes :D ;)


DBD:beer:

Papa Hemingway said that there are only three real sports, rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting... guess he's never gone skydiving...

falling is a sport? :)
my experience with jumping out of planes is that it requires little skill or natural ability to do. very much the opposite of rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting. then again, i never spent the time or money to get "good" at skydiving.

Surfing and Cycling

They don't sound similar, but here's an instance when they are:

In surfing, you paddle out past where the waves break, and you sit there and wait for a suitable wave. When the wave comes, you accelerate and jump on. Ride the wave as far as you can. Turn around and repeat the process.

In riding, I ride to an intersection where big trucks pass often. I wait there for a suitable truck (that's weighed down with a heavy load). When the truck makes the turn, I accelerate and jump on. I ride it as far as I can. Turn around and repeat the process.

Very similar.

Maelstrom, I have similar ambivalent feeling about scuba diving. the whole process is way too slow for me. checking equipment, putting on the damned wetsuit (takes forever), then swiming slowly in the water 'cause of the heavy tanks... still, at some point all the beauty underwater distracts me and i forget the rest.

otherwise i get my adrenaline up skiing down steep slopes fast as i can, racing with my sister, feeling the frostbite. i like it when there're few people on the slopes so i can have as much of the mountain to myself as possible

Papa Hemingway said that there are only three real sports, rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting... guess he's never gone skydiving...
falling is a sport? :)
my experience with jumping out of planes is that it requires little skill or natural ability to do. very much the opposite of rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting. then again, i never spent the time or money to get "good" at skydiving.Actually, I didn't get the quote correct, it's something like this:

"There are only three real sports in the world, rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting... the rest are just games..."

I know, all you non-racing "athletes" will say that Papa Hemingway is full of ****, and that Shaq, Tiger, Ichiro, etc. are heroes in their "sport". You play a game of basketball or football or baseball. You go watch a game of basketball or football or baseball. But what Hemingway is trying to say is that if any of those well known sports personalities makes a mistake, the ultimate penalty that could happen is that you miss a basket, end up in the bunker, get caught looking at a strike, or lose the "game". In auto racing, if you make a mistake, the ultimate penalty is destruction of your car, other cars, your life, and possibly other people's lives. It is this element of risk that separates "sports" from "games".

When things go bad, you will wonder why you even put your damn car on the track in the first place. But when things are good, and you are piloting your car into a turn at 160 mph, slamming on the brakes to out-brake the driver next to you, G-forces throwing you wildly to the side of the car seat, hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life, the smell of racing fuel, and 110 db of exhaust noise bellowing out of cars one foot away from your door, trying to take your position on the pavement, and you beat the other cars coming out of this turn......that is the time you understand what Papa Hemingway meant. All those "other activities" (like baseball, football, basketball) are just parlor games.......and go in the same category as darts or bowling.....they ain't "real sports."

Bike-racing, motorcycle-racing, cat & dog racing have a similar sense of "risk", or life & death that gives us the adrenaline & endorphine rush. There is no physiological difference between what happens in the body when you're competing in a race, sprinting for the finish, vs. what happens when that bull is charging you or the moutain-lion leaps out of the bushes and chases you (if you must run from a bear, run downhill or play dead). The heart races, the adrenaline and epinepherine courses through your veins, you feel a rush, a high better than anything a drug or a "game" can give... ;) http://www.gururacing.com/imagesmisc/graemlins/graemlin-tongue.gif

Actually, I didn't get the quote correct, it's something like this:

"There are only three real sports in the world, rock-climbing, auto-racing and bull-fighting... the rest are just games..."

I know, all you non-racing "athletes" will say that Papa Hemingway is full of ****, and that Shaq, Tiger, Ichiro, etc. are heroes in their "sport". You play a game of basketball or football or baseball. You go watch a game of basketball or football or baseball. But what Hemingway is trying to say is that if any of those well known sports personalities makes a mistake, the ultimate penalty that could happen is that you miss a basket, end up in the bunker, get caught looking at a strike, or lose the "game". In auto racing, if you make a mistake, the ultimate penalty is destruction of your car, other cars, your life, and possibly other people's lives. It is this element of risk that separates "sports" from "games".

When things go bad, you will wonder why you even put your damn car on the track in the first place. But when things are good, and you are piloting your car into a turn at 160 mph, slamming on the brakes to out-brake the driver next to you, G-forces throwing you wildly to the side of the car seat, hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life, the smell of racing fuel, and 110 db of exhaust noise bellowing out of cars one foot away from your door, trying to take your position on the pavement, and you beat the other cars coming out of this turn......that is the time you understand what Papa Hemingway meant. All those "other activities" (like baseball, football, basketball) are just parlor games.......and go in the same category as darts or bowling.....they ain't "real sports."

Bike-racing, motorcycle-racing, cat & dog racing have a similar sense of "risk", or life & death that gives us the adrenaline & endorphine rush. There is no physiological difference between what happens in the body when you're competing in a race, sprinting for the finish, vs. what happens when that bull is charging you or the moutain-lion leaps out of the bushes and chases you (if you must run from a bear, run downhill or play dead). The heart races, the adrenaline and epinepherine courses through your veins, you feel a rush, a high better than anything a drug or a "game" can give... ;) http://www.gururacing.com/imagesmisc/graemlins/graemlin-tongue.gif

that's why i believe sports belong in their own categories. athletic sports = baseball, football, basketball, etc. extreme sports = skydiving, gravity-powered events. MOTORsports = well..any competition that involves a motor.

i used to race motorcycles, so i can vouch for the heart-pumping aspect of it. especially the sliding on my butt at 90mph heart-pumping aspect =\
i've also been through the skip barber and derek daly schools, but never crashed a car on a race track.

the point were i begin to question the status of something as a sport is when we're talking about something like...say....billiards and bass fishing. wtf?

...the point were i begin to question the status of something as a sport is when we're talking about something like...say....billiards and bass fishing. wtf?Yeah, I guess saying "sport" is too general of a term and it can encompass a wide diverse variety of skills along with vastly different levels of "enjoyment" or "excitement".

"Athletic sports" themselves are very different. Running track/cross-country and doing triathlons bored me to no end. Those are maybe pure "fitness sports" that requires just high-fitness as a measurement of excellence. There's hardly any intellectual challenge or mental strategy, just go as hard and as fast as you can without any direct interactions with yoru competitors. You can actually set off the competitors on a time-trial basis minutes, hours or days apart and end up with roughly exactly the same finishing roster... boring... The athletic sports I like require teamwork and strategy where multiple people working together and interacting with their competitors directly affect the outcome of the game. Soccer, basketball, tennis, and hockey are the pinnacle of these sports for me because they require the highest levels of fitness possible, yet also require extreme levels of skill. From the beer-guts seen on football and baseball players, along with the long amounts of non-active time makes these sports not as exciting for me or as "difficult".

As for bull-fighting or fishing, I think it's highly "un-sporting" and unfair, bordering on immoral. The bull definitely doesn't stand a chance and the spectators who enjoy this barbaric and primitive machismo "sport" is sick. Same with fishing. Without much risk or giving your competitor a fair chance makes the "sport" unworthy and wimpy in my eyes. If you fight the bull with bare hands, go fishing without a rod & reel, bear/deer/shark/marlin hunting with just a buck-knife so that you actually give the prey a chance, then yes, I may consider that a "sport". Until then, it's not even worthy of being called a "game"... ;)

BTW - billards does require quite a lot of skill, yet no fitness required really. So it too is a game, not even close to a sport. As for bass-fishing? That's just a glorified video-game...

Aside of mountain biking, street hockey and GTing. For all of those who don't know what a GT is:

http://www.zollerhardware.com/sites/318/ecom/items/king_size_snowracer.jpg

GTing: You stand up on that thing and attempt to land snow jumps made by/for snowboarders. Fun but hard to land with these things, also only usable during winter (or really muddy conditions). And these things weigh about 25lbs so they're hard to carry back up to the top of a hill.

Street hockey is also quite physical for obivous reasons.

Those are 25pnds? Man they gained some serious weight since I was young.

I've partaken in the sports car bug and can vouch that a wild track race can be every bit as intense as a fast road bicycle run, if not even more so since you are moving far faster.

Imagine moving over 140mph and having to pull a perfect racing line (tehcnique for hitting corners at speed), othersie you are going to eat a barricade....and even with a rollcage, that can be a very scary thought. It's litarlly a game of perfection....if you lose your nerve even once, it can very well be enough to cuase a catastrophe.

Rallycross drivers get my full respect, those guys have incredible skill, and more balls than I can even fathom...heck, the fans have balls just to be around these races, with how often cars go off-course, etc.

heh, bass ifshing is right up there with billiards....watch some of the casts these guys can throw...the TV crap is just that, crap....just go do it, and stop watching it on TV....video game bass fishing is freaking sad...

As for road cycling, it can be as intense as you make it. That's part of why I like riding brick roads, the more uneven the better. Skydive knows what roads I'm talking about...and I bet he's thinking I'm a total lunatic for wanting to ride on them...I also like roads that force me to use the brakes....or eat terra firma. I'm not some super racer guy, but I do find fun in it when I can.

Plus sometimes, when you have the perfect spin going on flatland, and it seems no gear is too high, you just get this nice warm fuzzy feeling...seriosuly, it's freaking great....you feel almost god-like as you aren't even panting, and you are pushing ludicrous levels of speed.

Those are rare, but my nice sprint last night was incredible...perfect spin, and I was almost ready to shift into 53-12 when I had to slow down to make my turn...I actually heard a whistling sound coming from somewhere on my bike...I have no clue how fast I was going, but I'm not sure I really want to know either....that speed was approaching terrifying...and I loved it!

Cycling, squash, hiking, and hammocking :D

Plus sometimes, when you have the perfect spin going on flatland, and it seems no gear is too high, you just get this nice warm fuzzy feeling...seriosuly, it's freaking great....you feel almost god-like as you aren't even panting, and you are pushing ludicrous levels of speed.

That's the perfect poetic description of my Longleaf Trace ride. It wasn't particularly downhill, but I'd had an hour of slowness to warm up and hit a flat patch -- my gear pegged at the top, spinning like mad, and I was CACKLING like the Evil Mad Bomber What Bombs At Midnight from The Tick: "Yah baby, you wanna be BAD! YEAH BABY YEAH".
(It's patches like this that make me wonder about switching my gear ratio -- I have a triple on the front that I rarely need, so I consider bumping my gear range way up occasionally...)

Main Entry: 2sport
Function: noun
1 a : a source of diversion : RECREATION b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in


Therefore sports have nothing to do with how dangerous or how thrilling an activity is, or even how physically demanding said activity is.

That said, I'm partial to fixed gear urban cycling (as much as I hate traffic, it does make for some good sport), surfing, and skating (both of which I am but a novice).

I used to play basketball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee, but truth be told, I hate running.

Mine is soccer. Too many Americans prejudiced against watching a sport they've never even tried to appreciate, but I love it. It kills me when they say it's too slow paced and then start to talk about (American) football. I'm sorry, we don't stop play every 15 seconds in our version. I enjoy watching football from time to time, but to even think it's faster paced than soccer is ridiculous. The only sport that possibly involves more constant action is basketball, which I enjoy playing, but seldom watch. I love playing soccer for the same reasons I like watching it: it's constant action, the play is always changing, and its physically very demanding. Beyond that, though, I like the different control concept, avoiding your hands and challenging you to use the rest of your body.

Those are 25pnds? Man they gained some serious weight since I was young.

Yup, or at least mine is.

Mine is soccer. Too many Americans prejudiced against watching a sport they've never even tried to appreciate, but I love it. It kills me when they say it's too slow paced and then start to talk about (American) football. I'm sorry, we don't stop play every 15 seconds in our version. I enjoy watching football from time to time, but to even think it's faster paced than soccer is ridiculous. The only sport that possibly involves more constant action is basketball, which I enjoy playing, but seldom watch. I love playing soccer for the same reasons I like watching it: it's constant action, the play is always changing, and its physically very demanding. Beyond that, though, I like the different control concept, avoiding your hands and challenging you to use the rest of your body.

Soccer and hockey, last I read, were the two team sports still growing in America. I am definately someone who has never appreciated soccer. I played, two left feet, and tried to watch, and feel it is very slow. Regardless of the constant movement, its a slow paced sport. I appreciate the amount of skill and endurance, heck most of my friends out here are AVID soccer players in various leagues, I just don't get it haha...Just like rugby. I played it too, but I don't enjoy the sport. Although the hitting definately made it more interesting. :D

I'd love to go snow-mobiling again.
Anything that involves jostling or requires me to swing my right arm is pretty much out the door since it was dislocated this summer and seems to not want to heal to a point where i can swing or put any weight on it at an angle.

Car racing would be fun but its too expensive and I dont wantto form habits that I know would end up following me onto the road. As it is I take certain curves that are rated as 45-55 at 75 :p

Soccer can be fun.

Mine is soccer. Too many Americans prejudiced against watching a sport they've never even tried to appreciate, but I love it. It kills me when they say it's too slow paced and then start to talk about (American) football. I'm sorry, we don't stop play every 15 seconds in our version. I enjoy watching football from time to time, but to even think it's faster paced than soccer is ridiculous. The only sport that possibly involves more constant action is basketball, which I enjoy playing, but seldom watch. I love playing soccer for the same reasons I like watching it: it's constant action, the play is always changing, and its physically very demanding. Beyond that, though, I like the different control concept, avoiding your hands and challenging you to use the rest of your body.

amen! most americans don't appreciate soccer at all :( i've heard some people say they dislike it 'cause it's too violent and agressive... i don't buy that sh*t. american football, hockey, rugby are more violent.

amen! most americans don't appreciate soccer at all :( i've heard some people say they dislike it 'cause it's too violent and agressive... i don't buy that sh*t. american football, hockey, rugby are more violent.

There is a definate irony to that statement hahaha...(not your but what you have heard people say) :)

Mine is soccer. Too many Americans prejudiced against watching a sport they've never even tried to appreciate, but I love it. It kills me when they say it's too slow paced and then start to talk about (American) football. I'm sorry, we don't stop play every 15 seconds in our version. I enjoy watching football from time to time, but to even think it's faster paced than soccer is ridiculous. The only sport that possibly involves more constant action is basketball, which I enjoy playing, but seldom watch. I love playing soccer for the same reasons I like watching it: it's constant action, the play is always changing, and its physically very demanding. Beyond that, though, I like the different control concept, avoiding your hands and challenging you to use the rest of your body.
I used to be annoyed at Americans' apparent isolationism in the world of sports, but then I realised it's great the way it is. Keep it like this.

All the sports that suck are all the sports that Americans love and the rest of the world doesn't really care about. I'll keep it like that, god knows what they'd do to other sports if they discovered them.

Baseball, basketball, and nancy football, you can keep 'em. Please. Enjoy, by all means.
Rugby and real football, we'll have those. Glad you're not interested.

Ice hockey excepted. Now that is a cool sport.

[QUOTE=Nicodemus]I used to be annoyed at Americans' apparent isolationism in the world of sports, but then I realised it's great the way it is. Keep it like this.
QUOTE]

you're probably right. that's a nice way of looking at it... makes me feel better :D