Wetzel: Figure Skating Not a Sport

[Cman]

... thought everyone could use a little diversion 

Wetzel had a column titled "Why Figure Skating Is Not a Sport"
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/figure_skating/news;_ylt=Aiu.pAyakT_UqHYORLKwbqg5nYcB?slug=dw-figureskating022610&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Here's a quote:

Before you slit my throat with a sharpened Risport, please note that figure skaters are incredible athletes. They require speed, strength, agility, dexterity, balance and conditioning, certainly more than I could ever deliver. The pressure of the free skate – one person facing four minutes where a single error is ruinous – is about as intense as anything I’ve seen. I enjoy covering it every Winter Olympics.

Which doesn’t make figure skating a sport. And don’t even start with ice dancing, which dominated NBC’s broadcast last Sunday night. It takes a great athlete to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk competition, too. That isn’t a sport, either.

...
Figure skating is about what a human judge interprets as success. They bring their own biases, beliefs and preferences. It’s abstract. As such, it should be properly defined as a competition, not a sport.

I agree.

[MBz]

I agree and I've had this conversation with some other people as well over a few of the snowboarding/skiing events.  Having judges just doesn't make it as fun to watch.  Also when theirs judges how do they decide what is the right way or wrong way to do something?

[lon3lytoaster]

He makes a valid enough point for me to agree here.

[Eja117]

Many "sports" aren't sports and this is one of them

[Bahku]

This is a stupid argument ... so Wetzel determines what the definition of "sport" is?!? So "human bias" doesn't come into basketball or hockey or footbal or any other "sport"? That's absurd! Officials in EVERY sport that exists help decide the outcome of games, so don't give me that. Whether figure skating fits into someone's own definition of sport is THEIR decision, but don't try to justify this opinion by saying "true sports" are only those without human bias involved, because there is NOT a sport on earth that exists WITHOUT it.

Figure skating is as physically demanding as any other sport, and for some reason anyone who doesn't support the "Figure skating is not a sport" theory is seen as less than objective ... which is crap. It's just as much a sport as anything else, and if you want to attack the whole "what's a sport" subject, then please explain to me why poker is on sports channels? Personally, I'd rather watch figure skating any day than some idiot with sunglasses indoors throwing money around at the luck of a deck of cards, and calling himself "King" ... give me a break! And this guy is attacking figure skating?

Sorry, Wetzel, but your argument has no basis in reality, because "human bias" affects every sport there is, and it always will. Figue skaters work as hard at their sport as any other athlete, and even more so in many cases, and they deserve to have the same kind of respect for their sport as any other athlete. So we should deny them the right of calling what they do a "sport" because they're at the mercy of a judge?!? What a foolish idea! This is an old argument, and I've yet to hear any substantive information/opinion that held up under scrutiny.

[Witch-King]

It might be better defined as a "competitive performance" or "adjudicated performance art"... 

[steve]

I think a sport should be a game in which your opponent can physically effect whether you win or lose.  So Curling would be a sport because you can knock out your opponent.  Darts would not be a sport because your opponent does not effect your performance.  So darts would be considered just a game.  Along with golf, bowling...

Anything racing related is not a sport, it is a race.

People think it is a slight against something like figure skating by not calling it a sport but it's not.  We are merely trying to catergorize stuff.  If you want to just start calling everything a sport that's fine, while we're at it we should just call every animal an "animal".   

Poker is a card game.  Just because it's on a sporting channel doesn't mean anything.  MTV plays reality tv shows that doesn't mean reality tv is a music video. 

[Witch-King]

I think a sport should be a game in which your opponent can physically effect whether you win or lose.  So Curling would be a sport because you can knock out your opponent.  Darts would not be a sport because your opponent does not effect your performance.  So darts would be considered just a game.  Along with golf, bowling...

Anything racing related is not a sport, it is a race.

People think it is a slight against something like figure skating by not calling it a sport but it's not.  We are merely trying to catergorize stuff.  If you want to just start calling everything a sport that's fine, while we're at it we should just call every animal an "animal".   

Poker is a card game.  Just because it's on a sporting channel doesn't mean anything.  MTV plays reality tv shows that doesn't mean reality tv is a music video. 

it also doesn't mean that MTV feels obligated to air actual music videos during daytime/primetime anymore...   

[Moranis]

so boxing, mma, wrestling, and every other combat sport are no longer sports then either.  I'm sure Wetzel would make the argument that those are sports because there are two competitors going head to head and one can finish the other and take it out of the hands of judges, but I fail to see much difference in that.

If a competition requires high level athletes I can't in good faith call it anything other then a sport.

And if you want to get crazy what is golf, or nascar, or any number of other competitions that are called sports really.

[crownsy]

my feeling has always been if your opponent can't play active defense, then it's a skill, not a sport.

And yes, this eliminates golf from the "sport" world. Golf is an amazing skill, preformed by good athletes.

[the_Bird]

This is a stupid argument ... so Wetzel determines what the definition of "sport" is?!? So "human bias" doesn't come into basketball or hockey or footbal or any other "sport"? That's absurd! Officials in EVERY sport that exists help decide the outcome of games, so don't give me that. Whether figure skating fits into someone's own definition of sport is THEIR decision, but don't try to justify this opinion by saying "true sports" are only those without human bias involved, because there is NOT a sport on earth that exists WITHOUT it.

Figure skating is as physically demanding as any other sport, and for some reason anyone who doesn't support the "Figure skating is not a sport" theory is seen as less than objective ... which is crap. It's just as much a sport as anything else, and if you want to attack the whole "what's a sport" subject, then please explain to me why poker is on sports channels? Personally, I'd rather watch figure skating any day than some idiot with sunglasses indoors throwing money around at the luck of a deck of cards, and calling himself "King" ... give me a break! And this guy is attacking figure skating?

Sorry, Wetzel, but your argument has no basis in reality, because "human bias" affects every sport there is, and it always will. Figue skaters work as hard at their sport as any other athlete, and even more so in many cases, and they deserve to have the same kind of respect for their sport as any other athlete. So we should deny them the right of calling what they do a "sport" because they're at the mercy of a judge?!? What a foolish idea! This is an old argument, and I've yet to hear any substantive information/opinion that held up under scrutiny.

Well said.

There's also been a deliberate move to make the judging in figure skating more objective (which has not been without its own controversy).  I don't see how a judge making a determination as to whether a triple-lutz was properly executed is any different from an umpire determining if a curveball hit the outside corner.

[LarBrd33]

without reading the article or reading any of your responses I'll sum it up like this:

If figure skating is a sport... then the kids on "So you think you can dance" are pro athletes. 

Really no difference between competitive dancing and figure skating.  It's just dancing with skates.

[Roy Hobbs]

I don't see a huge distinction between "sports" and "athletic competitions".  To me, it's all semantics; what figure skaters do is dang impressive, and takes amazing athleticism and coordination.  If it makes certain people feel better not to call it -- or gymnastics, or any other judge-based competition -- a sport, so be it.

I do, however, question the motives of anybody who gets too up in arms about stuff like this, if only because the "non-sports" tend to be related to female-focused competitions.

Question:  are boxing, MMA, etc. sports?  If there's not a knockout, the judges determine a winner, right?  So, those belong in the same category as figure skating, I assume.

[fairweatherfan]

This is a stupid argument ... so Wetzel determines what the definition of "sport" is?!? So "human bias" doesn't come into basketball or hockey or footbal or any other "sport"? That's absurd! Officials in EVERY sport that exists help decide the outcome of games, so don't give me that. Whether figure skating fits into someone's own definition of sport is THEIR decision, but don't try to justify this opinion by saying "true sports" are only those without human bias involved, because there is NOT a sport on earth that exists WITHOUT it.

I think the argument isn't that other sports are completely free of human bias, it's that outcomes in figure skating are more or less entirely up to subjective interpretation.  A comparable analogy would be several basketball teams each playing 5 on none for a few minutes, and at the end the referees vote on who they think played the best, with heavy emphasis on who looked more aesthetically pleasing while playing. 

I tend to agree with Wetzel - figure skaters are world-class athletes by any standard, but it's essentially a high-caliber dance competition on ice skates. 

[Atzar]

I think sports involve teams that take the field/court/rink with the goal of beating each other.  Baseball, basketball, football, soccer, hockey.  I'd throw Lacrosse in there, and I'm probably missing a few of the more obscure ones.  

This isn't belittling golf, or skating, or gymnastics, or tennis - those are all extremely demanding in terms of skill and/or athleticism, and what they do is amazing.  But it isn't sports.

It's not like being labeled a 'sport' rather than a 'competition' or a 'race' makes a lick of difference, anyway.  I don't see why people get so angry about it.