Society/Culture Sport: Arbitrary, Needless or Essential?

[Gough]

Yeah, I like sport. Not a great deal of sport. I like my footy. I'll watch the cricket though I've no real passion for the game. As noted, us humans are social animals and feel the need to belong to something greater. In the absence of religion I have the Geelong Football Club.

If sport were to one day disappear altogether however, I think I'd cope. I think I could find something to fill the void, even though it may not come from the world of health and fitness.

Competitive drinking, anyone?

I'd miss live sport. It's like music to me, enjoyable enough at home but unbeatable live.

 

[faible]

even if it has a basis in fact

You kind of nailed it here... there's a basis in fact to preventing biological men from competing in the same category as biological women in sports where physical capability is the primary determiner of outcome.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Sad that this couldn't even go a page without people going offtrack with segregation by sex in sport. If that is the first thing that pops into your mind...

Context. The topic of segregation by sex in sport came up in another thread. Gethelred created this thread 'for the discussion we're about to have'. Then tagged me in a post that reiterated the claim that all categories in sport are arbitrary.

 

[the_interloper]

Sport is a part of human nature. We love to compete physically.

Correct, and seeing as though we're not in trenches at war we need some sort of combative reality to keep us sane I reckon, whether it's competing or following our team

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I'd miss live sport. It's like music to me, enjoyable enough at home but unbeatable live.

Yeah, this is true. You can't replicate the tingly buzz of being in a surging, thundering crowd. As Lemmy Kilmister once sang in that gravelly voice of his;

"The only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud
So good, I can't believe it, screaming with the crowd..."

 

[Gough]

Yeah, this is true. You can't replicate the tingly buzz of being in a surging, thundering crowd. As Lemmy Kilmister once sang in that gravelly voice of his;

"The only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud
So good, I can't believe it, screaming with the crowd..."

Live music is never loud enough these days. I've said before, occy health and safety has spoiled the modern gig going experience.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Live music is never loud enough these days. I've said before, occy health and safety has spoiled the modern gig going experience.

I agree but my tinnitis has someth-

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Some of that's industrial deafness though. Working factory floors and such PLUS going to heavy metal gigs PLUS listening to that music through earphones hasn't helped much.

But you know what? I wouldn't change a damned thing!!

 

[Gough]

I agree but my tinnitis has someth-

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Some of that's industrial deafness though. Working factory floors and such PLUS going to heavy metal gigs PLUS listening to that music through earphones hasn't helped much.

But you know what? I wouldn't change a damned thing!!

I liked it when the ground would vibrate to the beat of the bass drum.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I liked it when the ground would vibrate to the beat of the bass drum.

Best gigs I ever went to were in an old wooden-floored ballroom venue called the Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. I saw Motorhead play there and both the bass drum and Lemmy's Rickenbacker buzzed the f*ck out of the floorboards.

No venue's come close since.

 

[Chief]

where physical capability is the primary determiner of outcome

But as we've seen in studies across the world, the likelihood of a child reaching the professional level increases a great deal if, during junior sports, they are older at the start of the training/playing season. Physical capability tends to be less of a cause - it seems to be a result of early success to encourage the person continue, and extra training and attention from this success arising from being older than the other kids.

 

[faible]

But as we've seen in studies across the world, the likelihood of a child reaching the professional level increases a great deal if, during junior sports, they are older at the start of the training/playing season. Physical capability tends to be less of a cause - it seems to be a result of early success to encourage the person continue, and extra training and attention from this success arising from being older than the other kids.

Sure. That holds across both men and women and results in a ~ 13% performance gap (depending on the event) though. I don't think removing the women's category and having them compete with men is going to mysteriously reduce that gap down to a surmountable level.

Your comment also kind of glosses over those kids still having to have the fundamental physical capability, plenty of 'older' age kids don't make it to the professional level.

 

[Chief]

removing the women's category and having them compete with men

In which sport? Curling? MMA?

 

[Engimal v3]

In which sport? Curling? MMA?

Alexander Volkanovski vs Amanda Nunes at 145, let's do it

 

[faible]

In which sport? Curling? MMA?

As I already said;

in sports where physical capability is the primary determiner of outcome.

It's open to discussion which sports would fall in or out of that classification.

 

[Gethelred]

Live music is never loud enough these days. I've said before, occy health and safety has spoiled the modern gig going experience.

Just went to a gig, it was quieter than I'd have my radio with their album on.

 

[Big Papa Ted]

Disappear for a month and come back to this thread. Christ

 

[faible]

Disappear for a month and come back to this thread. Christ

Why should sport exist he asks on an internet forum dedicated to a specific sport.

 

[Big Papa Ted]

Why should sport exist he asks on an internet forum dedicated to a specific sport.

Haha nah that wasn't where I was going with it!

 

[mr bagcroft]

Purely to keep was from rioting/uprising.
Blokes must be kept occupied, either playing it or watching it.
Keep us nice and docile, and willfully ignorant to larger issues and decisions being made.

 

[Gethelred]

Why should sport exist he asks on an internet forum dedicated to a specific sport.

I think an awful lot of things go completely unquestioned, unexamined or assumed. It's good to examine things a little closer sometimes.

 

[faible]

I think an awful lot of things go completely unquestioned, unexamined or assumed. It's good to examine things a little closer sometimes.

Surely any of 2002, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2018 would have been when you'd question the need for sport, or the final moments of round 23 last year.

 

[faible]

Somewhat related

The 'mind blowing' Paralympics scandal threatening the integrity of the Games

Former athletes and officials tell Four Corners the system of Paralympic classification is flawed and easily manipulated.

www.abc.net.au

 

[the_interloper]

Purely to keep was from rioting/uprising.
Blokes must be kept occupied, either playing it or watching it.
Keep us nice and docile, and willfully ignorant to larger issues and decisions being made.

I think you're not far wrong. I think an idle bloke can be dangerous, sport (both playing and watching) is an outlet for blokes, without it we might find some sort of more destructive hobby.

 

[Chief]

I think you're not far wrong. I think an idle bloke can be dangerous, sport (both playing and watching) is an outlet for blokes, without it we might find some sort of more destructive hobby.

You've got this weird "muscular Christianity" meme going on here.

 

[the_interloper]

You've got this weird "muscular Christianity" meme going on here.

Probably "dad bod non practicing Catholic" would be more accurate.