Alpha Black

Susan Storm wrote: Companies sponsor reruns of Seinfeld too.  Doesn't make that a sport.

For fat people it is!

[QUOTE-Susan Storm]

But if we are going to play semantics, I agree that paintball is, at least for some people, a sport.  It is the "professional" part that makes me laugh.

I think there is another thing to look at here. Yes, it's a nice little cheap entry level marker. I wish this was out when I bought my first entry level marker. I wound up with a JT Tac-5 Camo. And let me tell you, that is a peice of crap. This, because it's a Tippy, I know is made much better.

Now look at the mil-sim look of this little marker. It looks very much like the current M-16 that the military uses. One thing that is happening in some military and law enforcement areas is the use of Paintball in as a trainning tool.

Becuase this is cheap to buy, more departments can afford to buy a number of them.

Yes, I know there is simunition rounds. However, the problem with those is that, to the best of my knowlage, they are only avalibe in small cal. rounds. Such as the 9mm. There is no simunition round for a 5.56 NATO round. Mostly because the round is traveling at such a high rate of speed, that it would shatter when fired.

So, if Tippmann worked with the US Army to make a marker that our troops can use to better their skills so they have a better chance to stay alive. Then figured that the same marker can be sold to the public. Good for them.

Tolgak wrote: If one looks at all the games that are globally considered as sports, they all have the following traits. A single focus (ball, puck):     - Use of focus by players is the only way points are earned.     - Focus must be on-field and/or in constant possession possession of players for play to continue.     - Upon possession of focus, team becomes offense with no stop in play.     - Focus is always put into play by offense.

Track/running/racing events? No ball there.

An even field:     - Oval, circle, rectangle.     - Symmetrical on one axis.     - Scoring zone on each end.     - Flat, to put emphasis more on game than terrain.

Cross-contry running?  Skiing?  Ski-jumping?  Gymnastics?

A significant amount of physical effort required:     - If all players are putting a decent effort, players will be required to run in order to make progress.     - Only by acting on the focus can scores be made (throwing, kicking, swatting, running with)     - Only energy created by players moves game forward.

Competitive walking has no running.
Still assuming the need for this "focus".
Equestrian events use energy created by non-players, as do shooting events.

Other traits:     - Always no more than two teams.     - Players are never eliminated from the game unless penalized.     - Always an even amount of players from each team on field.     - Artistry of participants does not go toward the score.

Individual events (track et al) routinely have multiple "teams" competing simultaneously.
Several sports (golf, ski-jumping) have cutoffs where many players are eliminated without "penalty" at midpoints in the event.
Ice Hockey frequently has an uneven number of players from each team.  Baseball always does.  Some variants of soccer and other sports also vary the number of players at any given time.
I tend to agree on the artistry bit, but many/most people (including the IOC) believe that figure skating is a sport. 

Methinks that your multi-prong definition eliminated a sizeable chunk of what most people would consider "sports".

Skillet42565 wrote: Track and running events still have a singular focus, the ending line.

And how exactly do you "maintain possession" of the finish line?

Tolga clearly is describing an actual ball.

jmac3 wrote:   If it's in the olympics it is a "universally" recognized sport.

I'm not sure I am ready to go that far, although IOC blessing certainly carries a fair amount of weight.

Not everybody would consider curling a sport, for instance, or air rifle.

Also curious how people feel about strongman contests and competitive eaters...?