The ghost of Jimmy the Greek has taken over my body...... If you can wager on it, then it is a sport!
i'm surpised so many people don't think it's a sport. i think too many people just mess around when playing pool. at the highest level, or even at a high level, pool requires power, precision, hand-eye coordination, and game planning as much as any sport. sure you might not sweat, but i don't believe that should be the ultimate definition of sport.
The need for athleticism is probably the worst argument to use against golf, as can be seen be the thousands of unathletic hacks who play golf at a miserable level, and athletes like Mark McGwire who can play golf at a high level. If you don't have coordination, muscle control, and power/speed, you can't play golf at a high level.
That's not true. But that doesn't mean golf isn't a sport. read this: http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80170&perpage=30&pagenumber=2#post1426650 -- droxford
Pool is a sport Unlike chess, which is all mental, you can imagine how your pool shots will be, but if you can't physically execute the shots, you won't win. Thus, it's a physical activity. Physically, you hit the cue ball hard or soft depending on the shot. Too hard, or too soft will result in a bad shot that could cost result in a loss. Where the cue touches the ball greatly controls spin (english) on the ball and the direction it will go. Left or right english makes the ball move left or right, and top or bottom english controls the ball's draw or follow. After you develop basic skills of hitting a ball into a pocket, you begin to learn more difficult shots, and table strategy - where you are going to position the cue ball in order to make the next shot. Cue ball positioning is crucial, and this is where the mental challenge comes into pool. champion players can read 8 or 9 shots into the table (i.e., in their mind, they can imagine the next shot and where the cue ball will end up, and then then next shot, etc.). This is why you see the pro players spend so much more time thinking about each shot. But all of that is offensive strategy. Then there's the whole aspect of playing safe - positioning the balls in specific ways that will make it difficult or impossible for your opponent to score. Inexperienced people think of defensive play as 'playing crappy' but any experienced player will tell you that, like any other sport, defense is just as important to the game as offense. And, yes, golf is a sport. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless. -- droxford
Golf is defintely a sport. It's a guy hitting a white ball.... just because ther aren't nine guys trying to catch it doesn't mean it's not a sport.
