Difference between revisions of "Sport" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
(revised and edited)
(remove wiki links)
Line 87: Line 87:
 
* ''The Meaning of Sports'' by Michael Mandel (PublicAffairs, ISBN 1-58648-252-1).
 
* ''The Meaning of Sports'' by Michael Mandel (PublicAffairs, ISBN 1-58648-252-1).
 
* [http://www.humankinetics.com/JPS/index.cfm Journal of the Philosophy of Sport]
 
* [http://www.humankinetics.com/JPS/index.cfm Journal of the Philosophy of Sport]
 
==See also==
 
{{sisterlinks|Sports}}
 
''The following entries go into further detail into issues important to sport:''
 
* [[History of sport]]
 
* [[List of sports]]
 
* [[List of sporting events]]
 
* [[List of sportspeople]]
 
* [[Sport governing bodies]]
 
* [[Olympic Games]]
 
* [[regulation of sport]]
 
* [[List of professional sports leagues]]
 
* [[Sports league attendances]]
 
* [[Sponsorship]]
 
* [[Sports coaching]]
 
* [[Sports equipment]]
 
* [[Sports injuries]]
 
* [[Sports terms named after people]]
 
* [[Sports timeline]]
 
* [[Spectator sport]]
 
* [[Multi-sport events]]
 
* [[Sport in film]]
 
* [[Disabled sports]]
 
* [[Female sport]]
 
* [[Nationalism and sport]]
 
* [[Sports broadcasting|TV Sports]]
 
* [[Fandom]]
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
Line 126: Line 99:
 
* [http://www.timelessquotes.com/topic/Sports.html Sports Quotes]
 
* [http://www.timelessquotes.com/topic/Sports.html Sports Quotes]
 
* [http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/ An encyclopedia for American sports ]
 
* [http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/ An encyclopedia for American sports ]
 
  
 
{{Technology-footer}}
 
{{Technology-footer}}

Revision as of 23:58, 25 August 2006

Children playing soccer.

The purpose of sport is to produce joy in the heart of the participant. This joy is experienced when the mind and body of the participant unite together to accomplish one of the goals, techniques, or skills associated with that particular sport. Examples would include crossing the finish line in a race, sinking a putt in golf, catching a fish, or making a goal in soccer (football)

A sport is a physical and mental endeavor where the participant engages in a recreational activity for competition, self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of skill or strength, or some combination of these. Side by side competition, the challenge of nature and a scoring system are some of the components that make sport interesting for the participant. Each sport has a unique goal which defines the characteristics of the sport. Sports often include some element of competition. This competition may be team vs. team, individual vs. individual, or individual vs. nature.

History of sport

Main article: History of sport

Sports have developed in many different cultures through out the world. The history of sport can be connected to the development of military training, entertainment, and art.

There are artifacts which suggest Chinese people engaged in activities which meet our definition of sport as early as 4000 B.C.E. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a range of sports were well developed and regulated several thousands of years ago, including swimming, fishing, javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports, such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to the warfare skills. Other sports originating in Persia are polo and jousting.

A wide range of sports were established in Ancient Greece. Wrestling, running, boxing, javelin, discus throwing, and chariot racing were prevalent at that time. The skills learned in these sports were also valuable for military training. This suggests that the military culture of Greece and the development of its sports had impact on one another. Ancient Greece began the tradition of the Olympic Games held every four years in at a small village in Peloponnesus called Olympia.

Sport has become increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the Ancient Olympics up to the present. Sports such as hunting and fishing began as activities to procure food and survival, then later became regulated activities done for pleasure or competition. The Industrial Revolution and development of mass production brought increased leisure time; allowing an increase in spectator sports, less elitism in sports, and greater accessibility for all people. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism in sports helped increase the popularity of sports. Additionally, the general public increasingly found the need to have fun, take a break from the hectic workday, and relieve unwanted stress through participating in sports.

A classification of sports

The following classification of sports is based more on the sport's aim, rather than the actual mechanics. These examples are illustrative, rather than comprehensive.

Opponent

Achievement

  • Target (archery, shooting, dart...)
  • Display (gymnastics, bodybuilding, equestrianism, diving...)
  • Strength (weight-lifting, triple jump, shot put...)
  • Endurance (running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, orienteering, cross-country skiing...)

Sports that fall into multiple categories

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship may be defined as the "conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants, including a sense of fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, a striving spirit, and grace in losing."

Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity is to be enjoyed for its own sake. The well-known statement by sports journalist Grantland Rice, it's “not that you won or lost but how you played the game" and the Modern Olympic creed of its founder Pierre de Coubertin stating "The most important thing . . . is not winning but taking part” are typical expressions of the philosophy of sportsmanship.

But often the pressures of competition or an obsession with individual achievement - as well as the intrusion of technology - can all work against enjoyment and fair play by participants.

Sportsmanship, within any given game, is how each competitor acts before, during, and after the competition. Not only is it important to have good sportsmanship if one wins, but also if one loses. For example, in football it is considered sportsmanlike to kick the ball out of play to allow treatment for an injured player on the other side. Reciprocally, the other team is expected to return the ball from the throw-in.

People responsible for sporting activities often seek recognition and respectability by joining sports federations such as the IOC, or by forming their own regulatory body. In this way sports evolve from leisure activity to more formal sports. Some of these activities have been popular but uncodified pursuits in various forms for different lengths of time. Indeed, the formal regulation of sport is a relatively modern and increasing development.

Violence in sports, the opposite of sportsmanship involves crossing the line between fair competition and intentional aggressive violence. Athletes, coaches, fans, and parents sometimes unleash violent behavior on people or property, in misguided shows of loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration.

Professionalism and the regulation of sport

The entertainment aspect of sport, the spread of mass media, and increased leisure time have contributed to professionalism in sport. This sometimes conflicts the original meaning of sport, as the paycheck may seem to be more important than recreational aspects: or where the sport is changed simply to make it more profitable and popular, losing some of its valued traditions.

The entertainment aspect also means that sportsmen and women are often elevated to celebrity status, or in some cases near-god-like.

The successful execution of a sport requires the consensus agreement of the participants on a set of rules for fair competition. This has led to the control of each sport through a regulatory body to define what methods of competition are acceptable and what are considered cheating.

Sport and politics

Politics have at times created dilemmas for sport and sporting events.

When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sportspeople adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects.

The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognized in retrospect, where an ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda.

In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural nationalism. Even until the mid twentieth century a person could have been banned from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by the GAA if they played or supported football, or other games seen to be of British origin, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 led to the eventual removal of the ban.

Nationalism in general is often evident in the pursuit of sport, or in its reporting. Competition in global events such as the Olympics or World Cup tend to become highly nationalistic, both in the competitors and the media that reports the events. These trends are seen by some as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sport being played for its own sake, for the enjoyment of its participants.

Art and sport

Sport has many affinities with art. Ice skating and Tai chi, for example, are sports that come close to artistic spectacles in themselves: watching these activities is similar to the experience of viewing a ballet. Similarly, other activities have elements of sport and art in their execution, such as performance art, artistic gymnastics, Bodybuilding, fly tying, Yoga, dressage, etc. Perhaps the best example is Bull-fighting, which in Spain is reported in the arts pages of newspapers.

The fact that art is so close to sport in some situations is probably related to the nature of sport. The definition of "sport" above put forward the idea of an activity pursued not just for the usual purposes, for example, running not simply to get places, but running for its own sake, running as well as we can.

This is similar to a common view of aesthetic value, which is seen as something over and above the strictly functional value coming from an object's normal use. So an aesthetically pleasing car is one which doesn't just get from A to B, but which impresses us with its grace, poise, and charisma.

In the same way, a sporting performance such as jumping doesn't just impress us as being an effective way to avoid obstacles or to get across streams. It impresses us because of the ability, skill, and style which are shown.

Art and sport were probably more clearly linked at the time of Ancient Greece, when gymnastics and calisthenics invoked admiration and aesthetic appreciation for the physical build, prowess and 'arete' displayed by participants. The modern term 'art' as skill, is related to this ancient Greek term 'arete'. The closeness of art and sport in these times was revealed in the nature of the Olympic Games which, as we have seen, were celebrations of both sporting and artistic achievements, poetry, sculpture and architecture.

The terms 'sport' and 'sports'

In Commonwealth English, sporting activities are commonly denoted by the collective noun "sport". In American English, "sports" is more common for this usage. In all English dialects, "sports" is the term used for more than one specific sport. For example, "football and swimming are my favourite sports" would sound natural to all English speakers, whereas "I enjoy sport" would sound less natural than "I enjoy sports" to many North Americans.

Recommended reading

External links

Types Major fields of technology Edit
Applied Science Energy storage | Artificial intelligence | Ceramic engineering | Computing technology | Electronics | Energy | Engineering physics | Materials science | Materials engineering | Microtechnology | Nanotechnology | Nuclear technology | Optical engineering
Athletics and Recreation Camping equipment | Playground | Sports | Sports equipment
The Arts and Language Communication | Graphics | Music technology | Speech recognition | Visual technology
Business and Information Construction | Financial engineering | Information technology | Management information systems | Manufacturing | Machinery | Mining | Telecommunication
Military Bombs | Guns and Ammunition | Military technology and equipment | Naval engineering
Domestic / Residential Domestic appliances | Domestic technology | Educational technology | Food products and production
Engineering Agricultural engineering | Bioengineering | Biochemical engineering | Biomedical engineering | Chemical engineering | Civil engineering | Computer engineering | Electrical engineering | Environmental engineering | Industrial engineering | Mechanical engineering | Metallurgical engineering | Nuclear engineering | Petroleum engineering | Software engineering | Structural engineering
Health and Safety Biomedical engineering | Bioinformatics | Biotechnology | Cheminformatics | Fire protection technology | Health technologies | Pharmaceuticals | Safety engineering
Travel and Trade Aerospace | Aerospace engineering | Marine engineering | Motor vehicles | Space technology | Transport

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.