is what we do a sport?

[mkovalcson]

My take is that people who feel that this should be a sport are somehow trying to in some way elevate flying helis in stature.

However I see this as self-defeating, because many of the arguments point to other sports that are at the bottom end of the athletic spectrum as somehow proving something.

Once the IOC labeled Chess a sport, then exactly what value can be had by calling flying RC Helis a sport?

Do you see the problem?

How does that in any way shape or form reflect in a positive way on RC Helis ?

All we've done is successfully lowered the bar on the term sport to mean nothing.

Flying RC Helis is a SPORT !
Hurray!!!

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by snjbird

I'm going with no, not a sport...

Many people do sports as a hobby, but not all hobbies are sport.

In the end it boils down to "your" interpretation of the word...

I hardly see say fishing as a sport, but some guys make big bucks at doing it...

Golf, as low energy as it may be, is sport too. But flying RC is a huge stretch in my mind to be "sport"

May be that the lack of a scoring system makes me think it... I mean if you get 3 buddies and hit the golf coarse, you can make a bet, and the guy with the best score wins, same for tennis, and soccer/football, heck even mini golf... But RC, not so much...

you need a judge which ever flight he likes the best winds the bet... kind of like gymnastics, or diving its all what the judges like the best...

[dankreed]

@ mkovalcson

I read through the posts and i noticed that you are constantly reminding us that you have been a competitor at high levels in many activities. That is great, you are obviously better than the majority of us here.

My issues is if I want to call it a sport i will.. and if you dont want to, you dont have to.. but you have a tendency to make assumptions that if i want call it a sport i am somehow trying to rationalize my lack of ability.. or i am overcompensating and trying to elevate myself to your level of competitiveness.

So sport on

[aloys24]

everyone is going to have a different answer for this. I voted no, but would not argue with anyone who enters competitions and says that they do think it is a sport. People show a level of commitment to the activity and put in a lot of time to excel at it, so maybe it is a sport to them.

people say poker is a sport, when I don't think it is, even though I considered it my job for a couple of years.

Just because you can turn an activity into a competition does not make it a sport to me.

They are just "words" to me, I can go out and play 18 holes with a group of friends, but its not a competition to me, not a sport to me, its just a way to get out of the house! Guys playing in golf tournies are playing a sport.

Going fishing on a saturday morning is not a sport to me, but others might disagree!

[Larry227]

This is the most entertaining thread I've read in a long time.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by dankreed

@ mkovalcson

I read through the posts and i noticed that you are constantly reminding us that you have been a competitor at high levels in many activities. That is great, you are obviously better than the majority of us here.

My issues is if I want to call it a sport i will.. and if you dont want to, you dont have to.. but you have a tendency to make assumptions that if i want call it a sport i am somehow trying to rationalize my lack of ability.. or i am overcompensating and trying to elevate myself to your level of competitiveness.

So sport on

To be clear, I was just listing a few activities that I consider to be real sports. I was not in any way shape or form saying that a person is a better person for having been competitive in my favorite sports. My only comment was that athletic sports had some value in the form of improved health, vs other pursuits that were more sedentary.

I am not competitive in any sport right now and I have no intention of competing with RC Helis either ( not that I'm remotely suggesting I have enough ability to do so).

I'd say if anything the area I have been most competitive in lately has been debating on these forums and I'm really not proud of that. That is a natural propensity of mine that I need to put a damper on.

So let me apologize because I was not trying to offend people, and say thanks for calling me out on this.

[aloys24]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

To be clear, I was just listing a few activities that I consider to be real sports. I was not in any way shape or form saying that a person is a better person for having been competitive in my favorite sports. My only comment was that athletic sports had some value in the form of improved health, vs other pursuits that were more sedentary.

I am not competitive in any sport right now and I have no intention of competing with RC Helis either ( not that I'm remotely suggesting I have enough ability to do so).

I'd say if anything the area I have been most competitive in lately has been debating on these forums and I'm really not proud of that. That is a natural propensity of mine that I need to put a damper on.

So let me apologize because I was not trying to offend people, and say thanks for calling me out on this.

don't feel bad! I feel the same way you do. I just can't help debating with people and throwing out different ways of thinking. I like to try to look at things from multiple perspectives and it gets me into trouble, haha. and if someone states something as a fact but I think otherwise, I have a really hard time not sticking my nose in and trying to correct them! I am trying to get better at this also!

[kaiser01]

if golf, bowling, pool and even baseball are sports then 3d heli flying sure is too.
heck at that point any competitive rc is a sport.

[Mixmaster Pilot]

Originally Posted by Hoosiermo1

Hand eye coordination will do more for your game than will size.
I am a small guy and can out drive most of the bigger guys I play with.
The same hand eye coordination will make you a better pilot as well.

Obviously skill is involved and a big part of golf, but the fact is you would drive the ball further if you where bigger, allowing you to use shorter irons into the longer holes.

[aaronbru]

To the Top!!!!

[jombo]

i am playing a sport now , i am interacting on Helifreaks forum . this is a sport too , there are alot of players on this and the Moderators judge us

[DELxCMB]

If you aren't doing any type of crazy physical activity....it is NOT a sport. If you don't sweat, other than standing under the sun, it is NOT a sport. If your legs and arms are not moving at the same time...it is NOT a sport. This to me is a hobby. I enjoy doing it and it is sort of relaxing.... unless I crash hahaha

[Glass Monkey]

ill say it again, lots of "nays" sounding off but falling to almost even money in the poll!
amazing how any sort of score makes one competitive, maybe the guy who said adding a score would make it a sport was right!

[ARM_Coder]

+1 at the hobby side. I tend to think a sport involves physical strength and/or endurance. I always found it funny to see poker or pool games being broadcast in sports channels.

Auto racing is universally considered a sport, I partially agree with it because of the strict physical preparation the drivers need to have (the same applies to horse racing).

IMHO, I don't see RC helis as a sport, even top 3D flying. But maybe I'm wrong, if target shooting became an Olympic modality, maybe one day 3D flying or F3C will make it too.

Salute!

[matthewcornell]

Here's the difference between a hobby and a sport: one gets you fit and the other gets you fat. Seriously, I LOVE this hobby, but it's essentially sedentary activity. You stand, move your fingers, then walk 10' and bend over. :-) But that it's possible to do when you are not fit or differently abled is a great thing. In my club we have a good % of older guys (I'm the youngest at 49) and by god they still get out there and do their thing. Awesome. One member is in a wheelchair. Talk about spirit. So no, not a sport like mountain biking (which I also love), but a very rewarding hobby. My 2c

[spykez]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

What you are saying is that in this obese world we live in people will try to make themselves feel better by calling video gaming a sport.

That is pathetic!

Last night I was mountain biking for an hour and a half. That is a sport. I've raced bicycles, rowed, waterskied at a serious level, competed in racquetball. Those are all sports.

Flying helicopters may be an obsession to some who have gotten very talented flying, but it is not a sport.

Twiddling sticks on a transmitter is not a sport. It is a hell of a lot of fun, but not a sport.

I would agree. Anything that does not involve any physical exertion, imho, should not be considered a sport. As much as I like fps's and heli's and chess, they are not sports. However I admit in my books golf is not a sport either, unless you carry all your gear and walk or your health or age is such that swinging a golf club amounts to exercise for you.

[Mixmaster Pilot]

Originally Posted by spykez

However I admit in my books golf is not a sport either, unless you carry all your gear and walk or your health or age is such that swinging a golf club amounts to exercise for you.

Seriously what is all this hate for golf?

Everyone here agrees the Javelin event is a sport right? What's the difference between that and the drive in Golf? The best drivers in the game exert huge amounts of force into their action, something that takes lot's of energy from fast twitch muscles. And look at how much a great drive helps in golf, the number ! players have been above average in height. Tiger Woods dominated the tour when he had the best drive around and the best physical condition. Once players realised the bar was raised, they all started working out, and now the game is changed.

If you are not convinced, go to a driving range and hit 50 drives in a row without stopping. You simply can't because it's a very physical action. Many golfer's get injuries from it.

So Golf has Javelin covered before we even start with the skill side of things.

And before you all jump up and down about Javelin throwing being different, I used to be a state representative at Javelin until an injury ended my career. You can be better than average with good technique, but it requires physical strength to be great at both.

[Moktor]

Originally Posted by DELxCMB

If you aren't doing any type of crazy physical activity....it is NOT a sport. If you don't sweat, other than standing under the sun, it is NOT a sport. If your legs and arms are not moving at the same time...it is NOT a sport. This to me is a hobby. I enjoy doing it and it is sort of relaxing.... unless I crash hahaha

While I appreciate your opinion, that simply isn't necessarily true when considering dictionaries. Webster doesn't even have "physical" as a part of one of their definitions (a diversion or recreation), as "physical" is not *necessarily* a mandate of a sport. Sure, we get an idea in our heads of what WE think a word should mean, but the importance of having definitions made by more neutral parties is important in cases like these.

I would say that, as a competitive venture, 3D heli flight and the countless hours required to master it should be considered a sport for the same reasons that baseball is considered a sport. The biggest injuries in baseball come from having to walk back to the dugout from the field after standing around for so long

[Mixmaster Pilot]

Originally Posted by Moktor

The biggest injuries in baseball come from having to walk back to the dugout from the field after standing around for so long

Your comments are ignored after this comment given it's highly ignorant nature.

Learning a skill does not make something a sport. I fly heli's as my job, and it's taken a long time to get to my skill level, but it's not a sport. If I didn't get paid, and did it for fun, it would be called recreational flying.

[spykez]

Originally Posted by Mixmaster Pilot

Seriously what is all this hate for golf?...

Point taken, duly noted. I did state though it was my opinion unfortunately borne out of contact with 'golfers' who are clearly not the sort that you mention, there are clearly those who exert themselves. As you can tell, I'm not a golfer