Open Thread: What Is a Sport?

This is a question that Jay, Ben and I used to debate all the time on our sports talk radio show, "Double Overtime", on WBRS. It's also a question I debated with my co-workers yesterday. What is a sport? It's not a question just for water-cooler talk either: as Jay wrote a few weeks back, the courts have taken an interest in this question as well, especially pertaining to cheerleading (the courts said no in this instance).

Are these pictured the only real sports?

So while I think few would argue that the Major 4 sports (baseball, hockey, basketball and football) and probably soccer are sports, the rest seem up for debate. What are the criteria for being a sport? How would you define it (since the web definitions vary quite a bit) Can horse racing and car racing (like NASCAR) be considered sport since the actual physical exertion is non-human? Some people don't consider golf a sport but many others will argue with that.

Is the main requirement that ESPN covers it? So does that put poker in that category or is that more of a "game"? What about pool? Tennis? Ping pong? Beer pong? Flip cup? Darts? The hot dog eating contest? Cheerleading? Gymnastics? Chess? Boxing? Swimming? Wrestling? WWF wrestling? Strongest man competition? Or does it have to by in the Olympics to qualify as a sport?

The subject is open for debate and I'm curious your decision. Where do you draw a line? What is your definition of a "sport"? Let us know in the comments below.

Recapping Olympic Hockey: USA Claims a Tough Silver

That was fun, exhilarating, crushing, excruciating, and memorable all in one. Yesterday I live blogged the entire game, but for the entire Olympic hockey experience in Vancouver, it has been one great game after another. The Canadians and Sidney Crosby walk away with a Gold Medal that many expected them to win coming in to the tournament and few expected them to win after their first game against the Americans, returning hockey supremacy to Canada. For the US team, few expected them to even medal at the Olympics, but a great team effort (including "Shock on Ice") left them standing on the doorstep of victory. And while many will claim that it wasn't truly a loss for the United States, the truth is that they had every chance to take home the gold. But there would be no "Miracle" or even an upset when all was said and done. That being said, it was a great Olympics for the USA men and hopefully it was the wake-up call that the United States public needed to the great game of hockey--though the reality is that it probably is not. What it was, though, was a great hockey game that we will be talking about for a long time to come.

The United States team was built on young players who each fit a role on the team. The three Olympic veterans were Captain Jamie Langenbrunner of the 1998 team and Chris Drury and Brian Rafalski of both the 2002 and 2006 teams. The rest was a selection of hockey players from all over the NHL and the United States. The United States came into the gold medal game having gone a perfect 5-0 in the tournament, mostly due to their great goaltending and their relentless forecheck. That relentless forecheck seemed to tire the United States team to the point they looked like they were out of gas in overtime yesterday. Ryan Miller more than deserved to be the MVP of the tournament, having lost only this one game and putting up a minuscule goals against average of 1.35 that took the United States record away from "Miracle on Ice" goalie Jim Craig (2.14). But on the 50th anniversary of the 1960 "Forgotton Miracle", the United States couldn't finish the deal against the Canadians.

This was a Canadian team built to win gold on home soil. While the United States built their team on role players, the Canadians built an All-Star team of top scorers and Stanley Cup winners. That strategy came back to bite the Canadians in the first match-up between the two teams as the overconfident Canadians got surprised by a quicker, tougher United States team. Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, and the rest of Team Canada came out ready to play and ready to deal with the United States forecheck. And things looked great for Canada as they skated to a 2-0 lead that seemed insurmountable.

But the United States team fought back with the same fight that had gotten them to this point. The United States tipped in a goal to make it 2-1 against a very shaky Roberto Luongo (I know many will say he was great, but he really was far from it). The United States kept on going for it in the third, leaving the other end open where Miller was brilliant, stopping Sidney Crosby on a breakaway, making a few other great saves and getting the benefit of two posts. Finally, with Miller pulled and hope fading away from the United States team, a lose puck in front ended up on the stick of New Jersey Devils' forward Zack Parise who buried it in the back of the net.

It looked like momentum was on the United States side as the crowd at Canada Hockey Place (they had to get rid of the GM endorsement for the Olympics) was dead silent and the Canadian team looked shaken. But the United States was unable to get any pressure on Luongo in overtime (who seemed like he wasn't confident in goal). Worse, the United States looked out of gas, giving away sloppy turnovers and losing their ability to get the puck deep against the Canadians and work the boards. And then a loose puck ended up on the stick of Sidney Crosby and the man who had won a Stanley Cup less than a year ago buried one to send Canada to victory, sparking a country's celebration.

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NYaT's Live Chat for USA/Canada's Gold Medal Hockey Game

I decided to start up an impromptu chat. Come here to discuss the gold medal men's hockey game. Let's go USA!

Wo Canada! The Day After Canadian Front Pages After USA Hockey's Shock On Ice

After last night's "Shock On Ice", I was curious to see this morning's Canadian newspapers. Thanks to Newseum, here are a few of the better Canadian front pages:

Calgary Sun: "Uh-oh: Hockey nightmare in Canada"

The Province - "Lost Weekend: Canada suffers disappointment on the ice and on the slopes"

Edmonton Journal - "Oh-oh Canada..." and "The Team couldn't deliver: U.S. wins historic game on a weekend when it seemed we've blown the podium"

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Shock On Ice: USA Hockey Defeats Canada 5-3

It wasn't exactly "The Miracle on Ice" which captivated the imagination of the United States public 30 years ago tomorrow. But it was a huge shock to anyone who watched the tremendously entertaining hockey match tonight between the United States and Canada that the United States came away with a 5-3 victory.

The Canadian team is loaded with stars from Sidney Crosby as the star forward to Martin Brodeur as the goalie. The United States was said to be "too young", "too small" and had "not enough offense". And all day NBC and MSNBC showed non-stop highlights of the "Miracle on Ice" team from Lake Placid in 1980. Al Michaels even did the narration. The United States team was wearing jerseys paying homage to its 1960 Championship team--and haven't beaten Canada since. It was a picture-perfect set-up for another huge upset for a United States team that didn't even medal in Turin four years ago.

"The Miracle" it was not, but the riveting hockey match was a huge shock to anyone who watched it. The United States was outshot 45-22 but found a way to win. The Canadians came on hard late in the game, making it 4-3, but a great effort by Ryan Kesler to beat the defense and score an empty-net goal sealed the deal. Ryan Miller turned away 42 shots and the New York Rangers Captain Chris Drury scored the go-ahead goal to help beat the New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

Beating Marty Brodeur (and beating him badly as he let in 4 goals on 22 shots) is extra sweet for me being a Rangers fan. "Marty!" as he is known around Madison Square Garden is one of my least favorite athletes on a rival teams joining the ranks of Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Terrell Owens, and others. Seeing Brodeur in his rival Devil colors while the USA team skated with jerseys that could be confused with the Rangers road unis helped to dial up the passion.

The biggest problem with this game is that many couldn't find it and others couldn't see it at all. NBC decided to bury this game on MSNBC instead of allowing it to be shown on the network, a curious decision especially considering there was nothing that exciting that NBC was showing. And the ratings for the hockey game had to have dominated anything shown on the Mother Peacock network. NBC has made a lot of curious moves this Olympics, but as far as bad ratings-generating decision go, this has to rank towards the top. And many cable carriers don't even have MSNBC in HD, making the viewing experience difficult for many.

For those who did watch it, tonight's hockey game was one for the ages. Team USA is now 3-0 in the Olympics and has a bye in the quarterfinal round. The United States beat Canada for the first time in seven tries and now will set themselves up for a run at medals many thought was out of the reach of this team. Many also criticized the United States selection of Chris Drury to the team, but his game-winning goal proved that his clutch play and leadership are an asset of this team. Many of this will not matter if the United States doesn't find a way to play in the gold medal game--but judging by how they looked tonight, this United States team is looking just as good as the 1960 and 1980 teams before it.

Picture from Masslive

Herb Brooks Pregame Speech Recreated by a Little Kid

Just was sent this by an anonymous e-mailer. If you've seen "Miracle" or know about Herb Brooks' speech to the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 Olympic team, this is awesome. Thank you for that. Enjoy:



(and check out the actual speech afterward to see how close he is. Awesome!)