Is Bowling a sport?

If it can't kill you, it's just a game.

 

When I play it, it's not a sport, it's a sinful travesty. When my brother plays it, it's a sport.

 

Maybe it's a sport. Not the most physically demanding one, but still a sport. I would draw the line at calling professional bowlers "athletes".

 

madre bowls on Wednesday afternoon. She got herself hooked up with this here League of Woman Bowlers. Them girls bowl for 39 weeks missing only the week between Christmas and New Year's. Thrty-nine weeks! Deer season runs but four and you'd think I plumb moved out of the house to hear her tell it. Anyway, I weave this tale of deer hunting as a sport so I could circle stuff in the Cabela's catalog and get to know the UPS guy like he was one of the family.

Just the other day I come down the stairs and see the UPS package car leaving the driveway. I got to thinking that maybe Cabela's sent me a bonus or something when I see madre standing at the kitchen table opening the box. Its got towels and powders and a bunch of stuff I dare not ask... madre smiles a bit as she opens up that shiny catalog and says, "Ooh, look, shoes!" and then I hear the dreaded words taken right off my own lips and turned agin' me, "But honey, you can only be as good as your equipment allows you to be..."

madre says bowling is a sport and that's good enough for me.

 

Is football a sport? When I played, I put on a buncha equipment designed to protect me & clobber someone else, and then engaged in a series of activities.

Is boxing a sport? It's 2 people trying to beat the tar outta each other. If police brutality is an olympic event, then boxing is a sport.

Is auto racing a sport? Actually, it's a buncha people driving like mosta us do all the time, except they're using safer, faster cars.

Is airplane racing a sport? How about skydiving? How about monster truck events or tractor pulls?

We can go on & on. I believe a sport is any game, competition, or activity people do for recreation, fun, or for the entertainment of others. Some sports require more skill, training, physical activity, etc. than others do, but they're all sports.

 

Ever got hit in the head with a bowling ball?

 

I would contend that full contact bowling would be a sport. Regular bowling, when played by the rules is a game.

I'm also for full contact golf, BTW. I love to play the game, but I can't understand why anyone would watch it. However, add some tacklers, time limits, etc. to it, and I'd be glued to the TV!