I guess we are not Athletes

[Dye Angel Guy]

What in the world Slarty, No type of any itch will be wanted in my future. I am pretty sure no one wants that or to give it.

[mobsterboy]

What in the world Slarty, No type of any itch will be wanted in my future. I am pretty sure no one wants that or to give it.

thats what they ALL say. They never wanted it, but it was given to them

saying you are not an athlete is like saying that the goalie for a soccer game isnt an athlete. after all, he ONLY stopped 12 goals the whole game, exerted himself in short bursts and punts the ball almost all the way across the field...

[RT Old School]

This argument comes up alot in other areas as well. Poker, darts, and dominoes have all been picked up on ESPN lately. I wouldnt call any of those participants athletes. I'd say they are playing a game. Yet its on a sporting network. (I play a ton of poker, and it has nothing to do with athletics, trust me.) Here is something where the line is a little blurrier, how about bowling or golf? Ive played both. I wouldnt consider them athletic events either. Not the way I play anyways. Sure it takes a certain amount of physical dexterity and skill...but you can be a real porker and play golf, bowling, or paintball for that matter. (God knows I've seen lots of obese paintballers too) If you really feel the need to justify that you are an athelete because you play paintball, knock yourself out. Just know that some people wont agree with you because of their perception of the game. Maybe they havent played and dont know what kind of stamina it can take to play it well. Two guys could be playing on the same team, one, an overweight guy who just sprays and prays and never moves more than a couple of feet from the back bunker, and another guy who runs, dodges, leaps, and performs amazing feats of athleticism. I would call the later an athelete and the former not. Same game, same team, two different guys.

[SlartyBartFast]

This argument comes up alot in other areas as well...

Cute post, but I fail to see why all of this soul searching and attempt to define atheticism stem from an Athlete's foot commercial.

This was only brought up today because of an athlete's foot commerical on TV and some one said their brother had it and I said, "does he not wash himself" and my roommate said, "you have to be an athlete to know". I was silent. I really had nothing to say at that point except for,"so I am not an athlete?".


I just love it when people laugh when you tell them you play paintball...

Perhaps the post was incoherent, or I still fail to grasp the meaning. When did they laugh at you for playing paintball and when did they say paintball wasn't athletic?

[REDRT]

I would say to be considered an athlete one should be involved in a sport. I don't consider paintball a sport as do many other people. So I wouldn't consider any pb player an athlete. Though players that have better athletic ability and stamina quite often do better in this game.

[Dye Angel Guy]

True, some things I think are games and others sports but if everything played by the rules with its definition we would get nowhere because Halo would be a sport and sleeping would be a sport also. I guess games have to be made by Parker Brothers, Sony, Mircrosoft, EA Games, etc. Honestly I think everyone is correct in their own opinion and the point of this thread basically only rationalizes personal belief because we think of something is how we will percieve it.


P.S. I was just pissed about it the other day but realistically it was retarded of me to even make this thread. Keep in mind being retarded and doing something retarded are two different things.

[REDRT]

Retarded is what retarded does...

[athomas]

...but realistically it was retarded of me to even make this thread.

No, it is a good thread. It has generated good dialogue.

There is a grey line between what is a sport and what is not. This same line obscures whether one is an athlete or not.Paintball has many similarities to many other popular sports.

The main goal of paintball is to push down the field with the flag and get it in the other teams end zone to score points. Other than Xball, we just have a few other added ways to score points. It sounds alot like many other sports we are all too familiar with. The methods we use to achieve the objective are a little different than hockey, football, soccer and basketball, but that is what makes it a unique sport and not a variation of the previously mentioned sports.

Now, does paintball require an athete to play? I have seen overweight and/or nontalented players in each of the other sports, just like I have seen in paintball. The teams that do well, thrive because they have talented players who have skill sets. They work hard on strategy, maintain good physical conditioning, and train their hand-eye coordination for shooting. The teams with superior athletes, win more often. That holds true in all sports, including paintball.

So, is paintball a sport and are the players athletes? I think so.

[SlartyBartFast]

There is a grey line between what is a sport and what is not.

It's not that the line is grey, it's that the line doesn't exist.

Sport, game, athletic, like beauty, are all subjective terms. Like beauty, whether one qualifies or not, is in the eye of the beholder.

While your arguments are sound logically, they don't hld up to the reality of the dictionary definitions of any of the terms being bandied about in this thread.

[rkjunior303]

my wristband provided by the NPPL in Boston told me I was an athelete.

[vonort]

You are playing a game that involves hiding behind big balloons and shooting little gobs of gelatin at each other. Please don't take it too seriously.

Couldn't say it much better than that. Other than WHO CARES what others say?!?!