Is cheer a sport?

[Aragorn]

Only when:
People act dumb in OT/Spam

Jorick loves that sport.

Extreme Speed Posting

Ehhhh.

Trolling

Too bad that both the winner and the loser gets banned.

Freaking out during a crash/maintenance

Fixed that for you.

Basking in the presence of moderators/admins

More of an award really.

[Gwazi Magnum]

Only when:
People act dumb in OT/Spam
Extreme Speed Posting
Trolling
Refreshing during a crash/maintenance
Basking in the presence of moderators/admins

But then why is fishing a sport when there is no moderators, trolls or anything?
Unless if you're reffering to competitive and professional fishing only.

[Brovo]

For the love of...

Cheerleading is not a sport for three reasons.

#1: The way to get points, to score, is not clearly defined.

In basketball or football or soccer or any other sport regardless of physical requirements (don't tell me Golf is hard on you physically, puh-lease) the way to obtain and/or lose points is clearly defined and, most importantly, CONSISTENT. In basketball, if you get the ball in the hoop, you score points. Depending on how you do it, you may get more or less points, but it's always a set # of points, and it's always clear.

Essentially speaking: If person A dunks a ball in the exact same manner as person B does, they gain the same number of points because they both managed the same feat, the same "end goal." It's clear.

If Cheerleader A does the exact same routine as Cheerleader B, Cheerleader A gets less points because it wasn't 'creative' despite managing to pull off an equal amount of physical skill.

Therefore, Cheerleading is not rated on clear goals.

Therefore, Cheerleading is interpretive, like dance.

You can have a dance competition, but you can never call dance a sport due to how interpretive it is.

The exact, same, argument, applies to Cheerleading.

#2: Appearance is valued more than skill.

If you tell me for even half a second that a cheerleading squad of overweight (not obese) teenagers will ever be considered better than, say, these fine lookin' gals, you're delusional. Outright delusional.

If a fat kid in Hockey scores a goal, it's worth exactly the same as if a well fit jock scored that exact same goal.

If a fat cheerleader or an unattractive cheerleader did equal to or even slightly better in skill than another, more attractive cheerleader, it is STILL far more likely that the attractive cheerleader will win. Arbitrarily. Because they're attractive.

Which means that skills are not weighed as heavily as looks are.

Which devalues the entire thing as a potential sport because it makes it even MORE interpretive.

And no, you REALLY can't argue this unless you can find me just one ugly looking cheerleader in "professional cheerleading."

#3: Cheerleading is hard--like everything else that has a skill curve on the planet.

Difficulty should not be a factor in judging whether something is or is not a sport. Now, I'm never going to devalue a well done routine from a cheerleading squad, a gymnast, a dancer, a singer, or otherwise. In fact I'm fairly certain if I tried the first three I'd break a leg and the last one would have someone breaking my leg for me to make sure I wouldn't get on stage again anytime soon. Personally? I'm a gamer. I love video games. I almost made it to the professional level before I quit due to emotional issues. I still play copious amounts of video games. Challenge me to a game of League of Legends or Left4Dead and I'll probably take you down before you could even figure out what the attack buttons are. There is a skill quotient in gaming, just like in cheerleading. I still wouldn't consider gaming a sport because it fails the physical element.

Now, that aside.

#1: I DO respect the difficulty and potential injury cheerleaders may sustain, and I DO agree that they should be allowed to have the same access to medical services and more that sports teams get. Hell, ANY DANGEROUS COMPETITION OR SPORT SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO IMMEDIATE MEDICAL SERVICES! It's UTTERLY INSANE to think otherwise!

#2: Cheerleading takes just as much skill as football or soccer--it just requires different skill sets. So I won't devalue it there either.

#3: If the definition of sports was clarified and changed to INCLUDE competitions like dance, gymnastics, cheerleading, etc, I would support it being a sport then.

But it hasn't.

So I won't.

[★LunaLight★]

Despite being on the same side of the arguement, I still feel my ego hurt for not being able to form nearly as well organized of an opinion...

[Brovo]

Despite being on the same side of the arguement, I still feel my ego hurt for not being able to form nearly as well organized of an opinion...

Taking a university course all about analysis and argumentation does that to one's arguments. ... I plan to take another one too.

[CountdownDiva]

That's not true at all.
It doesn't matter if you have the same routine, its just frowned apon because there isn't really a possible way to come up with the same routine.

And no, if a cheerleader is fat, means nothing. There are plenty of overweight girls on my all star team who can do anythin I can. And I'm not even skinny. I'm muscular built.
And I thought this rapped up....?

[Kagamine]

That's not true at all.
It doesn't matter if you have the same routine, its just frowned apon because there isn't really a possible way to come up with the same routine.

And no, if a cheerleader is fat, means nothing. There are plenty of overweight girls on my all star team who can do anythin I can. And I'm not even skinny. I'm muscular built.
And I thought this rapped up....?

No one said overweight/unattractive girls aren't capable of performing the same physical feats as a more attractive-looking person, just that, odds are, they wouldn't be scored as highly.

Because, Brovo's right. Sports are about scoring your goals using a specific set of guidelines. Something specific counts as a point and specific things will get specific penalties. There's hardly any room for "interpretation". Cheerleading? The whole thing is interpretation. It's all about making a stunning routine that looks great, and therefore what's "good" is subjective and isn't consistent.

Now Diva (slightly on a tangent but I feel this needs to be said), I think you are misinterpreting our arguments. You're confusing the question of "is it a sport?" with "is it physically demanding and should it be taken seriously, and placed on the same level as a sport, physically?". Because the answer to the first is no, but the second is yes, and I think the second is really what you're asking, and what you think we're saying no to.

No one said cheerleading isn't physically demanding. No one said it can't be respected as a serious competition. None of that. Cheerleading is a respectable competition and, yes, it does require a lot of physical work, but it's not a sport. That's not a bad thing, though. Because, I mean, this is like making a thread saying "is Apples to Apples a board game?", which, it isn't, because it lacks things that a board game needs to have (like a board for one, which in this metaphor is akin to a definite and consistent scoring system in sports) but that doesn't stop it from being fun, and placed on the same level as a board game. I know in my house the Apples to Apples set is right next to the Monopoly one, and we basically think of it like a board game in our heads because it has the same feel to it, but, it's not a board game. Nothing wrong with Apples to Apples because of that and that doesn't stop it from being treated like one, but, it's not.

Because honestly Diva, you seem to be a bit upset by this, like we're undermining your hobby which you have a clear love of by saying "it's not a sport". But we're not saying it's below sports or that it shouldn't be respected because of it, but it's just... not.

Cheerleading's not bad. It's just fine. It's just as physically demanding as a sport, if not more depending on which sport you're comparing it to. But, it just isn't one. They're different beasts.

[Brovo]

No one said overweight/unattractive girls aren't capable of performing the same physical feats as a more attractive-looking person, just that, odds are, they wouldn't be scored as highly.

Because, Brovo's right. Sports are about scoring your goals using a specific set of guidelines. Something specific counts as a point and specific things will get specific penalties. There's hardly any room for "interpretation". Cheerleading? The whole thing is interpretation. It's all about making a stunning routine that looks great, and therefore what's "good" is subjective and isn't consistent.

Now Diva (slightly on a tangent but I feel this needs to be said), I think you are misinterpreting our arguments. You're confusing the question of "is it a sport?" with "is it physically demanding and should it be taken seriously, and placed on the same level as a sport, physically?". Because the answer to the first is no, but the second is yes, and I think the second is really what you're asking, and what you think we're saying no to.

No one said cheerleading isn't physically demanding. No one said it can't be respected as a serious competition. None of that. Cheerleading is a respectable competition and, yes, it does require a lot of physical work, but it's not a sport. That's not a bad thing, though. Because, I mean, this is like making a thread saying "is Apples to Apples a board game?", which, it isn't, because it lacks things that a board game needs to have (like a board for one, which in this metaphor is akin to a definite and consistent scoring system in sports) but that doesn't stop it from being fun, and placed on the same level as a board game. I know in my house the Apples to Apples set is right next to the Monopoly one, and we basically think of it like a board game in our heads because it has the same feel to it, but, it's not a board game. Nothing wrong with Apples to Apples because of that and that doesn't stop it from being treated like one, but, it's not.

Because honestly Diva, you seem to be a bit upset by this, like we're undermining your hobby which you have a clear love of by saying "it's not a sport". But we're not saying it's below sports or that it shouldn't be respected because of it, but it's just... not.

Cheerleading's not bad. It's just fine. It's just as physically demanding as a sport, if not more depending on which sport you're comparing it to. But, it just isn't one. They're different beasts.

Thank you.

[★LunaLight★]

I wonder if air hockey would be considered a sport...

[Brovo]

I wonder if air hockey would be considered a sport...

Yep. (Source: Wikianswers.com)