I never watched loads of sport growing up. I mainly watched football, especially my beloved team, Birmingham City and watched and played Snooker and Pool. I used to watch a fair bit of athletics when I left school and when I was at my secondary school I enjoyed taking part in it. I played shitty Rugby at said school and I HATED it with a passion. As most boys growing up I enjoyed having a game of football either in the school playground, a kick around at my local park or wherever. I even enjoyed kicking a ball on my own against a wall or in the yard at my old childhood house in Shard End.
I enjoyed playing the odd game of Tennis (if you can call them proper games) with others and again enjoyed hitting a tennis ball against a wall. In other words Squash for one but I didn’t care for watching them on the TV.
The only other sports I enjoyed watching on the telly was indoor bowls and when my kids were growing up I enjoyed watching wrestling with them.
Memories of the above, and more, will also be mentioned in my decades section. Check them out and the blog posts that go with them.
Contents
About Sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, through casual or organized participation, improve one’s physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a “tie” or “draw”, in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as a system of activities based on physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition. Other organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports.
Read more here.
The Etymology Of Sport
The word “sport” comes from the Old French desport meaning “leisure”, with the oldest definition in English from around 1300 being “anything humans find amusing or entertaining”.
Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise. Roget’s defines the noun sport as an “activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement” with synonyms including diversion and recreation.
Read more here.
The History Of Sport
The history of sports extends back to the ancient world. The physical activity that developed into sports had early links with ritual, warfare and entertainment.
The study of the history of sport can teach lessons about social changes and about the nature of sport itself, as sport seems involved in the development of basic human skills (compare play). As one delves further back in history, dwindling evidence makes theories of the origins and purposes of sport more and more difficult to support.
As far back as the beginnings of sport, it was related to military training. For example, competition was used as a means to determine whether individuals were fit and useful for service. Team sports were used to train and to prove the capability to fight in the military and also to work together as a team (military unit).
Read more here.
The above articles were taken from Wikipedia and are subject to change.
Blog Posts
Links
Blues Store Online – The image shown at the top of this page is the copyright of Birmingham City F.C. and is from their Blues Store Online.