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April 2, 1999 Wrestling fans say 'uncle'  Tom Farrey, ESPN.com
That was an easy sell.
If anyone suggested 10 years ago that professional wrestling was not a sport, that person or organization would have fielded considerable outrage. But when reminded of that notion in an Outside the Lines television show and online series, wrestling fans in effect said, "Agreed."
The agreement is perhaps a reflection of the evolution of pro wrestling, whose leaders even no longer dispute that it should be considered in the context of sport. Their television ratings are too good now, and a reflection of the desire by their audience for ever-more-preposterous story lines.
A robust debate, however, was held at the other end of the spectrum: Which is the purest sport of all? ESPN.com users voted basketball to the top of the list, agreeing with columnist Tom Farrey, but made a strong case for track and field events. They also registered their displeasure that certain sports were left off the 25-sport poll.
Below are poll results, listed in order of finish, and selected comments:
My friends and I have had extensive debates about just this topic. While I agree with most of (Tom Farrey's) assessments, there is no way basketball is the purest of all sports. The simple reason for this is you are nearly required to be a genetic mutant to compete at the highest levels. Sure, there is an
occasional exception, like Spud Webb. For the most part, however, anyone
under 6-foot-2 is at an inherent disadvantage.
Louis Wolinetz
I have another criteria that I would add to the list for what
makes a sport "pure:" It should have simple, easily understandable
rules. This is why I rated track and field as the most pure sport.
When you tell someone "OK, throw this spear and the winner is the guy
who can throw it the farthest," I think you've really reached the
essence. By the same token I dropped football near the end, since
trying to explain a football game to someone who has never seen one is a
real exercise in futility.
Ben Fulton
I totally disagree with Farrey's statement about baseball. Obviously you
have never played the sport if you are going to say that baseball
involves infrequent use of the body. And speaking as a college pitcher, I
can say that this position is as demanding as any position in any sport in
terms of being in good condition physically and mentally.
Evan Holland
I respect and enjoy soccer, but I contend that middle- and long-distance
track events require the qualities (Farrey cited) in spades. The best illustration of
these qualities can be found in Kenny Moore's book "Best Efforts,"
specifically his chapter on Sebastian Coe. Every race above 800 meters
requires the competitors to have a strategy that can adjust to the execution
of those strategies by other runners. Moreover, just watch the Kenyans and
Ethiopians run a competitive 5,000 or 10,000, and you will see the discipline and creativity required to run those races.
Erik Johnson
I feel that wrestling is still not a sport. I know that it takes a lot of
athleticism to go out there and not kill yourself, but all of the fake blood
and jumping from the roof onto someone's head is fake. But hockey,
basketball, football and so on is really a competition. Anything with a
script is not a sport. Take a movie such as Speed, in that you could
call it a sport because it takes a lot of athleticism to do the stunts. But
once again it has a script, so in my mind it is not a sport.
Derek White, age 12
Following Farrey's criteria, rugby must be the perfect sport. It has all
of the virtues of basketball and soccer (for example, teamwork, skill and
strategy). But, rugby adds a requirement of physical and mental toughness
that is equalled in almost no other sport. It is a purer form of
football, which would be the best sport if they played it without pads.
Scott Matheson
Basketball is truly a man's (and tough woman's) sport. What other
sport can you sweat like a dog and grunt like a beast and still see
the whites of your opponents' eyes? All the while still have the
finesse to drop in a 20-foot J and get nothin' but twine! And look
at the bodies these guys get from B-ball -- you don't see that with a
football player.
Terry Spier
Farrey's article was both amusing and articulate. However, arguably
the most purest sport, amateur wrestling, was not discussed. Win or
lose, the only "thing" responsible is yourself. No teammates, no
equipment, no excuses, no this or that, YOU.
Joe Lareau
In my opinion there is no doubt that "professional" sports of today are closer
to pure entertainment and therefore closer to pro wrestling than they are to
the original concept of the game. Pro basketball is perhaps the worst offender -- they even have the story complete with "bad guys" like the Worm and Shaq, and special privileges and calls for superstars.
Raj Parmar
There is one sport Farrey neglects
to mention. It is a sport that matches all of his criteria.
It is a contest with intense physical activity, no animals or assisting
technology, no subjective criteria for winning, frequent body use
without using limited areas and a definite mental aspect. The sport is
rugby.
Jon Ekedahl
Basketball? No way. With four 12-minute periods with scheduled breaks at every four minutes for television commercials, players are in nowhere near the condition that they have to be in to play soccer or lacrosse. Not to mention the seven guys on the bench who can be substituted in and out at any time for the original five. Teamwork definitely is a key in basketball, but with the professional rules as they are, that even takes a hit as there can be no zone defenses and all too often we see the four men on one side of the key so the fifth guy can go one-on-one.
Ray Kolodzieczak
At the heart of sports is the competition -- striving against your
opponent and only your opponent. In a "true" sport only one thing
matters -- winning and losing. If you can have a "score" or "time"
without competing against someone, it ain't a sport. Sorry bowling,
golf, track, swimming, skiing, etc.
And one more thing -- if you can play it without being a member of a
team, it ain't a sport. Sorry tennis, chess, etc.
Teamwork and competition. That leaves baseball, football, basketball,
hockey, and soccer. And that's it.
Steve Ubelhoer
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