F1 and Motorsport - but is it a sport anymore??
Discussion
Don't get me wrong, despite all the problems with it, and there are many (besides James Allen) I still enjoy watching Formula 1 and other topline forms of motor racing, but calling it a sport - that's kinda taking the piss right?
To me, motorsport is taking a Hillman Imp to a closed car park or airfield and thrashing it around at a speed test. Or taking ya wheels to a track day - far more fun had with that maybe...
F1 today is clearly a business driven marketing tool for multi-national corporations to enjoy themseleves at the weekend and impress their other multi-national business partners. Where is the fun and excitement for the paying public???
You'd be better off spending those pennies on grass roots racing and doing it yaself, and simply record F1 on ya Sky+ box so you can fast forward all the adverts and skip the dull bits featuring James Allen on screen
Best reason for having a Sky+ box
To me, motorsport is taking a Hillman Imp to a closed car park or airfield and thrashing it around at a speed test. Or taking ya wheels to a track day - far more fun had with that maybe...
F1 today is clearly a business driven marketing tool for multi-national corporations to enjoy themseleves at the weekend and impress their other multi-national business partners. Where is the fun and excitement for the paying public???
You'd be better off spending those pennies on grass roots racing and doing it yaself, and simply record F1 on ya Sky+ box so you can fast forward all the adverts and skip the dull bits featuring James Allen on screen
Best reason for having a Sky+ box
Eric Mc said:
F1 has been heavilly commercialised from the earliest days.
However, there are many other top level professional sports which are also heavilly commercialised as well.
However, there are many other top level professional sports which are also heavilly commercialised as well.
True, as sports get bigger they need more resources and that only comes from large amounts of corporate money. With motorsport (especially F1) being the most expensive sport in the world it was inevitable to happen as it grew in popularity.
As for it being a sport, i would say it is and that its one of the most physically demanding, in Bahrain on Sunday they were pulling 4G under braking, by comparison an astronaut will experience 3G at launch.
Edited by johnph on Tuesday 17th April 11:15
Eric Mc said:
What's all this "ya" business?
Not tempted to follow the herd and drag yo' bad self into the modern idiom?
Sure?
Good man.
I can just about forgive Crazy Dave Coulthard for it on sniffpetrol. All other wannabe south side gangsters should, here's an idea, go to LA and get shot. See how cool they feel then.
[/rant]
ahonen said:
Eric Mc said:
What's all this "ya" business?
Because it takes so long to type 'your'. Two whole letters, which could take up to 1 second if you're a slow typist. Think about it, Eric, you could fit so much more into ya day if ya typed like that.
True, but surely any time saved is offset against having to remove 'ya wheels' and somehow transport them to a trackday. Quicker to leave them on the car and drive there, I reckon.
Fo' shizzle.
TheOriginalGT40 said:
To me, motorsport is taking a Hillman Imp to a closed car park or airfield and thrashing it around at a speed test.
While I applaud your vehicle selection, if you mean autotesting then you're better off with a Mini (probably have to hand in my Imp club membership for saying that
). I did plenty of autotests in my Imp when I was running it as my everyday car and couldn't get close to the Minis on tight stuff, having all the weight over the rear wheels made handbrake turns a lot more difficult.
After that little diversion I now return you to your topic about F1 being boring
.richb said:
Is darts a sport, is snooker a sport? To me they are pub games, how do you define sport? Certainly F1 drivers are fitter than 99% of golfers so is golf a sport? It all a matter of personal opinion.
Funnily enough, me and a couple of the chaps from work were talking about this, and the best we could come up with was that a sport is something that requires a primarily physical skill, whereas a game is based on a more cerebral effort. What ratio of those two an activity requires defines whether it is a sport or a game.
Unfortunately, that doesn't make it a great deal easier to define. We had several very long arguments about the physical vs mental ratios of darts, snooker, F1 and so forth.
I reckon that darts is a game. Although it requires great skill to throw the dart accurately, the larger part of the game is being able to figure out how many points you need from each set of three darts. Snooker on the other hand requires such an enormously broad range of shots to achieve the ball position needed to win the game, never mind the introduction of of the random factor of having another player periodically changing the layout of the table - it has to be defined as a sport. When the player approaches the table, the only objective is to score as many points as possible, so the game element is very simple. It's the sport of striking the cue ball just so to generate the desired shot that is the more important aspect of snooker. During the tactical safety play, the sport element requires an even greater consistency and accuracy.
Edited by MrKipling43 on Tuesday 17th April 19:43
I had my first race recently, it was quite physically demanding(N-Ring in a Clio Cup). Motorsport is a pretty strenous competitive sport! You need strength, aerobic fitness, spacial judgement, timing and the ability to think clearly and be decisive in life or serious injury situations.
shane
shane
I guess I was more aiming my thoughts at the individual characters from the business (opps, I mean sport).
The funny thing is, McLaren commissioned some market research over the winter months which showed that they were perceived from the outside as being cold and grey and very out of touch with the people.
Yet they continue to mould drivers into their way of thinking, blurring out the individual character and forcing us to endur PC drivel from it's drivers.
If only we still had the likes of James Hunt in F1 today...
The funny thing is, McLaren commissioned some market research over the winter months which showed that they were perceived from the outside as being cold and grey and very out of touch with the people.
Yet they continue to mould drivers into their way of thinking, blurring out the individual character and forcing us to endur PC drivel from it's drivers.
If only we still had the likes of James Hunt in F1 today...
MrKipling43 said:
richb said:
Is darts a sport, is snooker a sport? To me they are pub games, how do you define sport? Certainly F1 drivers are fitter than 99% of golfers so is golf a sport? It all a matter of personal opinion.
Funnily enough, me and a couple of the chaps from work were talking about this, and the best we could come up with was that a sport is something that requires a primarily physical skill, whereas a game is based on a more cerebral effort. What ratio of those two an activity requires defines whether it is a sport or a game.
Unfortunately, that doesn't make it a great deal easier to define. We had several very long arguments about the physical vs mental ratios of darts, snooker, F1 and so forth.
I reckon that darts is a game. Although it requires great skill to throw the dart accurately, the larger part of the game is being able to figure out how many points you need from each set of three darts. Snooker on the other hand requires such an enormously broad range of shots to achieve the ball position needed to win the game, never mind the introduction of of the random factor of having another player periodically changing the layout of the table - it has to be defined as a sport. When the player approaches the table, the only objective is to score as many points as possible, so the game element is very simple. It's the sport of striking the cue ball just so to generate the desired shot that is the more important aspect of snooker. During the tactical safety play, the sport element requires an even greater consistency and accuracy.
Edited by MrKipling43 on Tuesday 17th April 19:43
Interesting. My long-held definition is "A sport is something that is competitive and confers an advantage to the physically fit." By this definition, snooker and darts are games not sports as there is no clear advantage to being physically fit. Both require very high levels of skill but physical fitness. Golf is always a tricky one to categorise - Tiger Woods is very fit but does that have a significant bearing on his abilities?
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