Field Theory by Hadyn Green

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Field Theory: Sunday Bloody Sunday Newspaper

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  • jon_knox,

    Though I dislike golf, philosophically I can understand why is considered a sport.

    Sport in many ways is like art....It's there to distract people from their otherwise meaningless lives...er-um...I mean to inspire people.

    Sport to me, is a different form of art....though highbrow art snobs might disagree with me.

    Thus if you philosophically if you want to consider golf, a sport (and yes thus a special form of art for it's (cough) inspirational powers/thingo, go right ahead. I will point out however that it's not a black or white type question. I will point out that it's kinda very grey and that somewhere out in the grey (oh so dull) continuum is the consideration of poker as a sport. And for sports funding purposes I would suggest that either a heart rate increase, or some element of physical movement requirement more than putting a small papery rectangle down on a table is required...and after thinking about it I am aware that under the guidelines I have just proposed striptease (and a bunch of other stuff) is probably now a sport. Sport at the end of the day, like Art is something we probably all understand at some level, but struggle to define satisfactorily.

    Anyway to raise the tone....Does anyone care what Chomsky (whom I think see the world in terms of distraction/not a distraction) thinks of the current meltdown/crisis?

    Alternatively you may (or may not) like to ponder this. Is Ballet a sport or an art?

    Belgium • Since Nov 2006 • 464 posts Report Reply

  • jon_knox,

    sorry the combination of "preview" and a paste into a spell checking application and back has eaten the Chomsky link that was supposed to appear above.

    Belgium • Since Nov 2006 • 464 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Jon were you around for the "Is sport art?" discussion a while back? I think you would've liked it.

    I am aware that under the guidelines I have just proposed striptease (and a bunch of other stuff) is probably now a sport

    Recently in Wellington the Pole Fitness show was on (I think that what it's called). It's pole dancing with clothes on and apparently quite a strenuous activity. But with no points being scored I think it still sits as "exercise" rather than "sport"

    Anyway to raise the tone....Does anyone care what Chomsky thinks?

    And to lower it back down a tad, I seem to recall the Chomsky is a big American football fan.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    some element of physical movement requirement more than putting a small papery rectangle down on a table is required

    Hey, there's a rule that you *do* have to stand up and pace around muttering after you go all in before the flop with your pair of kings and someone else has aces! It's quite strenuous really.

    (Oh World Series of Poker on ESPN, how I love thee.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    World Series of Poker on ESPN, how I love thee.

    I'm quite the opposite though I think the commentators are hilarious! They manage to create a sense that something incredibly complex and tense is happening.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I'm quite the opposite though I think the commentators are hilarious!

    Lon and Norman really make that show, I agree. I've tried to watch other poker tournaments and they're just not the same. I think the key for me is that the WSOP is only tangentially about poker: it's really more about characters interacting with each other, telling their stories, being strategic, fighting, bonding... it's a dudely soap opera. Plus there's that 'oh my goodness how did he *know* that guy had a full house?' crazy reading skills stuff with people like Daniel Negreanu or Allen Cunningham.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    World of Warcraft - that's a sport, right?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Cricket was a game designed by landowners who employed their garderners & game keepers to play with them for a week and fill in their time on this earth - Gentlemen & Players distinction. All of this to facilitate gambling. (I disagree with Len Richardsons theory cricket was a game of the people adopted by the rich due to the length of time needed to play it).

    3-Day eventing and the modern development of Motor Sport fit this as well. The time taken is more than a working person has to spare and as such cross over from what could be considered a sport into an event or game. Professional Players are just Players or employees as in Cricket.

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    World of Warcraft - that's a sport, right?

    It is for this guy

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    It is for this guy

    I feel the need for video of the guy playing to see how its possible to play 36 different characters in a game at once.

    I thought the thing in WOW was to make friends with other players and then all go around beating things up together?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    I thought the thing in WOW was to make friends with other players and then all go around beating things up together?

    Like the online version of a gang?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Nigel Fleming,

    I agree entirely with Hadyn Green.

    And it’s not just our female athletes who are discriminated against in terms of coverage, funding and popularity, either.

    In 2003, my intellectually handicapped cousin represented New Zealand in archery at the Special Olympics in Dublin. Not only did he win our country a silver medal, he was one of the few competitors in the final to actually hit the target.

    And do you think he got any coverage in the Sunday papers? Do you think TVNZ engineered a teary satellite interview with him, fresh from bouncing off the medal dais? Did SPARC gleefully handover a healthy financial payout, or the Woman’s Day seek his exclusive story? Like Hell they did!

    If it hadn’t been for the celebratory hand-job offered by a passing Nigerian carer, he would have walked away with nothing!

    Sickening..

    Auckland • Since Oct 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Like the online version of a gang?

    I guess so. Maybe he has trouble meeting people online (which really is sinking low), so he just built his own gang.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    If it hadn’t been for the celebratory hand-job offered by a passing Nigerian carer, he would have walked away with nothing!

    Pardon?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    I guess so. Maybe he has trouble meeting people online (which really is sinking low), so he just built his own gang.

    Do you think he's got a Leeroy Jenkins in his team?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Nigel, you meant handshake, right? Right?

    (Although I might enjoy all sports a lot more if they involved celebratory handjobs, actually. Get your Olympic medal, and then have some poor hapless official deliver the wanking as the national anthem played. In the bonds of love we meet, indeed.)

    (Erm, also, I don't mean to make light of your cousin's underreported medal. That is, indeed, bullshit.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    If it hadn’t been for the celebratory hand-job offered by a passing Nigerian carer, he would have walked away with nothing!

    I wouldn’t complain…

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    <wanders into thread>

    <looks around>

    ...Um.

    <walks away quickly with johnson safely out of anyone's reach>

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • tussock,

    Who needs a handjob when you're soloing epic 40-man raids on a wall of monitors, a room full of programmable trackballs, with what must be some pretty amazing macro skills.

    God I love urban legends.

    Not that the experience would touch a game of Dwarf Fortress. You've all read boatmurdered, right?


    Nigel: I recall how we had a half dozen sporting world champions at one point who'd garnered not one iota of national coverage between them (before it became a talking point, at least). Really, if you're not doing something that someone from New Zealand beat the best of British at before the nation discovered itself in WWI, nobody gives a shit. Same reason those Australians love their cricket so much, but don't care about their women's swimming team outside one week every four years (and only then if the blokes aren't doing as well by comparison).

    Since Nov 2006 • 611 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I recall how we had a half dozen sporting world champions at one point who'd garnered not one iota of national coverage between them (before it became a talking point, at least).

    Nicole Begg got a couple of brief news stories when she won the world inline speed skating title.

    She got way more coverage when she took her clothes off and had the photos published to improve her profile and try and attract sponsors.

    Which raises many interesting questions about what women have to do in order to be supported in their sport.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

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