[Discussion] Is speedcubing a sport?

[Me]

Even though i'm american, for somereason i'm really anticipating the European Championships this weekend. During the Polish open i was impressed that they had a live scoring system, much like perhaps a soccer line up or such sports, even almost favoring ceratain cubers like certain soccer players.
So with that i couldnt help notice how much of truly similar to a sport it was.
So the true question though that i keep asking myself:
is speedcubing really a sport, or a pseudo like speed stacking?
disscus....

 

[KoenHeltzel]

Funny, I was talking with Ton Dennenbroek with this on the way back from the Polish Open. He said: "This time around it's not a hype, it's become a sport".

And it has, thanks to a bunch of very enthusiastic people in the scene who started sharing ideas over the internet and organizing meetings again (and this group keeps growing )

 

[sgowal]

Whether you can consider speed-cubing as a sport depends on the definition you want to give to "sport".

Some people consider something to be a sport as soon as there are competitions. Others might think that a sport is only something that requires a physical activity.

As for me, I do *not* consider chess to be a sport (not physical enough). So, it is quite tricky to answer to whether speed-cubing is a sport since it contains that additional physical activity...

If I had to choose, I would say that speed-cubing "has become a sport" thanks to the increasing number of competitions and interest that people manifest for it.

My two cents.

 

[Erik]

I can't stop myself from posting this since I'm a chess player for 8 years...
What about lightningchess? It is almost like speedcubing, you have to be able to spot a lot of things is short time and make the move quick without knocking other pieces over. This is easier than speedcubing of course but still...
Some people say Darts is a sport but Speedcubing isn't, but that makes totaly no sence to me.
Well after all, maybe it is more importand that you think speedcubing is a sport for yourself than what others think...

 

[sgowal]

I indeed haven't thought about lightningchess... maybe you can agree with me that regular chess isn't a sport, maybe not.

What I wanted to say it that this discussion is endless... if someone comes to me and says that speed-cubing isn't a sport I won't be able to argue with his definition of what a sport is!

By the way, we should do some chess sometime, I suck but I enjoy to play it.

 

[pjk]

I agree that speedcubing is a sport. It is a talent that people have and then they compete. I think as they months and years go by, more people will become interested.

Erik, lightnigh chess, or I call it speed-chess, is also a sport in a way. That is always fun, playing those 1 minute games. BTW, I still want to play you. PM me a good time for you and a good place to play. Yahoo is what I usually use. Let me know.

 

[chiperten]

I want in on some chess.... I have a yahoo ID..

but more on topic, we had a huge debate in my freshmen history class about what a sport is. My teacher seemed to categorize sports as a physical activity, like full body physical, that had someone physically opposing you and is capable of stopping you from reaching your goal. His definition ruled out any racing or board game. He replied to students saying "but swimming/racing/whatever are in the Olympics" with "I believe it is the Olympic Games." I kinda liked his definition and I feel that calling something a great activity or game or whatever doesn't take away from its dignity. And if you think about it, racing really doesn't have physical opposition. You are only racing a clock. According to this definition, which I prefer, I wouldn't call speedcubing a sport, nor would I call chess a sport but they are great activities.

 

[pjk]

Well, I guess it just what you define as a sport.

As far as chess, send me a PM with the time you'd like to play, and we can play some.

 

[Lotsofsloths]

Is speedcubing a sport?

Please state your answer and give a brief explanation.

 

[andrewvo1324]

DEFINITION:

an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithms, turning the cube, looking ahead
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

So yes i think its a sport. =)

 

[ExoCorsair]

You are going to get a biased result with this poll, given the people you are polling.

 

[TimMc]

I'm inclined to say no. The amount of physical effort can be compared to playing any console game or PC game for that matter.

Tim.

 

[Lotsofsloths]

You are going to get a biased result with this poll, given the people you are polling.

I'm inclined to say no. The amount of physical effort can be compared to playing any console game or PC game for that matter.

Tim.

DEFINITION:

an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

activity - cubing
skill - remebering algorithems
physical - finger tricks
competive natures - wanting to get better then everyone else

So yes i think its a sport. =)

Exactly what I think.
Although, I think skill should involve twisting the cube, remembering algorithms, and looking ahead.

 

[Lucas Garron]

YES!

Of course it is! More so than "sportstacking"...
I don't like it when people say it's not...

Hmm, is bowling a sport? Archery? Cricket?

 

[qqwref]

Any definition of sport that involves golf or bowling (activities which are not that labor-intensive and don't require great physical strength to be good at) must also be open to possibilities of things like speedcubing. In fact, Wikipedia calls sport-stacking, curling, ballooning, angling, hamster racing, robot combat, MMO gaming, geocaching, arm wrestling, poker, solitaire, chess, the fifteen puzzle, and trading card games sports; I don't think anyone would claim that all of these require huge amounts of exertion on the part of the people playing them.

Basically, the amount of skill required in speedcubing (I'd like to see someone who hasn't spent more than a few weeks practicing get a sub-15 average...) and the competitive nature of it make it an obvious example of a sport, even if there are no teams, no coaches, and next to no physical exertion.

 

[Lotsofsloths]

Well, I have to admit, doing the PLL time attack..OH must work the heck out of your muscles..in your fingers.

 

[Dene]

Definitely a sport...

 

[darkzelkova]

If bridge is a sport, than so is this. And so is debate. They both meet all the requirements of a sport.

EDIT: They may not be recognized by the InterNational Olympic Committee, but I still think that they are.

 

[Lotsofsloths]

we should make cubing recognized by the National Olympic Committee

 

[Lucas Garron]

Skip "National"! Go straight to the IOC!

"Today, we bring you the famous 100m dash finals, followed by the most-anticipated event of these games: the 3x3x3 speedsolve finals! (With buffers like BLD to keep you awake and make you watch everything.)"