Is cubing a sport?

[gsingh]

Stay on topic, people. @DuckubingCuber347, you've read the forum rules. You've thrown them at people multiple times before.
You of all people should know better than to continue this completely off-topic argument.
The forum rules clearly say "Within a thread, do not derail the thread off-topic." So bring this thread back to the intended topic.

Pls ignore this. I wrote this when I was feeling really crabby with a 103 degree fever.

 

[Running for cube]

Oh I just thought you were joking because I said I bet someone will say to stay on topic

 

[Tabe]

Pretty sure that chess is an Olympic sport now.

It's not. It used to be 100 years ago though.

 

[Thom S.]

I am going to take up grass growing.

You know, that is kind of my job.

 

[Deleted member 36445]

2) Are finger tricks & the act of solving "physical exertion" in the context of sporting (ie, breathing requires physical exertion but simply breathing is clearly not a sport)

breathing = not a sport
not breathing = a sport

Spoiler

 

[Running for cube]

So are you saying that if we hold our breath while we solve cubes then cubing can officially be a sport? Goodbye graham siggins.

 

[That1Cuber]

I feel that it fits the description of a sport but it defiantly up to people's opinions.

 

[Ayce]

If there was an additional part added onto it, similar to to triathlon it could better fit as a sport.

 

[unirox13]

As a twisty puzzle collector and solver, not focused on speedsolving I do have an opinion on this.

I don't believe that cubing/puzzle solving/speedsolving and many of the other activities mentioned by others are cut and dry on the sport or not-a-sport lists. In my opinion an accurate description is something along the lines of, a unique skill that requires dedicated physical and mental development to become good at. With that dedication comes room, and potential for some sport-like competition, such as competitive speedsolving. In those competitions, yes you are in a way competing in a sporting event. There are many competitors looking to overtake another and become the best. Doing so means that you'll have had to dedicate many hours of time, physically and mentally into that activity. However, when I'm sitting at home working on solving a new puzzle, or even fiddling with a new 3x3 avg12, I do not feel as though I'm an athlete nor am I playing a sport.

In short, I believe that while yes, competitive cubing, during a competition is in many ways a sport. I do not feel that the activity of puzzle solving in general, casually or timed, is so much athletic or sports training. In those moments it's simply a dedicated mental and physical activity that you enjoy with continuous room for improvement.

 

[Garf]

If WCA comps had deliberate things that involved more team-based opportunities, then I would say it would be considered a sport. Since speedcubing is based on a fastest-time method, it would most likely have a similar scoring system to cross country per team: each place per individual is considered points on the team. The team with the lowest points is the overall victor.
As of right now, people practice in different ways that benefit them, and there aren't any organized teams that compete. Although we do have an official way of recording world-record times and other significant things for pros and amateurs alike, the competitions are not broadcasted to important sports stations like ESPN, FOX, NBC, etc.
If this didn't make sense, all I'm saying is that the way things are now, cubing doesn't have so many public presentations that sports like football and baseball do. Maybe if speedcubing got more involved with the public and some things were added to make viewing/competition more enjoyable to fans/competitors, then it would be closer to being a sport.

 

[Caden Fisher]

If WCA comps had deliberate things that involved more team-based opportunities, then I would say it would be considered a sport. Since speedcubing is based on a fastest-time method, it would most likely have a similar scoring system to cross country per team: each place per individual is considered points on the team. The team with the lowest points is the overall victor.
As of right now, people practice in different ways that benefit them, and there aren't any organized teams that compete. Although we do have an official way of recording world-record times and other significant things for pros and amateurs alike, the competitions are not broadcasted to important sports stations like ESPN, FOX, NBC, etc.
If this didn't make sense, all I'm saying is that the way things are now, cubing doesn't have so many public presentations that sports like football and baseball do. Maybe if speedcubing got more involved with the public and some things were added to make viewing/competition more enjoyable to fans/competitors, then it would be closer to being a sport.

100% agree. I was just going to say the exact same thing. I feel like for something to be a sport, it needs to be head to head which has been done so I’d call that a sport but when there are 50-100 people all solving at the same time I’d say it’s not a sport. All other sports that I can think of are head to head.

 

[Thom S.]

That would destroy the one good thing cubing has.
That you can do the whole sport with all of it's facettes alone.

 

[hyn]

facettes?

 

[kubesolver]

I think speedsolving is what it is. It is an activity that uses some physical and mental aspect.

The question whether it is a sport or not isn't really about cubing as it is about the person answering and their feelings about what a real sport is.

According to an Oxford-Dictionary sport is an activity that you do for pleasure and that needs physical effort or skill, usually done in a special area and according to fixed rules. It's so vague that anything fits that definition including grass growing.

Coloquially it's pretty clear that football is a sport and that watching netflix isn't, but with speedcubing it's a classical example of a problem of applying a binary label to a non-binary spectrum.

An objective measure could be to ask if it is possible for cubing to have a sport association recognized by national or international sport authorities. I think the answer is clearly yes, it could. (I personally don't think it should, but that's another discussion).

 

[EngiNerdBrian]

@Garf you seem to be implying that something needs to be team-based to be considered a sport; There are plenty of individual sports and even cross country, track and field, triathlons give out individual awards and standings, not just team scores.

The question whether it is a sport or not isn't really about cubing as it is about the person answering and their feelings about what a real sport is.

Exactly this. How you answer whether or not cubing is a sport is based on what you consider the definition of a sport to be. There is no singular answer to these questions.

The oxford definition or any other literary source you choose is not the DEFINITIVE DEFINITION of a words meaning; this idea touches on the fact that language and definitions are both PRESCRIBED by respected sources/institutions and DESCRIBED by constantly evolving culture.

 

[SpedCube]

Boxing and Wrestling is pretty damn close!

True. I dont think you'll see many gladiator fights to the death nowadays tho

 

[Running for cube]

Ehh I bet we could schedule one. In all seriousness tho, I think I agree. Not everyone can agree on this topic.

 

[Garf]

@Garf you seem to be implying that something needs to be team-based to be considered a sport; There are plenty of individual sports and even cross country, track and field, triathlons give out individual awards and standings, not just team scores.

Well, cross country, track, and triathlons give out individuals. But they also do team scores. Not sure about triathlons, but the other two for sure.

 

[abunickabhi]

Anyone applying to WSOT this time. The deadline is close now.

 

[Ayce]

True. I dont think you'll see many gladiator fights to the death nowadays tho

It didn’t pass OSHA regulations