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lsc7354
Prospect
Joined: 25 Feb 2002
Posts: 1
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 Posted: 2/26/2002, 9:08 am Post subject: |
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WebMail - (none)
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Date Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 9:45 AM
From: lsc7354
To: lsc7354
Subject: (none)
Urgent New
here's something for you to think about until i write again. my roommates and i were having a discussion recently regarding sports and athleticism. it all started when we were watching the luge in the olympics. the announcer refered to one of the "luge drivers" as the "greatest athlete of this sport". my roommate replied "they sure are using the term athlete loosely these days". since then there has been an ongoing discussion as to what (or what not) an athlete is. im convinced that the scope of athleticism is very broad and that the term athlete has been stereotyped to only include participants in sports such as running, jumping, football, basketball, and the likes. while i could go on all day filling you in, i'll let you decide and we'll talk more later. so what is it? does a person have to participate in certain sports to be an athlete? is there some fine line that makes one participant in a sport an athlete and other participants not? if there was such a fine line, who would get to decide where it was? and, since this could (and would) be heavily disputed, wouldn't this warrant a single, general, all inclusive definition of what an athlete is? let me know what you think.
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defska17
Hall of Famer
Joined: 01 Apr 2001
Posts: 4150
Location: So. Cal (near San Diego)
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| Posted: 2/26/2002, 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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This is an interesting subject. Merriam-Webster online ( http://www.m-w.com ) defines it as:
"a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina "
Which means a luge driver is an athlete. Ive watched the luge, and maybe these guys arent running around a basketball court shooting 3-pointers, and maybe they arent taking a handoff from a QB and running 75 yards, but they are utilizing their athletic talent in their sport.
The definition says games requiring "strength, agility, OR stamina." An athlete doesnt need to have brute strength. A punter in a football game is an athlete not because of his strength, but because of the agility needed to play his position. It may look easy, but its not. These guys have talent. |
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