....anyone know what happened?

On 16 Nov 2005 21:08:12 -0800, "Henry Hefner"
wrote:


Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Bass_Mr. wrote:
...
Corporate America must feel that bass fishing is a sport,or there wouldn't
be millions of dollars of sponsorship being poured into it. ...

If corporate America felt they could market and sell tiddlywinks
they would sponsor tiddlywinks competitions. But that wouldn't
make tiddlywinks a sport.

It's just semantics, Warren asked me flat out if I consider
tournament bass fishing a sport. I do not. But if you think it
is, that's fine with me.

--
Ken Fortenberry

As long as we're arguing semantics, baseball and football can't be
sports, 'cause they're GAMES. That's why a participant is called a
PLAYER, because a GAME is something you PLAY. Kinda like tiddlywinks.


Henry

Uff-DA!!

Jim

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
ink.net...
snipKen Fortenberry wrote:
Bass fishing is no more a "physical activity" than
tossing darts, or bowling ...

It is very clear that you have never gotten out of bed at 2am,driven a
couple of hours (or more),stood on the bow of a bass boat in a 20+ mph
wind,controlled that boat in a safe and efficient manner,fished your guts
out for 8 hours or more on a diet of crackers and water,competing against
people of all skill levels and expertise,then packed it all up and drove
all the way back.That is just a taste of what amateur bass club fishermen
do.At the pro level you can multiply that tenfold.

That doesn't make it a sport or its participants athletes. Maybe it's tiring
and grueling, but so is a construction worker's day. And I guarantee that
worker would rather be engaged in the torture described above. And I assume
one could do it on a better diet than water and crackers.

Corporate America must feel that bass fishing is a sport,or there wouldn't
be millions of dollars of sponsorship being poured into it.
When ESPN airs a "trout fishing competition" are they doing it because it
is a sport or because they just like seeing men wade around in rubber
pants? I urge you again to go into your fly fishing group and tell that
crowd they aren't involved in a sport.I guarantee you a lot of them would
have their rubber britches in a wad!

ESPN airs eating contests and spelling bees.

No insults intended here, but I wonder why so many tournament fishermen get
defensive about this subject. Do they need to legitimize their activity with
the "I'm an athlete" claim? Plus, don't forget, tournaments at the highest
levels of competition can be (and are) won by senior citizens, smokers and
300-pounders.

Marty wrote:

That doesn't make it a sport or its participants athletes.



No insults intended here, but I wonder why so many tournament fishermen get
defensive about this subject. Do they need to legitimize their activity with
the "I'm an athlete" claim?

Nothing to do with tournaments and competition at all. When the magazine
was named SPORTS AFIELD some time around the turn of the previous
century, they weren't talking about fishing tournaments. Just the
traditional outdoor sports. IE, fishing and hunting.


SPORT and ATHLETIC COMPETITION are two entirely different things. As an
angler, I am a sportsman, not an athlete. When I was young and agile
enough to play basketball I was involved in athletics and athletic
competition. I probably stayed involved too long after my skills and
body deteriorated, and I wasn't really competitive any more, but that's
another subject entirely. For a long while, I was heavily involved in
fishing competition, and while I was competing in a sport, it was not an
athletic endeavor at all. Not sure when athletic competition usurped the
word sport from it's rightful place describing the traditional outdoor
activities (blood sports, if you will), but for athletics to claim the
word as its own and not allow the true sports to claim it is simply wrong.

I never mentioned the word "athlete" in my post.I was pointing out that
competitive fishing was more of a grueling "sport" than just a "physical
activity".
I agree that eating contests and spelling bees are not sports.Fishing is a
sport whether your dunking worms with the kids,or at the competitive
level,or wading a stream.
I have never bought any fishing equipment in any store that wasn't
designated "sporting goods" or specialized in "sporting goods".

"Marty" wrote in message
...

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
ink.net...
snipKen Fortenberry wrote:
Bass fishing is no more a "physical activity" than
tossing darts, or bowling ...

It is very clear that you have never gotten out of bed at 2am,driven a
couple of hours (or more),stood on the bow of a bass boat in a 20+ mph
wind,controlled that boat in a safe and efficient manner,fished your guts
out for 8 hours or more on a diet of crackers and water,competing against
people of all skill levels and expertise,then packed it all up and drove
all the way back.That is just a taste of what amateur bass club fishermen
do.At the pro level you can multiply that tenfold.

That doesn't make it a sport or its participants athletes. Maybe it's
tiring and grueling, but so is a construction worker's day. And I
guarantee that worker would rather be engaged in the torture described
above. And I assume one could do it on a better diet than water and
crackers.

Corporate America must feel that bass fishing is a sport,or there
wouldn't be millions of dollars of sponsorship being poured into it.
When ESPN airs a "trout fishing competition" are they doing it because it
is a sport or because they just like seeing men wade around in rubber
pants? I urge you again to go into your fly fishing group and tell that
crowd they aren't involved in a sport.I guarantee you a lot of them would
have their rubber britches in a wad!

ESPN airs eating contests and spelling bees.

No insults intended here, but I wonder why so many tournament fishermen
get defensive about this subject. Do they need to legitimize their
activity with the "I'm an athlete" claim? Plus, don't forget, tournaments
at the highest levels of competition can be (and are) won by senior
citizens, smokers and 300-pounders.

I'll agree, it can be construed as a sport and that you didn't use
"athlete."

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
nk.net...
I never mentioned the word "athlete" in my post.I was pointing out that
competitive fishing was more of a grueling "sport" than just a "physical
activity".
I agree that eating contests and spelling bees are not sports.Fishing is a
sport whether your dunking worms with the kids,or at the competitive
level,or wading a stream.
I have never bought any fishing equipment in any store that wasn't
designated "sporting goods" or specialized in "sporting goods".

"Marty" wrote in message
...

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
ink.net...
snipKen Fortenberry wrote:
Bass fishing is no more a "physical activity" than
tossing darts, or bowling ...

It is very clear that you have never gotten out of bed at 2am,driven a
couple of hours (or more),stood on the bow of a bass boat in a 20+ mph
wind,controlled that boat in a safe and efficient manner,fished your
guts out for 8 hours or more on a diet of crackers and water,competing
against people of all skill levels and expertise,then packed it all up
and drove all the way back.That is just a taste of what amateur bass
club fishermen do.At the pro level you can multiply that tenfold.

That doesn't make it a sport or its participants athletes. Maybe it's
tiring and grueling, but so is a construction worker's day. And I
guarantee that worker would rather be engaged in the torture described
above. And I assume one could do it on a better diet than water and
crackers.

Corporate America must feel that bass fishing is a sport,or there
wouldn't be millions of dollars of sponsorship being poured into it.
When ESPN airs a "trout fishing competition" are they doing it because
it is a sport or because they just like seeing men wade around in rubber
pants? I urge you again to go into your fly fishing group and tell that
crowd they aren't involved in a sport.I guarantee you a lot of them
would have their rubber britches in a wad!

ESPN airs eating contests and spelling bees.

No insults intended here, but I wonder why so many tournament fishermen
get defensive about this subject. Do they need to legitimize their
activity with the "I'm an athlete" claim? Plus, don't forget, tournaments
at the highest levels of competition can be (and are) won by senior
citizens, smokers and 300-pounders.

RichZ wrote:
Marty wrote:

That doesn't make it a sport or its participants athletes.



No insults intended here, but I wonder why so many tournament fishermenget
defensive about this subject. Do they need to legitimize their activitywith
the "I'm an athlete" claim?

Nothing to do with tournaments and competition at all. When the magazine
was named SPORTS AFIELD some time around the turn of the previous
century, they weren't talking about fishing tournaments. Just the
traditional outdoor sports. IE, fishing and hunting.


SPORT and ATHLETIC COMPETITION are two entirely different things. As an
angler, I am a sportsman, not an athlete. When I was young and agile
enough to play basketball I was involved in athletics and athletic
competition. I probably stayed involved too long after my skills and
body deteriorated, and I wasn't really competitive any more, but that's
another subject entirely. For a long while, I was heavily involved in
fishing competition, and while I was competing in a sport, it was not an
athletic endeavor at all. Not sure when athletic competition usurped the
word sport from it's rightful place describing the traditional outdoor
activities (blood sports, if you will), but for athletics to claim the
word as its own and not allow the true sports to claim it is simply wrong.

To back you up, Rich, the definition of sportsman from Merriam-Webster
online dictionary at http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sportsman :
Main Entry: sports·man
Function: noun
1 : a person who engages in sports (as hunting or fishing)
2 : a person who shows sportsmanship