What makes a sport a sport and not a game and visa versa? And, is a
hobby a degree of a sport or game? Example: is pool a game or sport.
If hunting is a sport then is stamp collecting? Fishing is considered
a sport but gardening is'nt.

Hi fallstaf,

FIRST, I pulled definitions for you from the Internet, read them
briefly, then refer back to them:

=======================================================================

DEFINITION OF SPORT:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sport

1)  Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and 
    often engaged in competitively. 

2)  A particular form of this activity. 

3)  An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a 
    set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. 

4)  An active pastime; recreation. 

=======================================================================

DEFINITION OF GAME:

1)  An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party 
    games; word games. 

2) 
    a) A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with 
       each other according to a set of rules: the game of basketball; 
       the game of gin rummy. 
    
    b) A single instance of such an activity: We lost the first game. 

    c) GAMES:  An organized athletic program or contest: track-and-field 
       games; took part in the winter games.  [like the Olympics]

    d) A period of competition or challenge: It was too late in the game 
       to change the schedule of the project. 

3)  
    a) The total number of points required to win a game: One hundred 
       points is game in bridge. 

    b) The score accumulated at any given time in a game: The game is 
       now 14 to 12. 

4)  The equipment needed for playing certain games: packed the children's 
    games in the car. 

5)  A particular style or manner of playing a game: improved my tennis 
    game with practice. 

    [there are more meanings to "game" but they are not relevent]

=======================================================================

DEFINITION OF HOBBY:

1)  An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation 
    and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

=======================================================================

You're confused because the word GAME has several meanings.  You can
play a game of sports, but you can't sport a game.  To illustrate
this, think of the Olympics.  They are called the OLYMPIC GAMES.  All
the competitions are in specific Sports.

Olympic Games - Official Website
http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp

The GAME is that world-class athletes --all good at different SPORTS
--COMPETE for medals, and future endorsements.

Pocket Billiards is a sport, and you can play different games [rule
sets] within the sport: 8-ball, 9-ball, etc..  [for those that
disagree, Pocket Billiards has been declared a Sport by the **Olympic
Committee --see below]

Football is a sport, and when you watch it, it's a game of football.

When I play Cards, which is a game, I play a "card game" or a "game of cards."

Swimming is a sport, and there is no game of Swimming.  Even a Swim
gathering is not a game, it's a Swim Meet.  This is the same for
fishing, rollerskating, skiing and similiar activities.

Stamp collecting, like knitting, is a hobby.  There is no physical
exertion, no game aspect, it can be done "at your leisure."

In a game you can blame the referee (or the luck of the cards). In a
sport, win or lose, you always put forth your best effort.

Chess is competetive, and not physically demanding, so it is a game.

A game always has rules.  Sports require skills.  Uniforms are worn in
games, no matter what the sport.

Baseball is the sport, the "World Series" is a Baseball Game.

=======================================================================

Here's a streaming video describing the very thing you are asking:

Learn about the difference between as game and a sport, featuring
poker and gymnastics.
http://bnc.mbhs.edu/prod/293

=======================================================================

I hope this hasn't confused you more.  There IS some overlap, but
generally sports require some sort of physical effort, or specialized
skill.  Games are more organized affairs, with rules.

If I can be of further assistance in regards to Sports, Games, and
Hobbies, --and which is which, please don't hesitate to ask via the
"Request For Clarification" feature.


~~Cynthia 



FROM ** ABOVE:
http://www.azbilliards.com/jonkucharo/

** ..."Jon will represent the United States in pool's inaugural
journey into International Olympic Committee-recognized international
sports festivals at the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan in August. 
(Buddy Hall, Jeanette Lee and Vivian Villarreal will be the other
United States player representatives).   When asked about being
invited to this event, Jon expressed excitement by stating, "I feel
great by being invited," then after a short pause he added proudly,
"it is the second most prestigious event in the world next to the
Olympics.  2500 athletes compete, and pool was just
accepted......about playing in the World Games by stating this today,
"Makes pool a sport now.  Since pool is a part of the World Games, it
finalizes the question, "is pool a sport?" ..."


Search Strategy used at Google:

Sport vs Game
difference "sport and game"

world class answer!

If I can do it in jeans, it's not a sport.

I've always taken as a rule of thumb that a sport is where the
competitors begin the contest facing in the same direction, eg,
running, swimming, horse-racing, pole-vaulting, etc. A game is where
the competitors or opponents FACE each other at the beginning of the
contest, as in football, chess, etc. This does not always apply, of
course. Some sports begin with the opponents face-to-face (boxing,
fencing, for example, where these are all one-on-one contests) but I
can think of no games where the contest begins with the competitors
facing in the same direction. I don't mind being proved wrong, though.

Wittengenstein wrote a seminal article on the category of "game",
trying to basically explain what betting has to do with playing jacks
by yourself. What he came up with was the idea of radial categories
where one thing in a category must simply be related to another member
and in that way, there *may not* necessarily be one necessary and
sufficient defining factor (sweating, direction one faces, spectators,
etc) This led to a lot of groundbreaking work in psychology exploring
the cognitive realization of categories and some interesting
discoveries like:
- radial categories (see above)
- prototypes (some things are better examples than other... compare
robin to ostrich for bird)
- interactional properties (we create categories based on basic visual
representations and how we interact with the thing we are categorizing
as opposed to there being something in the object itself that defines
it's category.)

So in answering what a game is vs. a sport you want to name the
prototype and explore the radial category. In the case of game,
betting is very similar to  card gambling in a lot of ways except for
the cards. Card gambling is similar to playing cards for fun aside
from the money aspect. Playing cards for fun with someone else is like
playing solitaire... etc etc etc. Sport will have a similar structure.

Eleanor Rousch is one of the major explorers of these ideas...
Hope this was useful.

mettle-ga, thanks for your comment. This "idea of radial categories"
is something I've never heard of and is worth taking a look at. One of
the reasons that I asked this question is to see how simple concepts
or notions about common ideas can have complex and even conflicting
definitions based on different perceptions. The perspective of a
person is influenced by the context of that person?s beliefs. This is
my way to gain insight as to why the views and beliefs (mainly
political) of people can be so radically conflicting. For example, I
didn?t want to ask the question ? why is the political division in
this country so great? because I didn?t want emotion to become part of
the answer.