Which Sport Requires the Most Athleticism? - Throwing It Out There:
"It's overlap season! Baseball, the NFL, college football, the NHL, NASCAR and MLS all are all in their playoffs or regular seasons, NBA camps have started and Midnight Madness is Friday. With that in mind, our question: Which sport requires the most athleticism?"(Sports Editor | October 8, 2007. LINK)
At MooPig International we think it is a term in sportscasting that has evolved in a type of conjugation: from athlete, to athletic, to athleticism ... and we think that the term "athleticism" will be liberally used by sportscasters tomorrow in the Super Bowl XLVI. It has been blurbed out in almost every football game we watched this 2011-12 season. How many times will it be used? We might make a wager on that.
- NBA
- NFL
- NHL
- MLS
- NCAA Football
- NCAA B-ball
- Baseball
- NASCAR isn't a sport. (Posted by: SnorlaxMcSoggybottom | October 9, 2007)
[astorian says on 04-03-2006]: " ... Just in case people disagree with me, and think "athletic" is a fine word, I'll provide some comparable adjectives for use in other walks of life:What does Twitter Have to Say?
"The Beatles were a very musical band." - Greil Marcus
"Steve Spielberg is the most cinematic director in Hollywood." - Roger Ebert
"The U.S. Marine Corps will give Saddam trouble- they're a highly military unit." - Tom Clancy (LINK) ... "
If you watched sports telecasts and had come from another culture (but comprehended English), you would think the word "athleticism" means "Black Guy".
In the last ten years, I've heard one announcer use the term "athleticism" in describing a White Guy. That was this year (Of course, it was in an SEC game.)
Before that? Well, can you say "John Havlicek?" (UMRBlog. Nov 25, 2009. LINK)
Someone actually published a story several years back where they noted that sportscasters more frequently describe black athletes in terms of their physique and athleticism (i.e. Ty Lawson is so fast, Gerald Henderson is so strong) but describe white athletes in terms of their "smarts" and work ethic (Tyler Hansbrough's will exceeds his skill) (November 27, 2009, Anonymous said.)
Rocky Cola said...
Jimmy the Greek wants to join this discussion, but he doesnt have wireless underground.
(9:37 AM, November 28, 2009)
'via Blog this'
What Does the Urban Dictionary say?
1. athleticism 40 up, 9 down
The art of neglecting fat kids.
Dodgeball, Tag, and Movement are all prime examples of athleticism. (Urban Dic. HERE)
--AND--
1. Athletischism 3 up, 1 down
Athletischism - When an athlete's off-the-field actions and habits conflict with rather than re-enforce natural skills and talents.
The slugger had a lot of innate athletic ability early in his career, but unfortunately, a fondness for strip clubs and whiskey led to an athletischism in his athleticism.
What do the Blogs Say?
The year [2011] began with ESPN — no stranger to sexist misbehavior — firing announcer Ron Franklin after he told Fiesta Bowl sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards, "Why don't you leave this to the boys, sweet baby?" and responded to her objections with an expletive. In the latest example of male boorishness ... (Cohen, Andrew. Jan 27, 2011. LINK)
Not like we did a decade ago, when the Women’s World Cup won by the American team on American soil signaled a newfound respect for women’s athleticism. Remember those heady days, of athletes posing naked with soccer balls, of Brandi Chastain’s sports bra, of the self-described Booters with Hooters? Remember how Kristine Lilly, who saved the Americans in the final against China with a header off the line in extra time, was completely ignored and forgotten by the media and advertisers, while the more quote-unquote “marketable” Mia Hamm said or did nothing of consequence during the tournament, but made millions in endorsements? (LINK)
Every league that uses sex to sell, marketing its athletes with pinup calendars; every athlete who poses naked as some sort of nod to “athleticism”; every “marketable” sportscaster who feeds a marketing machine that objectifies women helps undercut the effort to portray female athletes as athletes first. (LINK)
Last Word?
What does "athletic" mean? Does it mean they're very fast? Very agile? Have great endurance? What?
It could mean "Not brainy," a team that doesn't play particularly smart ball, but wins through purely physical skills.
I do know this about soccer, though. The skills that its players learn over the years translate well to other sports. There's a reason why the NBA has more than its share of Eastern European players; it's because they play soccer as youngsters and develop a high level of foot-eye coordination, an underrated athletic virtue that many American players simply don't have. (Bruce Buratti | The Express-Times. August 12, 2011. LINK)
Several qualities could compensate for a lack of athletic abililty in athletic competition: braininess, depth, experience, competitive spirit, coaching...a team that lacked all of these, and still won, might be a team whose athleticism is dominant. (LINK)
And any sportscaster serious about wanting to celebrate women’s athleticism would recognize what Reebok was attempting to buy, and refuse to sell it. (LINK)
MooPig, because of its close connections to boorish maleness, thinks that "athleticism" means the "singularity" that, after all, means "MoJo."
_______________Reference
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=athleticism
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/throwing-it-out-there/2007/10/which_sport_requires_the_most.html
http://uppermiss.blogspot.com/2009/11/athleticism.html
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-365691.html
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bruce-buratti/index.ssf/2011/08/soccer_while_a_noble_sport_has.html
1 comment:
An interesting question has been propounded here.
Athleticism is a trait which is de-noted in the recruiting literature for various sports. When there are no more positions to fill with particularly large, fast or skilful players,(and the skill positions terminology opens another days blog)scouts designate them as athletes. So all over the sports kingdom athletes abound,so they say.
Coaches aren't necessarily the swiftest rivulets in the stream but they demand a certain amount of thinking from their players, called "The Playbook" or "The Game Plan" or "The Meet Strategy". Although, my high school track coach taught Russian and Calculus and we didn't lose too many meets. But I digress.
You can teach dumb brutes to obey and follow orders. So sports team members are under the discipline and conditioning regimen with the cream rising to the top. The ones with the most athleticism can only function if they stay out of the way of the truly, violent and thuggish ones. Their athleticism allows them to do that. Jump higher, run faster, throw farther..etc. The Mojo working.
Roger Federer used to be the best tennis player out there but someone told him to stay the best he had to take his Mojo and hone it into shape like a scythe and cut the wheat off at the ground(I
made that last part up but it sounded pretty cool and metaphorically tennis).
I never tried the sport, other than yard ball, but you rugby players seem to be the most athletic group I've watched. Also a decathlete is truly a force to be reckoned with.
Hats off to all who aspire to win a race, tussle, face-off, scrum, match, wicket, beatdown or any other form of competition requiring complete concentration and conditioning. May the best athletes show that trait in all ways. Remember, someone younger and maybe as gifted is watching.
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