natural religion based on qualities and characteristics fundamental to the experience • How is sport a religion? • Rituals, i.e., coin toss • Costumes • Sense of power outside of one’s control • People who enforce rules • Teaches principles, i.e., courage
What is Leisure? • Can be viewed as an attitude of freedom • Often distinguished from work activities • Viewed also as discretionary time left- over after work
What is Play? • Sport is a manifestation of play • Characteristics of play represent a continuum such as: • Free • Uncertain • Governed by rules • Separate • Economically unproductive • Governed by make-believe
Games vs. Sports • There are no exact distinctions between the two terms • Three important areas of the concept “game”: 1. Games derive from play 2. Games involve competition 3. Game outcomes are based on skill, strategy or chance • Not all games are sports but all sports are a game
Games vs. Sports, cont’d • Sports are games involving skill and strategy • Sport games have primary and secondary rules • Sport games are classified into four categories: 1. Territory or invasion games 2. Target games 3. Court games 4. Sector games
Territory/Invasion Games • Goal is to invade the space of the opponent to score. • The use of goals or end zones are prevalent. • Games can vary in skill: use of arms, legs, stick implements. • Examples: football, ice hockey, soccer, rugby
Court Games • Primary objective is strategically propel an object in such a way that it cannot be returned by an opponent. • Examples: tennis, badminton, handball, squash
Roles that Contribute to Sports as an Institution • Codification of rules • Officials or referees • Organization and structure of sport teams, i.e., NCAA • Record keeping to measure performance • Dissemination of information to the public, i.e., newspaper
Aesthetics of Sports • One tries to find the beauty in sports, form sports, and other sports • Form sports: performers consciously work on achieving a physical form that is aesthetic • Examples of qualities are: harmony, form, dynamics, flow, gracefulness, rhythm, poise
four types of beauty in other sports: • Well-developed physique • Well-designed play or execution of the maneuver • Dramatic competition • Unity of an entire performance
Ethics in Sports • How people behave or conduct themselves in particular situations, i.e., games or sports • Fair play: how a competitor behaves before, during and after competition • 19th Century concept from England, i.e., Arnoldism • Concept still permeates in our society today • Rule violations are meant to be enforced by officials or referees • Sports still can build character and teach important life lessons • However, sport can be corrupt and has the ability to teach negative lesson in life