There is an argument for recognising pursuits involving physical activity, specialised skill and competition as “sports”, and those that do not as “games”. Soccer, tennis, cricket are thus sports, while snakesandladders and monopoly are games.
We know what sport is, but can we define it so there is no confusion? Definitions of sport — from those provided by philosophers to favourites of casual fans — tend to be incomplete and open to debate. There is an element of the blind men from Hindustan describing an elephant in the descriptions of sports. Then there is the matter of games. Are the two the same?
The title of ‘The Oxford Companion to Sports & Games’, a handsome encyclopedia edited by John Arlott, suggests there is a difference. Published in 1975, it is 1,152 pages of superb material. Arlott laments such publications tend to become out of date quickly.
The reverse also happens. Games become sports. Chess, bridge, snooker are missing from the tome.
It’s a game
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