The Sports Truth

No pulsating intro music or pyrotechnics are necessary when the Sports Truth’s Starting Five takes the floor. Primarily because our budget won’t allot for such things. That would be so cool, though!

Every Friday, our panel of experts takes a current sports topic and sounds off on it — five times over. These guys have been researching constantly, poring over endless data and bouncing ideas off each other in preparation for this feature. Prepare to be amused, perplexed, enraged and maybe a little awed by their collective brilliance.

This Week’s Topic: SPORT / NOT A SPORT

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1. Golf: Sport? Not a sport? Why?

LUCAS DWYER: Not only is golf a sport, it is the hardest sport there is. The physical act of striking a golf ball and making contact might not be all that difficult, but the act of striking a golf ball, hitting it far and accurately, and doing so consistently over the course of 18 holes is far more difficult than hitting a 97 mph fastball or tackling Larry Johnson.

JOEY BARGUY: Not a sport. It’s a sport for Tiger Woods. Not for you.

EVAN CHRISTOPHER: My definition of a sport is simple: physical activity, competition and a clear winner and loser. So golf easily qualifies as a sport. Some say hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do, but I nominate hitting a 100-yard sand wedge from the rough with a bad lie onto a sloping green. Golf requires talent, concentration, no bad teammates to bring you down or blame, and incredibly bad fashion sense. I love it.

MICHAEL BRIAN: Golf: Not a sport. Golf is what you do when your body is too old, broken down, or man-boobed to play actual sports.

MICHAEL STEPHENS: A tough call, but I have to go with sport. It’s somehow easier to justify wasting most of my youth playing it if I call it one.

STEVEN VINCI: Golf is certainly a sport. A game is something everyone can do, but golf is one of the most challenging activities on the planet, and one mastered by only a few. Just because Phil Mickelson needs a bra does not mean golf is not a sport.

VERDICT: SPORT, 4-2

2. Ultimate frisbee: Sport? Not a sport? Why?

STEVEN VINCI: I’ll go with sport on this one. Even though it’s played by hippies and there is not enough physical contact, there is some skill involved. It would be a better game if there was tackling involved.

LUCAS DWYER: The only thing missing from ultimate frisbee for this to even be a question is attention. There are very few organized ultimate frisbee endeavors, so we never hear about it, but it requires athleticism, speed, endurance, coordination, and strategy — all the things you’d want in a sport.

MICHAEL BRIAN: Not a sport. Ultimate frisbee will become a sport when shirt tye-dyeing, hair unkempting and pot smoking are considered work outs.

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It’s gone from an insider event to mass-marketed hysteria. The skill and endurance involved, along with the cast of characters, are unrivaled. But, the Sports Truth asks in its newest Face-Off:

Is Poker a Sport?

YES

sport noun 1: A source of diversion 2: A physical activity engaged in for pleasure syn play, frolic, fun, recreation.

After consulting with my boy Noah Webster (the pride of West Hartford, Conn.), it appears poker makes the grade on all counts. I am clearly not the only one who thinks so, either. Further down on the same page, the dictionary describes a sportscast as a “broadcast dealing with sporting events.”

If elite-level poker is not a sport, then why is the nation’s premiere sports network, ESPN, pouring resources into televising it each year? If Greg “Fossil Man” Raymer, the 2004 champion (right), doesn’t embody everything great about sports, I’m really not sure what does.

Poker’s critics simply don’t understand the endurance, skill and mental toughness involved. It’s ludicrous to suggest that the high-stakes card game is any different than the Great Outdoor Games, the NBA or Women’s Nine Ball.

Watching hands, remembering every detail.

Playing the opponent as well as the cards.

Deciding when to bluff. Exercising caution one minute and letting it rip the next. Anyone who has played knows the feeling. You have pocket queens and picked up a third on the flop, but are trying not to give away too much. Raise. Check. Pause. The pot is growing and you have your arch-nemesis right where you want him… until he somehow lands a straight on the river.

It hurts. You want to strangle him, and yourself for good measure. The agony, glory and finality are unmatched. No matter how events transpire, you will leave emotionally drained.

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