Is FIRST a Sport

[Cody Carey]

( NOTE: these are my opinions... and I'd rather not get bad rep for them )



I believe that first is a club, it is a game, it is a competition, and it is a learning experience, but it is not a sport. Go into a sport store... Will you find and ounce of extruded aluminum, or maybe a speed controller... no, you won't. Also, I don't know about you, but I'm winded after a running a city block, my mile time was 7:40, and I can't do more that 8 pull-ups anymore. I am not an athlete, and I am not in a sport.

More than once, I have had to lift the robot, but I lift it for maybe 5 seconds at a time, and maybe once every 5 minutes (at a hectic time). Weight lifters do this for hours on end, and with far heavier weights than 120 lbs, especially since the 120 lbs is usually shared between 3 or more people. I have also had to make a "mad dash" to get to my driver station on time... but as anyone who has done this while pulling a robot through a crowd can attest to, my maximum speed was 5 miles an hour, hardly a brisk pace. Once again, I am not an athlete, and I am not in a sport.



Another thing. If my friends all of the sudden make a “fantasy walking league”, does that make walking a sport?



I have a feeling that a lot of us here in FIRST only want to consider this a sport so that we can check the little box on a survey that says “I Participate in a high-school athletics program." And pat ourselves on the back for being "just as good" as the football, or basketball players. I won't hold myself to those standards, because I don’t play in a sport, and I am not an athlete. Truth is... We, being children of FIRST, have a much better chance of succeeding in life while doing what we want to be doing than a football player does. Tell me a sport that 3 teams have to band together to win... show me a sport that the athletes are as friendly with their opponents as they are their allies.



And one last point... is this webpage... It gives a brief history of sports.

http://fermi.univr.it/cla/webclass/Facchinetti/motorie/02-03/origin_of_sports.htm

I am convinced that FIRST is wholly different from a sport... Convince me otherwise


P.S. If you do have a problem with this post, please take it up with my inbox and not my rep box