Bowling is a sport.

In response to your arguments- Your claim, “Any activity that you can get the full experience out of by yourself, is not a sport” is untrue. An example is track. If I were to go to a track and sprint a few 100 meter dashes, I could receive the full effect of running track. I received the exercise and mental experience of running, and I received a competitive aspect by trying to improve my times. All without another person competing against me. Yet track is still a sport. A similar situation occurs with other individualized sports such as swimming, golf, field events such as discus or shot put, etc. Also, tournament bowling often includes what is referred to as “Baker games” which require teams, not individuals (http://bowling.about.com...). New aspects come into play in this format, such as lineups, less frames bowled, and teamwork. Therefore, you can’t receive a full experience of bowling by yourself. Also, there is a major difference between those “bowling for fun” and those who are bowling competitively. You claim that they are the same when you say “If, as you state, drinking beer while throwing the ball at the pins for fun does not constitute enough competition to qualify bowling as a sport; adding higher-skill level players and monetary rewards for winning doesn't change this. “ First, you don’t require direct competition 100% of the time, as referred to in the previous argument. Next, there is such a big difference between the two such that they can be considered two separate activities. The difference is one word, OIL. Remember that bowling alleys are businesses. They want customers to be happy so that they return. To do so, bowling alleys place what is called a “house pattern” on the lanes- less oil on the sides, more in the center. Taken from http://bowling.about.com... , The house pattern is designed to be forgiving. Since complete novices are using this pattern during open bowling, a bowling-center operator doesn’t want to make things hard on them and risk losing business. Since there’s very little oil outside the 10 board, the lanes are very forgiving if you miss to the outside. There’s plenty of time for the ball to recover and get back to the pocket. Likewise, with the extra oil in the middle, if you miss to the inside, the oil will let the ball carry farther down the lane before picking up some traction at the end. Either way you miss, the pattern will do its best to get your ball to the pocket. Since open bowling doesn’t require the same skills as competitive bowling, such as in reading oil, adjustments, and near perfect consistency, it can be seen as separate. It is not the full experience of bowling, it is an aspect. n Sport oil conditions are bowled on during competition and allow for no mistakes, which in turn require the skills explained earlier. That is why bowling for fun while drinking beer is not a sport, and competitive bowling is. They are separate, not equal. In response to your claims about my arguments- A sport is a sport if and only if it meets all the requirements: physical and mental skill, athleticism (training yourself physically and mentally to perform more capably and to improve your skill), competition, and strategy. All the other activities you mentioned are not sports because they do not meet all the requirements. Mountain climbing lacks any competition in any form, even though it requires athleticism and skill. For rose growing, even though mental skills and competition are evident, there is no athleticism. Once you lift the fertilizer bag or learn how to create good rows, you can’t train yourself to do that any better than before. You can’t train yourself physically to grow better roses. While it is true that just because there are professional competitions or skills needed, then it doesn’t necessarily make the activity a sport. Those are only parts of the definition of a sport. However, if and only if all of those requirements are met, the activity becomes a sport. Bowling fits all the requirements of a sport- skills, athleticism, competition, and strategy. Therefore, competitive bowling fits the definition, and is a sport. In my 2nd round, I should have specified that the difference in a sport and a game is that physical skill is needed for a sport, not just the general word “skill” I used. I apologize. Chess is not a sport because no physical skills are needed, and there is no athleticism. All sports are games that require physical skills, and if and only if they fit the definition of a sport. Competitive bowling once again fits this description. Closing- First of all, thanks to Sauh for accepting this debate and allowing it to be possible. My closing argument will be short and simple. I will use the common phrase, “If it looks like a duck and flies like a duck, it is a duck.” Bowling has all the requirements to be considered a sport. Therefore, how can it be considered that it isn’t a sport? Consider what has been said, and vote Pro. Thank you.