Which high sport deserves more respect?

[seanchai]

Hey, I remember those practices too. Believe me, I know what it's like to work that hard for no respect - we used to have a slogan: "Swim team - Undefeated, Basketball - Defeated". And nobody ever came to the swim meets.

I bet you heard that old maxim "if swimming were easy they'd call it football." It's a nice way to try to pump guys up but it's not at all true. I guess being around a bunch of "macho" swimmer guys who wanted to feel tough has skewed my opinion, but I get sick of that attitude in these endurance-style individual sports that football is easy because they don't understand or appreciate it. You don't fall into that trap, thankfully.

Although I have a lot more chronic injuries than the football players I know. Maybe you're right...

What events did you swim?

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

Please. Hockey is the toughest sport ever created. What other sport essentially allows you to carry a weapon, wear armor and encourages full body impacts into solid resistance (like the wall) at speeds of roughly 50 mph on ice? Swimming? Hahaha!

 

[doctoroxygen]

Hockey is tough. It's a sport for which I have a lot of respect.

Another sport that's tough and probably underrated around most of the country is water polo. At least in football and hockey you get to be standing up rather than trying not to drown or be drowned by the other team.

 

[seanchai]

Please. Hockey is the toughest sport ever created. What other sport essentially allows you to carry a weapon, wear armor and encourages full body impacts into solid resistance (like the wall) at speeds of roughly 50 mph on ice? Swimming? Hahaha!

Well, except for the ice thing, hurling is a lot like that. No pads, 36" ash sticks, a baseball-sized ball and a goal. And it's played by the Irish, which makes it ten times worse.

Swimming isn't nearly as tough as hockey in competition, but the training is pretty rough.

+1 on the water polo thing.

 

[Raikojo17]

all of them deserve respect, because they all work they're butts off to play.

 

[Sinistar]

Another vote for hockey (especially college hockey!)

 

[Skel]

i was really good at thumb wrestling...yet no one ever gave me my recognition

 

[napkin]

dang. wrestling.. just looking at the mats gives me f@$king chills. Youd have to be a wrestler to know the feeling. that gets my vote..

 

[Mjazz]

Olympic weightlifting (clean and jerk, snatch) is actually an incredibly tough sport, too bad no one does it anymore and no one in America even knows about it, so just by that alone, it is the most underrated sport ever.

 

[Vincent]

Playing HS hockey was rough when I was a freshman and there's no distinction between freshman and seniors. Being 5'2 and playing against people who were 6 foot was a little tricky. But I assumed he knew hockey was a tough sport so he didn't include it.

I voted for cross country but I don't really consider any of those sports of there particularly tough. Water polo would have gotten my vote.

 

[diplomatic_lies]

I think the 100m sprint and cross-country runs are the toughest sports for a serious competitor. Unlike team sports, running sports only has 1 winner, so in order you win you gotta push yourself. I've lose consciousness at times, and we had 5 guys sent away in an ambulance during my high school year.

Worst part is, you CAN'T stand back and rest like in football, but you have to keep going until you win or drop.

 

[mahon83050]

I think the 100m sprint and cross-country runs are the toughest sports for a serious competitor. Unlike team sports, running sports only has 1 winner, so in order you win you gotta push yourself. I've lose consciousness at times, and we had 5 guys sent away in an ambulance during my high school year.

Worst part is, you CAN'T stand back and rest like in football, but you have to keep going until you win or drop.

Amen. I thought X-Country practice was worse than wrestling practice. X-Country races are hell, especially the last 1.5 miles or so.

You are right, no matter how tired you are, you can't stop, you have to endure the pain and keep moving forward. I used to feel so winded that it felt like I got punched in the stomach.

X-Country does not get enough respect because there is no physical contact and let's face it, it is not a big spectator sport.

 

[Bro]

It sucks to see x-country team running on the streets on a hot muggy day!

I have heard of alot cheap and "dirty" shots and moves water polo players endure plus the fact they are constantly moving.

 

[ryannath]

I'm not saying it's the manliest sport, but my favorite is basketball. There is contact involved. One time I went for a loose ball and another guy did too, and he ended up landing on my head and banging it against the court with all his weight. That was alot of PAIN.

 

[seanchai]

It sucks to see x-country team running on the streets on a hot muggy day!

I have heard of alot cheap and "dirty" shots and moves water polo players endure plus the fact they are constantly moving.

I captained my water polo team in high school and played college polo in Ireland, it was hell. The guys tend to be a lot bigger (not just more muscular, but fatter - and harder to move - too) than the swimmers you see, and so damn fast. They say in an Olympic water polo match the players swim 4 miles...

STILL not as tough as football though.

 

[Vincent]

Cross country is a very challenging sport and people do get hurt from falling, but I don't really think it should get much more respect then it already does. Everyone knows cross country runners are pretty crazy.

 

[KarmaSutra]

Please. Hockey is the toughest sport ever created. What other sport essentially allows you to carry a weapon, wear armor and encourages full body impacts into solid resistance (like the wall) at speeds of roughly 50 mph on ice? Swimming? Hahaha!

I agree. Hockey players are modern gladiators running around on razor blades.

I would say another tough sport which is vastly underrated for it's danger is Jai Alai. These guys are only protected with a minimal helmet with a ball harder than a golf ball and ten times the size whizzing toward them at over 150 mph.

I taught myself to play a bit of frontcourt and it is not fvcking easy whatsoever.

 

[DJ_in_making]

come hither, come hither....

1. Golf (WTF how is this a sport... g*y just like NASCAR and Cheerleadin)
2. Track or xcountry (no physical contact)
3. Soccer (You just kick and chase a ball around... ya it's not TOUGH you get tripped and you get a yellow card...wow that's so manly...)

We have a freakin' genius in our midst people.

Tough means something that is not easy to do... you're probably some fat ass that couldn't run a mile if your life was at stake.

Soccer- They play in ANY weather.... ANY and their out in the snow, while you're huddled up on some guy in tights indoors.

Track- No physical contact. No SHlT......

Golf- I don't play it, but its supposedly hard to master. So I guess its not a pvssy sport after all....

Whoever said baseball is for pussies is a joke cuz you haven't gotten hit by a 90 MPH fastball

So by these standards any sport is dangerous. Lord knows you can sprain your wrist on a game of ping-pong.... how contradictory of you
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, I'm shocked football is not up there. I would be a hypocrite to pick a sport since I have not TRIED them all.....

So i'll only say this, to me the hardest sport has got to be Cross-Country. Firstly if you miss practice even for a short amount of time, you need to start ALLLLLLL over again. Also, its constant moving, one of the only sports where you don't stop and take a break during the entire competition.

All sports are tough as you move up in the level of competition though guys.....

all of them deserve respect, because they all work they're butts off to play.

 

[CLOONEY]

Soccer, I dont respect it because its tough (it is tiring, but nowhere NEAR as tiring as a sport like boxing, not even on the same level when it comes to physical or mental conditioning!), but I respect the sport of Soccer out of that list the most, because the skills you have to learn are incredible, there are endless things to learn!

 

[diplomatic_lies]

What's the sport with the highest deaths? I'd imagine it's something weird like alligator wrestling (which is probably a sport in parts of Australia), or rock hurling (throwing rocks at each other).