What makes a sport?

Is darts a sport? Sid Waddell challenges YOU to define what should or shouldn't be classed as one.

Is sport definable? Sid kicks off the debate...

People often come onto my Twitter page to make the following accusation: darts is not a sport. Well if darts is not a sport then I'm a Geordie Dutchman. I would direct the doubters to the writings of the great philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who stated that sport is as difficult to define as language. Is the sound a dolphin makes language? Are the words your lawyer says about your house language? Is what you say to your kids at a birthday party language? Is language emotional? Is it factual? What is it? It's so difficult to define, so if you can tell me what language is, then maybe you can tell me what sport is. Sport is totally indefinable. To use the language analogy, toe-wrestling is the equivalent of dolphins; synchronised swimming is the equivalent of the birthday party; rugby is the equivalent of the lawyer. What has finger-wrestling got in common with pole vaulting? Defining sport is a very difficult task.

Three elements

However, if we turn to the Webster's Dictionary then it lists three things that makes a sport: 1. Hand-to-eye co-ordination.
2. An element of competition.
3. You get better with practice. So if you're batting a tennis ball against a wall with your granny then it's not a sport. But if you say "first to 15 wins" then it is. Darts fits those criteria and that's why I would argue that it's a sport - and because they play for money then it's a professional sport. I challenge anybody to define a sport in three sentences - and then explain why darts is not one. If you can do it well, then I'll send you a copy of my book, which will explain why I think it is. I'm happy to hear your views, but you need to define sport - at least three factors - before you can argue that darts is or isn't a sport. Over to you...