Is Your Sport Really a Sport?你做的是真正的运动吗？

There’s often an argument made in athletics about which activities can truly hold the coveted1 title of a “sport”. Usually the most heated debates center around judged sports， such as diving， all-star cheerleading2， figure skating and gymnastics.

竞技体育领域的一个常见话题是，哪些活动才能真正冠以令人心仪的“运动”之名。围绕跳水、全明星啦啦队、花样滑冰和体操等主观评判类运动的争论通常是最激烈的。

These are all sports where， instead of trying to earn the most points， run the fastest， or jump the highest， the winner is based on who can be most perfect.

这些运动项目中，成为获胜者的关键都不在于谁得分最多、跑得最快或跳得最高，而是在于谁能做到最完美。

In such a case， the winner cannot be decided by a timer or scoreboard. Athletes are scored by a set of trained judges who look for errors in the performance. This means the competition cannot ever be entirely objective because there is an element where discrepancies can occur.

在这种情况下，无法由计时器或记分牌来确定获胜者。一组训练有素的评委观察运动员的表现，寻找其中的失误，从而对运动员判分。这意味着，比赛里存在着可能发生偏差的因素，所以比赛不可能完全客观。

Some like to argue， because of this potential bias， judged sports should not be labeled as such. They are simply ‘activities’ meant for viewing and aesthetic entertainment. This is an unrealistic view of sports culture that is frankly disrespectful to hard-working athletes.

有些人认为，主观评判类运动既然可能存在这样的偏见，就不应该称作运动。这些项目只是供人观赏和审美娱乐的“活动”。我认为，这种体育文化观罔顾事实，明显不尊重勤奋努力的运动员。

The definition of a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another for entertainment”. Some feel that when a competition’s winner is not determined in an entirely objective way， it nullifies3 the purpose of the competition.

运动的定义是“个人或团队为了娱乐而与其他个人或团队开展竞争的、需要消耗体力并运用技能的活动”。有些人认为，如果比赛没有以完全客观的方式决定胜负，那么比赛也就失去了意义。

I will be the first to tell you4 that the judging in aesthetic sports is in no way objective. Some judges score people higher for having long lines and extension， while others might penalize the hardest for flexed feet. Some judges even prefer certain body types. Still， I think that disqualifying them as a sport does an injustice to the athletes who put in countless hours of training and dedication.

我会第一个告诉你，审美性运动的评分绝非客观。有的评委给身形修长、肢体伸展的人打高分，而有的评委可能会对勾脚扣分最狠。有的评委甚至偏好某些类型的身材。但我还是认为，对于那些全身心投入长期训练的运动员来说，认定这些运动不够格是不公平的。

There is nothing wrong with participating in physical “activities”， but the word carries a negative connotation in regard to athletics. It makes it appear as somehow less work， or requiring less dedication; something more casual than spending twenty plus hours a week training for.

参加体育“活动”本无可厚非，但活动这个词就竞技体育而言却带有负面含义。活动一词给人的印象是从某种角度看不那么辛苦或者说不需要那么投入的事情，用不着每周正经训练20多个小时。

I don’t find it coincidental that a majority of these judged sports are female dominated. No one would dare question the status of a 200-pound football player as an athlete， but they are willing to tear down5 the accomplishments of a young girl in a leotard， or one holding pom-poms6.

这些主观评判类运动项目中大部分都以女性为参与主体，我觉得这并非巧合。人们都不敢质疑一个体重200磅的橄榄球球员的运动员身份，却乐于贬低一个身穿紧身连衣裤或手持啦啦球的女孩子的成就。

Yet， by discrediting the legitimacy of sports that aren’t entirely objective， it also questions the status of sports like football， basketball， or soccer where the winner is determined based on earning the highest number of points.

然而，如果质疑这些评分结果不完全客观的运动是真正的运动，那也就在质疑那些分高者获胜的橄榄球、篮球或足球等运动可称为运动。

While these sports may appear as if there is a clear winner， any sports fan will tell you it is not the case. There are still rules of play that have to be followed. The rules are enforced by referees that can be extremely subjective.

虽然那些分高者获胜的运动看似胜负分明，但是任何体育迷都会告诉你，事实并非如此。那些运动仍然有必须遵守的比赛规则。这些规则由裁判来执行，而裁判可能非常主观。

After a close7 game， a passionate fan will blame a loss on the “stupid” calls8 of the referees. They’ll say their team was being targeted. They’ll say they only called penalties on certain types of players and ignored obvious fouls from others. And chances are， this could be true.

在一场势均力敌的比赛之后，输球一方的狂热球迷会把失利归咎于裁判的“愚蠢”判罚。他们会说自己的球队被盯上了。他们会说裁判只对某些类型的球员判罚，而对其他球员的明显犯规视而不见。情况有可能确实如此。

Research shows that all NFL ref9 crews are more likely to call penalties on the away team than the home team， giving them an advantage in the game. It has also been shown that there are consistently more calls made for fouls such as illegal blocking than there are illegal tackle10 or formation.

研究表明，美国国家橄榄球联盟的所有裁判组都更倾向于判罚客队而非主队，主队由此在比赛中占据优势。研究还表明，违规阻截等犯规行为受到判罚的次数始终多于违规擒抱或违规阵型。

The championship formation of NCAA11 football also calls into question potential biases. The College Football Playoff （CFP） system recently12 replaced the BCS13 National Cham-pionship structure for determining the Division 114 football national champion. In the system， teams are ranked， with the top four seeds getting a spot in the playoffs and a shot at the championship. However， these rankings are determined not explicitly by numeric factors， but by a selection committee with “expertise in football”. Their potential biases can pull a team out of the playoffs that could have stood a chance at winning. So， no one is truly able to say that there is a “real” national champion in college football.