I don't know about IM, but I'm guessing they haul out that tired old saw, "Hitting a baseball". Something like -- "even hall of famers only can do it a third of the time...blah blah blah..."

Horsehockey. I know 9-year olds that hit over .500 around here. And I never saw anybody sweat too hard swinging a bat.

Let's see some fat lazy ballplayer like Tony Gwynn play some world-class rugby or ride up L'Alp d'H.

If just the general "downhill skiing" is at number 10, then Ironman would have to be about 2 or 3. I'd have to put the Tour just one notch above it, and maybe climbing Everest at 1. Depends on whether we're talking about "what are the 10 most difficult sports," vs. "what are the 10 most difficult challenges in sport."

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

My guess is that there will be a big emphasis on skill involved, rather than physical effort. So something like nailing a 30ft putt would be ahead of breaking 4min for a mile.

hmm, my 8 and 10 year olds have an easy enough time downhill skiing . . . that said, I'd wager that somehow Nascar driving will end up higher on the list than any sport/s that comprise the foundation for this board (i.e. I'm being very broad here basically counting all "4" sports - running, swimming, cycling, or the tri/IM).

I think the tour is the toughest, IMO (not cippo's tour though . . . )

Say what you want about Downhill skiing. I have stood on the sidelines at a major turn at a World Cup Downhill race in Whistler, and was in total awe at how the skiers managed to negociate the turn at close to 100 kmH. The sound of the wind was what really got me. It sounded like a race car going by, but with the motor off. I was super impressed.

Ironman man may or may not be on the list. Keep in mind that as a sport becomes more popular and more people do it, the difficulty and challenge in the eyes of many decreases. I recall a few years ago Outside Magazine had an article on this very topic, and even then, before the big boom in Ironman races and participation, they were poo, pooing Ironman for not being that hard and reasonably doable(their words NOT mine)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I know skiing can be hard, but the distinction needs to be made between "racing" and "skiing" as we know they are very different. I know I could ride the tour route on a bike, however, racing the tour would be . . . well, you know.

You'll see, nascar will beat any of our sports . . .

My Red Neck Hillbilly Illinois List



10. Bowling (really damn hard after a few beers)

9 . Horse Shoes (if it is not the smoke in your eyes from the Marlboro in your mouth, it is the booze in your veins that make this one tough)

8. Drag Racing - 1/4 mile (that launch is tough, and if the tires are not hot enough you will not get traction)

7. Softball League - (all the beers of Bowling, and the fresh air just makes ya sleepy)

6. Little League - (Never jumped up and ran around yelling as much as at the Lil' league games. Plus the occasional fist fight is a real challange on the body)

5. Midnight Bowling - (damn, its late, everyone drunk and them glow in the dark pins are spooky..."why in the hell did I buy such a dark bowling ball?")

4. Pinball - at the bowling alley ( "Wasted another god damn 50 cents...there are magnets in them machines to make the game shorter you know...I need a beer, and I still cant find that damn black bowling bar I bought")

3. Baseball - (them suckers can really throw a fast ball...and all the stairs at the stadium are a PITA to have to go up and down to get to the beer stand)

2. Football - (I loose my voice every game for all the yelling at the TV I need to do, not to mention that the bar is so smoky that the air has the viscosity of a synthetic oil at a NASCAR race. Bonus about Football is that most of the football fans is the fact that many of them do not even OWN a football of any sort to at least go play catch with...we really prefer to smoke, drink, get fat and yell at the TV.)

1. NASCAR - (just plain Dangerous! I was thinking that the number "8" should be retired from all use in the arabic numerals for usage in the United States...Hey, Mr Wallace...turn left...dude...go left...turn left man...dude....go left.....shit, left turn....another left......left...left....left.........I need another beer....who has my smokes....and watch for the Jeff Gordon fans....he is gay you know.)



("Wholly shit!!! Look out side, some freaky ass shaven leg homosexual riding some crazy lookin bike...in the damn rain...that guy is stoopid...shaved leg fairy....nice spandex dude....")

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

is usually limited to/qualified as "hitting a major league fastball," at least that how I have heard it. Of course, if we are willing to put qualifiers on the achievement we could say something like "cycling 40K...in less than 52 minutes," or something like that.

The event is not a sport if any of the following apply
1. You can be middle age or past and it does not effect your performance.
2. A player can fit the definition of obese and still be considered good.
3. Drinking alcohol during the event does not seriously impair your performance and sometimes helps.
4. Scoring the event requires the opinions of a panel of judges.

For example:
Baseball - plenty of "good" players who are getting older, could stand to lose 30 or more lbs, hmmm, I wonder if any of them have ever showed up for a game drunk?

Olympic event of running around waving a long ribbon while wearing tights. A panel of judges counts their bribes and then decides who wins.

Ironman is not hard. Getting there is.

MM

RE: Garth's post...

Yeah -- I was anticipating going there...

Hardest thing? How about running 100 meters?

In under 9.80 from a standing start.

THAT is pretty hard to do.

If we take "scale" out of the equation (and we should), then the hardest absolute effort has got to be: Everest, solo, no oxygen bottle.

>If we take "scale" out of the equation (and we should),
>then the hardest absolute effort has got to be: Everest,
>solo, no oxygen bottle.


naked, with live wasps in your mouth, carrying pavarotti piggyback, while framing the integrated headsets debate entirely in haiku

I think Messner actually did it that way...but he took the easier North Face route.

"Ironman is not hard. Getting there is."

I like that. Gotta write that down in my book of quotes.

I think SI is going to say the Tour is in the top 3. They obvoiusly know Lance a lot, so they have to know the greatness of the Tour.

>naked, with live wasps in your mouth, carrying pavarotti piggyback, while >framing the integrated headsets debate entirely in haiku

ROTFLMAO

Hands down the quote of the year.

Hey, don't forget about the smokes! I laugh when I see billiards and darts on the sports network. Anything that can be done while smoking and drinking beers (at least done well and not including the famous beer mile running race which was quite tough) is not a sport.

Or climbing Everest with O2 but carrying an IMAX camera and film.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Messner has done it several times on more than one route. Would that the gods had blessed me so!

I'd say most of the things mentioned here, Ironman, Climbing Everest, Tour de France, are particular events, not sports. I'm guessing, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Triathlon as one of the sports listed, Mountaineering might be there. Anyone watching this list as it develops?

Number 9: stopping a penalty kick - soccer.



AHub

I disagree.

Don't you see the World's Strongest man" competition to be a sport? Its basically the same thing as Ironman, except for people built much bigger. A lot of these people are disgustingly obese, but they do have brute strength. And some of these men make it competitively into their late 40s.

Triathlon is a sport, Ironman is not a 'sport'. It's a particular distance triathlon. Strongest Man competitions(plural) I would say are pretty much a separate thing and sure I suppose a sport in itself. But if you asked many of those guys what sport they do, I wouldn't be suprised if they said "I'm a weightlifter and do Strongest Man competions". So I'm refering to Tour de France not being a sport, Cycling is the sport. Boston Marathon is not a sport, Marathon running is a sport. Point being, if the list starts with Downhill Skiing, I doubted Ironman would be on the list, but maybe it will be.

And actually, after looking back at the original post, looks like the title isn't '10 hardest sports', but 10 hardest things to do in sports, which it very different and which you would think would be much more specific than 'Downhill Skiing'

as in one of us buying a lift ticket and working our way down the slopes. Specifically, it was the downhill event (as distinguished from slalom, giant slalom or combined) among the alpine skiing disciplines.

If anyone wants to follow along, they say it will be a daily feature.

http://www.usatoday.com/...n-hardest-splash.htm

Julian:

I take exception to that! :), I played 8 years of baseball and still think hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sport.

I saw a special on PBS about some guys who climbed the highest mountain in Antarctica. 40 degrees below zero F and 50 mile per hour winds. Now, I don't know what YOUR weather is like, but not even the Northeast had such bad weather this winter. :) Anyway, given the conditions under which most mountain climbing is done, I'd say it is easily #1. Triathlon is probably 5-6 on the list.

Rugby isn't a sport, it's legalized mayhem. :),

I'd put the Tour de France at #2. Hitting a baseball moving at 90 mph gets #3. Hitting a golf ball at #4. Downhill skiing is a piece of cake! How did it even make the top 10. Good grief.... Now, a 100km ski race, that's a different animal....

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank