Is Dance a Sport?

 First off, I would like to start with the defenition of a sport. Sport /spôrt/: (noun) an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others. Dance is a form of expression, art, and physical exertion. Dance can push you to the extremes." Dance competition teams practice up to 20+ hours a week in order to perfect and synchronize their movements."(teenlife.blogs.pressdemocrat.com Dance) Competitive dancers are also judged to every last detail in their routines. Dance is not considered a sport to many people but what they don't realize is that there is a competitive dance world, and how extreme it is.

 "No doubt gymnastics is an extremely difficult sport, which is why it is presented along with many other sports in the Olympics. The scores of the competitors are solely determined on the scores that the panel of judges gives them. There is a strict set of guidelines, which the judges follow in order to determine their scores. The same rules apply in the Dance world, so why would one qualify and not the other?" (teenlife.blogs.pressdemocrat.com Dance) "Competitive dance most definitely is a sport. It fits every criterion of the definition of the word. Although you may not see dancers in helmets tackling each other, they are certainly athletes."(teenlife.blogs.pressdemocrat.com Dance)

 Competitive dancers can do anything any other athlete can do and more. I doubt any of you that are considered athletes could throw on a pair of pointe shoes, and balance all of your body weight on a two inch surface for minutes to hours at a time. Dancers train for their whole lives just for that one moment on stage. Dance is harder than most sports because it requires synchronization, flexibility, strength, agility, stamina, passion, and emotion. We have to keep ourselves together and somehow express all of these things at the same time, while a huge crowd of hundreds of people are watching your every move. 

Dance takes not only physical skill and ability, but it takes much more to become a truly amazing dancer. Dance is the only sport that you can lose yourself and find yourself at the same time. Dance requires soul, and passion. When on stage everything must be perfect. You must maintain posture, have pointed feet, perfect hands, straight arms, clean turns, straight legs, turned out legs, and much more and on top of all that you have to execute and remember a dance at the same exact time. Dance is no joke, and people need to realize that. Dance is an extreme sport and very competitive. There is ALWAYS somebody that's going to be there to push you, make you want more and to be better for yourself and that's what sporting should be all about. Dance takes much more than most sports and i wholeheartedly believe that dancing is a sport.

Transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox

The transgender MMA fighter should be treated equally as anybody else should be treated. Yes she does have an advantage, but it is similar to the advantage of being extremely tall and a basketball player. The only part where she wronged was not telling the company about her transgender sooner. She said that that was her personal information, and this is true but if something that big is hidden it is not okay. There should be some type of penalty for her lies. It is not fair to other athletes to not know exactly who they are fighting against. Going into the match with some type of technique, because they know that their opponent is transgender would make it more fair.

     If i was an athlete and a transgender opponent were to be against me it would motivate me more than anything has in my entire life. Obviously with MMA fighting the transgender has an advantage so that would make more women take their jobs seriously, and aspire to be better athletes all around. Transgenders in sports is a very good thing. All it's going to do or ever will do is motivate others do better.

     This should be handled by letting the transgendered people live their lives and not interfering. We are all equal underneath our skin and that's how we should be treated. You put me in the feet of the opponent, but how would you feel if you were that transgendered person being forced out of a sport that they love? it was not their choice to be transgender, Fox even said she tried to hide it but you cannot hide the person you actually are on the inside. As long as the fact that you are a transgender is known you should be able to do as you please.

Sports

      A sport is a sport if there is friendly competition. Sports should always have some type of competition to try and make the athletes try harder every day to improve. Sports should require physical strength. Something that requires almost absolutely no talent should not be considered a sport. Sports should not be easy, but they should make you want to be better. What is used in the sport, such as a ball or bat should not matter. For example: Dance requires strength, passion, and determination. Instead of using a ball and reacting quickly to things that happen we have a planned out dance and sometimes props. Every sport is unique in their own way.

     Anything that is a sport has some type of fan base. What is a sport without the supporting fans? The fans can also push the athletes to become better. They cheer them on and inspire them to become better for themselves. Sports should be competitive. some sports compete with other teams on a daily basis but anything that is a sport should have some type of championship, or Nationals where they can go to compete farther with better teams. this is also a good way to push yourself to get better. Seeing more people and having more experiences can only help.

     Sports should have passion. If you don't have passion for something you are doing on a daily basis, why even bother? Passion takes a big factor in dance. Dancing is a sport because it is extremely competitive. There are so many dancers that are amazing in this world that just push you to be better. In sports i feel like you should always have something to push you further. That is why every sport requires a coach to do so.

1972 Olympics U.S. Basketball streak over

Soviet Union Basketball wins over U.S. in 1972 olympics. The US Men’s Basketball team had won every single game between 1936 and the 1972 final. Had it not been for a referee adding three seconds back on the clock, the US would have beaten Russia on this day as well. To date, the US team refuses to accept their Silver Medal from the ‘72 games and gave rise to the creation of US Olympic Basketball “Dream Teams."

The Soviet Union should not have won the gold medal for the 1972 olympics. The rules of basketball, or ANY sport should not be changed at the last minute for any reason. The referee that day added three more seconds back onto the clock, and those three seconds led the Soviets to a falsely claimed victory. This was just a push for the Americans though. This inspired them to do better things like make the US Olympic Basketball "Dream Teams." In a way, the Soviets made them better, since you can only learn from losing. The following year, U.S. Won the gold medal, with the Soviets taking the bronze.

Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

      On January 6, 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked while training for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The assaulter struck her in the knee with a metal baton, leaving her injured and unable to compete. With Nancy on the sidelines, her biggest rival, Tonya Harding, skated to victory. As both women prepared to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics, rumors began circulating that Tonya was involved in the assault, which caused a media frenzy. Days after Nancy's attack, police arrested Tonya's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and three of his friends. At a subsequent press conference, Tonya told reporters she had no prior knowledge of the planned assault on Nancy. "I am responsible, however, for failing to report things I learned about the assault," she said. Tonya was obviously involved in the attack, one way or another. She was still allowed to compete in the 1994 olympics. She skated her way to gold without Nancy in the way, which is exactly what she wanted.

       One month after returning from the Winter Olympics, Tonya was convicted of conspiracy to hinder prosecution. She was heavily fined and banned from U.S. figure skating for life. Tonya says it still hurts to think back about that time in her life. To this day, Tonya says she never wanted to prevent Nancy from competing.  Tonya knows what she did but still didn't get tried as hard, and didn't accept the crimes she committed. She is the reason why Nancy was attacked, and should have served jail time for it period.

Sandusky's trial

I feel like it's kind of fishy that so many families would accuse him of the same thing. The odds are against Sandusky right now. He does not have much of a chance to get out of being in prison for the next 30-60 years. With such a high potential sentance, it's very unlikely he will be deemed as innocent. The families may just want money, who wouldn't want a few extra bucks. but it's unlikely that it didn't happen. I feel as if Sandusky is holding back some very true, and crucial details about what really went on with these children. I'm sure Dottie has absolutely no idea what may actually be true, and Her husband may just be lying to her, or making sure she's making him sound good. Especially since Sandusky has a past with showering with children, it shows that he would potentially do something like what he's being accused of. The evidence that even has him admitting that that was true, just does not add up to the rest of what he's saying. Dottie said that that's just "the generation he grew up in." Really? you were raised in a generation that taught you to shower with children that aren't your own? That makes a whole lot of sense.

College Basketball

What are your predictions for the upcoming college basketball season? What teams are you routing for? What teams are you not supporting?