Speed-ER doc

Boxing! My (participation) favorites, golf, fishing, shooting are all in the bottom 10 (woo-hoo, let's hear it for conservation of energy! Do I get any bonus points for that?). :D http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills

This ad is not displayed to registered and logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on RX8Club.com!

PaulieWalnuts

Hey, that's BS. Fishing is dead last? I went charter Salmon fishing last weekend and it takes a lot of skill to hold a beer and cigar while reeling a 15lb fish in.

RX-GR8

hockey second. those guys are in great shape. my list, fishing. roller hockey, swimming, 12 ounce beer curls.

maxwell72764

Aussie rules Football is killer. Can't make heads or tails of what the hell they are doing out there but marvel at the athletic ability.
Oh yeah, fishing IS for tough guys. I trout fish and know personally the strength of character needed not to dissolve into a screaming puddle when the wind kicks up as you start your forward cast and the little fuc&ing hook goes into the back of your neck.

Speed-ER doc

Don't forget the manual dexterity required to untangle the backlash!

Ike

I am a huge baseball fan and have played since T-ball and I also waterski, both were listed as the same endurance... I could play 30+ innings of baseball (and have) and not even break a sweat and I played CF and SS and was also counted on to steal bases. If I were to waterski for even a few straight hours I would be ready to collapse and my arms and legs would be mush, not to mention how every muscle in my body would hurt the next day.

Just a useless observation I had to make...

Speed-ER doc

While I agree completely Ike, I will play devil's advocate and say that Major League Baseball Players play a 162 game season, and often play every day out of the week. That does take some endurance. I don't know the schedule of pro waterskiers.

edit: although maybe that goes under durability.

takahashi

Where is Hawaiian Ironman on the list... ask the editor to do one if it does not deserve to be in the list.

Do 3.5km swim, 180 km bike ride and 42 k run in 9 hours buddy

hotpot

I am a big Rugby fan, for having lived in England and South Africa. I think Rugby is a tougher sport than American Football. This list has been compiled by American so-called experts, who are obviously biased towards the sports that they know best.
Why the hell would Ice Hockey require more strength, power and durability than Rugby? Crap.

hotpot

I agree with Takahashi, triathlons should have made the list.

Ike

I think the travel takes more endurance than the actual games :p

wakeech

boxing, is somehow "harder" than muai thai, or bull riding (is that what they've listed as "steer wrestling"??), huh?? just usual sports journalist bs.

it's so hard to compare one sport over another, as while some demand more of one attribute than another, and the actual physical demands of one "sport" over another (i can hardly call golf, pub games, shooting, and other leisure "sports" real sports) vary a little, but to say that one is actually more difficult than another is really really stupid, as what makes a sport difficult isn't what the sport is, but the level of competition, how much effort it takes to succeed.

in that vein, then, boxing is certainly not the most difficult sport considering all the flunkie #1 contenders that roll in and out each year through the different weight classes. that "sport" is a meat grinder, and for the most part the best and brightest are in other sports, like football or baseball or basketball... the biggest money sports (it's hard to be a long-term successful prize fighter).

and blah blah blah... this is just silly. and no, boxing is definitely not the hardest sport.

Nubo

If you're speaking in monosyllables by the time you're 50 then yeah, it's a tough sport.

Lots of sports have one or two of the categories that they're highest in, and that defines the difficulty of the sport. Adding up all the categories to come up with an "overall difficulty" is absurd.

It reminds me of when they brought in some firm at one of my jobs to give us all psych profiles. Some of the info was useful, some was dumb. But what really took the cake is when they averaged everyone's profile for each shift to get a "personality" for each shift. That's when I volunteered to go back to work.

In the end mastery is difficult in most sports. Golf may not be physically demanding but try to make it on the Tour. Most people can ride a bike, but try racing one over a mountain pass at the speeds the pros do. Heck, try to become world champ at darts or tiddley-winks. Maybe that's how we should define a sport - it's as hard as you want it to be.

Speed-ER doc

Wow, y'all take your sports seriously. It's supposed to be recreation.

Anyway, just imagine one was trying to compile such a list. How should it be done? The people they chose to judge these sports were fairly qualified and diverse, although there did seem to be a bias toward American televised sports. Whatever, take it for what it is.

It to me was an interesting method to fairly give a subjective rating to 60 different sports. Of course there is going to be controversy. They knew that. And you and I read it, which is what they wanted. If you view it as more of a conversation-starter than a historic document, then it is pretty cool imo.

XeRo

SOCCER...the real football...PERIOD...

american football is a joke...and I can say that because I played both...padding is for puss'...try constantly running for 90+ minutes..sorry football doesn't hold a bar of soap to soccer..

Rugby is some hard *** stuff too...that's rougher than soccer...hell you purposely tackle and slam into people without pads in that one...

Hockey definitely...

but baseball, basketball, and american football are sports for whiny babies that want a lot of money for doing a recreational activity...that sucks in my opinion...

Psylence

Things involving grown men chasing around a ball aren't "sports" they are just games of the sort that children could play on a playground.

Racing is a sport. Plenty of other things are as well. But "games" with ***** aren't.

.02

hotpot

You mean sex is not a sport?
Damn! The only activity I'm good at.

Speed-ER doc

Reminds me of a joke. Woman looks down at a man's tiny little thing and asks, "Who do you think you're going to satisfy with that?"

He says, "Me."

XeRo

OMG..you have got to be kidding...about the racing..

i will agree with you but it depends on what racing you are talking about...

...and i'm not gay, but I like playing with *****...LOL...:D

Winning_BlueRX8

Just curious, but where did you play football? Running for 90+ minutes hardly qualifies soccer as tougher than football. Lots of sports involve endurance of that magnitude. I don't know much about rugby, but if you've ever had a facemask to facemask collision at about 20 yards apart, then you might be inclined to say football is tougher than soccer.

wakeech

no, racing is certainly a great sport, and until very recently demanded unbelievable courage and mental fortitude to want to compete and win despite the risks. for motorcycle racing, it's almost as bad as it's always been, and only in F1 has it actually become quite "safe" (leading the young idiots to take more chances and more wrecks).

it's still one of the most difficult sports to succeed in because of the unbelievable amount of time, money, and talent required to be competetive at all levels. i think it's too far down the list.

241Commuter

Just came back from Cancun and I'd say that none of those sports matched the soccer/basketball hybrid that the Mayans played. The game concluded when the captain from the winning side put the ball through the hoop - and was then sacrificed to the gods. You gotta be tough to play with that going on in your mind.

wakeech

haha... well if we could say ANY sport across all time?? gladitorial battles are the toughest sports of all time (which i suppose is why the Romans found it so entertaining).

Psylence

Right on Wakeech! I used to race motorcycles. It's brutal, both on the body and on the wallet.

F1, however, is for sissies. If I wanted to watch a parade I'd..err..watch a parade. Take off all the computer assisted crap and 9000lbs of downforce and let REAL MEN wrestle the cars around the track.

XeRo

Man..i hate sounding like i'm bragging that's why i don't offer the info up front...

I played football, soccer, basketball, and baseball in high school..

I was a running back at first but my first year (8th grade after JV season) on varsity we ran an option where the QB tossed me the ball and I threw it..i then got looks from the varsity coach's for a QB position..i ended up being first string QB my 10-12 years and I was being looked at for possible recruitment from UofA, Auburn, and LSU until in my 12 grade year while playing for the city league 18 and under men's soccer club at state tourney the field was wet and I did a diving header and slide into the goal post tearing the tendons and ligaments and dislocating my right shoulder..the ball (head)of my humerus could be seen in my armpit...needless to say my pitching career for varsity baseball was over as well as any football chance anywhere...i played my senior soccer season for high school with my arm pretty much shrinkwrapped to my body with althetic gauze and tape...i now can't lift heavy objects (20lbs+) over my head and no more free weights such as barbells and such...

This kind of aggravates me too because I never had the intent of playing football or baseball for college I played to stay in shape for soccer....i had a scholarship to play at Clemson U but turned it down because their Zoology department didn't offer what I wanted...so i went to my parents Alma Mater, Auburn U, and played soccer for them...

so there you have it,..a glimpse at my misfortunate, as some call it, sports career...

i have played soccer since i can remember...i played in Germany's Bundesliga one summer and got to meet a lot of European stars and practice with them as well...

I have taken and given more shots than just a 20 yard mask to mask encounter...i have had and given concusions from being hit so hard...believe me ...to me...soccer and other less americanized sports are WAY more endurance and physically challenging than your prized football...i still watch college football though..i gotta root for the home team and the Alma Mater...WAR DAMN EAGLE!