Sporting event of 2012?

[Shaggy]

I know where that thumbs down is coming from ....but also I know exactly what Leyton means. They're playing for zero money, and you see the competitors more pumped up, more nervous, and more emotional than you ever do when they're playing for themselves and for millions of pounds. Guys that spend 103 weeks every two years trying to beat each other...for them to come together and play with such intensity, when all they're playing for is professional pride and sporting excellence, is a very special thing.

[kev776]

I voted for the Para-Olympians, makes me realise how little I have actually achieved in life.

[CJ]

if anything is the real essence of sport then the paralympics must be the purest embodiment of that spirit

[Leyton388]

Its about nothing more than representing your team with no prize money at stake. The players do not receive anything. For 3 days guys who spend most of their time trying to beat each other put that rivalry aside and come together as a team.

Its about nothing more than winning and giving everything to achieve that. That is the true essence of sport.

[CJ]

Its about nothing more than representing your team with no prize money at stake. The players do not receive anything. For 3 days guys who spend most of their time trying to beat each other put that rivalry aside and come together as a team.

Its about nothing more than winning and giving everything to achieve that. That is the true essence of sport.

so multimionaires play one tournament every two years for free? that is the true essence of sport?

[Leyton388]

so multimionaires play one tournament every two years for free? that is the true essence of sport?

Your missing the point. The Ryder cup was created so two teams would come together too compete to be the best with nothing more at stake than being the best. That is the essence of sport. Money doesn't come into it. Whatever the players have earned outside the Ryder cup doesn't come into it.

[CJ]

Your missing the point. The Ryder cup was created so two teams would come together too compete to be the best with nothing more at stake than being the best. That is the essence of sport. Money doesn't come into it. Whatever the players have earned outside the Ryder cup doesn't come into it.

how is it any different from any other event where money doesnt matter?

[Neil Young]

I know where that thumbs down is coming from ....but also I know exactly what Leyton means. They're playing for zero money, and you see the competitors more pumped up, more nervous, and more emotional than you ever do when they're playing for themselves and for millions of pounds. Guys that spend 103 weeks every two years trying to beat each other...for them to come together and play with such intensity, when all they're playing for is professional pride and sporting excellence, is a very special thing.

Yep, I got that of course. But it does still seem odd. It's almost like the Ryder Cup is their hobby, and because it's just about glory, they take it more seriously. Like the enjoyment you or I would get from winning a Sunday league match or whatever, only with added stardom and - admittedly - pressure.

Its about nothing more than representing your team with no prize money at stake. The players do not receive anything. For 3 days guys who spend most of their time trying to beat each other put that rivalry aside and come together as a team.

Its about nothing more than winning and giving everything to achieve that. That is the true essence of sport.

I don't know what the true essence of sport is really anyway. There's a good argument to say none of the high profile successes are what it's really about - perhaps it's nothing more than people going out and trying to have a good time, competing fairly while getting in a bit of exercise.

When sport becomes work then is it really still sport? Probably, but surely it loses some essential features, while probably strengthening others.

so multimionaires play one tournament every two years for free? that is the true essence of sport?

Oh Marsh, couldn't you be a little more incendiary?

[Leyton388]

how is it any different from any other event where money doesnt matter?

Its not and i didn't say it was.

[CJ]

Its not and i didn't say it was.

oky doky.

[Neil Young]

Also I'm not really sure that the full two years of build-up, hyped-up blanket coverage for days (including updates from practice rounds) and wall-to-wall media conferences is really all that in keeping with the Corinthian spirit as apparently envisaged by Winona Ryder or whoever they named it after. I realise that's not the game itself, but it's all part of the circus, and the circus feeds the event and how it's seen (literally and figuratively).

And yeah, the same applies to many other sports, including cycling.

[Alex]

I thought Wiggins achievement was fantastic, and without wanting to take anything from it, it seemed like he was going to win it with a week to go. But the Ryder Cup was pretty much won with the last putt.

I dunno. If you put the side by side, I'd say wiggins was the greatest achievement. But the Ryder Cup was the greater spectacle.