Extreme Sports: X Factor

One of the classic sports arguments of all time has to be "Is it a sport or isn't it?"

The list is seemingly endless. Synchronized swimming, or better yet single person synchro, rhythmic gymnastics, golf, the XFL and curling all jump to mind as possible candidates for the dispute. The real question is "Where do you draw the line?"

Perhaps the latest and greatest manifestation of this question is the X Games. You know the ones. They show up every summer and winter with competitors participating in events like snowmobile snowcross, moto x, vert, street and ramp where they land 360's fakie and are generally just stoked to be there, dude.

The problem is that once you look past the carefully scripted teen angst and rebellion, all conveniently caught on camera of course, you see the ESPN marketing machine at work. It's probably a tad coincidental that the demographic this show targets is probably the same one buying boards and shopping for bikes. It's amazing what a little product placement can produce.

At a time when the Olympics are considering new additions to the lineup, such as ballroom dancing and the card game bridge, perhaps we all need a little reality check. For your consideration here are three new events that could possibly be added to the next major sports festival in your town.

The Running of the Bulls.

The San Fermin festival is held every year in Spain for nine days in July and is over 400 years old. Immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," participants run down the tiny cobble stoned alleys of the town away from a pack of angry, panicked and hungry bulls. With the bulls sporting names like "Lunatic" the results are tragically comic. Since the 1920's the bulls have killed 13 runners, the last an American woman in 1995. More than 200 participants have been "officially" injured.

This year was no different. On the Sunday of the event three people were treated for minor cuts and bruises. On Saturday six were injured, two critically. A man from Pamplona was gored in the chest and a 24-year-old from Toronto is now hauling around a new hole in his left thigh. Matadors kill the bulls, but alas not some of the crazed participants, later in the day.

The Ultimate Dog Show.

Ralph "The Pitbull" Gracie of Ultimate Fighting fame tells a story that might be worthy of further corroboration.

He claims he was walking down a street, in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, when he noticed a jet-black pit following him. He noticed that every time he stopped, the dog stopped. After a few repetitions of this the dog suddenly attacks. The dog manages to catch his arm in its teeth but Gracie somehow breaks the hold. The then 19-year-old Gracie turns to face the dog head on, throws a couple of real haymakers, manages to body slam the dog to the ground and ends up behind it. Putting a massive chokehold on the dog, he not so gently knocks it unconscious. After a few moments the dog wakes up and starts to charge Gracie a second time. He orders the dog to sit and the dog obediently complies.

Now that's respect!

And finally, Shark Wrestling.

Some of you will remember the story of the boy who had his arm amputated by a seven-foot long bull shark this past summer. What remained overlooked were the exploits of the boy's uncle.

The uncle, who witnessed the horrific event, rushed into the water and first carried the young boy to shore. Taking one educated guess as to where the severed arm must reside he went back into the surf and swam after the shark. With a strength that must defy description he somehow managed to wrestle the shark to the beach and refused to let go. A U.S. Park Ranger pried the jaws open and a volunteer fireman recovered the arm.

We can only assume what later befell the shark.

It's a fine line that separates games from sports. If it requires music or judging there is a definite loss of credibility. Others might question events like auto racing or horse jumping where the car or the horse never earns lucrative endorsement deals. Debates over lawn bowling, the Monty Python Silly Walk, trampoline and mud wrestling will probably never reach conclusion.

Here's hoping that they don't.

For those of you still interested the Winter X Games, featuring the talents of more than 350 athletes, will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports January 31-February 2, 2002.