So I am in the middle of a swim session this week and there is a young girl in the lane next to me. It’s rare for me to see a 15 year old swimming laps by herself when she is clearly not on a swim team, isn’t with a parent, etc. So I ask her, “Getting in a little swim workout?”

She turned to me and said plainly, “I got a really bad concussion 2 weeks ago, so I can’t do any real sports for a while.”

Like a dagger thru my heart! Swimming isn’t considered a real sport to teens today? In her mind, am I just like that old lady we used to make fun of (behind her back, of course) who used to swim laps at the Short Hills Club who had a really ugly swim suit and flowers on her swim cap? We could never figure out why she wore the swim cap because she always swam breaststroke and would never put her face, never mind her head in the water. Is that what this girl thought I was?? A “not real athlete” just swimming laps for my senior citizen fitness? Gulp.

I think she could tell that she’s wounded me, emotionally, at least. She back pedaled at bit and said “Not that swimming isn’t a real sport, I mean I can’t do physical things. Well…..I mean contact things.” I smiled, seemingly understandingly, and pushed off the wall for my last 2 x 1000 repeats, double checking my swim cap, first to make sure that it didn’t have flowers on it and a chin strap.

During my last 2 x 1000, I debated in my mind; what constitutes a “real sport”? We used to have this debate all the time in college. I think it started because we used to get our backs up over having to share the Varsity locker room with the synchronized swimmers. In our minds, I don’t think we considered them “real athletes”. Of course, this was until I got a chance to watch the San Jose Aquatics synchro swimmers in action. Those girls hold their breath for hours at a time, spinning underwater for ages and ages, and when they finally come up for air, instead of gasping and panting, they come up glistening and beaming with a smile. Any chick who can hold her breath for 20 minutes and come up smiling is an athlete in my book!

Then one night we got to debating about ping pong. Is that a “real sport”. Granted, I think there was beer involved in this conversation, but it was a valid debate. I play ping pong for fun and most people I know do the same. Oh, sure…sometimes it's beer-pong, making it slightly more “competitive” a game, but still, a game. Not a sport. Yet it’s an Olympic sport, right? Table tennis?? You say tomato, I say tomato….game or sport?

I’ve even been known to give Davey G. a hard time over his passion; golf. Game? Or sport? Sure, when Tiger takes time from his busy sex life to knock the ball around a golf course, it’s a sport, but for the other millions of us, isn’t it just a game?

Somehow, I got thru my remaining 2000 yards before I came to a conclusion, so answer me this: What makes a sport a sport? What makes a game a game? If it’s a hobby, is it a game, and if it’s more than that, does it become a sport? Is ping pong a game or a sport? If it’s a sport because there is a thing called table tennis, then what about pool? Game or sport? Fishing is considered a sport and so is hunting; there are entire cable channels dedicated to such sports - you know, man vs beast? But I am sure, somewhere in the 900 channel range on DirectTV, there is a Sewing Channel, too. But sewing isn't a sport, right? It is if you are on "Project Runway", I suppose. And what about gardening? It isn’t a sport, or is it? You always see the largest pumpkin contest at county fairs around Halloween…..so is gardening a sport?

All I know, is my 15 year old lane mate was unimpressed with swimming as a sport. That hurt a little!