Race, event or game?

[speedy123]

After recently taking part in a score event it got me thinking. As score orienteering is based on points, does that make score orienteering a game? Can anyone name a sport that is based on points that isn't a game or a match? Maybe we're wrongly classifying score orienteering as an event, when it's actually a game?

Maybe British orienteering has already caught onto this, maybe they have an emergency fund in place in case we get sued under the trade description act for miss leading newcomers? Maybe that explains the BOC's high entry fees ?

Maybe we should just get rid of the word event altogether and also replace linear courses with the word race, as it is timed against the clock?

[SJC]

Can anyone name a sport that is based on points that isn't a game or a match?

Athletics - Decathlon.

[MIE]

Can anyone name a sport that is based on points that isn't a game or a match?

Athletics - Decathlon.

Athletics - Heptathlon

Modern Pentathlon

[eddie]

Modern Pentathlon ain't based on points (anymore)

[Mrs H]

Gymnastics, diving, figure skating? Not games or matches but perhaps contests

[MIE]

Modern Pentathlon ain't based on points (anymore)

Except for the fencing competition, athletes do not directly compete against one another in the five events. Athletes gain points for their performance in each event and scores are combined to give the overall total. This is similar to the procedure for the decathlon in track and field athletics. However, an innovation was introduced in 2009 to make the finale of the pentathlon more exciting. The last event is the Combined event: laser pistol shooting and cross-country running. Competitors are ranked according to their score from the first three disciplines and given start times accordingly, with the leader going first, and other starting times being dependent on the number of points already scored. The first person to cross the finish line, therefore, will be the overall points leader and win the pentathlon.

I think that means it is points based, even if those points are then turned into times
in order to "excite" the uninitiated public.

[speedy123]

However unlike decathlon and pentathlon, score orienteering like many games come with set rules I.e time limit, penalty system, bonus points etc, surely this makes it more like a game than an event ?

[BenM]

Maybe British orienteering has already caught onto this, maybe they have an emergency fund in place in case we get sued under the trade description act for miss leading newcomers? Maybe that explains the BOC's high entry fees ?

umm... can we have a "prizes for best whacky comment" thread too?

[speedy123]

Maybe British orienteering has already caught onto this, maybe they have an emergency fund in place in case we get sued under the trade description act for miss leading newcomers? Maybe that explains the BOC's high entry fees ?

umm... can we have a "prizes for best whacky comment" thread too?

As long as it's not a buff.

[Oldman]

This thread scores [points? ] highly on the fatuousness scale.

[JK]

After recently taking part in a score event it got me thinking. As score orienteering is based on points, does that make score orienteering a game? Can anyone name a sport that is based on points that isn't a game or a match?

Archery
Shooting
[or are these matches?]

Ski jumping
[score probably given in "m", but wind factor, judges' marks, etc are combined in]

Various "artistic" events which don't fit the "Citius, Altius, Fortius" model and rank largely (although not exclusively) on style - diving, synchro swimming, gymnastics, dressage, figure skating, trampolining ...

There are also combat sports which are called things like "bouts" (I don't recall the various names), althogh boxing is a match.

[Glucosamine]

So to cover all bases, are our funding bodies likely to incentivise an evolution towards O-competitions that perhaps start as a head-to head mixed relay race, incorporate a score section in the middle with random bonuses for the first to reach a given control, perhaps a time-out for some field archery, then a time trial with a judged element based on elegant routechoice via GPS trackers, finishing with gladiator-style combat in an all-but-uncrossable marsh with giant inflatable SI-sibbers vs emit brykes? Or have the adventure racers (e.g. http://www.itera.co.uk) already got there ...

[ifor]

Don't think AR works well with the all done in an hour for TV requirement though. Of course historically it was AR that lead the reality TV craze with the Eco Challenge...

[JK]

So to cover all bases, are our funding bodies likely to incentivise an evolution towards O-competitions that perhaps start as a head-to head mixed relay race, incorporate a score section in the middle with random bonuses for the first to reach a given control, perhaps a time-out for some field archery, then a time trial with a judged element based on elegant routechoice via GPS trackers, finishing with gladiator-style combat in an all-but-uncrossable marsh with giant inflatable SI-sibbers vs emit brykes? Or have the adventure racers (e.g. http://www.itera.co.uk) already got there ...

Sounds more like Challengers Trophy ... been there ... done that!

[Gnitworp]

An orienteer from Great Snoring
Said you can't say that score O is boring.
Some say that it's tame,
But it's more than a game,
It's the art of control site ignoring!

I actually think it's a bit of a lottery, but I couldn't think of a good limerick to say this so had to become a score O supporter