To the untrained eye, sports and games can be interchangeable. But in reality, there is a huge difference between the two. While games are primarily played for fun and recreation, sports involve competitive action and are governed by a set of recognized rules that ensure the participant’s safety and comfort. Games are generally organized by someone or a group of people who enjoy the sport or activity. But most sports and games are played by individuals, often organized competitions, and are typically between two teams. While some sports and games may be played by one team as a part of a tournament, many games, such as baseball, may be played between different teams in one location but covered on a variety of media throughout the tournament.
Sports and games are similar: both are physical or mental exercises or contest that involves participants and that have rules. However, there are key differences that make each sport and game unique. For example, basketball requires more precision than football. However, when making definitions, sport and game scholars must determine if the contest takes place primarily on the physical challenges of the sport itself, or if the game requires players to adopt advanced psychological principles that affect performance.
Making definitions of sports and games can be made easy with the expansive resources available on the web and library systems. A simple Google search will bring up lists of relevant articles and books that address the topic. Other resources include encyclopedias and reference works that provide definitions from various disciplines and authors. These sources provide a valuable source of information about the origins of popular games and sports trends. In making new definition and research concepts, scholars should pay special attention to the work of those whose works they draw on, in order to avoid repeating recent research or interpretations that could have been rejected years ago by other scholars.