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Why are "extreme sports" labeled as such?

Submitted by Taylor de Lench on Thu, 05/22/2008 - 16:34.
The vast majority of deaths and injuries in youth sports take place in traditional sports, shouldn't these sports be labeled as "extreme?"
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Action and Adventure

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 14:13.

I don't hear too much about

Submitted by JimmyBB on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 18:10.

I don't hear too much about skateboard deaths, surprisingly because it seems so dangerous, but jet ski's and ATV deaths seem to pop up in the news every year. I think that yes, traditional sports have more death's per year but only because more people participate. I think extreme sports get that rap because of inherent human fears, mainly, fear of heights. Irrational fear may lead to the label "extreme," I think "alternative sports" should really be the label... A friend of mine who rock climbs at a local gym has told me numerous times that the most dangerous thing about rock climbing..is driving to go rock climbing...

what is extreme about extreme?

Submitted by Lorrie Miller, Ph.D. on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 17:18.
Extreme sports seem to be an elevated level of a similar sport.  A typical race may be something that many people have experience with, but when you add an extraordinary distance or climate to that race, then it may warrant the label of extreme.  The sport that I am familiar with is skateboarding.  This unto itself is not extreme, but when you downhill race and reach or exceed 60m/hr it is extreme in its speed.  The terrain that the racers ride on often includes hairpin turns, thus increasing the likelihood of crashing into the hay bales along the side.  The riders, from what I have observed, don't care what label their sport has whether it is extreme or not, they just do it.  The labels seem to be applied by us, non-racers, non-extreme athletes.  It is the observer that deems these things extreme, not the participant.  What I suspect they would suffer if they didn’t do their sport, would be 'extreme boredom!'  Enough with the labels already.

I think extreme sports are

Submitted by Common Sense on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 20:59.

I think extreme sports are labled as such because they are not the norm. Also consider the marketing aspect of it. "Extreme Sports" sounds more dangerous than roller skating, skateboarding and bike riding.

What makese a sport extreme

Submitted by Mark Rowe on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:36.

I think what makes a sport extreme isn't the possibility of danger or death, but the relatively higher number of inherently uncontrollable variables. Athletes in these activities compete not only against other athletes or themselves, but also against environmental obstacles and challenges, often weather and terrain related, including wind, snow, water and mountains. Because these natural phenomena cannot be controlled, they inevitably affect the outcome of the given activity or event. Traditional sports are much more controlled.