shares share tweet sms send email By: | October 14, 2013 2:30 pm is a feature at For The Win answering the toughest Sports x Internet questions no one is asking. This is Eli, a bear playing tetherball at the Animal Ark in Reno, Nev. Napolean Dynomite didn’t care about tetherball as much as this bear does. It’s a very sporty bear. But! Does a Bear Playing Tetherball count as Sports? Glad asked. Exhibit A Exhibit B Eli LOVES his tetherball! — Animal Ark Reno (@AnimalArk_Reno) The case for * This footage currently appears on at least one sports website. * Tetherball is a sport. This bear is playing that sport, and how! * He’s already better at tetherball than you. * He’s going to keep getting better. yep. you can see how he improves as the game goes on. the bear takeover is nigh! — patrick or treat (@patrickredford) * As pointed out, this could probably be in the X Games. Wait, is it already in the X Games? * To deny this bear would be Ursine discrimination. No one wants that. The caseagainst * Remember, this is a bear. He might not even know about sports. * How do we know he’s not just messin’ around? * BuzzFeed , not Sports. So think about THAT. * Pretty obviously not sports, right? The Verdict Sports. Let’s unpack this. Tetherball is sport, a lawn game or playground recreation. If this bear were competing against a fellow bear, it’d obviously be Sports. But he’s not, so we’re left to judge the intent of the bear. Is this practice, training for future sporting? Or is just a bear whacking a rubber ball tied to a metal poll? When I look at Eli, I see the former. I see a future Bear Tetherball champion. I can’t look at this bear and not say sports. Final answer: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. HALP! Have an argument for or against? Got an idea for ? Leave it in the comments or tweet to , , shares share tweet sms send email