This Week: Battlebots

SPORT
"Of course it is. Any game in which competitors get to hit each other in the head is sport."
—Chad Brown, Seahawks linebacker

NOT A SPORT
"It may be the Olympics for mechanics, but it's not a sport."
—Travis Fryman, Indians third baseman

SPORT
"It's people applying themselves to build a machine better than somebody else's. And people pay to watch it, don't they?"
—Jeromy Burnitz, Brewers outfielder

NOT A SPORT
"I was watching it, and it took three guys in the ring just to pick one of [the BattleBots] up."
—Matt Morris, Cardinals pitcher

SPORT
"A sport is any competition with physical or mental effort, as long as there's strategy involved. If chess is a sport, then so is BattleBots."
—Aloysius Anagonye, Michigan State power forward

SPORT
"I used to play pinball machines, and I looked at that as a sport."
—Charlie Manuel, Indians manager

NOT A SPORT
"Guys just play with remote controls. Now, if they were wired up and got an electrical shock each time their robot got hammered, then, yes, it would be a sport. Kind of a cool one, too."
—Paolo Di Canio, West Ham United soccer player