According to an ad placed by this association in the June '05 edition of this publication, this organization reported that "Last year 30 people per 100,000 were injured playing badminton." The same year, hunting related firearms injuries were only 6 per 100,000 participants.
And actually, it's not so strange a statistic that it's a candidate for inclusion here. It makes sense. All states, I believe, require hunters to attend some sort of hunter's education class before a license is issued. So hunters know gun and field safety and it appears that the training pays off, reflected by the low injury rate.
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5 comments:
Gunner,
I am sorry but I am a little skeptical about this. The statement "...per 100,000" would suggest there are 2 or more sets of 100,000. So, at a minimum they are saying there are 200,000 badminton players in the US. Unless there is some form of Extreme Badminton that I am not familiar with, well, that number sounds kinda high.
Sorry. I hate to be so rough on you. But you know how it goes.
Travelin' Ed
Ed, no problem. If you're gonna throw numbers out there, you better have some proof. But really, badminton is pretty darned popular. This website http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/c/c/ccr130/art002/project/badminton.html gives a lot info on badminton. It appears that most of their data came from ("Badminton," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved) and I extracted the pertinent bit. To wit:
"As far as world popularity, Badminton appears to be thriving. A 1993 study revealed that at least 1.2 million Americans play badminton at least 25 times a year. Additionally, about 760,000 people in the United States say badminton when asked what their favorite sport is. Even more shocking, a staggering 11.2 million people in America say they have played badminton at least once within the last 12 months."
11.2 million in the last 12 months - that's a fairly sizeable number of people whacking the birdie around the backyard.
Well, I know badminton's popular here in Asia. Suprisingly popular, in fact. I just didn't suppose there was enough broke bones and trash talk for it to be popular in the States.
Although, after expending a little skull sweat on it, we HAVE made a multi-million dollar industry out of driving fibreglass cars around in circles. So who am I to say what's sport, huh?
By the way. Any numbers you find on my site are made up and there will be no need to dispute them. Disregard them, yes. Dispute them, pointless. If I am ever, in fact, using properly researched, valid figures in any of my posts...well, I'll be as suprised as anybody.
Travelin' Ed
Well, I'm not sure which came first, Moe, tennis or badminton. I know tennis started in Persia (I think) and they used a tightly wrapped rag instead of a ball - Vulcanization hadn't been invented yet.
But badminton, most of us are familiar with the 4th of July, backyard version after a couple of burnt burgers, hotdogs and an excess of Bud Lite. But, at the professional level, I guess it's a real sport. Definitely fast moving as pros can return that birdie at speeds of 200 mph. Ouch!
Yeah, I can understand your point of view, Moe. It is kind of difficult to consider badminton a "real" sport. I didn't even know it was played at the pro level until I was doing some more research to answer Traveling Ed's questions.
Funny how blog posts work. I guess I was thinking "Gosh, everyone, look at this amazing factoid. With the proper training, hunting can be a safe outdoor activity." When it took on the badminton slant, I was kind of surprised. :-) You never know, do you?
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