most deadly sports

According to the book Boxing and Medicine (Robert Cantu (Ed.)), the most dangerous sports in America are:

• Horse racing, with 128 deaths per 100,000 participants
• Sky diving, 123
• Hang gliding, 55
• Mountaineering, 51
• Scuba diving, 11
• Motorcycling, 7
• College football, 3
• Boxing, 1.3

So, yeah, while it may look like a boxer could kick a jockey's puny ass, one look at this table will show you what a real manly sport is.

(The caveats here are: a) that the book Boxing and Medicine is essentially about how safe boxing supposedly is and b) as we all know, statistics lie.)

Living in a town close to the Snowy Mountains, a high proportion of the population ski or snowboard. Just last week, a friend came back to school with a bruised rib.

But when you think about it, it's not surprising. Do you think going to the top of a mountain, strapping a heavy piece of wood to your feet and jumping off, trying your best not to hit trees and land safely off massive cliffs with only your feet as a steering mechanism particularly safe?

I thought not. Snowboarding is dangerous.

Funny enough, if you take a look at the statistics of sports in New Zealand, the most dangerous (where dangerous is defined as the most people killed while doing it) sport, is pleasure boating. More people die every year out in their little rubber dingys and 12ft alloys than in any other sport in New Zealand. Though good luck impressing your girlfriend with that sport. :)