WHEN is a sport not a sport? It may sound like a daft question but one which regularly raises debate when brought up in my local pub.

It seems my group of friends are not alone, either. As I battled the wind and rain driving back from Wanderers' disappointing FA Youth Cup humbling at Crewe on Wednesday night, BBC Radio Five Live summariser Danny Mills was involved in a similar argument with his co-commentators.

Talking about the UK Masters snooker, the ex-England full-back questioned whether those who cue up on the green baize are playing a game or a sport. His view stemmed from the basis snooker could not be considered a sport when players used to drink and smoke table-side in the 1980s.

A fair point you might think, but then if the rumours about Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szcz?sny sneaking in a crafty fag after defeat at Southampton recently are to be believed then you can get away with it in the national sport too.

My own stance has always been pretty vague, though I did once stand firm in an argument that it could not be a sport if you wore shoes to play it.

Others may state the need to break sweat for it to be considered anything near consideration for the Olympics.

I don’t really buy into that. If there’s one sport I will always rally for it is darts.

Most professionals would agree they are hardly the fittest specimens in the world but it takes some skill to hit that treble 20 so often.

My argument in this instance is if archery is in the Olympics, why isn’t darts?

The debate has widened further now with some people believing interactive gaming should be considered a sport. Give me a break!

I know it is huge now but just because it is highly competitive does not make it a sport. We may as well include conkers or cheese-rolling in Gloucestershire.

The lines are somewhat blurred, I admit. I remember at a previous paper I worked at in Grimsby, you received a barrage of complaints on the phone if you left the pigeon racing results out of the sports pages.

I even had one caller demand poker results be included along with the standard dominoes and crib like we publish in The Bolton News on a Saturday. His argument for it being a sport and not a pastime – it is on Sky Sports. What could I say to that?

Then again, Australian aerobics used to be a regular feature on Rupert Murdoch’s satellite network and that was hardly competitive.

Maybe for those of us slightly older and a bit worse for wear after discovering the delights of a few pints at weekend, we should consider widening the sporting spectrum.

I reckon my Candy Crush feats could win bronze at least!