As I sat watching the us open last night, I started thinking about how
golf was seemingly a very green sport. Every player walks. There are
only two people per team (the caddy). And then it struck me...that's about it. While
thinking of more great things golf does that are green I began to think
of how aweful it actually was. An enormous amount of water is used to
keep the constantly trampled sod looking perfect. The
sod takes an aweful lot of mowing, Trimming, man power and employees.
Then there is the clubhouse, guests who drive their own cars from all
over, and the carts (when allowed).

As with all other aspects of life, sports are directly affected by global warming and will begin to notice their impact. So what Is the greenest sport? Taking in size, crowd participation and
attendance, power necessities, team or player transportation, and
environmental impact, who leaves the smallest impact?

First, a list of the major sports (sports receiving the most primetime TV coverage in the US) and points to consider when taking into account their Greenness.

Football: large arenas, large crowds and individual modes of
transportation coming from mostly a regional area,, larger amounts of
employees, minimal games per season, team transportation to and from
games (usually by plane), power consumed in large quantities, large amount of grass to protect and replace, often after each game.

NASCAR: Largest fan base, largest fleet of transportation by fans,
extreme amounts of petroleum used (gas, tires, plastics), long season
with fan base from across the country, medium size teams with lots of
gear to transport, Track can be used repeatedly before replacement.

Soccer: Lengthy seasons of travel all over the world. Large stadiums with massive crowd potential. Larger team size. Extensive upkeep of field, often replaced after each event.

Basketball: Smaller team size. Long seasons with extensive travel. Medium sized arenas with large amount of employees. Courts are used for lengthly amounts of time before replacement.

Baseball: Medium size crowds, lots of grass to protect and replace, long seasons, tremendous amounts of travel, large number of employees, large team size.

Hockey: Long season involving travel often between the United States and Canada, large amounts of water used to maintain playing surface, smaller teams, medium sized arenas and crowds, large amount of employees, frequent replacement of hockey sticks.

Tennis: Single or doubles play, courts resused again and again, small stadiums and courts, minimal power used during play, rackets can be reused and restrung.

Is this it? Is Tennis our winner?

It looks like out of the more "popular" sports, Tennis might be the least invasive and NASCAR certainly takes the cake for wastefulness. But what about Bowling, Chess, Cards?? Tell us what sport you think is the least invasive.

Many of the more popular sports are taking steps to reducing their impact. Major League Baseball stadiums have begun to implement some form of solar use to offset their carbon footprint. The outdoor sports, most commonly referred to as "extreme" are often extremely invasive and many have taken note on exactly what Extreme Sports can do to change.