In the "I'm better than you" thread, it's been pointed out that many people feel that recreational scuba is some sort of competiton (I did more dives, longer, deeper, saw more things, did more sites, have more gear, blah, blah). The typical American male sees everything as a competiton; however, conventional diving is not a true 'sport'.
But could scuba ever be a real sport? Example: like the biathalon in skiing, divers could swim an obstacle course and use a speargun to hit targets along the way. Sound stupid? Ever watch curling? How about undersea laser tag? Or developing some sort of propelled underwater ball, or even simple scooter drag races? Why, a whole new class of equipment could be sold (souped up DPVs, helmets that reduce drag, like speedskaters wear, racing wetsuits, the list is endless).
Consider the paintball frenzy... languishing dive shops might become gold mines if they could tap into that competitve testosterone-driven need to win contests and trophys. face it... how many average joes want to take an OW class, buy all that equipment and truck themselves to the water's edge to see a goliath grouper or a big pile of rust that used to be a WWII destroyer?
However, form a scuba laser tag league! Now that's excitement!
I'm surprised scuba manufacturers haven't been proactive in this area. The financial rewards for someone devising an appealing scuba 'sport', especially one requiring special equipment, would be huge. Sound dangerous? Racing around underwater, bobbing up and down precariously, with the risk of DCS? Sure, but so is auto racing...several dozen boys die playing high school football each year. Risk is part of the allure of most sports.
My tongue is only half way in my cheek... any equipment companies that want to toss around any ideas, let me know.