Yes. It promotes and encourages physical fitness, team work and problem solving.

Of course sports are useful.
Let me offer a political tangent. Paragons such as Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson and Satchel Page were the vanguard that eroded at Jim Crow leading to greater awareness of the imbalance they faced. Could their plight come to light as construction workers or farmers?
Just riffing here. But the glamour of sports can bring attention to other issues. Kaepernick anyone?

Like any human institution, there are pros and cons, virtues and flaws.

Useful:

• physical fitness, coordination, agility, etc.
• teamwork, bonding, trust, respect, etc.
• self-confidence, personal development
• respect for authority, abiding by rules
• healthy, respectful, honorable competition
• belongingness, identity

Harmful:

• overt commercialization
• exclusionary, violent tribalism
• hazing, bullying, coercion
• mindless following
• toxic machismo
• etc.

You're going to encounter these things differently in different contexts. Giving professional athletes millions of dollars in endorsement deals is a whole different animal than high school girls gaining confidence and a sense of community by competing on the swim team.

Not as much as grammar.

Absolutely! Sports form the key element in the bread and circuses needed to keep the mob pacified. It gives people a sense of belonging and meaning and keeps their minds focused away from important things = such as how they are being governed.

Definitely very useful.

Ignore the machismo, improper aggressiveness, fanaticism, cheating, racism, sexism, bullying and other non-sports behaviour. I do emphasise non-sports behaviours. These behaviours occur outside of sports. Is it correct to hate sports because you don't approve of these behaviours?

Instead, focus on:
1: teamwork (e.g. playing so that an injured or weaker teammate's participation is not wasted, instinctively knowing what another will do without communication, etc.)
2: respect for other team's efforts,
3: inter-personal bonds outside of personal relationships,
4: on-the-spot problem-solving (find a weakness in an opponent's play, working out a way to exploit it, etc.)
5: setting and trying to achieve personal bests

Basically, sports is one more thing that encourages good health in regards to: inter-personal relationships, keeping your mind active, and of course, general fitness.

Join a local sports group. Emphasise your interest and they'll help, as best they can, to retain your interesst. If you find that you can't "get" the sports due to lack of strength or dexterity, find another sports.

Playing or watching? There's plenty of use for playing sports, but I find watching them pointless.

I consider sports to be very useful. Provides excersize/physical activity, teaches teamwork/unification for a common goal, and in some instances leadership.

Is grammar useful?

Yes it is.

Participating in sport can be good for health and fitness as well as just for the sheer enjoyment of it. It can also help reduce social isolation for those less able to mix and join in so easily, it shows a common interest. Being part of a team means being part of something, shared experience, shared history, understanding that a small cog in a big wheel is very important.

I have played a lot of sport over the years but I would think soccer, football and skiing mostly, I'm not particularly brilliant at any of them, but it was always hugely enjoyable, I won a national title along the way and represented my country in a tiny way, something that I wouldn't have done if it wasn't for sport. I've also had some great holidays thru sport and picked up some horrible injuries but it's all been fantastic.

Now I'm a bit older (a lot older actually) I'm not involved in sport but like watching it, some people have other past times, I like watching sport. I have my teams that I follow and I live and die with them when they're playing. But I could still be involved, the rise in walking football for the elderly or disabled is brilliant. I could do that if I so chose along with a host of other sports.

Not to me personally. I'm one of those who isn't aware it's time for the World Series unless someone else brings it up. However, I'm sure many people enjoy it on multiple levels. It's an outlet for their worst tribalist and competitive impulses that's harmless compared to a war; it's an opportunity to socialize; it's a way to keep fit; it's a way to pass the time if you find it interesting. I prefer walking / hiking for fitness, reading to watching football, etc. But everyone's different.

Well, according to John Fugelsang, the NFL has kept us from a second Civil War so......

Yes, sports ARE useful, both in helping to keep participicpants healthy, and for recreation. I do not, however, have much use for professional sports.

When my kids run, jump kick the ball or someone else - yes as it helps them grow stronger, faster more sure of themself (5 years of karate gave my daughter some usefull life skills ? and every time my son chases a ball he has fun and exercise feet and lungs)..
When they sit on their butts "chearing" for "our team" - totally useless. Organised sport when I suppose to enjoy a bunch millions skating in a chase of a puck, or running after the ball - doesn't kick me at all. See no difference who will take a cup this year that doesn't make world or my day better lol. And fans sometimes look like most idiotic way or new religion zellots lol.

Do mean playing, viewing, or both? As someone from a very dysfunctional family who played as a teen, yes, it was very useful as a surrogate family. As an adult who works in a very stressful, deadline-driven career, being able to lose myself and rant at the television in short doses has been a wonderful way to disconnect from work. So I'd have to say yes, useful.

Any form of ecercise is good for the body and mind. Walking trekking, hiking rugby,golf Yeah that is fun

Sport helps health

Big money spectator sports? Not to me. But people are free to do what they want with their own attention and energy.

Here's a recent story from the Commonwealth Games currently behing held at the Gold Coast, AUS. It shows the respect between sportspersons - even of opposing teams.

A Lesotho runner was running last in a 10 kilometer race - 2 laps behind the others. Runners usually leave the field (to rest, rehydrate, cool down, etc. in the change rooms) as soon as they finish. It is a 10k race after all. But the 3 Australian runners stayed on the field, cheering the last place Lesotho runner as she crossed the finish line.

[smh.com.au]

Running is an individual sport. But it still promotes respect and admiration between each individual runner.

I hate sport, and tend to offend everyone with my views. I find the only use in it is to reduce the number of morons in my immediate vicinity.

I'll reply with the existential perspective: is anything useful?

Yes, it is something to do, okay? We don't need to be anal about everything.

It's useful for being healthy, and I also think that some sports help to positively channel aggressive tendencies.

At its best it is a shinning example of endeavour. At its worst a crass scramble for money and fame at any cost
People often rail at the money that sportsmen are worth. I say that tribes will always try at beat other tribes. Consider this, a fighter pilot is worth about 3 times as much in fiscal terms as his plane. Would you rather spend the money on games or fighter pilots?
Someone told me that NY now only has one free boxing gym in the whole city. It is run by two ex cops who struggle to keep it open on a budget of $50,000 per annum. Trying to provide an outlet for young mens aggression outside of crime. When you consider how much the sport makes. This is a pitance

While not a fan of professional sports as it is more about money than an actual game, I think it is useful as a means to lull the masses into somnambulistic state -- yes, sports fans can get excited and violent -- it does help release the negative energy pent up in people. As to the quiescent masses, this is how man functions.