Is there a difference between a 'sport' and a 'game'?
Forty or more years ago I, and other British speakers, would use 'sport' for any activity which was related to hunting or sailing. Fishing was a sport, as were shooting with a shotgun (and by extension, pistol and target shooting generally), and dinghy sailing.Athletics were all 'sports' so we had a school 'sports day'. (The Olympic Games were comprised of sports but the name was that for historic and classical reasons).We did shoot game but the shooting was a sport Fencing, boxing and other activities based in self-defence were sports.
Just about everything else was 'a game'.Cricket, tennis,hockey,rugby, soccer,lacrosse, all team activities, were 'games'
Now it is common to hear people saying that something is ' the sport' when they are referring to a team game. Boxers talk of the 'boxing game' but they mean the organisation and business of the sport. (Isn't English wonderful?)
Was this distinction, particularly in hunting, made in the US or have Americans always talked e.g. of the 'sport' of [American] football or basketball?
Maybe that's the key. The word 'sport' maybe now covers all those activities that demand athleticism. 'Games' would be things like cards, pool, curling... activities you could (in theory at least) do with a cigarette and a pint on the go.
The etymology of 'sport' involves 'des + portare', apparently, with the sense of 'carry (the mind) away (from cares)' - as in 'divert' or 'disport'. Maybe there wasn't always the distinction you describe between, for example, hunting and team games.
Originally posted by Elexina: But we refer to an event within a sport (usually one played between two teams) as a "game." Football game, baseball game, basketball game...
We usually say football (soccer) match, rugby match, cricket match, tennis match, badminton match, lacrosse match, hockey match etc. TV will show 'the big match'in soccer, not 'the big game' (which would sound like elephants and tigers, 'big game hunting'). Afterwards, there is expert 'post- match analysis' when , naturally (this being English and designed to puzzle foreigners), the experts may talk about ' a team playing a defensive game, because their star strikers were injured or not match fit' And people will ask spectators 'How was the game?' which may elicit the reply 'It was always going to be a tough match, but it was an entertaining game to watch and we got the three points [=won]'
Analysing their own language is difficult for any native speaker. We don't have to think why we use certain words. Here 'match' is the contest. A crook may indulge in 'match fixing'not 'game fixing' (not in Britain, I hasten to add. We'd say it of Italy though ). 'Game' is more often used for the match as played,the strategy, tactics, overall contest as it turns out.One result is that we say 'there's two home games and one away [from the home ground] to the end of the season' because we are unconsciously thinking of the nature of the matches to come. An 'away' game demands different tactics and strategy to a 'home' one (and is harder for the visiting team to win).
When I was in school, the wrestling team referred to football, basketball, and baseball as "games", and wrestling as a "sport". (The implication was obvious, that "games" were what children played.) Only one team of the other group actually accepted our challenge, and then only half of it. We challenged each of them to compete against us in their event and ours. Of course, the stipulation was that it had to be done on the same day. (Our intent was to have wrestling as the first event, then we'd play their game.) The basketball team accepted, but we had to play their game first. The game was fairly even, with them winning by a few points, but they were in no shape to wrestle afterward. (Like it would have made a difference ) When they refused to wrestle, we challenged them to a best of three in their game. They wisely declined. I don't think they realized just how much basketball can be a contact sport. Of course, it helped that two of our middle weight wrestlers had been on basketball teams before we started wrestling, and that our heavier weights could control the boards. We later found out that the basketball coach complained to our coach about the "mixed match." It seems that too many of his players were injured after the game.
We later had negotiated pick-up games against the basketball team. We had to lighten up on the rough stuff, and, in return, we got 6 players to their 5. We beat them regularly. (I will admit that most wrestlers can't dribble worth a damn. But our reflexes were much faster than theirs.)
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Fencing, boxing and other activities based in self-defence were sports.
And people will ask spectators 'How was the game?' which may elicit the reply 'It was always going to be a tough match, but it was an entertaining game to watch and we got the three points [=won]' 
). 'Game' is more often used for the match as played,the strategy, tactics, overall contest as it turns out.One result is that we say 'there's two home games and one away [from the home ground] to the end of the season' because we are unconsciously thinking of the nature of the matches to come. An 'away' game demands different tactics and strategy to a 'home' one (and is harder for the visiting team to win).
Of course, it helped that two of our middle weight wrestlers had been on basketball teams before we started wrestling, and that our heavier weights could control the boards. We later found out that the basketball coach complained to our coach about the "mixed match." It seems that too many of his players were injured after the game. 
