Learn English – difference between “Grecian” and “Greek”

Close and near can be used as adjectives, and in many cases they are the same when talking about physical distances.

The train station is close.
The train station is near.

They are not the same when talking about more abstract concepts, like relationships.

My mother is close [she is 3 feet away].
My mother and I are very close [we have a strong family bond].
My mother is near [she is 3 feet away].
My mother and I are very near [we are 3 feet apart].

Only near can be used as a preposition without the word to.

*We are close the train station.
We are close to the train station [correct: close to is the proposition].
We are near the train station [correct: near is the preposition].

When you convert to adverb form, they are not interchangeable at all. In this case, closely implies "at a small distance", while nearly implies "almost but not quite"

*We are nearly following the news.
We are closely following the news.

*I closely hurt myself.
I nearly hurt myself.

* incorrect usage

• Definition of sport:

  1. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
  2. A particular form of this activity.
  3. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
  4. An active pastime; recreation.

• Definition of game:

  1. An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party games; word games.
  2. 
     
     • A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules: the game of basketball; the game of gin rummy.
     • A single instance of such an activity: We lost the first game.
     • GAMES: An organized athletic program or contest: track-and-field games; took part in the winter games. [like the Olympics]
     • A period of competition or challenge: It was too late in the game to change the schedule of the project.
  3. 
     
     • The total number of points required to win a game: One hundred points is game in bridge.
     • The score accumulated at any given time in a game: The game is now 14 to 12.
  4. The equipment needed for playing certain games: packed the children's games in the car.
  5. A particular style or manner of playing a game: improved my tennis game with practice.

  (There are more meanings to "game" but they are not relevant)

There is an overlap between games and sports. Generally, sports require some sort of physical effort of specialised skill while games are more organised affairs with rules.

The word game has several meanings. You can, for example, play a game of sports, but you can't sport a game. A good example would be if you think of the Olympics. The Olympics are referred to as a the Olympic Games yet the game is a competition to collect as many medals as possible by partaking in specific sports.

Another example is baseball. Baseball is a sport but the Baseball World Series is a game in which teams play the sport of baseball while their overall scores between games are tracked for a position on a leaderboard (the game).