You know if you allow chariot racing that the NASCAR/F1 crowd (not that it's the same crowd) is going to get rabid and want auto racing in too. Basketball has a World Championships and has for some time (though professionals have also only in the last 15 years or less been allowed in this just like the Olympics). Baseball, as of March of next year, will have completed its first World Cup hosted 3/4rs by the United States and 1/4 by either Japan or Korea (the last I checked it hasn't been decided which country is going to host these sites). It's not a World Cup like we soccer fans know it since there's no qualifying tournament as such (it's pretty much done by the 16 countries who it's thought stand a chance of winning - basically the 16 or so countries that have players plying their trade in the United States) though I think the European tourney has something to do with who get the one or two European slots). But it is its first time so in the future it might be more representative, minnows might sneak in, etc. Softball in theory should stay since you're right it has no World Cup.
We can only hope. Can you name anything that Major League Baseball has been involved in that doesn't find a way to get screwed up? I'd like to think that now that baseball is no longer an Olympic sport, the governing bodies in Central America and the Caribbean will organize feeder tournaments. It's cool and all to just seed in Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. But there are a lot of other baseball nations down there that aren't at the level to have professional baseball players in the United States but still deserve a chance to compete. Having read the links earlier in this thread, I really feel bad for a country like Honduras which loves baseball but won't get a chance to compete in a true international tournament as it's set up. For the record, these are the countries I've seen who are in the international home run derby (and therefore probable invites): Venezuela, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Panama, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and United States. Andruw Jones is competing for the Netherlands Antilles but nothing else I've seen has them getting an invite to the World Cup.
Beach Soccer, Ring Hockey and Futsal as olympic sports! Ring Hockey was OS in 1992, its popular across Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina and a few more nations certainly its a better sport than softcrapball... Futsal is getting bigger, its widely popular in Europe, South America and some Asian nations if i am not mistaken. Beach Soccer its just a great sport to watch. At least the probability of Portugal getting a few more medals would be good
I'd be all for dropping gymnastics. Any activity which requires a judge to score is an art, not a sport.
AGREED! Although, evry time I mention this (including figure skating and diving), my female and gay friends get hysterical. I tell them that I agree that they do incredible things, and it certainly has merit, the way that ballet does, but as a sport they are fairly ridiculous. If there was some way of judging equally, fine, but its almost like they are handicapped so that the favorites can not do as well as others, but as long as they don't screw up, they win. Back to the topic, I don't really care about baseball being dropped. I watch the olympics for the things I don't get to see everyday. I like the idea of adding rugby as the sport has been fairly llosly organized and amateur over the years, so the olympics could be a big showcase event. Even this is not as true now as it would have been 10 years ago with the increase in popularity of the Rugby World Cup and the Super 12. Still, it just seems more compatible with the olympics to me. Golf would be interesting as well. At the tournament level, a lot goes into trying to win. When you throw silver and bronze into the picture it would really change the way they jockey for position, and how brave they would be with certain shots down the stretch. You could also potentially do it as a match play tournament which could be cool. Maybe two days of stroke play to pare the field down to 16 and then match play to get down to your three medals.
south korea, taiwan, dominican republic, venezuela, puerto rico, mexico, nicaragua, panama- all on a very big level. on a lesser level, australia, phillipines,holland, argentina
basketball has the world championships. remember? dream team 2 won in 94 in canada. there was no dream team in 98 because of the labor dispute so a team of non-nba players played in greece and finished 3rd. and in 02 we all know what happened in indiana. an nba dream team lost for the first time and finishede 6th.
I'm not necessarily arguing with you, but keep in mind that boxing and greco-roman wrestling are among those needing judges...
As long as the body is constantly moving, it is a sport. Gymnastics is a sport that scores on different things other than putting a ball in the net.
Relays? Goalkeepers? Volleyball? I assume you mean "somone's body is constantly moving..." So field events? Diving? And I gather you're willing to say american football is not a sport... I have some troubles with events where you lose points if your underwear is showing (rhythmic gymnastics) or something else "does all the work" (Horse racing, equestrian, motor racing, yachting.) But a race driver needs a selected and trained nervous system, rhythmic gymnasts do get hurt in competition, jockeys are terrific athletes, etc etc etc. I think soccer is clearly a "sport" and hunting is clearly a "recreation," but in between it makes sense to be inclusive... And I suppose hunting can be done competitively...
Baseball is a little more far reaching than softball. The US baseball team didn't even make it to the Olympics in Athens if I'm correct; they were eliminated during qualification. As for softball...yeah, the US is the only team that is worth anything in softball.
USA failed to qualify in Olympic Baseball, got bronze in Olympic Men's Basketball, won no metals in either Olympic Men's or Women's Volleyball, and never has a prayer in the World Netball Championships. This has taught me one essential lesson: losing at sports that we invented is annoying. That crap is for England.
If I were to look on the bright side of this situation, it would be that the USA is still the Olympicrugby champions of the world since 1920. @ Straight Golds and Running! Otherwiser, July 9, 2005, like Dec. 7, 1941, will be a date that will live in infamy.
No, you can figure she'll make the next Olympics-- its 2012 she'll be left out of. Unless she's going to turn out to be as durable as Doctor Dot, I'd guess she wasn't going to London anyway...
In my three years of being on Big Soccer, outside of the world rivalries threads, I've never read a thread with such mis-information, heresay, bigotry ... really just general ignorance. GREAT JOB!
How about noodling? http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelas-field-guides/Catfish-Techniques/Noodling-for-Catfish-The-Ultimate-Thrill-in-Fishing.html
Knockouts are rare in Olympic boxing. "Judged outcome" matches are common enough in Greco-Roman that you couldn't hold a tournament without judges...