I'm gonna be pissed if the fcuking roller derby takes the place of baseball in the Olympics. Baseball is a worldwide sport now, not like American football. And no trolls in this thread, please.
It was put to secret vote. So in other words, London couldn't possibly build enough baseball and softball only venues in time for the games. And once the games are over, they really have no use for the stadiums anymore. Pretty simple, really.
How many countries have a professional baseball league? I know there are a lot of federations (see here), but how many of these countries have a decent baseball competition? I hope karate and rugby will replace them. After all, UK has plenty of rugby fields and karate competitions take place indoor.
Things like that p!$$ me off. I thought Karate was already part of the games. And golf and rugby...they tried those back in the 70s or 80s i think as developmental Olympic sports and nobody cared. You're telling me more people care to see Badminton or Handball in the Olympics than baseball or softball?
Saw this mentioned on the BBC website and wondered what you fellas would think. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/4658925.stm My understanding from that source is that Baseball and Softball will not be replaced so there isn't a question of 'roller derby', (whatever that is), replacing one of them. This information, however, is completely at odds with the Washington Post report. I understand the Prof's frustration if a sport he loves has been removed from the competition but I have to freely admit I'm not even sure what softball is. Is that the one where you knock the ball against the wall with your hand with a sort of glove on or am I thinking of something else? Can't say I've ever seen anyone playing it over here but then you're talking to someone who turns off almost any other sport than soccer so maybe that's not a fair test. Maybe it's big on the continent.
Softball is a variation of baseball played by women. Bigger ball, smaller field, pitcher typically delivers underhand.
It really comes down to baseball parks: For countries that don't have baseball leagues(I'd say about 85% of the world), building one (or transforming a soccer field into one) just for a one-time event is probably not financially desirable.
There's no wall in Handball (or Team Handball as it is called in the USA). Also, no gloves involved. Believe me, I've seen a lot of handball matches.
Softball is baseball with a larger ball. It's mostly played at a professional level by women (exclusively a women's sport at the Olympic level, or was) but it's also very big in recreational leagues for both men and women. As was also mentioned early, the pitching delivery is underhand. And for those Americans who don't know what handball is, it's the greatest sport on Earth! It's the perfect combination of basketball and soccer. The players drible up the (basketball type) court, pass and such, but instead of shooting up at a basket, they throw it at a goal at high speeds (with a goalie of course). Sure some would say it's like water polo played on a court but I will still say it's like the beautiful love child of the two greatest sports ever, basketball and soccer. It's too bad the only exposure it gets in the states is once every four years on Olympic coverage. It could really catch on here with the basketball crowd. Though MSNBC did a brilliant job of covering both the men's and women's tournament during the NBC family's Olympic coverage! Of course if it ever did end up catching on in the United States, we'd probably end up changing the name to avoid confusion with the court (raquetball type) game we already have. And then we'd never hear the end of it from Europeans.
Can only think of the MLB and the Nip League (must be more!). I think the only reason it was put in was to give the U.S. another gold medal. Didn't work though, as i think the Cubans are current olympic champs.
USA Cuba Mexico Japan Korea Venezuela And there are more -- that's just off of the top of my head. And it's played in most of the Western hemisphere, on gobs of little islands in the Carribean, many of which are almost as small as UEFA countries.
In England? Come on...they could easily use Lord's, Edgbaston, Cheser-Le-Street and Old Trafford (Cricket) for baseball and softball
Very true not to mention about 5 other proffessional cricket grounds and various other usable sights. It would be quite good to see full RU back in. After all the USA are defending Olympic champs and is it the greatest sport in the world ever. Nuff said.
Baseball being played at Lords... yeah, I can just imagine the Marylebone cricket members, (ave. age 190), agreeing to that.
The vote was by the entire IOC committee, not just the GB organising committee or "Europeans". Also all 28 sports were voted on, not just Baseball and softball. Not having the events has saved £50 million on building a white elephant of a stadium in Regents Park, but I doubt that was at the forefront of the IOC's minds when they voted. There were plans about 10 years or so ago to have an MLB exhibition match at Lords, and the members did agree. One big stumbling block was the comparibly poor players' facilities in the players' pavilion, compared to what they were used to at MLB stadiums. It fell through, but I think there was an exhibition by two minor league teams at the Oval instead
I don't know why the Olympic Baseball & Softball Venues would be white elephants. Simply build a permanent stand that will accomodate soccer after the Games, with temporary seating on one of the foul lines. Or you could always knock down one of the stands of Arsenal Stadium and convert it into a ballpark. *Ducks*
Unless there's a small club in London willing to play in such a curiously shaped stadium (you'd really only be looking at Brentford, Leyton Orient or Barnet) it'd be a waste. None of those clubs would want to move to Regents Park (where it would have been) as it's too far from their support, and none of those three would be able to afford to complete the stadium either. Temporary seating tends to be incredibly unpopular here, even when the weather is good. Nor could you build the stadium near to where they play currently, for planning reasons at Barnet and a lack of space at Brentford and Orient. Either way though, as it was the IOC who voted the sports out, not the British Olympic committee, it's irrelevant anyway.