Baseball dropped from Olympics as of 2012

[Young Drachma]

Link

SINGAPORE -- Baseball and softball were dropped Friday from the Olympic program for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Each of the 28 existing sports was put to a secret vote by the International Olympic Committee, and baseball and softball failed to receive a majority required to stay on the program. The other 26 sports were retained.

Baseball and softball are the first sports cut from the Olympics since water polo in 1936.

The IOC will consider replacing them with two sports from a waiting list of five sports: golf, rugby, squash, karate and roller sports.

Baseball has been vulnerable because it doesn't bring top Major League players to the Olympics. Softball has been in danger because of a perceived lack of global appeal and participation.

"Not all sports are indispensable for the Olympic program, we know that," IOC president Jacques Rogge told the delegates before the vote.

Rogge urged the 100-plus members to vote strictly on the technical merits of the sports and not for subjective, political or personal reasons.

"If you consider a modification, you should be convinced it will bring an improvement," Rogge said.

The IOC will keep the voting figures secret. Not even the IOC members or sports federations will learn the totals. The secrecy was requested by the international federations in order to avoid any ranking or embarrassment for any sports which just barely make the cut.

Rogge said the figures will be seen only by an independent official, who will send the results by sealed envelope to an IOC notary in Lausanne, Switzerland. Rogge will only open the envelope in the case of a voting dispute.

[Young Drachma]

I think Olympic golf would make the most logical sense. Everyone around the world plays it at a high level, so it makes a good olympic sport. Baseball and softball - not so much.

And men and women both can have their own tournaments, which makes it a good replacement.

[Peregrine]

It's good to see the Olympics getting rid of unwatched, deadwood sports like baseball and softball and moving in ratings powerhouses like squash and roller sports.

[sovereignstar]

Two words. Pole dancing. Just say yes.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

It's good to see the Olympics getting rid of unwatched, deadwood sports like Baseball and Softball and moving in ratings powerhouses like Squash and Roller Sports.

Well, it's one of those things.

There is a "mini-olympics" called the World Games, which is like the minor leagues of the Olympics. It's for all the sports that haven't made it into the Olympics and are essentially waiting to one day get in. They do them in off years.

These sports are part of that and so, they have to pick from them. Especially now since there are no longer demonstration sports at the Olympics.

World Games Association
2005 World Games

[Young Drachma]

Dola-

Roller sports would include three "disciplines" (Roller Hockey, Artistic (basically roller figure skating) and Roller Speed skating.

[MrBug708]

There goes UCLA's easy way of pading their Olympic gold medal total

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

It's good to see the Olympics getting rid of unwatched, deadwood sports like baseball and softball and moving in ratings powerhouses like squash and roller sports.

Is ball room dancing an Olympic sport?

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Dola-

Roller sports would include three "disciplines" (Roller Hockey, Artistic (basically roller figure skating) and Roller Speed skating.

I think to boost ratings they'll replace the Artistic group with:

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Dola: I thought Softball was a major draw in the games.

[ShaqFu]

Golf isn't a bad choice, because it takes 4 days to run a full tournament, with cut. Between men and women that would be 8 days. That would fit well into the Olympic schedule. You also could have match play and skins too. Lots of options for golf. It also fits well in a London Olympics.

That leaves rugby, squash, karate and roller sports.

Rugby wouldn't be a bad choice, but I think it might end up with the same stigma as baseball. The powerhouses may/may not send their pros. And, you have a limited number of countries to have solid appeal.

I've heard of squash, but have no idea what it really is. It could have the curling style appeal though. A really obscure sport?

Karate wouldn't make sense. Games already have Tae-Kwon-Do and Judo. Nevermind boxing and wrestling. I think that is enough sports in that realm.

That leaves roller sports. Roller sports could complement the ice sports in the winter. You could even see some crossover athletes in speed skating. Very interesting. Roller hockey is one of those where you could end up with a pretty decent tournament. And, the roller version of figure skating could be interesting. You could easily fill all 16 days with events and you probably end up getting more bang than a baseball or softball tournament.

I'll go with golf and roller.

[ShaqFu]

If I'm picking from stuff not on the IOCs list, I might like to see:

http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/frisbee/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/bowling/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/billard/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...ican_football/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...ort/tauziehen/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...port/kanupolo/

[KeyserSoze]

There´s some things that I cannot understand of the olympic games.

1 -Why there are diferent weights for boxers? There´s no basketball for people below 6 feets. There´s no 100 meters for people fatter than 300 pounds. Of course a bigger man will be a better boxer. As Shaquille is a better basketball player.

2- In swimming. Why are medals for each style? I want a medal for "direct soccer" other for "short pass soccer" and so on.....

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

Is ball room dancing an Olympic sport?

No, it wants to be though.

It was a demonstration sport in Atlanta. That's why some folks think it's a real olympic sport. Demonstration sports didn't give out medals. Just competed to show what it would be like if they were in the games.

But the IOC decided they were "too difficult" or expensive to implement or whatever.

[21C]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

2- In swimming. Why are medals for each style? I want a medal for "direct soccer" other for "short pass soccer" and so on.....

I agree with this. A swimmer can come out of the Olympics with a bag full of medals ( individual and relay ) but someone competing in basketball or soccer can only score one.

It always bugs me when I see lists of "greatest" Olympians showing people who had the opportunity to compete in multiple events and get multiple golds. I think someone like British rower Steve Redgrave who got gold in 5 different Olympics deserves similar accolades.

[/end rant]

[Peregrine]

Why there are diferent weights for boxers? There´s no basketball for people below 6 feets. There´s no 100 meters for people fatter than 300 pounds. Of course a bigger man will be a better boxer. As Shaquille is a better basketball player.

This isn't that much different from non-Olympic boxing, which has its own weight classes, flyweight, welterweight, etc. In the Olympics it's just more strictly divided by actual weight.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by ShaqFu

Golf isn't a bad choice, because it takes 4 days to run a full tournament, with cut. Between men and women that would be 8 days. That would fit well into the Olympic schedule. You also could have match play and skins too. Lots of options for golf. It also fits well in a London Olympics.

That leaves rugby, squash, karate and roller sports.

Rugby wouldn't be a bad choice, but I think it might end up with the same stigma as baseball. The powerhouses may/may not send their pros. And, you have a limited number of countries to have solid appeal.

I've heard of squash, but have no idea what it really is. It could have the curling style appeal though. A really obscure sport?

Karate wouldn't make sense. Games already have Tae-Kwon-Do and Judo. Nevermind boxing and wrestling. I think that is enough sports in that realm.

That leaves roller sports. Roller sports could complement the ice sports in the winter. You could even see some crossover athletes in speed skating. Very interesting. Roller hockey is one of those where you could end up with a pretty decent tournament. And, the roller version of figure skating could be interesting. You could easily fill all 16 days with events and you probably end up getting more bang than a baseball or softball tournament.

I'll go with golf and roller.

Squash seems like the likely candidate. It's a racquet sport that's similar to racquetball, but is far more challenging. It's more similar to tennis than racquetball, really and is played around the world.



Squash Racket & ball

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by 21C

I agree with this. A swimmer can come out of the Olympics with a bag full of medals ( individual and relay ) but someone competing in basketball or soccer can only score one.

It always bugs me when I see lists of "greatest" Olympians showing people who had the opportunity to compete in multiple events and get multiple golds. I think someone like British rower Steve Redgrave who got gold in 5 different Olympics deserves similar accolades.

[/end rant]

This is a good point. I never considered this. But I guess their argument is that each skill is different, whereas field sports are just one game and they are team sports.

A tennis player could win two golds in both singles and doubles and track athletes win multiple medals for their disciplines.

I do think they tend to overemphasize multiple golds as some sort of indicator of supreme excellence, when it's obvious that other players in team sports or even individual sports (what are they gonna have match play & a stroke play gold medal if they add golf?) are able to do.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by ShaqFu

If I'm picking from stuff not on the IOCs list, I might like to see:

http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/frisbee/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/bowling/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...sport/billard/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...ican_football/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...ort/tauziehen/
http://www.worldgames2005.de/en/spor...port/kanupolo/

This year's World Games has American Football as a demonstration sport (they still have them..) and the four participants are Australia, Germany, Sweden and France.

[Coder]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

This year's World Games has American Football as a demonstration sport (they still have them..) and the four participants are Australia, Germany, Sweden and France.

I guess we're part of that group because they felt all teams needed at least one guaranteed win.....

[ShaqFu]

Isn't American Football becoming popular in Germany?

[Tara]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

2- In swimming. Why are medals for each style? I want a medal for "direct soccer" other for "short pass soccer" and so on.....

Different styles, different speed, different abilities. Can't compare none of them.
If you good at more styles It's just good for you; but that's very rare... Most of athletes just specialize on one style or distance. Never happends that someone try every single style. Maybe some (but very good) swimmer can compete on two style or on different distances...but every swimmer always has 'his' distance or 'his' style...

[WrongWay]

America wins. After the last Olympics where the big USA team was so bad that we did not even make it though the qualification rounds to go to the Olympics I knew something had to give.

So, rather than let the entire world beat the living daylights out of America, the Americans will just not allow the rest of the world to compete. Since we couldn't find a way to win, or even be competitive, we just won't play.


BTW---GOLF IS NOT A SPORT!!!

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by WrongWay

BTW---GOLF IS NOT A SPORT!!!

Try playing it. Not putt-putt. But real golf on a real course under real conditions. You'll change your mind.

No, it's not a sport in the traditional "Sweat 'til you drop" sort of way. But with all the "non-sports" that are becoming sports these days, I think golf has a hell of a claim of being a sport.

Or at least, a game of skill.

Besides, they give Ping-Pong medals out. The bar can't be that damn high.

[MIJB#19]

As WrongWay said, it became final when the USA failed to qualify for Athena'04. The baseball world was warned about this to happen and the USA baseball team did their end of the bargain to make it final. I used to have a copy of a column of some American columnist about how f*cked up his country is for making their own game get kicked out of the Olympics b sending n-th string players to the qualification tournament.

The only sad thing about it is that baseball always was a potential medal for the Netherlands...

[KeyserSoze]

Originally Posted by Tara

Different styles, different speed, different abilities. Can't compare none of them.
If you good at more styles It's just good for you; but that's very rare... Most of athletes just specialize on one style or distance. Never happends that someone try every single style. Maybe some (but very good) swimmer can compete on two style or on different distances...but every swimmer always has 'his' distance or 'his' style...

I can understand diferents medals for diferent distances, but for styles? there are diferent styles to make the jumps. And only one medal. And there are diferent styles to run. And only one medal. And one medal for each category of throwing. But in the other sports, they only give the price to the "best" style.

I think it´s a shame that an olympic swimmer can get 5-6 medals "easily", well not easy, but easier than any other olympic. Well maybe gymnastics, but this is other theme.

[WrongWay]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Try playing it. Not putt-putt. But real golf on a real course under real conditions. You'll change your mind.

Sorry, my friend you are barking up the wrong tree here.

I play about 15 times a year.

My Golf Tips.
1) The first tip is to always (Tip) the beer girl. Make sure she knows you will be needing a fresh beer every 4th hole. I have found this works best for me1,4,8,12,16,19) a perfect 6 pack.
2) Always have a new unopened pack of Marlboro Reds before you begin; Don't want to run out before you make it back to the club house.
3) The perfect form. Marlboro red hanging out my mouth and my Coors light on the ground 2 inches away from my ball. Beautifull baby

I generally shoot in the mid 80s and have a course handicap of 12. Actually I have now giving up smoking and have started asking for a new beer every 3rd hole.

Sorry, but anything you can do while drinking and smoking at the same thing is NOT a sport. An activity YES, but definately not a sport.

[WrongWay]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Besides, they give Ping-Pong medals out. The bar can't be that damn high.

Have you actually seen Olympic Ping Pong? It is basically Aerobics with a small white ball involved. These contestants are drenching wet from sweat by the end of the game/match. Not something you could do while smoking or drinking.


I would put Golf right up there with Darts and Bowling as far as activities go.

[Tara]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

I can understand diferents medals for diferent distances, but for styles? there are diferent styles to make the jumps. And only one medal. And there are diferent styles to run. And only one medal. And one medal for each category of throwing. But in the other sports, they only give the price to the "best" style.

I think it´s a shame that an olympic swimmer can get 5-6 medals "easily", well not easy, but easier than any other olympic. Well maybe gymnastics, but this is other theme.

You cannot absolutely compare two different swimming style. As said different style has different speed. And moreover different abilities. You'll never find a good swimmer in crawl that is good enough (to gain a medal) to breaststroke.
If you had some experience of professional swimming you would know that make different style swimmers compete together is like make F1 and NASCAR run in the same lane to give just 1 medal. In the end they are both cars, aren't they?

[Ksyrup]

Good. Two down, the rest to go.

[Northwood_DK]

Originally Posted by Tara

You cannot absolutely compare two different swimming style. As said different style has different speed. And moreover different abilities. You'll never find a good swimmer in crawl that is good enough (to gain a medal) to breaststroke.
If you had some experience of professional swimming you would know that make different style swimmers compete together is like make F1 and NASCAR run in the same lane to give just 1 medal. In the end they are both cars, aren't they?

Maybe but Phelps still came away with eight Olympic medals in 2004. That’s just way to many medals even for an exceptional swimmer.

[Tara]

Yes you right, but Phelps is just an exceptional case that come once in 100 years.

BTW he only does freestyle competitions and sometimes medley.
Maybe, if someone feels the need to put a limit on medals collected by a single swimmer the only way to proceed is that olimpic federation put a limit on the number of competitions a swimmer can sign into...that's could be ok.
On the other hand a swimmer will be free to compete in every single competition in special tournament (only swimming related) such as World or European championship.

[Huckleberry]

There should be absolutely no swimming events except freestyle.

What is a race? A race is a contest to decide who can get from here to there the fastest. The style requirements are dumb. I will accept the backstroke as a legitimate event as soon as the 100m backwards run is entered as an event.

[Tara]

I give up. No former swimmer here. To difficult to explain the need an beauty of different style to someone who never swim as a professional swimmer.
I really give up

[Peregrine]

Sorry, but anything you can do while drinking and smoking at the same thing is NOT a sport. An activity YES, but definately not a sport

I understand your reasoning Wrongway, and I have a hard time accepting golf as a sport either. But we're talking something to replace softball here, a sport that couldn't exist without beer.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Tara

I give up. No former swimmer here. To difficult to explain the need an beauty of different style to someone who never swim as a professional swimmer.
I really give up

Like figure skating and gymnastics, I thinnk many people have a problem reconciling the idea of sports with the concept of style. Sports is about winning, not looking graceful or elegant.

[WrongWay]

Question: Does a new Olympic "Medal" sport have to be an demonstration sport first?


Also, I would like to watch the 100 meter backwards race.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Tara

I give up. No former swimmer here. To difficult to explain the need an beauty of different style to someone who never swim as a professional swimmer.
I really give up

I'm with you Tara My wife, while not a professional swimmer, used to be a lifeguard and also used to do somewhat competitive synchronized swimming. Whe she was looking for a training program after giving birth to our second child, she went back to the pool and signed up for a master's training and after seeing her do some butterfly style, I can say it simply is an art to master.

I also kind of agree that the distances and styles do multiply the number of medals one person can earn though...

FM

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

There should be absolutely no swimming events except freestyle.

What is a race? A race is a contest to decide who can get from here to there the fastest. The style requirements are dumb. I will accept the backstroke as a legitimate event as soon as the 100m backwards run is entered as an event.

As a former freestyle distance swimmer, I agree. Fuck all those other styles.

[Tara]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Like figure skating and gymnastics, I thinnk many people have a problem reconciling the idea of sports with the concept of style. Sports is about winning, not looking graceful or elegant.

Where is the grace in spitting blood to go faster and faster to WIN and ARRIVE BEFORE every other swimmer in in the other lane? Maybe there is some misunderstanding here...We are not about synchronized swimming, this is graceful as gymnastic ( but not less hard )

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Tara

Where is the grace in spitting blood to go faster and faster to WIN and ARRIVE BEFORE every other swimmer in in the other lane? Maybe there is some misunderstanding here...We are not about synchronized swimming, this is graceful as gymnastic ( but not less hard )

I think it's in the idea that you are arriving before every other swimmer...only if you swim in a certain style. I'll agree that that's not nearly as bad as being judged for artistic merit and whatever other nonsense is involved with certain gymnastics events and with figure skating. But a swimming race should be just that; personally, I don't see the need to determine who can swim backwards the fastest, or like a frog the fastest, or like a dog the fastest, or like a lifeguard the fastest. One race - whoever gets there first, wins.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by KeyserSoze

There´s some things that I cannot understand of the olympic games.

1 -Why there are diferent weights for boxers? There´s no basketball for people below 6 feets. There´s no 100 meters for people fatter than 300 pounds. Of course a bigger man will be a better boxer. As Shaquille is a better basketball player.

2- In swimming. Why are medals for each style? I want a medal for "direct soccer" other for "short pass soccer" and so on.....

I've griped about this in the past. It's especially bad in the winter olympics, where there's so few sports that they need to pad them out with 87 variations of speed skating. The 500 meter, the 1000 meter, the 1005 meter, the 1005 meter where the track is kind of at an angle, etc.

Meanwhile, there's just one gold medal for hockey. I want to see multiple hockey events -- the 60-minute, the 90-minute, the 30-minute, the 30-minute four-man, etc.

Maybe Canada could finish at the top of the medal standings for once.

[Critch]

Darts is in the running to be one of the demonstration sports at the next Olympics. Big fat guys who'll get out of breath doing a lap at the opening ceremony and use beer as a performance enhancer. Yip, that's a real sport.

[Huckleberry]

I never said that butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, doggy paddle, etc. aren't fun or interesting. I never even said that once should never hold a race with that requirement. Just not at the Olympics.

People all over the world have backward races for the hell of it. Three-legged races with a partner, potato sack races. My daughter had a who can skip the fastest race the other day. But I certainly see no place for such contrived events in the Olympics.

Now I happen to be married to a woman that loves to swim. I also happen to be married to a woman that kicked ass at the backstroke when she was a girl. When I first had this debate with her, she said "what about the hurdles?". And I told her that I would absolutely love to see a swimming race where they place bars across the width of the pool that the swimmers have to go under (underwater) and over (at the water level). That would be awesome.

Anyway, the true Olympic events have some human history behind them. Let's see who can run the fastest because being fast is advantageous for any animal. The javelin obviously has a reason for existing. Hell, even the pole vault is related to breaching a security wall. Hurdles from running through wooded or just plain obstacle-laden terrain. If you saw a tiger and had to bolt, you'd run like hell and jump over anything in your way if it was there. And you would run forward.

If you saw a shark and had to swim for it, please do me a favor and use the butterfly technique. I'll go freestyle and it will give me a better chance to survive. Thanks in advance.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by WrongWay

Question: Does a new Olympic "Medal" sport have to be an demonstration sport first?


Also, I would like to watch the 100 meter backwards race.

No, there are no more demonstration sports in the Olympics. Now, they just get sports from the "waiting list" of World Games sports. Except golf isn't a World Games sport..but it's obviously a worldwide sport and that's my thought as to why it'll get in.. Even if it's not "really" a sport.

That said, I know table tennis is really athletic and skilled. I'm a real tennis player (17+ as a player and coach), but I've never really picked up ping pong. I probably could, as most of my tennis players that I've taught in tennis are just as good at that as they are in tennis.

But the table tennis "court" is just too small for me. So I have immense respect for the guys who play it.

That said, no one goes drinking on the golf course at a major championship or at the Olympics. Maybe they should do 2 days of stroke play and 2 days of match play..that way, there can be a gold medal match and a bronze medal match.

[Young Drachma]

The IOC is a confirmed joke. So Rogge gets rid of baseball and softball, as a basic "fuck you" to America...but then won't even replace it with a sport that the host British (Squash) could actually do well in? Retards...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - London will stage a reduced Olympic Games in 2012 after baseball and softball were wiped from the program in a controversial vote on Friday.

London's showpiece will now feature 26 sports rather than 28 after International Olympic Committee (IOC) members rejected proposals to replace the axed sports with two from rugby sevens, golf, squash, karate and roller sports.

Baseball and softball failed to win a majority of votes in a ballot of members at the IOC Session at the Raffles complex and became the first sports to be cut from the Games since polo in 1936.

In a farcical display of bureaucracy, IOC members went through seven rounds of voting to decide which two of the five would-be Olympic sports should be put up for a vote to give them Olympic status.

Having selected squash and karate, the members then overwhelmingly rejected their bids to join the Olympic program.

The last Olympics to be staged with just 26 sports was Atlanta in 1996. The minimum number of sports required for an Olympic Games is 15, while the maximum is 28.

"Today was a decision to put quality over quantity," IOC communications director Giselle Davies said.

Although London will have two less sports than Beijing in 2008, it is expected the IOC will tweak the program of events and boost numbers among the events so the Games will be no smaller than Beijing's.

"It's entirely a matter for the IOC. We're delighted to deliver a Games with 26 sports. We're happy with the decision," London 2012 communications director Mike Lee said.

"There will be some savings through not having temporary venues in Regents Park but it is not a major consideration.

"We will deliver the Games the IOC want.

[ISiddiqui]

Eh... baseball and softball was bound to get canceled, especially since the best of the best don't get to go. I'm sure if major league players went, they'd both be saved.

[Ksyrup]

The best of the best are already playing...it's called Major League Baseball. And as a bonus, they play every year!

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

The best of the best are already playing...it's called Major League Baseball. And as a bonus, they play every year!

Pipe down, anti-Olympicite.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

Pipe down, anti-Olympicite.

Everyone's got their cause. This is mine. Screw the Olympics, international competitions, and any similar events that take away from the college and professional leagues that really matter.