Sports that shouldn't be in the Olympics
After the Canadian women took gold, there was some talk from IOC brass saying that the international caliber of women's hockey had better improve dramatically, or else it would be pulled from the games. Frankly, what a stupid thing to say by the IOC. If they want the game to improve more internationally, they have to promote it in other countries more, not remove it from the games roster. But that's not the point of this thread.
Got me to thinking there are so many other Olympic sports that frankly, I don't think should be, while other sports deserve the right to be in the Olympic spotlight but aren't.
First, any "sport" that is won based solely on judging. Salt Lake proved that judging is not infallible, and quite frankly, any sport that relies on the personal opinion of a few 'experts' shouldn't qualify as a 'sport' in my book. This would include figure skating, aerials, diving, and synchronized swimming.
I mean no disrespect to the athletes of these particular 'sports', just don't feel they should qualify as an Olympic game. Olympics are designed to reward the fastest, strongest, longest athletes, not the ones who dance on ice or in a pool and look hot in tight fitting outfits.
For games that I believe should be considered for Olympics, the best one I can think of is Golf! Used to be an Olympic game I believe, way back in the last century. When the IOC threatened to remove archery, I was surprised. Archery was the original game! I understand full well its not much of a spectator sport, but it has roots to the very beginning.
What games in your opinion should or should not be in the Olympics??
Got me to thinking there are so many other Olympic sports that frankly, I don't think should be, while other sports deserve the right to be in the Olympic spotlight but aren't.
First, any "sport" that is won based solely on judging. Salt Lake proved that judging is not infallible, and quite frankly, any sport that relies on the personal opinion of a few 'experts' shouldn't qualify as a 'sport' in my book. This would include figure skating, aerials, diving, and synchronized swimming.
I mean no disrespect to the athletes of these particular 'sports', just don't feel they should qualify as an Olympic game. Olympics are designed to reward the fastest, strongest, longest athletes, not the ones who dance on ice or in a pool and look hot in tight fitting outfits.
For games that I believe should be considered for Olympics, the best one I can think of is Golf! Used to be an Olympic game I believe, way back in the last century. When the IOC threatened to remove archery, I was surprised. Archery was the original game! I understand full well its not much of a spectator sport, but it has roots to the very beginning.
What games in your opinion should or should not be in the Olympics??
Comments
Having said all that, you are not going to get Figure skating, or the "X" games sports out of the Olympics as they drive TV ratings. Sadly, though many think as we do (that these athletic competitions are not "sports"), we are NOT the ones who get to decide . . .
I *HATE* the Olympics for several reasons, but I'll confine my rant to the "sports" that are included. I have said for a long time that as long as a sport that requires ratings by a panel is considered an Olympic sport, professional wrestling should be considered as such.
Here's my argument:
Figure skating routines are on a "6 point system" whereby they are graded on
- Skating Skills (Not falling on your ass)
- Transitions (I have no idea what this means - seems to be a move they do?)
- Performance and Execution (Not falling on your ass)
- Choreography (Not falling on your ass simultaneously)
- Interpretation (What did you mean by not falling on your ass)
Okay, so it's a bit more complicated than that, but my point is, this "sport" should more likely be called "athletic entertainment", or if you want to stick to the legitimization, "Sport Entertainment"... hmm.. this sounds familiar.
To be considered eligible for Olympics, a sport must be practiced in 75 / 40 countries (men / women) and 4/3 continents. It also must have an overseeing international governing body. Pro wrestling is a worldwide phenomenon, huge in North and South America to be sure, but also in Europe, Japan, and catching on in Australia. The only thing it lacks is an international governing body.
Anyways, anyone that has more than a passing interest in wrestling knows that there are good wrestlers who get by on their in-ring skills, there are good wrestlers who get by on a look, and good wrestlers who get by on their charisma / showmanship. However, it's the GREAT ones that can find that combination of each. I submit to you, oh biased Olympic fanatics, that pro wrestling could be judged on much the same criteria as figure skating!
Wrestling skills (ability to perform moves in a convincing and safe manner)
Transitions (the "flow" between each wrestler's offensive and defensive roles in the match)
Performance / Execution (Any botches? Did the fans start chanting "YOU FUCKED UP"?)
Choreography (did each participant know their role, and fulfill the story they were telling perfectly?)
Interpretation (What was the quality of the story they were telling, did they tell a good one?)
Anyways, barring an international committee, there's IMO no difference between Figure Skating and wrestling - hell, there's even a huge importance placed on showmanship and costumes, and wrestling certainly knows the importance of THAT!
Mark
Anyways, remove all 'sports' involving animals. All equestrian events and modern pentathalon as well. Remove all events using firearms.
I agree with virtually everything that's been said in this thread, but wholeheartedly disagree with this. I'm wondering why you've come to this opinion. Is it an anti-promotion of guns thing (which I can understand)? I assume you don't think the gun is making any difference as 95% of the biathletes use the exact same Anschütz Fortner .22 rifle.
Personally, I find the biathlon to be one of, if not the most credible event of the Winter Olympics because:
- with the exception of a freak event (eg. broken ski pole), the finishing time of the athlete is 100% reflective of the athlete's performance. hard numbers. no judging.
- unlike athletes in some (albeit a limited number of) events, biathletes must be in absolutely outstanding, almost super-human, physical condition ... being able to go full throttle for extended periods and then drop their heartbeat significantly in just 20 seconds
- it is a sport that mirrors centuries of a recognizable, real-world human activity (ski warfare) that has been and still is practiced by millions ... as opposed to events like bobsledding/luge/skeleton or ski jumping which are essentially non-existent outside of the Olympic community
a) always exactly equal between competitors' equipment; and
b) a very tiny, insignificant fraction of the overall energy generated by the athletes over the course of the event
Sailing doesn't fit either of these criteria, so I agree it should go.
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edit: Obviously, I'm aware that sailing ships don't generate any energy. They have different abilities to harness energy from the wind - giving an unfair advantage to those with better boats ... and the total amount of energy harnessed from the wind is far, far greater than that provided by the crew in the operation the boat.
At least in women's hockey the gold medal game is in doubt. Not so in men's basketball.
Sailing I agree shouldn't be Olympic. But basketball most certainly. Just because one team dominates an event shouldn't be a reason to pull the event entirely. If anything, it should be used to generate even more competitiveness in the sport.
I don't understand. When they shoot the targets, the bullet isn't propelling them on the course. How is the bullet generating energy for the ski portion of the race?
Sailing skill is a determining factor in the race not just who's got the better boat. I imagine most of the boats are very close to the same in capabilities. I could be wrong about that though. Anyway, I wouldn't care if it was out.
Judged sports are a problem sometimes but you're never going to get rid of figure skating or gymnastics. They should find a way to somehow incorporate the crowd response into the mark because usually the crowd shows whether it was a good performance or not by the ovation. Maybe a crowd noise monitor like on game shows? (This is tongue in cheek but it seems to be true.)
How about table tennis? Sport or parlour game? If table tennis then billiards and foosball as well? What about bubble hockey? If they add that game then I will have a chance to be an Olympian myself.
Of course not, that's why I gave the example of basketball. It will always be in the Olympics but it is by far the least competitive of all Olympic events, Winter and Summer. Yet that's the reason the IOC is giving for getting rid of women's hockey? BS in my opinion and completely hypocritical.
Umm... yeah... the bold part.
Maybe it's the large quantities of booze I ingested last night, but I'm pretty sure it's in the Olympics and we get our asses kicked every time.
Pump: Womens Ski Jump, Full Contact Curling, Foxy Boxing, Team Snowball Fight
Oh and Mark.. if you LOVE to watch wresting DQs and no-contests then you'd love Olympic Pro-Wrestling.. Do you think an organization like the IOC could ever make a decision?
Adding a sport like 9-ball would be cool, imo. Let the Phillipines take a Gold Medal for a change . . .
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Yeah, I know it is but it probably shouldn't be or else why not include the other games room staples that I listed?
Nobody said the bullet is generating energy for the ski portion of the race. Moose is against any event which allows power input from a non-human source at any time. The gunpowder, not the athlete, generates energy during the shooting element - so it is out under his theory.
I disagree since the amount of energy provided by the gunpowder is, for all intents and purposes, always exactly the same between opponents' equipment and it is the difference in energy provided by the athlete during the skiing element that counts.
Add in the fact that it is the athlete who releases the potential energy stored in every cartridge fired and it qualifies under moose's criteria . . .
besides, who doesn't want to see a biathlete go nuts and start picking off his opponents?
Half pipe, aerials, freestyle moguls, as well as figure skating all are based on judging. I dont understand why you want to dump this. Although the judging may be slightly biased, it is what all competetors are used to. Anyone who has ever taken an arts/english class will know that certain styles impress certain people, so go with the program that will come on top!
Re: bolded type.
When you strip away all the blather, sports is about winning and losing. Judging turns competition into interpretation, and that is NOT sport. Athletes are supposed to be competing (to quote the IOC) for the glory of sport. Competitions that require judging are not "sport", as the winner is not determined on the field of play, but rather by subjective criteria. The competitions you listed may require immense athletic ability and skill, but so does professional wrestling. No offense, Cerberus. In any case, I do not consider any of them "sport".
Personally I think the winter olympics are fine, no need to add or subtract. Eventually more x-games type events would have to be added to appease the next generation. Wasn't there a winter bmx event last event?
figure skating requires a lot more athletic ability and training to compete, so why shouldn't it be? The olympics are about friendly competition in athletics, not sports. I enjoyed watching all the events at the olympics, save ice dancing. By getting rid of a sport in the olympics you are getting rid of all competition in that field. I don't think any of these sports should die save ice dancing. That's just stupid.
Love Biathlon, and the ski-jumping. The sliding sports are just insanely fun to watch. Curling is a great TV sport.
This is the way it sounds like most of you would have it.
We all know it likely will never come to pass that they remove judge based scores of certain sports. They have changed much of the way that the judged scores are based, especially in figure skating, to make it more fair, and less up to the interpretation of others, and more based on technical merit. But it is common practice to be judged by a panel of your peers in several sports. No differences should be made just because this happens to be the Olympics.
When does a sport qualify as a sport and not a game? It could be argued that any team sport can be looked at as more of a "game". (+1 on the refereed sports comment by actyper). You are no longer winning or losing based on the individual effort, you are relying on the power of numbers. One can fall back and still win, as we saw in the German women's team pursuit races. In this case a substitution was made in the final race for the Germans...which no doubt allowed a better chance at winning.
I for one am very proud of most of our athletes (Leuders would be the exception..temper tantrums are unbecoming). No matter what the sport was, whether they medaled or not, they almost all went out with pride to do their best for their country. They work and train for much of their lives in order to represent us and all are deserving of the opportunity to do so. If there is an area of competition that you don't want to watch, change the channel.
I think the 2010 Olympics, and the reaction from people all over this country showed the world that this competition is about more than just a Medal, or more than just a few select sports. It is about comming together. It is about pride, perseverance and striving to be your best. It is about brotherhood and friendship. Athletes talk about being honoured to be able to compete at the olympics....I am honoured to have had the representation that Canada had, and our country proudly showed them all with a unified voice, that we were all honoured by their efforts.
btw I believe poker has been recognized as a skilled game by the IOC. Though not olympic ready, it will most likely be added to the "mind games" or whatever its called.