New Olympic Sports

[Natasha]

Some sports are on the cutting board but then they'll consider replacing them...possibly with "roller" sports.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ry/Sports/

[Natasha]

Re: New Olympic Sports

the final paragraph of the article is quite funny.

[tafnut]

Re: New Olympic Sports

I would vote for rugby and lacrosse - no roller or dance sports - especially no roller dancing!

[kuha]

Re: New Olympic Sports

Hurling--let the Irish take home a boatload of gold medals.

[bhall]

Re: New Olympic Sports

Watch where you step with negative comments about inline speed skating. You never know who might participate in such a sport. :-)

[Mel]

Re: New Olympic Sports

Hurling--let the Irish take home a boatload of gold medals."

You're up Chuck.

[Pego]

Re: New Olympic Sports

<especially no roller dancing>

This is good Pat, especially on well waxed parquet floors.

[Al in NYC]

Re: New Olympic Sports

I'm American, and I don't follow the sport except for brief glimpses on TV, but wouldn't rugby run into exactly the same problem as baseball (and soccer)? With big popular leagues drawing lots of fans and TV viewers in several countries, wouldn't the Olympic version would just become an anemic sideshow? Also, since, like soccer, rugby already has a World Cup, what would be the point of Olympic rugby?

Similarly, golf would suffer the same fate as tennis and become a secondary stop on an already jammed professional calendar.

Squash and karate would at least provide top-flight competition, but, as is pointed out, they are both very similar to sports already contested at the Olympics.

"Roller sports" -- please God no...

The real question is why the bloated-as-hell Olympics should be considering adding ANY sports. I'm all for lopping off a couple, and, like I said, Olympic baseball has proven to be an anemic counterpart to the excitement of the real thing (softball, however, has been pretty damn good). Personally though, I'd sure as hell vote to ax ludicrous carny events like synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics before real sports like baseball and softball.

[abinferno]

Re: New Olympic Sports

Lacrosse?? You mean people who play a sport that desperately wants to be hockey and football, but the players aren't good enough for either? Someone should just invent speed golf. You get a bonus for how fast you can finish the round. Great sport for people who can't be professional golfers or track athletes.

[einnod23]

Re: New Olympic Sports

>Lacrosse?? You mean people who play a sport that desperately wants to be
>hockey and football, but the players aren't good enough for either? Someone
>should just invent speed golf. You get a bonus for how fast you can finish the
>round. Great sport for people who can't be professional golfers or track
>athletes.

You have people on this board who are alum of Syracuse University, who are offended by the above remark.

But Cuse's track team sucks, so carry on.....

[tafnut]

Re: New Olympic Sports

>Lacrosse?? You mean people who play a sport that desperately wants to be >hockey and football, but the players aren't good enough for either?

no, the lacrosse I'm speaking of pre-dates both those games. I'm speaking of the one that was played for days between rival tribes that often ended in death for some of the 'players'. The game that lets you whack other people with a stick real hard. Yeah, that wussy sport. Please tell Jim Brown that he wasn't good enough for other sports. He was an All-American at Syracuse.

[twittering debutante]

Re: New Olympic Sports

Be careful what you say about rhythmic gymnastics.

When those girls are jumping around doing the splits, waving around those streamers, and tossing the big ball up in the air and deftly catch it, my dogs go competely nuts!

[Mel]

Re: New Olympic Sports

my dogs go competely nuts!"

Daschund all over the place? ;-)

[The Fern]

Re: New Olympic Sports

I still think they need to cut rather than add. Rugby in the sevens form has been mentioned.

For real rugby, once again you have a sport that is really only played well by five countries, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and France. Sevens gets added Fiji, Samoa, Argentina, Wales and maybe Scotland and Ireland.

Let's deal with all the ludicrous subjectively judged sports first.

[MJD]

Re: New Olympic Sports

>Lacrosse?? You mean people who play a sport that desperately wants to be
>hockey and football, but the players aren't good enough for either?

That is what some say about the triathlon.