What shouldn't be in the olympics

**varbo** · August 23rd, 2008, 10:46 AM

We were having this discussion last night. My votes are:

Equestrian - Horse does all the work

Any sport that has an "artistic" component too it. This is athletic acheivement, not ballet.

**wil** · August 23rd, 2008, 10:54 AM

Equestrian, like you said.

And off the top of my head...

Rythmic gymnastics
Trampoline
Diving
BMX
Shooting (I'm sure that's not the official name)
Archery

A woman I work with was telling me about the Race-Walking. I guess that's for those who can't compete in the running events????

**tooncesthecat** · August 23rd, 2008, 12:33 PM

and dont forget sailing! What a waste!

**wil** · August 23rd, 2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooncesthecat

and dont forget sailing! What a waste!

Sailing is in the olympics??????

In the immortal words of Gary Cherone and Extreme... "Get The Funk Out" (yeah... I have music downloads on the brain

)

**falconfootball** · August 23rd, 2008, 12:46 PM

badminton, motocross, synchronized swimming, handball

**wil** · August 23rd, 2008, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconfootball

badminton, motocross, synchronized swimming, handball

I'm surprised PETA doesn't protest the badminton games with all the abuse to the birdies.

**Russ_s** · August 23rd, 2008, 02:47 PM

IMO... all the above and Table Tennis

**ckn** · August 23rd, 2008, 03:51 PM

Equestrian events. All of them Out

I've always been very critical of the rhythmic gymnastics but my wife got me to watch it the other night... damnably skillful girls and I'd have no hope of matching their agility or precision but it is still effectively a dance. Out.

Trampoline. The problem is that it's quite close to many other gymnastic subjects, bin that and you have to bin a fair few others. Out

Diving. It is very artsy but very skillful. Borderline but Out

BMX/motocross. Grow up and ride a proper racing or cross-country bike. Out

Shooting. Some of the accuracy shown in this highly skilled event is astounding. I may be showing my prejudice as a multi-weapon marksman but In

Archery. Shooting but with much more physical effort and endurance. In

Sailing. The endurance and physical efforts that have to go into the small boat racing is staggering. That said, it's a rich man's sport. Borderline but In

Badminton. A great sport played widely in many countries throughout the world. A very worthy In

Synchronized swimming. This is clearly the most pointless Olympic sport out there. Out

Handball. A quite addictive sport that has huge audiences in many European and Asian countries. In but not by much.

Other sports I'd like to add to the bin list:

- Football (soccer). Yes, it's the world's most popular team sport but what's the point of having these highly-paid primadonnas at a largely amateur Olympics.
- Modern pentathlon. A rich man's sport full of Ruperts and Henriettas.
- Tennis. Although not by much, this should be binned for the same reason as my football point above.

**tooncesthecat** · August 23rd, 2008, 03:54 PM

Handball is actually pretty cool. Never get to see it here in the States. Kind of like like basketball, hockey, soccer all in one.

**tidalwave** · August 23rd, 2008, 07:45 PM

Ref kicking

Cuban athlete banned for life after kicking taekwondo ref - 2008 Olympics - SI.com

**wil** · August 23rd, 2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tidalwave

Ref kicking

Cuban athlete banned for life after kicking taekwondo ref - 2008 Olympics - SI.com

Yeah... what a "Richard Cranium" that guy is.

**Hans_Rachid** · August 24th, 2008, 04:21 AM

Wanting badminton and ping pong out is pretty ignorant...

What about water polo though, was there ever a more boring sport to watch? Ok, there are many, but still...

**joey9** · August 24th, 2008, 08:33 AM

It sounds like some people want to ban competitions that rely on coordination rather than brute strength, and turn the Olympics into more of a Strongman competition, with feats of strength but not so many feats of coordination...

Could this be due to a bias of lifting weights instead of playing sports? No offense, I'm just curious.

As far as synchronized swimming goes... yeah, it's not very Grecco-Roman, but it does require a lot of strength and coordination. Just be glad it's only a woman's event, lol. If men did it, that would just be wrong, lol. But you have a point when you say it's judged more on artistic criteria than on something more tangible. Hopefully the judging isn't as bad as the boxing judging though.

I don't actually see a problem with diving or equestrian events. They both involve a lot of human training and skill, just like all the other events.

I mean sure, diving is a bit fake-- we're going to judge you on how small your splash is when you jump into a pool-- but boxing is fake too. Rather than judge you on kicking some guy's *ss, we're going to judge on certain made-up critieria that have little to do with winning a real fight. I think just about all sports have arbitrary criteria (meaning an arbitrary set of rules), but there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

The amateur vs. pro question is interesting. Why do some sports allow pro athletes and not others, and what is the result of it?

**varbo** · August 24th, 2008, 10:54 AM

OK, to say synchronised swimming deserves to stay in just because it requires strength and coordination doesn't make sense. I hear that arguement all the time. this is my arguement back:

If syncronised swimming is in, pro wrestling should be in. Its a Choreographed routine that requires strength, timing, coordination and agility. in fact, it requires all of those things a lot more than syncronised swimming does. so if thats the arguement then in London 2012 we should see HHH vs undertaker going for gold as commentators say "and yes hes going into the pile driver with a suprise reversal into the camel clutch, oh and they nailed it. thats a degree of difficulty of 5.7 and that will make them a definate contender."

I think that it would be good to go back to basics on olympics.
Wrestling/and all the martial arts
Track and field/marathons and the like
Rowing,canoe, kayak
cycling
swimming (races)
weight lifting

Sports were not meant for the olympics.

Stupid artistic crap should have its own venue called "Artsy-fartsy-lympics" and have it every 4 years when there's nothing else on and guys have better things to do.

hardgainer · August 24th, 2008, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hans_Rachid

What about water polo though, was there ever a more boring sport to watch?

+1, it does nothing for me either.

**JoeBAR** · August 24th, 2008, 11:54 AM

I'm surporised noone mentioned beach volley. However much I can enjoy 2 pairs of scantly clad well toned ladies on sand, calling it a 'sport' or making it a different competition than traditional volley for the sake of the bikinis is a fuckin joke!

**JoeBAR** · August 24th, 2008, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joey9

The amateur vs. pro question is interesting. Why do some sports allow pro athletes and not others, and what is the result of it?

Money

**wil** · August 24th, 2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeBAR

I'm surporised noone mentioned beach volley. However much I can enjoy 2 pairs of scantly clad well toned ladies on sand, calling it a 'sport' or making it a different competition than traditional volley for the sake of the bikinis is a fuckin joke!

I'll give my reluctant agreement here. I too enjoy watching the matches and the signal calling. But I don't think it needs to be in the Olympics.

Bye bye tushies.

**ckn** · August 25th, 2008, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeBAR

I'm surporised noone mentioned beach volley. However much I can enjoy 2 pairs of scantly clad well toned ladies on sand, calling it a 'sport' or making it a different competition than traditional volley for the sake of the bikinis is a fuckin joke!

"Just think of the children" (TM), how else do you imagine you'll get 14-18 year old boys to watch sport? Plus, even your President likes the sport