# What's up with Olympic Womens softball? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 21, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852 "2004-08-21T15:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/1 "2004-08-21T15:34:00Z")
[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5749457/?GT1=4529](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5749457/?GT1=4529) I can appreciate that they are the best at what they do, but why is this an O event? Of course they are going to dominate this sport. This is primarily an American sport isn’t it? Where else do women play softball as routinely as they do here? No where that I know of. To my knowledge this is a regional sport to the utmost degree. This is why there is no Olympic (pigskin) Football. Why not have Olympic Football or Cricket? It would be the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/2 "2004-08-21T15:50:28Z")
Don’t know about the womens but the NZ men are currently the world champs. Of course that means they will come 6th or 7th. We are champs in not winning when it really matters. Netball should be an Olympic sport (I say that only cause we are the world champs at that at the moment…took years to get it off the Aussies too!) I start out watching every Olympics thinking “why is that a sport?”. I finsh watching admiring them all. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/3 "2004-08-21T15:54:53Z")
I understand that it’s a sport. I’m not debating that. What I’m asking is why are we playing an American sport on the world theatre when there are VERY few countries that competitively play this sport? Our girls play this sport from a very young age (5 or so in my home town). Like I said, why not make Football and Cricket an Olmpic sport? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/4 "2004-08-21T16:05:51Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Don’t know about the womens but the NZ men are currently the world champs. Of course that means they will come 6th or 7th. We are champs in not winning when it really matters. > > Netball should be an Olympic sport (I say that only cause we are the world champs at that at the moment…took years to get it off the Aussies too!) > > I start out watching every Olympics thinking “why is that a sport?”. I finsh watching admiring them all. …Calm Kiwi, its two minutes to four in the morning-you should be in bed! 😉 The way international competition works, there was only one qualifying spot for the Oceania/Pacific region, so while we were ranked six at the last world cup, we couldn’t qualify for the olympics because Australia got through… [http://www.sportline.co.nz/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=35&page=7](http://www.sportline.co.nz/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=35&page=7) …which is silly, really, and what has lead to the “dream” run that the American team is experiencing… we were world champions from 82-90, its a shame we didn’t get a go this year… ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/5 "2004-08-21T16:10:05Z")
I think softball is played in many countries (I know it was part of PE at my school) it is baseball that is not so common. We play netball from a fairly young age. It won’t ever be an Olympic sport because it seems to be a commonwealth sport. Softball must be wider spread then you think otherwise baseball and netball could both be Olympic sports. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/6 "2004-08-21T16:10:58Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > I understand that it’s a sport. I’m not debating that. What I’m asking is why are we playing an American sport on the world theatre when there are VERY few countries that competitively play this sport? …cite? > [@](#): > > Our girls play this sport from a very young age (5 or so in my home town). …and they do so here as well… [http://www.usasoftball.com/Women/Olympics/1996%20Olympic%20Games/intotheolympics.htm](http://www.usasoftball.com/Women/Olympics/1996%20Olympic%20Games/intotheolympics.htm) I would hardly think that you would catergorize softball as a solely “American” sport, it seems unfair to all the other countries out there, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/7 "2004-08-21T16:11:19Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > Like I said, why not make Football and Cricket an Olmpic sport? Football [is](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/football/default.stm), unless you meant that weird thing Americans in helmets play. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/8 "2004-08-21T16:12:24Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …Calm Kiwi, its two minutes to four in the morning-you should be in bed! 😉 Well I would be if Greece moved closer! I am an Olympics junky (did you just see Sarah Ulma!! YAYY) ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/9 "2004-08-21T16:14:06Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Well I would be if Greece moved closer! I am an Olympics junky (did you just see Sarah Ulma!! YAYY) …bugger, no I didn’t, turned the TV off during the basketball, with four minutes to spare, my heart couldn’t take it! What happened? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/10 "2004-08-21T16:17:31Z")
If this message board existed twenty years ago, change “women’s softball” to “men’s basketball” and it would have been accurate, almost word for word. Times are changing, the US Men’s Basketball team is getting a harsh lesson in international (non-US) sporting advancements. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/11 "2004-08-21T16:29:46Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …bugger, no I didn’t, turned the TV off during the basketball, with four minutes to spare, my heart couldn’t take it! What happened? Well what did you think would happen! We lost the basketball. But Sarah broke the world record in a heat! We may end up with more then just the one bit of bling bling lol. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/12 "2004-08-21T17:29:52Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > Like I said, why not make Football and Cricket an Olmpic sport? Regarding cricket: I’ve said it in another thread, but, in a nutshell, the top players don’t want it, the national associations don’t want it, and the International Cricket Council doesn’t want it. The International Cricket Council has no interest in detracting from its World Cup, and the players and associations do not want qualifying tournaments and the Olympic competition itself being added to an already overloaded international schedule. The only way it would ever happen, IMHO, is if the IOC agrees to make Olympic competition under-23, the way it used to be in soccer (football). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/13 "2004-08-21T17:48:25Z")
Since there’s no men’s softball in the Olympics, it’s redundant to call it “women’s softball.” I don’t know if this is representative of other teams, but it does crack me up that 16 of the 18 players on the Greek team are actually Americans (of Greek descent). ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/14 "2004-08-21T19:51:32Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …cite? > …and they do so here as well… > > [http://www.usasoftball.com/Women/Olympics/1996%20Olympic%20Games/intotheolympics.htm](http://www.usasoftball.com/Women/Olympics/1996%20Olympic%20Games/intotheolympics.htm) > > I would hardly think that you would catergorize softball as a solely “American” sport, it seems unfair to all the other countries out there, doesn’t it? Actually why don’t YOU tell ME how many other countries have had substantial competitive womens softball leagues since before it was let into the O in 96. Your link says makes mention of 80+ countries that have softball teams but that doesn’t mean anything. Just like Jamaican bobsledding proved, any country can have a participant for any sport, but not all of them can be competitive when the big games start firing up. Any country can assemble a team for international competitions but none of them will come near US teams crushing ability because they don’t have the lifetime of competitive playing behind them. So far the only 2 people in this thread that have said that they have softball in their homeland are both from NZ. I never said that the USA was the ONLY place in the world where there is competitive softball, just one of the very few. It shouldn’t be an O sport IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/15 "2004-08-21T20:05:35Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > I understand that it’s a sport. I’m not debating that. What I’m asking is why are we playing an American sport on the world theatre when there are VERY few countries that competitively play this sport? Our girls play this sport from a very young age (5 or so in my home town). > > Like I said, why not make Football and Cricket an Olmpic sport? For a sport to be an [Olympic](http://www.usolympicteam.com/117_f2.htm) event, it must be “widespread in at least 75 countries and four continents” for men’s and “widespread in at least 40 countries and three contintents” for women. If there are 80 countries with women’s softball, what’s the problem? So what if only a relative few of those countries are realistically contendors for Olympic medals? If every athlete who wasn’t a contendor for a medal stayed home the Olympics would have about 1/10 the athletes. I’m willing to bet that no one thought the Iraqi soccer team was a medal contendor and they’re now guaranteed at least a bronze. The 1980 men’s hockey team wasn’t expected to perform well and look what happened there. If cricket and American football become played in 75 countries on four continents, then they too become eligible for Olympic status. What’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/16 "2004-08-21T23:22:01Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > … This is primarily an American sport isn’t it? Where else do women play softball as routinely as they do here? No where that I know of. To my knowledge this is a regional sport to the utmost degree. Yeh. Cos it’s all about the US. Here’s another one for you: Nowhere but in the US is there such a high concentration of amero-centric idiots. :rolleyes: Max. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/17 "2004-08-21T23:44:38Z")
> [@Stinkpalm](#): > > Actually why don’t YOU tell ME how many other countries have had substantial competitive womens softball leagues since before it was let into the O in 96. …because you said this: > [@](#): > > To my knowledge this is a regional sport to the utmost degree. > [@](#): > > I’m asking is why are we playing an American sport on the world theatre when there are VERY few countries that competitively play this sport? Why should I have to back up your assertions? Isn’t that your job? There are leagues in China, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, for goodness sake-in the recent Championship Cup Australia beat the USA Elite Team and then Canada to take out the trophy. New Zealand are former world champions. [http://www.championscup.org/](http://www.championscup.org/) [http://www.softball.co.za/](http://www.softball.co.za/) [http://www.softball.org.au/powered\_by\_Interfuse/](http://www.softball.org.au/powered_by_Interfuse/) [http://www.softball.ie/](http://www.softball.ie/) [http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/softballnews.php](http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/softballnews.php) [http://www.softball.com.hk/](http://www.softball.com.hk/) > **[Startside - Norges Softball og Baseball-forbund](https://www.soft-baseball.no/)** > > Norges Softball og Baseball Forbund, Softball, Baseball, NSBF, Norwegian Soft -Baseball Federation. [http://www.softball.org.nz/](http://www.softball.org.nz/) [http://www.cbbs.com.br/site/](http://www.cbbs.com.br/site/) [http://www.maltabaseball.org/softball](http://www.maltabaseball.org/softball) [http://www.baseboll-softboll.se/t3.asp?p=20084](http://www.baseboll-softboll.se/t3.asp?p=20084) > [@](#): > > Your link says makes mention of 80+ countries that have softball teams but that doesn’t mean anything. Just like Jamaican bobsledding proved, any country can have a participant for any sport, but not all of them can be competitive when the big games start firing up. > > Any country can assemble a team for international competitions but none of them will come near US teams crushing ability because they don’t have the lifetime of competitive playing behind them. …as pointed out above-the US team is not unbeatable. They lost to Australia just a few months ago. So yes, teams have come near to the US’s crushing ability. > [@](#): > > So far the only 2 people in this thread that have said that they have softball in their homeland are both from NZ. I never said that the USA was the ONLY place in the world where there is competitive softball, just one of the very few. It shouldn’t be an O sport IMHO. …well, you did post your OP at 3 o’clock in the morning NZ time, about 1 in the morning Australian time, and you happened to catch a couple of kiwi’s who had classic cases of insomnia. Your whole arguement against softball being an olympic sport seems to come down to the fact that the US is dominating at the moment and noone else can compete. Am I correct in your opinion? So feel free to show how softball is a “regional” sport to the utmost degree, that softball isn’t played to the degree that they do in the US, that the US is so “crushing” that noone will come near them, and that softball is primarily a US sport. These are all assertions that you have made, not us, and you have provided us with nothing but your opinion to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/18 "2004-08-21T23:47:50Z")
_“Any country can assemble a team for international competitions but none of them will come near US teams crushing ability because they don’t have the lifetime of competitive playing behind them.”_ I read in some AP newspaper story (sorry, no cite) prior to the start of this year’s Olympics that Australia held a 2-1 edge over the Americans in previous competition. Hardly an indication of the American’s “crushing ability”. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/19 "2004-08-21T23:48:10Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Regarding cricket: I’ve said it in another thread, but, in a nutshell, the top players don’t want it, the national associations don’t want it, and the International Cricket Council doesn’t want it. The International Cricket Council has no interest in detracting from its World Cup, and the players and associations do not want qualifying tournaments and the Olympic competition itself being added to an already overloaded international schedule. What an amazingly sensible attitude. Sports like soccer and tennis, where winning an Olympic gold is less prestigious than winning the World Cup or Wimbledon/the U.S. Open/French Open/Australian Open, could learn a lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852/20 "2004-08-21T23:57:05Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > If cricket and American football become played in 75 countries on four continents, then they too become eligible for Olympic status. What’s the problem? American football isn’t, but cricket is. There are 24 countries (counting all of West Indies’ constituent nations) on five continents which are “full members” of the International Cricket Council, and 26 “associate member” nations (not counting Scotland). 52 other nations have “affiliate member” status, which means that at the very least there is a national association, club competitions are played annually, and the national sides can compete in regional tournaments. [A quick glance through the affiliate member roster](http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/members/affiliate_members.html) suggests that at least half of the 52 would qualify as “cricket-playing nations” under IOC rules, which would put the total over 75. But, as I say, cricket is not an Olympic sport for other, good, reasons. The ICC will not apply for Olympic status for the foreseeable future. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-olympic-womens-softball/260852.md?page=2)