Golf would be the perfect Olympic sport for professionals. It only takes a few days for a tournament, and it is an individual sport primarily (although you could have teams).
It has great international stars, and just think of the nations that could potentially win the gold -
USA
Canada
Fiji
South Africa
Australia
Japan
South Korea
Argentina
England
Ireland
Scotland
Sweden
Spain
Germany
Zimbabwe
Denmark
That’s just the men. Other countries with medal contenders would be:
You jest (I hope), but why not tilting? Sure, it’s a little dangerous, but it’s good clean wholesome medieval fun. And it would add a bit of class to the games.
Then again, I shudder at the thought of American heraldry. That would just be ugly.
Roller skating, possibly even blading. It’s been around for longer than most people might think, and does have championships and associations. Since ice skating is a total winter event, have this one serve as its summer counterpart. Both men and women skate, and it is extremely similar to ice skating in the moves that can be done and its scoring. Plus, ice skating is a big draw during the winter Olympics. Why not capitalize on that for the summer games as well?
If basketball and curling can be Olympic events, I certainly think roller skating should be too.
Personally, I’m against golf at the Olympics, or any sport that has such a huge professional aspect it. It adds little to the Olympics (which is already bloated with events), and adds little to the sport.
I think almost all of the sports in the X Games require talent on the level that Olympic games require. But I wouldn’t vote for making them Olympic. It would almost take something away from them. Should there only be One contest?
Some of the Olympic sports seem downright simple after watching X Games.
I don’t see how the professional angle has any relevance any more. The way I see it, the inclusion of a sport should be because of a multi-continental recognition of the sport at the appropriate level (which baseball, and certain martial arts, would fall down on), and because the Olympic award should be capable of equal status with other awards in that discipline (ruling out football and tennis). And not for the first thread, I say include Rugby Sevens!!!…
Unless things have changed since I stopped following professional pool, there is no professional ‘tour’, meaning an organized series of tournaments aimed at professionals with prize pools, played throughout the country or world.
There are TONS of ad-hoc 8-ball tournaments. I’ve played in many. Even played in the Walmac world championships in Vegas one year.
The BCA also has sanctioned 8-ball amateur tournaments, as well as 9-ball. But at the amateur levels, the game is a little more ‘fair’ because players aren’t necessarily good enough to take advantage of the situational differences. At the highest levels of the game, though, it’s often a foregone conclusion after the break who is going to win. If one player has his balls open, and the other player’s balls happened to stop in positions that tied them up with other balls, the first player has a huge advantage.
9-ball, on the other hand, has the players shooting at the same balls. This tends to even out the playing field a bit, although the break is still a big randomizing factor.
That’s why I think straight pool is a superior game. The first player breaks safe, and the second player tries to either play safe or start a run. There is no luck involved. Snooker and one-pocket are the same.
Psorts aren’t included because of their merits as sports. They’re included to satisfy the various television networks around the world that pay for broadcasting rights. And in turn, they want sports that satisfy the sponsors.
I’m surprised that sailing is still am olympic sport, partly be´cause the sports has in itself been bloated with different classes, partly because it’s not television friendly.
Also, If yuu check coverage in different countries, you’ll note big differences in programming. Baseball is not on the air here, nor is indoor cycling. I know that Denmark and (?) Holland (where’s the clog-mod?) are big on that sport, so it’s not surprising that Danish television broadcast a lot of it.
If I’m not mistaken, poetry reading was part of Berlin '36. I haven’t found a cite, though.
Frisbee is actually a sport (in its different incarnations) that might be suitable. Athletic, good for tv, and individual players to focus on.
