if they allow figure skating (dancing on ice), trampoline & diving (aerial dancing), they should allow ballroom and break dancing.
I'm disappointed squash didn't make the cut. Sure beats golf as far as being considered a pure sport. You can see the IOC grinning from ear to ear and "CHA-CHING!" going off in their heads, salivating over Tiger Woods and golf.
They let golf in? Sure, it's a "sport" now, with tons of $$ in it, but how do they expect countries hosting the games to make all of these golf courses if they dont' have them?
Errr... in case you haven't noticed, golf courses are EVERYWHERE. They don't need to "build" them just for the OG.
"Rugby humbled itself more than the other sports, proposing to drop its prestigious world cup during Olympic years in deference to its inclusion at the Games." Like it's ever going to be in an olympic year! '01, '05, '09 (for sevens) etc. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/brian_cazeneuve/08/13/changes/index.html#ixzz0O6GQlFWz
Interesting last note that would help badminton out as well: "and tennis may soon add a mixed doubles event to its program." Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/brian_cazeneuve/08/13/changes/index.html#ixzz0O6KO0WUg
Sailing should be taken out, too much reliance on the wind which is not in the spirit of the olympics! You must gain the gold with the work of your own body!!
No question: Boxing. This is the only sport that allows one participant really physically hurting another participant to win. Judo and Wrestling (classical) come close too, but at least in these 2 sports, you only need to pin your opponent down to win, not throwing punches at their head and body to knock them down!
I'm not sure how some of you guys are basing your opinions (those that don't provide explanations for their proposals), but some very important factors are physical exertion and skill required, and entertainment value. I therefore fail to see the logistics behind attacks to basketball and football/soccer. They are popular worldwide, are very difficult sports, and by some standards, can be seen as very close to the epitome of what a sport should be (in my opinion, basketball especially).
"And an Olympic gold medal should be the pinnacle of achievement" Football olympics style, as I've mentioned in the past, is a glorified youth tournament with an age limit of 23 + three dispensation players older than that ->: the world cup is the pinnacle Any professional basketball, hockey, baseball player would rather win the NBA, Stanley Cup or World Series over the olympics I would think -> olympics are not the pinnacle but you could at least say they are for national teams and have no age restrictions. For me therefore soccer football should be adjusted or dropped as far as teamsports are concerned . You could say the same for some individual sports that are X-Games events but those need more time.
Fly fishing. If it's still included. I think figure skating is a sport. It's very physically demanding and not just "dancing on ice" as someone commented. (Dancing is also a sport.........). Try doing jumps and spins on ice and see how you fare... Squash should be included in the Olympics. Golf is not a sport. If you don't have to be in superior physical/athletic shape to win tournaments then I don't think its a sport. I'm not saying it doesn't take ridiculous amounts of skill to play; I've played golf plenty of times before, but it just doesn't take athletic ability. Its more like.. tons of hand-eye coordination or something.
I don't think it's fair to put golf down. =/ If you think it's trivial, plz go beat Tiger woods. Kthxbye. LOL jk. Then you would have to say the same bout competitive shooting etc. See the problem? My impression of sport is if you can put money on the line, it is a sport (This is a very open statement). That is all. If you can put a wager on it, it is a sport. Regardless whether it requires tremendous 'physical ability' or not.
card games or anything with the word "game" should be out. like lan gaming as mention earlier. i think they should add cricket to the olympics.
I guess since they gave baseball and softball a shot, why not cricket. But only in the abbreviated form of the game like 20/20. Just like rugby got accepted in the form of rugby 7's.
IF you look at it from an objective view, a lot of sports have rights to be part of the olympics. To say that golf isn't difficult that it just requires 'hand-eye coordination' simply means that it just requires a different set of skills as compared to other sports. In anycase, yes I do play poker... not full time or anything, just enough to get by while still in uni.