What is Digg?237 Comments
- Cattywampus, on 04/26/2008, -5/+46I can't understand that sports like baseball and softball were cut from the Olympics in the first place, while events like synchronized swimming, trampoline, and rhythmic gymnastics seem to have a solid place in the Olympic lineup.
Of course, tug-of-war was an Olympic sport in the past... - DarkLance, on 04/27/2008, -2/+32I vote for underwater basket weaving!
- inactive, on 04/26/2008, -8/+28I'm shocked MMA isn't one of the seven and is much more exciting then watching a karate match
- Owwmykneecap, on 04/27/2008, -3/+20Do you have any idea how unbelievably hard synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics are?
That's like saying why not cut weightlifting, it's just picking stuff up. - DermDoc, on 04/26/2008, -7/+23Baseball. Though, I'm sure the US would get killed.
- jimmyisprollyth, on 04/27/2008, -5/+21anything where judges pick who wins cannot be a sport
- stubear, on 04/27/2008, -0/+16Ummm, wrong. Baseball derived from another British sport called Rounders, NOT Cricket. All three games derived from earlier folk games with similar attributes. Baseball as we know it today, and as it was formalized in the late 1800's was a wholly different sport from Rounders. A quick search of Wikipedia will give you the rest of the story, suffice it to say that Cricket was NOT the forerunner to Baseball so quit being a wanker and telling others that it was.
- inactive, on 04/26/2008, -17/+32Baseball is boring as hell.
But it IS played all over the Americas and Japan... So a lot of people might watch it. I wouldn't tho.
And golf? Even worse idea.
Rugby would be fun to watch/learn about. - jggube, on 04/26/2008, -11/+25That would be cool, it's played all over the world, specifically in South America and Japan.
- Owwmykneecap, on 04/26/2008, -3/+16that's not all over the world...
- dan222555, on 04/27/2008, -2/+13Baseball would be a ***** show because no MLB players would play because the Olympics fall right in the middle of the season. That's why they dropped it in the first place.
- ichbeineinrcg, on 04/27/2008, -0/+10The global origins of NBA players pretty much blows your theory about basketball out of the water.
- abortionsforall, on 04/27/2008, -2/+12Baseball and softball are not what one would consider a "world sport". Baseball is basically only played in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Japan. What is the point of having baseball in the olympics when the sport is not even played by the majority of the world?
As boring as synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics are, they have a much wider participation rate worldwide. - Enfenestrate, on 04/27/2008, -1/+11Here's a silly thought: They should go back to having amateur athletes.
- goomba323, on 04/27/2008, -0/+9What I believe he was getting at is Baseball, Golf, and Karate are wayyy more popular than synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
- poopdigger, on 04/27/2008, -0/+9Every society, and every individual has different tastes in sports. And it just so happens that while baseball is very popular here and in some other regions, a good portion of the rest of the world finds it boring as hell, and its barely played in many countries. And us baseball fans will have to deal with that.
Even if random gymnastics and swimming competitions only have mediocre fan bases around the world, as mostly single-person sports, its much easier for enthusiasts all around the world to practice and compete. - mecole21, on 04/27/2008, -1/+10Olympic Beer Pong!
- lennybird, on 04/27/2008, -1/+9Golf? An Olympic sport? Everybody knows Golf is a game, not a sport.
- VibhuC812, on 04/27/2008, -1/+9Roller sports?
like this kind of rolling? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU - Enfenestrate, on 04/27/2008, -0/+8So we won't be seeing presidential elections in the olympics if you get your way I guess
- shawnanigans, on 04/27/2008, -1/+8Please, lets add more sports to the Olympics. I cannot take any more medals for swimming (which has over 40 events and gives out 120 medals, and requires pools to be competetive, something that only industrialized nations can provide thus keeping 90% of the countries out of eligibility for ove 120 medals.)
- inactive, on 04/27/2008, -4/+11baseball's not already in the Olympics? Really? What the ***** is wrong with people...... and, where have I been?
- darkchild82, on 04/26/2008, -6/+13Really? I thought it was actively played only in the US & Japan.... and wherever Derek Jeter's from (I forget).
- wellyuk, on 04/27/2008, -2/+9You started off with reasonable commentary and then ruined it with "baseball is hardly a sport" when it obviously is a sport. That you don't find it interesting doesn't stop it from being a sport.
So for your excellence in failure, I award you a Gold bury. - inactive, on 04/26/2008, -0/+7You're kinda right. Its played a lot in the Caribbean, and Japan has a successful league. It seems to be popular in northern South America (Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, maybe Peru) as well.
- jabbar, on 04/27/2008, -0/+6i used to think MMA was lame until i started watching WEC wreckage on versus. holy *****. the technique involved and split second decisions made when the athletes are at the height of exhaustion is mind blowing. the WEC is apparently like a minor league for UFC, but goddamn those dudes can fight.
- Anubis2051, on 04/27/2008, -2/+8Have you ever heard of the World Baseball Classic? 16 teams compete, with even more being considered for the next one (China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, South Affrica, Canada, Italy, The United States, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, with the considered additions being Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Russia, Ireland, Israel, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and Germany) Thats a global audience right there! And as for being a sport, I think baseball requires more intelligence and athletic ability than soccer, the so-called worlds most poplar sport (and thus the one most people argue as hardest). Soccer: Run. Kick Ball. Any idiot can do it. Baseball: Pitcher Decides which pitch to throw and where. Pitch Delivered, usually in excess of 85mph. In a Fraction of a second, the batter has to decide if the pitch is a ball or a strike, and make his decision to swing. If he makes contact, which in and of it's self is very difficult EVERY SINGLE PLAYER on the field has to react appropriately, and cover a base or park themselves under the ball and make the catch. If there were players on base, then the ball has to be thrown in to the right base to make the out. The batter and base runners all have to know what to do, weather they're going to need to tag up, slide, etc, in order to try and either score, advance, or just prevent an out. It requires a significant level of thinking, as well as incredible strength and endurance. Oh, and just in case you need even more proof that it is indeed a sport, ESPN did a ranking of the top 60 hardest sports, and guess what? baseball is ranked 9th, above the worlds "most popular sport". see for yourself: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/sportSkills
- feliks2, on 04/27/2008, -2/+8That logic doesn't make sense. Your basically saying that since your not good at sports, you should be amazing at everything that isn't. Try to make sense next time.
- lordmike, on 04/27/2008, -0/+6But, ping pong and badminton are REAL sports... you can get medals for both in the Olympics!
- Ydoc, on 04/27/2008, -1/+7I really wish they'd consider MMA. I'd really give a crap then.
- cazlar, on 04/27/2008, -4/+10India with its 1b+ population is cricket-crazy. Sorry to tell you, but not many people outside the US (maybe I should say N and Central America, and maybe Japan) watch or care about baseball.
- letsnotlisten, on 04/26/2008, -3/+9roller sports ftw?
- whataboutdave, on 04/27/2008, -4/+10The US has won more Olympic medals than any other country. So That pretty much blows your "failed at sports everyone else plays" theory out of the water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-time_Olympic_Game ... - Enderplayer1, on 04/27/2008, -0/+6Baseball actually has been an Olympic sport and i believe it still is. But Both baseball and softball were set to be removed in the following Olympics.Hence why major league base ball has gone through such and effort to prove that baseball is a global sport with things like the World Baseball classic and all of the games overseas.which was one of the reasons baseball was being removed because it was considered to be a sport only played seriously in north America rather than a global event.It seems like MLB's efforts have begun to pay off because the Olympic panel is now considering baseball again. Also for people wondering where the players from the USA come from. The majority of the players who play for the USA are minor league players.
- Anubis2051, on 04/27/2008, -1/+7Olympic baseball will never work unless the MLB authorizes a mid season break, which will never happen. Thats the reason why the baseball world cup (yes, it exists, look it up) has never gained popularity, without the pros playing, its like watching a minor league game. This is the whole reason behind the world baseball classic, to produce a way for the best baseball athletes in the world to compete without having to stall the highest level of baseball in the world. Still, I would love to see baseball back in the olympics.
And as far as it being a world sport, I think that the 16 teams competing in the classic, along with the others that were speculated as possible additions for '09 (China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, South Affrica, Canada, Italy, The United States, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, with the considered additions being Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Russia, Ireland, Israel, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and Germany) indicate that the sports has grown to the point that it can be considered a truly global sport, and it is time for international competition. - goomba323, on 04/27/2008, -2/+8"You sing a bat at a ball" EPIC FAIL
- inactive, on 04/27/2008, -0/+5Cricket is watched in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, England and other countries. Add their population up. You will be surprised.
- rocketman42, on 04/27/2008, -1/+6Apparently you don't realize that Cuba generally wins the gold. In fact, in the last four Olympics, Cuba has three golds and one silver. The US has just one bronze and one gold. But if you consider that "medal padding" whatever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_at_the_Summe ... - inactive, on 04/27/2008, -0/+5Yeah, and why is running a sport? I mean, you run from one spot to another. That's it. Easy peasy. Just like baseball. That's why you're currently making $20m/year "swinging a bat" in the majors, right?
- inactive, on 04/27/2008, -0/+5Actually there are offshoots of traditional karate that look very much like MMA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_kQd8pOus
They should really consider sambo as well. - goomba323, on 04/27/2008, -3/+8So you wanna watch Martial Arts....but not Mixed Martial Arts....riiiiight. And MMA fighters are usually trained in a certain form of ju jitzu or karate, which means they learned the athleticism, tactical brains, technique, agility, power, speed, and grace. But I agree with you that most of UFC seems to be a bunch of big dudes smashing each other. People used to comment on the Kimbo Slice street fight videos saying "if he fought MMA fighters he'd get his ass kicked", and after 3 matches he's succeeded in destroying each of his opponents in the first round (all by KO).
- nationalist, on 04/27/2008, -1/+6rounders is not baseball
do your research - stubear, on 04/27/2008, -0/+5We didn't do so well in the World Baseball Classic because there's been a lot of "out-sourcing" of talent from the South American and the Carribean in recent years. Growing up I recall far more African American players in the leagues that there are currently and a few prominent Hall of Famers are a little disconcerted about this situation.
- inactive, on 04/27/2008, -1/+6Just add more insane track events. Mix it up a bit.
Backwards 200m dash.
10,000m High Hurdles
Javelin Pole Vault - NeoCortex, on 04/27/2008, -0/+5Well, we've already got the World Baseball Classic. As long as they keep that going, I'll be happy.
And with Judo and Tae-Kwon-Do already represented, they might as well just combine it into a mixed martial arts competition. - truebeliever83, on 04/27/2008, -0/+4LOL, Gold bury! that's gold.
- brownsound00, on 04/27/2008, -0/+4tennis? wtf? you are hitting a ball with a racket, that is no where near as close as pitching a ball 85 mph. i'd like you see you try throwing 80 pitches in a 3 hour span, every 5 days, for 6 months. not to mention in the tiny strike zone.
i'm not going to take away from soccer, hockey or basketball, because i love all of those sports. but really, you should play baseball because it'll help you understand how hard it is.
i don't really think this arguement will matter, because changing someone's mind on baseball is like changing someone's taste in music. so whatever. thats my 2 cents.
and also... did you really have to throw in the bit about how he probably never saw soccer been played? come on, that was brutal. - DeRose05, on 04/27/2008, -0/+4thats because rugby really isnt played here(im a fan of it though)..as for baseball....IT IS SOOOOO a sport..see link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9tJzjlbw7k
it seems he is sprinting at full speed...leaps in the air...dives and grabs a ball....lands HARD into a wall while STILL holding onto the ball.....yea im pretty freaking sure that makes it a sport. - lordmike, on 04/27/2008, -1/+5to everyone who thinks that Baseball is not played all over the world... Here are a list of countries that have active professional or amateur leagues: http://www.baseballnews.com/international/allcount ...
I know it's popular in weird places like the Netherlands (very popular there) and Russia... So, it's as global a sport as anything else! -
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