Tuesday, August 11, 2009

And soon there will be two

From all accounts the IOC will vote on Thursday as to which two sports will be considered for admissions to the 2016 Olympics. And according to the NYT the top contenders do not include softball. Based on nothing concrete as far as I can tell rugby and golf are the favorites right now.
This is disappointing. I am all for rugby getting in but golf should not be an Olympic sport. As some article (can't find it now) pointed out two of the organizations behind golf's bid are all-male golf clubs--one of which is Augusta National (the other is in great Britain). Not a great way for the IOC to prove its alleged commitment to gender equity.
I had thought softball was doing a pretty decent job arguing its case and not showing any bitterness over apparently being booted out in the first place over a misunderstanding. Of course the misunderstanding itself was likely because so many IOC members are men who have no clue what softball--marked as a women's sport--really is.
Anyway back to why golf should not get in. Apparently the IOC wants the top names in the sport so Tiger Woods has said he would play. But as we all know professional athletes are always pulling out of contests, matches, etc. Many tennis players opted not to go to Beijing because it was in the middle of the hard court season and right before the US Open.
Don't think I am hatin' on golf. I like golf. But it shouldn't be an Olympic sport.
Of course no one asked me.
I wonder how one gets on the IOC anyway...Think of the havoc I could wreak.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

To be honest I don't think rugby should be in either because it is rugby sevens which is like having Arena Football, not the full deal.

Anonymous said...

Boxing in!

ken said...

Boxing was always in, though. It's not considered a new sport--they are just adding women's--and it's for 2012--not 2016. It's kind of a different process.

Anonymous said...
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