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Summer Olympics

My 2 cents ...

1. Any event which is judged should be dropped. There always seems to be controversy surrounding these events.

2. In team sports, anyone playing in a professional league making more than ... pick a number ... maybe twice the league average ... should not be allowed to participate. Levels the playing field for other countries to compete with the big boys.

3. Bring in more lesser known sports like Croquet, Hurling, Lacrosse and Frisbee to name a few.
 
andyt said:
One more IOC note. They punted back to the individual sports governing bodies when confronted with Russian state sponsored doping. The International Paralympic Committe was having none of it. The entire Russian team was banned.
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So far as I'm concerned, any Russian athlete without a resume of clean doping tests from an agency outside of Russia should not have been allowed to participate. Period. If the Russian testing agency was discredited for track athletes then it should have been discredited in general ... by basic, elementary school logic.

But in the end, the IOC is like FIFA and the UN ... too corrupted to actually govern. It's been that way for a long, long time. See the IOC's pitiful responses to obvious Soviet block cheating in the height of the Cold War era for proof. In the face of actual threats of actual wrong-doing, corrupt governing agencies simply have no ability to do anything meaningful.
 
JFG said:
3. Bring in more lesser known sports like Croquet, Hurling, Lacrosse and Frisbee to name a few.
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Problem being that those lesser known sports are lesser known for a reason. They simply aren't played in enough parts of the world to justify legitimate international competition. It would turn out like softball ... the "home" country would run through the tournament and turn the thing into a joke. There's a reason cricket isn't in the Olympics despite it's seriously high popularity in the countries of the old Victorian empire ... because everybody else ignores it by and large. I mean, I adore hurling, but aside from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and a tiny pocket of maritime Canada, nobody plays the sport. And technically that's only three countries ... for now. Oh, and croquet ... seriously? How about darts? Or better yet, lawn darts.

And BTW (to Paulie's points), that's all a strong argument for soccer staying in. It is unassailably the most popular and most widely contested sport on Earth. You can't ignore that and dropping it would be absolutely foolish for an event supposing itself to be the most important international sporting competition.
 
they used to say they wanted to limit it to 10,000 athletes. So if they add sports, something has to go because I think they are at 10,000 now. (or they were in recent games) Of course if they don't care about 10,000 limit then nothing needs to be dropped.

My point and many other people agree, is if SOME OTHER EVENT is larger than the olympics for a sport, then it's not necessary for that sport to be in the olympics. Nobody is claiming soccer is not super popular. I guess a lot of golfers this year are happy they can use zika as their reason for skipping .

This won't happen ,but if your team is always blown out such as for some BB teams, then you should be banned for at least 1 olympics. (Kind of like a mercy rule) Give somebody else a chance . And yes, I know the other teams may very well get blown out too.
 
JB, you can be forgiven for not being familiar with the modern version of Croquet as it surely does fly way under the radar of what most people consider a legitimate sport. That being said, the game of Croquet (like Cricket) is a sport played quite seriously throughout the English speaking world. While the "Backyard" 9 wicket game is still played at various croquet clubs in the USA, it is the 6 wicket game which flourishes here and Internationally. Played on tightly mowed manicured lawns, where the hoop clearance is a mere 1/16 of an inch larger than the balls, croquet is an awesome combination of strategy like chess, touch like golf and skill like billiards where the best players in the world can move both of their balls around the circuit of 12 hoops and the peg in just 2 turns. No other sport, IMO, comes close to matching this combination of finesse and skill where men and women can compete as equals.

Add other gender neutral sports like Bowls and Bocce to this list of Olympic Sports I'd like to see more than Gymnastics and Figure Skating.
 
Croquet? I don't care how good the best players are, what's next? Ladderball? Tailgater cornhole? Jarts would be cool and also involve an element of danger that might boost ratings.
 
JFG said:
JB, you can be forgiven for not being familiar with the modern version of Croquet as it surely does fly way under the radar of what most people consider a legitimate sport.
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Given my predilection for being attracted to weird subculture sporting events, the fact that I'm not aware of it is a strike against.

Again ... lawn darts. I think it could yield amazing results, not to mention the possibility for horrifying injuries.
 
jeffbear said:
Given my predilection for being attracted to weird subculture sporting events, the fact that I'm not aware of it is a strike against.

Again ... lawn darts. I think it could yield amazing results, not to mention the possibility for horrifying injuries.
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I am reminded of this SNL spoof.

Bruce Jenner Wins The Javelin Catch

B91_g4ACYAIFPjF.jpg
 
jeffbear said:
Given my predilection for being attracted to weird subculture sporting events, the fact that I'm not aware of it is a strike against.
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Really? Because you don't know about it, it's a strike against? Come on down to the North Carolina Open at Pinehurst next Spring for an introduction and see for yourself. I think you will be surprised.


As an FYI for anyone interested:

Synopsis of Golf Croquet from the USCA
http://www.croquetamerica.com/croquet/rules/golf/synopsis/

Golf Croquet 2013 World Championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqK2rsHQJw

Synopsis of Association Croquet from the USCA
http://www.croquetamerica.com/croquet/rules/association/synopsis/index.php

Association Croquet 2012 World Championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlXAW-YNN8


Also, there is a local Croquet Club in Chapel Hill (which I am a member) which encourages newbies to come out and learn to play for free. And no we don't wear whites unless at a tournament.
http://www.sssrc.org/Croquet.html
 
it's not fair but in the US croquet is mostly viewed as a game for cookouts with friends, not a serious sport. Similar to horseshoes and cornhole. Of course it is probably different outside the US.
 
jeffbear said:
Given my predilection for being attracted to weird subculture sporting events, the fact that I'm not aware of it is a strike against.

Again ... lawn darts. I think it could yield amazing results, not to mention the possibility for horrifying injuries.
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Ah, the memory of lawn darts as weapons game as a youth!!!!

Wonder how the hell i survived past 10 sometimes.
 
BTW ... Lilly King. Winning gold, spewing hot takes. Pretty much the prototypical American athlete?

For the record, I agree with her in large part. The Russians who have failed drug tests in this calendar year have absolutely no business competing in these Games. None. And no, I don't really care if that disqualifies almost all of the Russians athletes. I'm pretty much on board with some within WADA who believe that at this point, no Russian athlete in any sport should be allowed to compete internationally until they have passed tests from a certified agency outside of Russia.

I also agree that the US needs to clean its own skirts and get serious about "lifetime" bans that only last 4-6 years and then get shortened on appeal. Sorry Justin Gatlin but you reaped the real benefits of your drug cheating ... and the negative consequences should be just as real.
 
jeffbear said:
BTW ... Lilly King. Winning gold, spewing hot takes. Pretty much the prototypical American athlete?

For the record, I agree with her in large part. The Russians who have failed drug tests in this calendar year have absolutely no business competing in these Games. None. And no, I don't really care if that disqualifies almost all of the Russians athletes. I'm pretty much on board with some within WADA who believe that at this point, no Russian athlete in any sport should be allowed to compete internationally until they have passed tests from a certified agency outside of Russia.

I also agree that the US needs to clean its own skirts and get serious about "lifetime" bans that only last 4-6 years and then get shortened on appeal. Sorry Justin Gatlin but you reaped the real benefits of your drug cheating ... and the negative consequences should be just as real.
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If WADA wants bans to be effective, they must take over the administration of them, rather than the sport governing bodies. Gatlin got a 2 year suspension in 2001 and an 8 year suspension in 2006. Both were shortened by the IAAF, not WADA, USADA or the USOC. Could the USOC banned him? Sure, and they'd have lost the resulting lawsuit, since he was eligible to run in all other sanctioned meets.

With regards to Efimova, she had tested positive and been banned for 16 months and tested positive earlier this year for Meldonium (Maria Sharapova's drug of choice). She's a prime beneficiary of the IOC punting the Russian drug cheats back to the governing bodies. She was inexplicably cleared by FINA. On the mens' side, Sun Yang from China was only banned 3 months for a positive test in 2014. So the administration of bans is inconsistent, as is the length of punishment. Neither are sustainable, IMO.
 
andyt said:
If WADA wants bans to be effective, they must take over the administration of them, rather than the sport governing bodies. Gatlin got a 2 year suspension in 2001 and an 8 year suspension in 2006. Both were shortened by the IAAF, not WADA, USADA or the USOC. Could the USOC banned him? Sure, and they'd have lost the resulting lawsuit, since he was eligible to run in all other sanctioned meets.
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Which is entirely the problem in all sports testing programs. Ultimately pretty much none of the testing agencies have any authority to do anything other than catch the cheats and then alert whatever governing body is in charge of their sport. And that's where it breaks down every bloody time. The three you mentioned are classic examples and for each of them there are dozens more with the same circumstances. As with all things sporting these days, corporate and TV money runs the show and so long as those entities are willing to continue to pump obscene amounts of money into the Games with no consequences tied to cleaning things up ... guess what? There won't be any cleanup.

And yup ... that lands directly (although not solely) in America's lap. So acting all high and mighty on the subject ain't a legitimate position.
 
at least the eastern block no longer turns men into women to earn more medals. (as far as we know)

my favorite cheating of any sport is the fishermen who put lead in fish. Now they have to xray fish.
 
Paulie Walnuts said:
my favorite cheating of any sport is the fishermen who put lead in fish. Now they have to xray fish.
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Technology man ... it ruins everything :0)

Speaking of which ... did you hear that Nigeria had 9 of their 23 players who participated in the African Cup of Nations Under 17 tournament declared ineligible for being over age? Turns out there's a simple MRI they run on the wrist that pins down age in that specific age range based on the growth plates in the wrist. Looks like you can't just fake a birth certificate anymore, at least not with 16-18 year olds. That test apparently doesn't work once the growth plates close up at or about 17 or 18.
 
Thoughts on Tuesday ...

Bad, bad day for Hope Solo in goal

Michael Phelps is still good. Really good. That Le Clos guy is dumb. Really dumb.

Katie Ledecky is just amazing. Winning the 200 free when you're really a distance swimmer? It's sort of unheard of.

Gymanstics pixies are ... just not my thing. Go 'Merca.
 
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