why is curling an Olympic sport but not baseball

[barb162]

rant all you want.
:hi:

[leftofthedial]

1. because curling is pure

baseball involves spitting

[barb162]

11. hehehehehhehe, bwa

[underpants]

18. I saw spitting in curling

I did.

[barb162]

22. spitting works faster in heating the ice than brooming?

[underpants]

25. Dunno but I saw one of them spit

[AllegroRondo]

36. Hopefully not one of the ladies teams.

[Lucy - Claire]

39. Did NBC show the Curling streaker?

n/t. And it seems more countries compete in Curling than Baseball, so that might be why Baseball has been cancelled from the Olympics. Cricket and Rugby aren't included either most likely because so few countries play it.

[AllegroRondo]

2. Several reasons

1 - baseball is not played in enough countries
2 - the summer olympics had too many events and needed to cut back
3 - the winter olympics doesnt have as many events and has no pressure to cut back (i think there were only 84 gold medals awarded)

[barb162]

13. okay, that makes sense. Every time I do watch it for about 15

seconds, I can never figure why it's a "sport"

as in, is shuffleboard a sport?

[no name no slogan]

3. Because the Cubans will probably never medal in curling

[KitchenWitch]

5. True!

[texas1928]

4. Baseball is a Summer Olympic sport.

:eyes:

[KitchenWitch]

6. Not anymore!

They discontinued it.

[AllegroRondo]

8. They cut women's softball too

But - new events for 2008 include a 6 mile open water swim, with a mass start; and BMX biking, similar to the snowboard cross.

[KitchenWitch]

9. I thought they kept softball

That sucks big elephant d*ck

[LostinVA]

30. No, not even teams play it, just like baseball

Actually, some people have said that about women's hockey, too, but the shake-up in Turin kinda proved that wrong...

[barb162]

15. Women's softball was cut? I didn't know that.

I consider that a sport

[underpants]

20. Yep cut

I hears that several weeks ago

[WhollyHeretic]

28. That was one of the only things I watched in the last Summer Olympics

:(

[barb162]

32. me too

and I think of it as a "real" sport

[texas1928]

17. It is on the list for 2008.

http://en.beijing2008.com/71/67/column211716771.shtml

[WhollyHeretic]

23. That is the last year it will be in though. They voted it out a couple of

years ago.

[JVS]

19. Those fucking bastards!

[realisticphish]

7. because

Curling is at LEAST 3 times as exciting as baseball

[Ravenseye]

10. Because the IOC doesn't like America

They kicked off their lone American member and then proceeded to remove american sports...Why don't they remove Men's Field Hockey? Nobody plays it. There aren't any professional leagues.

Ok that's not fair. There are people who play it, but there are far more people world wide who play baseball. They just don't play it in Europe where the vast majority of IOC members are from so it was removed. Along with women's softball.

All the asian and latin american countries where they play baseball don't matter I guess. If it's not played in Europe it's not considered an Olympic sport.

[KitchenWitch]

12. Interesting perspective

and probably right on.

[barb162]

16. I think so too

[tjwmason]

24. The lack of professional leagues means nothing

the Olympics are about amateur sport not professional.

[underpants]

27. Quite a variety of countries that medal in it

http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olfieldh.shtml#men

[Ravenseye]

35. It's sub-amateur

The people who play these sports are generally people who do it for fun. Form teams, eventually might make it to the olympics. They are regular people leading regular lives generally, because this is a sport that mostly exists at the local club level, but very sparsely.

I totally think it should be an Olympic sport. What's cooler than joining a Men's Field Hockey club and playing and having fun, and then making it to the olympics...

It's not that field hockey shouldn't be a sport, it's that if that's a sport Baseball and Softball should be as well. The only reason those sports were removed is because they're primarily played in locations that aren't Europe. North America, South America, Oceana, and Asia...

It's just about numbers. I would be there are 10 times if not 100 times as many amateur baseball players in the world than amateur field hockey players, even if you discount the United States from the baseball statistics.

[underpants]

37. Actually I just thought about seeing if there was a league around here

Hell maybe I could live out the Olympic dream that way.

[LostinVA]

47. They aren't in the world, they are in NA and parts

Of Central Americana dn the Caribbean, and Japan. That's the reason. It's not an anti-US and Canadian thing. It's a numbers game: their reasoning is that it's not fair to have a sport that only a handful of countries play, versus a sport where 17 countries, or 50, or 120 play. That's why they have exhibition sports, or why sports such as cricket or rugby don't last very long.

[Ravenseye]

29. It's an indication of interest

The fact is that when professional leagues exist it's because there are enough amateurs present to not only populate the league, but make it initially popular enough to have a league itself. The existance of professional leagues indicates interest in a sport which is nearly always reflected at an amateur level.

The fact is that more people around the world play Baseball on an amateur level than they do field hockey. On the streets of the Dominican Republic they're playing Baseball not Field Hockey. In a park in Japan they're playing Baseball not field hockey. In the U.S., Canada, Mexico, The Caribean it is a primary game. In many parts of the world it has the same level of attention and amateur players as Field Hockey.

You could say the same thing about a number of 'traditional' sports.

The fact is that if it's not a European sport it's not considered good enough to be in the Olympics.

[LostinVA]

31. I would bet more people play field hocley internationally

Than baseball.

[Ravenseye]

38. I'd take that bet

http://www.johann-sandra.com/popular.htm

Estimates are directly from the International Sports Federations themselves...Remember these are numbers of people who play these sports regularly. This isn't spectator sport attendance, it's amateur involvement.

Volleyball *998 Million **218
Basketball *400 Million **211
Table Tennis *300 Million **186
Soccer *242 Million **204
Badminton *200 Million **147
Tennis *60 Million **191
Baseball *60 Million **110
Dragon Boat Racing *50 Million **51
Team Handball *18 Million **147
Hockey *3 million **118
Judo *2.5 Million **187
Rugby *2 Million **97
Cycling *600,000 **160
Bocce *Pending *72
Cricket *Pending **74

[LostinVA]

40. I'll have to look at those stats, because I don't believe them

I doubt more people play cricket than field hockey.

[Ravenseye]

41. They love it in India and South Asia

Easy to get your numbers up when it's a national sport for a billion people...

Hey is Cricket in the Olympics?

[LostinVA]

45. I said internationally -- baseball is not played in

a large number of countries, whereas field hockey is. That's why both baseball and softball are being dropped -- only a few countries really play it -- unlike soccer, track, running, etc. Your "national sport" thing is what I said in my original post: I bet field hockey is played by more people internationally than baseball is. I still stand by my bet.

And yes, cricket was in the Olympics, but they dropped it for the same reason -- only a very few countries played it.

[AngryAmish]

43. It is played in any present or former British Colony

Including here in the US. I used to see medical students playing in the street in Chicago. Very popular in Jamaica.

[ContraBass Black]

55. Where were they from?

[AngryAmish]

56. From looks, the Indian subcontinent

I have not talked to them.

[xmas74]

42. I'd say more play baseball.

I'm not playing advocate here either.

Think about not only baseball or softball but also the kids who play stickball, streetball, etc in places all over the world.

I'd bet that baseball does have more players.

[HEyHEY]

48. Men's field hockey is huge in other parts of the world

[ThoughtCriminal]

14. Figure-8 Short-track Team Speed Skating

"The Anti-Curling"

[underpants]

21. WITH dynamite

YESSS that would be AWESOME!!!

[underpants]

26. Hey Hey Hey what about THIS?????

Not a sport?

[barb162]

33. First of all, tell me WHAT it is

you bad

[barb162]

34. dupe

but you still bad

[AngryAmish]

44. And why isn't golf included?

That is wildly popular.

There are two annual true world championships, the British Open and the US Open. Literally anyone can play in them, if they are good enough.

I personally think winning the GMO is a much greater honor than winning a gold medal in any sport. Except maybe barrel jumping.

[LostinVA]

49. Golf has been included

[AngryAmish]

52. It has been "Recognized" not included

<http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp>

"Recognition of the International Federations (IFs)





In order to be recognised, these organisations must apply the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code and conduct effective out-of-competition tests in accordance with the established rules. The recognition of IFs newly recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shall be provisional for a period of two years or any other period fixed by the IOC Executive Board. At the end of such period, the recognition shall automatically lapse in the absence of definitive confirmation given in writing by the IOC.





As far as the role of the IFs within the Olympic Movement is concerned, their statutes, practice and activities must be in conformity with the Olympic Charter. Subject to the foregoing, each IF maintains its independence and autonomy in the administration of its sport."

103 national federations of golf. Also, players have to take drops in accordance to the Olympics rules. Well, I wouldn't drop for them.

[HEyHEY]

46. Curling has an international following

[Oeditpus Rex]

50. I'd guess space is a major factor

Baseball stadia are not small, and for tournament play you need at least two of them, if not three or four. Since there are so many countries where baseball isn't played, or not played in many cities, I'd suspect including it would either rule out many potential Olympic locations or force them into a great deal of extra expense — if they had the space to begin with.

[skoppa]

51. Before the Olympics my friends and I had never even heard of curling....

....now I can't get enough of it. I love the damn sport now!!!

[jakefrep]

53. Quite honestly,

the Olympic baseball tournaments sucked bilgewater. Some of the teams didn't have any native-born players.

I'm not sad that baseball is not in the Olympics anymore.

More curling please!

[Orangepeel]

54. I guess they are harder up for sports in the Winter

:shrug:

[AngryAmish]

57. They could play Rollerball in the olympics