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Olympic sports

Posted at 8:55 AM on July 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

The Olympics are approaching, the every-four-year period in which it's acceptable to say "stick it" on TV. But the Olympics occur against a backdrop of important athletic issues that cannot be ignored. Is prancing and tumbling around waving a stick with a ribbon a "sport"? Is hitting a little ball being thrown at you at 90 mph a sport?

Is ballroom dancing a sport?

Beer Pong?

What events do you think should be in the Olympics? What events do you think shouldn't?

Comments (10)

Frisbee should be in the olympics. Ultimate Frisbee is a huge team sport across the U.S. nowadays. It requires very little equipment (literally, 1 frisbee) and could thus be easily exported to other parts of the world.

The body movements involved harken to the discuss throw, the simplicty to soccer, the speed to badminton, the close-range defense to basketball. It's a ready-for TV sport that kids can pick-up and play in their yard (or in the hallway of their apartment building).

Imagine a flaming frisbee hurled into the London sky to light the torch in 2012.

Posted by Jeff | July 3, 2008 10:54 AM

Is there anything that isn't a sport? Judging from the filler on the multiplex of sports channels, if it moves, it qualifies. To my amazement badminton is an Olympic sport. Why not ballroom dancing? It would provide ratings which is the main reason to hold the games.

How about lollipop/ice cream cone licking, dunk tank monitoring of ball speed and accuracy, pole climbing, log rolling, lumberjack sawing, hitting-the-bell with a mallet, bungee jumping, baton twirling, juggling, knife-throwing, horse shoe tossing and shuffleboard? Couldn't these be judged on technical and artistic merit? Or maybe they are already Olympic events. I don't pay any attention to sports.

I'm still undecided on marching band choreography. While it's akin to synchronized swimming and requires breath control and concentration, it also has an appealing death-defying element (if you trip while playing your clarinet it could smash into your brain) so it might qualify.

However no Olympic dance lines and cheerleading. Those are beyond the pale.

Posted by sm | July 3, 2008 11:47 AM

They should totally bring softball back. I guess baseball, too.

Posted by Erica | July 3, 2008 1:17 PM

Curling!!

Oh wait, it's already in the winter games.

Posted by Jeff Harkness | July 3, 2008 1:52 PM

How about a Preying Mantis competition where women from the ages 30 and up compete against each other for the higher rung by means of caddie, shallow and superficial behavior.

I bet America would take this one no prob.

Posted by kate | July 3, 2008 3:15 PM

seems to me that ribbon dancing is similar to synchronized swimming... without the water

Posted by minn whaler | July 3, 2008 6:43 PM

Baton Twirling: any doubts or giggling? go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0cQ5ELdt4

Posted by Amber | August 7, 2008 2:56 PM

I think that Acrobatic Gymnastics should be an olymipc sport. I've seen my sister and so many other talented international level athletes quit because there's just nothing that comes from it. I was an artistic gymnast and an acrobatic gymnast and they both have the same level of difficulty.

Posted by Marissa | January 17, 2010 7:49 PM

I think that skate boarding should be in there because we have snow boarding so why not do the summer version?

Posted by hillary | February 21, 2010 10:08 PM

I also totally agree that ultimate Frisbee should be in there too. It would be cool if American football could be in there too. It might be too expensive, I don't know. But it would be fun to see that one go international.

Posted by hillary | February 21, 2010 10:11 PM