ianrobo1 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 isn't that what happens with basketball ? top players, Federer, Nadal, Messi ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 totally agree Santa but lets face it the Olympics with the worlds most popular sport would be strange . or should the plympics be the once in 4 year chance for minority sports to get the spotlight ? Do you mean without the world's most popular sport? I see what you mean, but if it's not taken that seriously in that sport's community, then I don't see much point. So yeah. Let the other sports have their day in the sun. I think you should try telling the South Amercians they are not taking it seriously If the rules would allow it, the likes of the Argies and the Brazillians would play their strongest available team. Before the games started I saw an interview with Dunga, who was bemoaning the amount of pressure he was under to win Gold. The Brazillian public see it as being as important as the world cup and are desperate for Gold. I think it's a real shame we do not enter a team, although it looks like we will be doing so in 2012. At least we wouldn't have to worry about qualifying in the first place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 isn't that what happens with basketball ? top players, Federer, Nadal, Messi ??? Likelyhood of getting a serious, career threatening injury when playing a non contact sport is considerably less than that when playing a full contact one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 isn't that what happens with basketball ? top players, Federer, Nadal, Messi ??? Likelyhood of getting a serious, career threatening injury when playing a non contact sport is considerably less than that when playing a full contact one. I think you'll find Messi plays a contact sport. unless he has taken up tennis?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HongKongVillan Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 Surely Show jumping or dresagge is another one? Something what the brits do like the Royal Ascot is more exciting than this dire event? As for anything which requires judges, surely Diving is still one of the best event out there in the olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 22, 2008 Moderator Share Posted August 22, 2008 BMX-ing. I thought they were having a laugh when I flicked over in the middle of a race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 I don't think I can make a call between walking, synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. They're all pretty pointless. The Olympics has had some stupid events though, the tug of war used to be in it IIRC way back when. Slightly off topic but not really worth a new one, something I never got. Why are we naff at sprinting (always good enough to make the final but almost never good enough to really win anything), but quite good in the relay?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gort Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Walking is the most pointless. The Olympic sport i hate most though is that ridiculous Horse jumping, the most boring thing in the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Modern pentathlon, who the **** came up with that rubbish??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 Modern pentathlon, who the **** came up with that rubbish???Actually I quite like that - it's in the true Olympic spirit of the all-rounder. I believe it's based upon the old skills that a soldier would need - running, swimming, horse riding, sword fighting and shooting. All in one day. How Boy's Toys is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa_Rosa Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Modern pentathlon, who the **** came up with that rubbish???Actually I quite like that - it's in the true Olympic spirit of the all-rounder. I believe it's based upon the old skills that a soldier would need - running, swimming, horse riding, sword fighting and shooting. All in one day. How Boy's Toys is that? Aye, that's right. Specifically a 19th century soldier. Some wag suggested on the BBC website the other day that they should add pillaging french villages to the event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 I still feel basketball is in the games to serve the interests of one country more than any other sport in the games. 305 million viewers to the commercial TV that broadcasts the games has nothing to do with that, im sure. The fact that the US broadcast rights consistently fetch an order of magnitude more than any other country's broadcast rights may have something to do with that. Basketball however is probably at least more valid than football at the Olympics, as the Olympic tournament is considered more prestigious than the World Championships (compare with football... I suspect that football will probably leave the Olympics within the next few editions of the Games). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 True, but that says a lot about how mickey mouse the world championships are. The NBA is such a dominant factor in the basketball world that it has essentially replaced international competition. Admittedly (and a lot of European people conveniently forget this) the USA is as much an entire continent as it is a single country so comparing it to say, football, is like comparing apples with oranges. But id imagine most basketball players coming out of college would prefer to win an NBA championship ring to an Olympic gold medal in their career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 For me it would be Rugby sevens. Its a great game to watch, TV friendly, competitive between lots of nations and i love how its done over a mini tournament with short games and teams playing several times in a day. Possible brownie points for some of the smaller nations (Fiji & Samoa being the obvious examples) being genuine medal contenders. If Sevens doesn't make it, the NFL via FIAF will probably end up paying the right people enough to get eight-a-side gridiron into the games... I'll vote for 7s though, especially since I think that something based on 7s is the only real hope for professional rugby in the States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Sevens is a cracking game, and again i feel its a genuine international competition rather than bringing in a sport for the sake of generating gold medal interest for the country that brings in the highest amount of advertising dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 For me it would be Rugby sevens. Its a great game to watch, TV friendly, competitive between lots of nations and i love how its done over a mini tournament with short games and teams playing several times in a day. Possible brownie points for some of the smaller nations (Fiji & Samoa being the obvious examples) being genuine medal contenders. If Sevens doesn't make it, the NFL via FIAF will probably end up paying the right people enough to get eight-a-side gridiron into the games... I'll vote for 7s though, especially since I think that something based on 7s is the only real hope for professional rugby in the States. Professional rugby is heading for the states, if people with ears close to the ground are to be believed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 True, but that says a lot about how mickey mouse the world championships are. The NBA is such a dominant factor in the basketball world that it has essentially replaced international competition. Admittedly (and a lot of European people conveniently forget this) the USA is as much an entire continent as it is a single country so comparing it to say, football, is like comparing apples with oranges. But id imagine most basketball players coming out of college would prefer an NBA championship ring to an Olympic gold medal. Without a doubt. As to the second point, I definitely think that California should be allowed to enter as a separate country for Olympic purposes. California would probably end up placing in the top 5 or 6 on the medal table in most Olympics (being, to some extent, a bigger Australia). It would also probably help the US TV ratings even more (though I suspect that if you asked Disney execs, CBS execs, or Rupert if the US ratings need help, they'd laugh in your face...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I cant see it taking off in a big way. Most countries already have their favourite sports and they are pretty much set in stone. The USA like Gridiron, Baseball, Basketball and Ice Hockey. Anything beneath that is niche. Ditto us with Football, Cricket and Rugby. Sure, bring the NFL over here and sell 90'000 tickets for a game but that kind of thing is simply akin to Prince coming over here and playing a single gig to 90'000 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted August 22, 2008 VT Supporter Share Posted August 22, 2008 Professional rugby is heading for the states, if people with ears close to the ground are to be believed.... Honestly, I'll believe it when the Rugby World Cup is shown on a channel that's in more than a couple of hundred thousand homes (most recently on Setanta). Even the '90 World Cup was at least on ESPN. Pro rugby would be lucky to get a few thousand a game in attendance. 7s at least can be more appetizing to the casual fan flipping through channels, and the shorter game periods make for natural advert breaks. I'd structure a USA-style 7s match as a series of 4 or 5 7s games (with halves probably extended to 12 minutes) between the sides, with the 5th game played if nobody's won 3 of the first 4. 1 point in the standings awarded for each win, with a bonus point for winning the aggregate score in the match. That gets most matches into the 2-3 hour range that is the standard American sports broadcast window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 California would probably end up placing in the top 5 or 6 on the medal table in most Olympics (being, to some extent, a bigger Australia). If you added the populations of Australia, New Zealand and Greece together then you would just about match that of California. Its a big old place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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