The next Olympic sport?

[Which Tyler]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36852985

 

Quote

 

A petition calling for jousting to be made an Olympic sport has been launched by English Heritage.

The charity's jousting expert Dominic Sewell told BBC's Radio 5 live that the medieval pursuit was a "worldwide phenomenon that should be recognised".

Only about 20 people in the UK joust competitively, but the charity said tournaments were held across the world.

 

Peition: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/forms/petition

[Fez]

If baseball can't even be an Olympic sport anymore, I don't think jousting has much of a chance.

Personally, I'd like to see tug-of-war make a return to the games; 2020 will be the 100th anniversary of the last time it was there.

[DunderMifflin]

Has anyone ever died while competing at the Olympics? 

Jousting is super dangerous.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

If baseball can't even be an Olympic sport anymore, I don't think jousting has much of a chance.

Personally, I'd like to see tug-of-war make a return to the games; 2020 will be the 100th anniversary of the last time it was there.

Owing to the fact that baseball is national sport in Japan it might actually be back in 2020.

I'm pumped about jousting.  I hope it happens.  If there is X-Games shit in the Olympics why not jousting? 

[dbunting]

2 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Owing to the fact that baseball is national sport in Japan it might actually be back in 2020.

I'm pumped about jousting.  I hope it happens.  If there is X-Games shit in the Olympics why not jousting? 

Well, because X games "shit" is participated world wide by millions, not that they are all good enough for X games, but millions skate board, BMX, ski etc... Jousting, I have never seen nor heard of a jousting tournament in real life other than movies and dinner theatre.

[DunderMifflin]

There was a jousting reality show a couple of years ago on History Channel I think it was.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

1 minute ago, DunderMifflin said:

There was a jousting reality show a couple of years ago on History Channel I think it was.

Knights of Mayhem, it was on Nat Geo. 

7 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Well, because X games "shit" is participated world wide by millions, not that they are all good enough for X games, but millions skate board, BMX, ski etc... Jousting, I have never seen nor heard of a jousting tournament in real life other than movies and dinner theatre.

Skiing was in the Olympics before the X-games. But do the amount of participants make skateboarding or BMX worthy of inclusion in the Olympics? Why are they more worthy than jousting and baseball? 

[DunderMifflin]

What's that thing where it's half skiing and half shooting guns, that can't be that popular.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

6 minutes ago, DunderMifflin said:

What's that thing where it's half skiing and half shooting guns, that can't be that popular.

The biathlon? It's cross country and target shooting.  

[Astromech]

22 minutes ago, DunderMifflin said:

There was a jousting reality show a couple of years ago on History Channel I think it was.

Full Metal Jousting. Shame, the matches were damn entertaining, but they spent too much time on the scripted dynamics between competitors.

[dbunting]

11 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Knights of Mayhem, it was on Nat Geo. 

Skiing was in the Olympics before the X-games. But do the amount of participants make skateboarding or BMX worthy of inclusion in the Olympics? Why are they more worthy than jousting and baseball? 

Well, I am not qualified to answer so this is just my opinion.

Baseball, waste of time because you don't get the best in the world there competing and people know it. I don't want to see the 400th best US 1st baseman at the Olympics, why would I? MLB players can't leave mid season to do this. Plus, baseball is huge in US, Central America and Japan, but not nearly as much in other areas of the world.

X games "shit" is more global, estimated 50 million people worldwide skateboard alone, and the best can actually go to the Olympics and see it at the crowning jewel in their life. Where as baseball players see the world series as the thing to strive for. Yes "skiing" was around long ago, but this isn't long ago. You didn't have snow boarding, half pipe, actual 4 people on the down hill course at the same time type of thing.

And jousting, I mean, how many people in the world joust currently? I didn't do a deep dive on Google, but one article from 2012 said there were 100 competitive jousters. I would give you 20,000 to be wildly generous? So less than .0000000000002%(not sure how many zeros really!) of the world participates and yet you think that it should be in the world games? 

 

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

10 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Well, I am not qualified to answer so this is just my opinion.

Baseball, waste of time because you don't get the best in the world there competing and people know it. I don't want to see the 400th best US 1st baseman at the Olympics, why would I? MLB players can't leave mid season to do this. Plus, baseball is huge in US, Central America and Japan, but not nearly as much in other areas of the world.

X games "shit" is more global, estimated 50 million people worldwide skateboard alone, and the best can actually go to the Olympics and see it at the crowning jewel in their life. Where as baseball players see the world series as the thing to strive for. Yes "skiing" was around long ago, but this isn't long ago. You didn't have snow boarding, half pipe, actual 4 people on the down hill course at the same time type of thing.

And jousting, I mean, how many people in the world joust currently? I didn't do a deep dive on Google, but one article from 2012 said there were 100 competitive jousters. I would give you 20,000 to be wildly generous? So less than .0000000000002%(not sure how many zeros really!) of the world participates and yet you think that it should be in the world games? 

 

The only good reason for including extreme sports is capturing the youth demo and money. 

Baseball season is too long to stop the Olympics. USA won in Sydney with college players and some minor leaguers. Baseball isn't a thing in Korea, Australia, Italy or the Netherlands? Less than fifty million people world wide don't play baseball? 

I'll admit some of the Winter X-Games events are exciting and if jousting can bring that sort of excitement to the Summer Games why not?

[dbunting]

Just now, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

The only good reason for including extreme sports is capturing the youth demo and money. 

Baseball season is too long to stop the Olympics. USA won in Sydney with college players and some minor leaguers. Baseball isn't a thing in Korea, Australia, Italy or the Netherlands? Less than fifty million people world wide don't play baseball? 

I'll admit some of the Winter X-Games events are exciting and if jousting can bring that sort of excitement to the Summer Games why not?

Never said no one else plays baseball, said it is not nearly as big as in the countries I mentioned. The bigger thing is that you do not get the best players there. Honestly, when the people who are playing are not even close to the best in the world, is it really the best competition? I could watch baseball in the Olympics, or change the channel and watch Miguel Cabrera face Danny Salazar....no brainer.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, if jousting was in it I would probably watch it out of curiosity over Olympic baseball. But it needs to be real jousting and not staged with no danger.

Personally I would like all of the judged competitions removed. That's why I like the down hill snow board racing, you win or not based on getting there, not some judges interpretation of a trick, a sow cow triple loop whatever.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

33 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Never said no one else plays baseball, said it is not nearly as big as in the countries I mentioned. The bigger thing is that you do not get the best players there. Honestly, when the people who are playing are not even close to the best in the world, is it really the best competition? I could watch baseball in the Olympics, or change the channel and watch Miguel Cabrera face Danny Salazar....no brainer.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, if jousting was in it I would probably watch it out of curiosity over Olympic baseball. But it needs to be real jousting and not staged with no danger.

Personally I would like all of the judged competitions removed. That's why I like the down hill snow board racing, you win or not based on getting there, not some judges interpretation of a trick, a sow cow triple loop whatever.

Wait do you think if it were in the Olympics it would be like the kind of jousting you see at Medieval Times? I'm certain it would be full contact jousting.  

[dbunting]

1 minute ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Wait do you think if it were in the Olympics it would be like the kind of jousting you see at Medieval Times? I'm certain it would be full contact jousting.  

I just mean that it should have real danger to it. I wouldn't expect war lances with steel tips, but true solid wood, would be a must. If it was clowns at dinner theatre I wouldn't be paid to watch it.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

16 minutes ago, dbunting said:

I just mean that it should have real danger to it. I wouldn't expect war lances with steel tips, but true solid wood, would be a must. If it was clowns at dinner theatre I wouldn't be paid to watch it.

It wouldn't be, there would be no point. 

[baxus]

13 hours ago, DunderMifflin said:

What's that thing where it's half skiing and half shooting guns, that can't be that popular.

Neither baseball nor jousting would run against biathlon for a spot in the Olympics since biathlon is in the Winter Olympics.

12 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Baseball season is too long to stop the Olympics. USA won in Sydney with college players and some minor leaguers. Baseball isn't a thing in Korea, Australia, Italy or the Netherlands? Less than fifty million people world wide don't play baseball? 

Outside of USA, I can think of Japan (and was it Cuba?) as a country where baseball is popular. Sure, it's played worldwide but at a much lower quality of competition and it's nowhere near that popular.

To be honest, I don't have much confidence in IOC to do the right thing after they almost kicked wrestling out and all the rumours about kicking water polo out as well.

[Jo498]

A few people were killed (and more gravely) injured competing at Olympics.

1912 in London Portuguese Marathon runner Francisco Lazaro collapsed (and died the next day) Unlike the 490 BC Marathon runner he collapsed before finishing the race...

1960 in Rome the Danish cyclist Knut Jensen died from a combination of amphetamine doping and heatstroke

2010 in Vancouver the Georgian sledder Kumaritaschwili died at a final training at the Olympics sledding course

Several more died in preparation, usually skiing, sleddding and similar high velocity stuff. There might also have been a few horse casualties.

The main problem with jousting might be that it is not common enough. A sport has to have substantial international following to become olympic. Although this can be seriously doubted for some of them and there are of course also odd traditions, this is the general rule. In any case, I'd rather see smaller and less commercialized Olympics (very unlikely, of course) than ever bigger ones with more kinds of sports.

[Criston of House Shapper]

15 hours ago, DunderMifflin said:

What's that thing where it's half skiing and half shooting guns, that can't be that popular.

I'd say Biathlon is pretty popular in Skandinavian countries and other classic winter nations.

I don't know a whole lot about Baseball (actually, I don't know anything about it), but it sounds like the best players won't even be there, so it would probably be as pointless as the Football tournament. And what's the point anyway, with about 3 countries, where Baseball is actually a thing. Cricket is much more common around the world, so I'd rather have that. Jousting could be pretty interesting as well.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

4 hours ago, Criston of House Shapper said:

I'd say Biathlon is pretty popular in Skandinavian countries and other classic winter nations.

I don't know a whole lot about Baseball (actually, I don't know anything about it), but it sounds like the best players won't even be there, so it would probably be as pointless as the Football tournament. And what's the point anyway, with about 3 countries, where Baseball is actually a thing. Cricket is much more common around the world, so I'd rather have that. Jousting could be pretty interesting as well.

The best players aren't going to be there, MLB and the union won't allow it. And I'm not sure if they should.  The only approved International competition is the World Baseball Classic.  

Cricket would only work if it was Twenty20.