dooog Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I would 100% watch jousting if it became an Olympic sport. Make it so! And please get rid of football, tennis, golf and any other sport where an Olympic medal doesn't represent the pinnacle of international sporting achievement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Tug of War should absolutely come back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin et al. Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 We need Olympic dodgeball! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 If jousting becomes an Olympic event, who will stop Rufus Sewell from taking home the gold now that Heath Ledger is gone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Ghost- Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Besides the US, I'd say that baseball is pretty popular in Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. I would definitely want to see jousting. That would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 1 minute ago, -Ghost- said: Besides the US, I'd say that baseball is pretty popular in Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Colombia, South Korea, Aruba, it's popular enough in Mexico and Australia too. Not like the others though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Ghost- Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 15 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said: Colombia, South Korea, Aruba, it's popular enough in Mexico and Australia too. Not like the others though. True. You can even throw in the Netherlands. They have had some pretty good guys through the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 10 hours ago, Veltigar said: If jousting becomes an Olympic event, who will stop Rufus Sewell from taking home the gold now that Heath Ledger is gone? Easy, the answer to everything on these boards - James Purefoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Which Tyler said: Easy, the answer to everything on these boards - James Purefoy Man, now that would be a great match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 18 hours ago, dooog said: And please get rid of football, tennis, golf and any other sport where an Olympic medal doesn't represent the pinnacle of international sporting achievement. That is a perfect criterium to cut sports from the Olympics. Seeing all the tennis players finding all kinds of excuses for skipping Rio and play some third-rate tournaments instead makes me sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 5 minutes ago, baxus said: That is a perfect criterium to cut sports from the Olympics. Seeing all the tennis players finding all kinds of excuses for skipping Rio and play some third-rate tournaments instead makes me sick. Either I've missed something; or you're confusing Tennis with Golf. Personally I'm happy for the olympics to be 2nd or even 3rd most important event in the sport, and olympic tennis is more-or-less equivalent of a grand slam; I'm okay with tennis as it seems a shared pinnacle. Golf and football simply shouldn't be there; and nor should baseball or basketball. I'd also say that there are a few sports in the olympics that I wouldn't even consider a sport (my personal definition would be any activity when an increase in skill or an increase in fitness will directly lead to improved performance). Much happier with syncro swimming that a lot of the shooting sports for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunderMifflin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 What's wrong with basketball? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 2 hours ago, Which Tyler said: Either I've missed something; or you're confusing Tennis with Golf. Personally I'm happy for the olympics to be 2nd or even 3rd most important event in the sport, and olympic tennis is more-or-less equivalent of a grand slam; I'm okay with tennis as it seems a shared pinnacle. Golf and football simply shouldn't be there; and nor should baseball or basketball. I'd also say that there are a few sports in the olympics that I wouldn't even consider a sport (my personal definition would be any activity when an increase in skill or an increase in fitness will directly lead to improved performance). Much happier with syncro swimming that a lot of the shooting sports for example. Olympic tournament is nowhere near an equivalent of a grand slam. Participants earn no money and they don't even get ATP/WTA points this time around. Quite a few players (Raonic being the most notable one) have announced they won't be going to Rio due to Zika virus, and some have been quite open about going where the money is. How on Earth would you consider shooting as an activity where an increase in skill wouldn't lead to improved performance? As far as required fitness is concerned, I agree that it doesn't look like a physically demanding sport but I must admit I wouldn't know much about it. And I say fuck golf. It's nothing more than a walk ruined, and it has no business in the Olympics in the first place. There's nothing wrong with basketball being an Olympic sport. Even USA superstars (Magic, Jordan, Ewing, Barkley, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron all played and I've certainly skipped a few others) get involved, though some do occasionally decide to skip it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 11 hours ago, -Ghost- said: True. You can even throw in the Netherlands. They have had some pretty good guys through the years. The Yankees shortstop is from the Netherlands, the Indians starting catcher is Brazilian and I think they have a German or two in their farm system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 1 hour ago, DunderMifflin said: What's wrong with basketball? Similar to baseball (although much better) - you don't get the elite players, and it's not even close to the pinnacle of the sport. 45 minutes ago, baxus said: Olympic tournament is nowhere near an equivalent of a grand slam. Participants earn no money and they don't even get ATP/WTA points this time around. Quite a few players (Raonic being the most notable one) have announced they won't be going to Rio due to Zika virus, and some have been quite open about going where the money is. How on Earth would you consider shooting as an activity where an increase in skill wouldn't lead to improved performance? As far as required fitness is concerned, I agree that it doesn't look like a physically demanding sport but I must admit I wouldn't know much about it. And I say fuck golf. It's nothing more than a walk ruined, and it has no business in the Olympics in the first place. There's nothing wrong with basketball being an Olympic sport. Even USA superstars (Magic, Jordan, Ewing, Barkley, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron all played and I've certainly skipped a few others) get involved, though some do occasionally decide to skip it. Nowhere near the grand slam is entirely subjective; money and ranking points are completely irrelevant - ask Murray, Federer, Nadal, Williams, Williams etc, etc if they care about the olympics (I believe Serena claims that her medal is her most precious possession). Raonic? wow - you mean 1 of the top 10 for either gender has withdrawn? that really counts as "Seeing all the tennis players finding all kinds of excuses for skipping Rio and play some third-rate tournaments instead". Google says 3 withdrawals - women's 5th seed, and men's 7th and 8th seeds. Exactly how much does an increase in fitness improve you as a shooter? lots of things are skillfull; shooting, snooker, poker; that doesn't make them sports (IMO). ETA: fair play - my slightly lazy phrasing, both skill and fitness are required to classify as a sport; and improvement in either would affect performance. Basketball - knowing nothing much about basketball, I would still put money on more top-class tennis players turning up (and taking it seriously) than basketball players. How close to the NBA does the olympics rate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunderMifflin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Boxing would have to go too on the logic that you don't get the best of the best. Ice hockey too, there would be no "miracle on ice" Basketball comes pretty close, the USA teams are the typically the best team in the world, better than any NBA team. On paper at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 Boxing I wouldn't have a problem with being removed; or allowing the elite end. I am led to understand that olympic boxing is done under different rules though, which may mitigate against the best still being the best; but wouldn't know. Ice Hockey - I don't follow winter olympics enough to really hold an opinion; but if it doesn't meet my (subjective and personal) requirements then I'd be fine with it not being there. Basketball - I may well simply be wrong; but I'd need convincing and evidence before accepting the olympics as more of a pinnacle with the best of the best there than something like tennis (closest to the borderline I can think of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 13 minutes ago, Which Tyler said: Similar to baseball (although much better) - you don't get the elite players, and it's not even close to the pinnacle of the sport. Nowhere near the grand slam is entirely subjective; money and ranking points are completely irrelevant - ask Murray, Federer, Nadal, Williams, Williams etc, etc if they care about the olympics (I believe Serena claims that her medal is her most precious possession). Raonic? wow - you mean 1 of the top 10 for either gender has withdrawn? that really counts as "Seeing all the tennis players finding all kinds of excuses for skipping Rio and play some third-rate tournaments instead" Exactly how much does an increase in fitness improve you as a shooter? lots of things are skillfull; shooting, snooker, poker; that doesn't make them sports (IMO). ETA: fair play - my slightly lazy phrasing, both skill and fitness are required to classify as a sport; and improvement in either would affect performance. Basketball - knowing nothing much about basketball, I would still put money on more top-class tennis players turning up (and taking it seriously) than basketball players. How close to the NBA does the olympics rate? Wow, yeah... It's just 1 of the top 10 for either gender. Except it's not. Raonic, Berdych, Thiem (all top 10), Isner, Kyrgios, Tomic, (all top 20) Lopez (#21), Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova (#5 and #17 in WTA rankings)... And lots and lots of those raising their voice because neither money nor points are to be won in the tournament. That makes it what? 7 out of top 21 men? At least do a quick Google search before dismissing other people's arguments. Saying that shooting is as physically demanding as poker just shows how little you know about it. It requires intense focus and control over your body - staying still is a lot more difficult than you might imagine especially while holding a gun/rifle and trying to shoot it as close to perfectly as humanly possible. And let's not even go to how "easy" it is to keep your heart rate under control under all that pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 14 minutes ago, Which Tyler said: Basketball - I may well simply be wrong; but I'd need convincing and evidence before accepting the olympics as more of a pinnacle with the best of the best there than something like tennis (closest to the borderline I can think of). As far as international competition goes it might be the pinnacle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunderMifflin Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 20 minutes ago, Which Tyler said: Boxing I wouldn't have a problem with being removed; or allowing the elite end. I am led to understand that olympic boxing is done under different rules though, which may mitigate against the best still being the best; but wouldn't know. Ice Hockey - I don't follow winter olympics enough to really hold an opinion; but if it doesn't meet my (subjective and personal) requirements then I'd be fine with it not being there. Basketball - I may well simply be wrong; but I'd need convincing and evidence before accepting the olympics as more of a pinnacle with the best of the best there than something like tennis (closest to the borderline I can think of). Boxers wouldn't do it, Olympics is mainly for up and coming young guys. Boxers only get a certain number of fights in their career, they aren't going to waste those paydays at the olympics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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