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What's with the Olympics doing away with Baseball yet they keep water polo and now white water rafting? They basically had to build a river for it.
How is rafting a "Sport"?
I can name some others and they have the word synchronized in them.
Cuba, Australia,Japan, Korea, Taiwan,Mexico, Puerto Rico,Dominican Republic,Venezuela,Costa Rica. There was even a pro league in ISRAEL a few years ago! Baseball or syncranized (sic) underwater basket weaving? I'll take baseball!
A deal, deal! Maybe He's a Republican?
60 feet of bridge I can get almost anywhere. Schmuck!
There is about a dozen South American and Carribean countries that would beg to differ...
August 7 2012, 3:42 PM
Still, the main problems with baseball (and softball) in the Olympics was 1) having a two week long tournament in a country like the UK that has very few baseball/soft ball diamonds is very difficult, and 2) it is not popular to have a sport where on country (namely the US) is pretty much guaranteed to win the gold.
Very simple, the USA could not put together a team.
August 7 2012, 2:18 PM
As with Basketball, player would be pro level and the Olympics is smack dab in the middle of the season. Without the US participating, aint worth a penny...
There is no such thing as an unbuildable kit, just some kits one may consider not worth building.
Ive realized that most people ... tend not to be direct when they feel something is shoddy because they want to be liked, "which is actually a vain trait".
[Walter Isaacson's (author of Steve Jobs) recounting of his interview with Jony Ive, Chief Designer at Apple @ page p. 461]
there are enough college and high school grads available to make a very good team. Oh, but then they would be "amateurs". Can't have THAT in the olympics now, can we?
A deal, deal! Maybe He's a Republican?
60 feet of bridge I can get almost anywhere. Schmuck!
You can differ all you want. But that was a primary reason.
August 7 2012, 2:38 PM
I like differ. Your opinion is valid, as an opinion. But the facts seem to be otherwise.
The other reason is allegedly anti-Americanism, as base ball is an American sport through and through. Also, it would mean the Cubans, Venezuelans and Japanese would have killed a semi-pro US team.
There is no such thing as an unbuildable kit, just some kits one may consider not worth building.
Ive realized that most people ... tend not to be direct when they feel something is shoddy because they want to be liked, "which is actually a vain trait".
[Walter Isaacson's (author of Steve Jobs) recounting of his interview with Jony Ive, Chief Designer at Apple @ page p. 461]
The question wasn't about the Olympics. But about baseball as an Olympic sport.
If the home country wants to foot the bill, so be it. In the US it is a private undertaking. That was why the uniforms were made in China, and at other time Myanmar/Burma...
As you chose to beg to differ, I'll just differ. I like the Olympics.
There is no such thing as an unbuildable kit, just some kits one may consider not worth building.
Ive realized that most people ... tend not to be direct when they feel something is shoddy because they want to be liked, "which is actually a vain trait".
[Walter Isaacson's (author of Steve Jobs) recounting of his interview with Jony Ive, Chief Designer at Apple @ page p. 461]
There is no such thing as an unbuildable kit, just some kits one may consider not worth building.
Ive realized that most people ... tend not to be direct when they feel something is shoddy because they want to be liked, "which is actually a vain trait".
[Walter Isaacson's (author of Steve Jobs) recounting of his interview with Jony Ive, Chief Designer at Apple @ page p. 461]
These games have been as entertaining as I can remember. I don't miss the political posturing of the 70s/80s and there have been some fantastic athletes displaying their skills. Just from the US . . . Michael Phelps going out in style, Missy Franklin announcing her dominance at only 17, and yesterday's soccer match between Canada and the USA was the best game I've ever seen, and I watch WAY too much soccer!
Since 1992, when baseball became an olympic sport, the US has alway been able to field a team and, except for 2004 when it didn't qualify, it has been competitive. It's tied for 2nd with Japan for the number of medal finishes (3). They both fall behind Cuba which has 5. Even during the demonstration years of 1984 and 1988, the US placed 2nd and 1st respectively.
The real reason is what Steven posted in the body of his post: the IOC wants the MLB players to participate. Upon hearing that statement, many Americans assume that this just releases more Americans to play on an Olympic baseball teams. But, it releases other countries' citizens to play as well. Most people don't realize it, but 338 of the 1243 individuals on the 2012 MLB roster are from other countries. That's over 27%. There's 121 from the Dominican Republic alone. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/birthplace.php?y=2012 That's a country that's participated in Olympic baseball only once and didn't medal. I bet they could field a pretty good team out of 121 MLB players.
Simply put, the IOC (and other countries)feel that MLB is keeping the best world talent from participating in the Olympics.
I would not have made the team (too old, bad eyesight, run like I have a piano on my back) but I would have made an effort.
Look, when a vastly superior alien culture comes all this way to take over your world, certain basic laws of planetary conquest apply. For example, when someone points a Quad Vectored Hypo Thermic Cosmo Blaster at you, it's a fair bet you are about to become toast. And in your case, a whole loaf of toast!
I would also point that as this Olympics is mean to be the legacy 'lipmics, there is simply not enough interest in summer sport (not just in baseball) in the UK to justify building any proper baseball stadia here (there are no proper baseball diamonds here in the UK). The summer is simply the gap between the end of one football season (in early July this year), and the start of next season (tomorrow, in fact).
Obviously cricket is our national summer sport but that's becoming more and more of a specialist minority sport nowadays, except when 20/20 cricket(google is your friend) matches take place.
Its interesting that we've had NFL, NBA and NHL pre-season games over here, but I suspect our weather is simply too unpredictable to have any spring training games played here.
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