OT: What should be an Olympic sport

[MJ]

Rule one:

You must measure achievement by how far you've thrown something than others.

Or

Rule two:

You must measure achievement by how much faster you are then others.

or

Rule three

You must measure achievement by how many times you put a ball in a net or past your opponent.

Or

Rule four

You must measure achievement by any event governed by a clock or a measurement.

This must rule out (though there's reason to like some of these);

Rhythm gymnastics - more dance then a "sport" Diving - yes they twist, etc. but how do you measure a perfect score Gymnastics - yes, it's fun to watch and amazing, but is this any different then "Dancing with the Stars"? Equestrian - dressage must go, jumping - willing to consider remaining.

Any event with "style points".

Any comments?

[Puckdropper]

MJ wrote in news:cab4b322-eb99-448d-8f1c- [e-mail]:

Let's see how typing fits into the criteria:

How fast can you type something, then make an airplane and throw it? Ok, if only a weak attempt at spicing up the "sport"

Let's see... Words Per minute. Got that.

Competitive typing, throw a ball at your opponent to make him/her mispell a word?

Clocks and measurement! Words per minute and errors per 5 characters! Easy score!

I guess that means multiple fonts are disallowed.

Coming soon, the next olympic sport: Typing!

In the 2018 or 2022 games, we'll add a new competition: Texting.

Puckdropper

[John Grossbohlin]

Frank Klaus type dovetailing....

[Joe]

Start with perfect for stated dive according to rules, then deduct for variations from 90 degrees at entry, throw out the highest and lowest scores from the group of judges, average the rest, then multiply by the Degree of Difficulty for the dive. You'll notice that there's (normally) little difference in the individual scores, indicating that what might be casually seen as variables are really constants. Yes, biases do show up at times, but that's why the statistical correction is made (plus, that will be that judge's last appearance at a meet). Where does anything requiring personal equipment fall? There's an inherent (in)accuracy in bows, rifles, badmitton racquets, boats, etc. that has nothing to do with the athlete (but must meet requirements stated in the rules for the sport) , but the sports qualify under your given requirements. Fencing would be out... Gymnastics out? How long can you hold a cross on the rings? What? No strength or agility here? The horses I gotta agree with you on. Time for another cuppa coffee.

[willshak]

MJ wrote the following on 8/5/2012 2:00 PM (ET):

Shouldn't the horse get the medals?

[russellseaton1]

What the original post said has merit. There are many Olympic events that = are not sports and/or use very subjective judging to determine a winner. S= ynchronized swimming? Ballet in the swimming pool. Why not have actual ba= llet as an event? No need for the pool and water. Kayaking? A fun, enjoy= able sporty activity. But is it a sport? Competition? Wouldn't hot air b= alloon racing be similar? Shouldn't it be an Olympic event too? Ping Pong= , table tennis? This is a sport? I thought it was a recreational activity= , hobby. Shouldn't pocket billiards be a sport too? Shoot nine ball for a= n Olympic gold. Badminton? I guess its a sport, sort of. But most of the= world considers it a recreation, hobby, fun event. Not a competition. Cr= icket and rugby are played competitively by more people than badminton. In= the USA I've never heard of competitive badminton.

To be inclusive, the Olympics have made a lot of activities into sports. P= robably too many. I'd support going through the Olympic activities and wee= ding out the questionable ones. Many of the team events, basketball, socce= r, baseball, volleyball, have more important champions each year. Womens b= each volleyball is very enjoyable to watch. But I would boot the beach vol= leyball events out. People play horseshoes at the beach too. Why isn't ho= rseshoes an Olympic event?

[Leon]

There are Olympic sports where the participants are really only practicing, and they get metals for the best practice rounds.

Seriously do you really win if your opponent walks away also? Fencing, archery, shooting??? ;~)

[-MIKE-]

beautiful. I'm stealing that for facebook.

[krw]

Horses don't pay taxes.

[Bill]

I'm not sure whether horses even have citizenship. Would you pay taxes if you didn't have citizenship, and no one knew your name?

[krw]

They're on the American team. They must.

[HeyBub]

Aren't they the same thing, but for different sexes? And different venues of course.

[Sonny]

How about adding Olympic Bathing Suit competition and/or Olympic Cheerleading competition. Those "events" seem to be an already established big hit via Sports Illustrated and the general Armchair Fan base, respectively.

Sonny