It is now the end of Day Three of the Olympics, and I must say, I've found myself enjoying it far more than I recall doing so in a long time. If you have an hour, the opening ceremonies in Beijing were like nothing I've ever seen before in my life - it's well worth it just to know that you've seen the largest and perhaps best performance that's ever been put on, certainly to open an Olympics. The stadium there was designed specifically with this opening ceremony in mind - think about that.
What is most interesting is what constitutes an Olympic sport. Certainly it doesn't go by how riveting a sport is (I mean, really - equesterian!? What the heck is "dressing"?!), nor should it. But it is certainly fantastic to watch athletic feats and skills, even in sports a person doesn't particularly care about: Archery, for example, or fencing, or even (oddly) badminton. The men's 400M relay in swimming was incredible to watch.
What are the strangest sports in the Olympics, and should they be Olympic sports? And what isn't there that should be? (Baseball? Cricket?)
It's criminal that they're removing baseball from the Olympics. It's big in North and South America, the Caribbean, and the Far East. Only in Europe is it not so popular.
ReplyDeleteBaseball...it boggles the mind.
ReplyDelete--to Michael Phelps' father: I'm not saying that you should look into the whereabouts of your wife nine months before your son was born but if she was anywhere in the vacinity of a pod of Dolphins you might want to ask her if anything strange happened that day...I'm just sayin'
ReplyDeleteThe men's 400M relay in swimming was incredible to watch.
ReplyDeleteWatched it live last night and we were cheering so loud when the US won! I can't believe I am saying this, but there's more drama in sports than any scripted TV show. (The last minutes of this year's Superbowl...) OK, I think I'm back to myself now. I still don't like football but I love the Olympics!
Nice post here.
"What the heck is "dressing"?!" ---> Is it not called 'dressage'...
ReplyDeleteI guess they show these random sports to fill in time between fun things like swimming and gymnastics. Not that I've had time to watch any this year so far.
(Enough cricket here as it is, like they need to show more of it??!! They don't need it in the olympics! ;)
Jewboy - Well put. And cricket is almost as popular throughout the world, however odd/boring we might think it to be. I think both should be in.
ReplyDeleteG - LOL.
SaraK - That was a good post there... and yup - sports is far and away the best way to see human drama, triumph, and the like. It's why even *scripted* sports movies are still so good in that department. Real sports... there's nothing like it.
Excuse me, Sarah. Whatever it is, it's straaange. :P
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess something has to serve as filler. And it lets more people who are athletic but not the best in major sports have something to shoot to be the best at, which is nice.
never said it wasn't strange :P
ReplyDeleteThere's something for everyone in the Olympics--I like the dressage, but then I'm a little nutty for horses in general. No worse than curling in the winter Olympics.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the opening was incredible. Did you expect anything less from the country that invented fireworks?
I think finger baseball should definitely be a sport. And rock, paper, scissors. I once really saw rock, paper, scissors on TV. For real!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with the sports drama thing. I love sports movies, even though they're entirely predictable. :P
Who *doesn't* like movies like...Mighty Ducks?!
QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK
I'm watching men's synchronized diving. Riveting... ::snort::
ReplyDeleteSince when was this in the Olympics?
It's dressage not dressing!!! It is a sport that requires enormous training and teamwork between rider and horse. They perform "dances" of sorts - difficult gaits, often rhythmic, turns, etc... You do have to know what to look for, though.
ReplyDeleteThey used to have tug-a-war in the Olympics... got too messy. I can see that.
They're removing baseball because the big name players can't come play . . . basically, it's aparently MLB's fault.
ReplyDeleteAnd cricket should be in the Olympics. Just because Americans are uncivilized and don't play cricket, that doesn't mean it's not important!
And I still can't believe they have Team Handball. Or Table Tennis (but Handball is stranger).
They used to have tug-a-war in the Olympics...
ReplyDeleteWhat about red rover??? They should have that!
erachet: i'd totally watch your olympics! red rover brings back memories!
ReplyDeletecan we play duck, duck, goose?
or machanayim?