OT: Rugby and Golf Recommended by IOC
The 1st hurdle that Golf and Rugby has had to go over to get into the Olympics in 2016 has been completed. The Ineternational Olympic Committee (IOC) has selected both sports for inclusion in the Olympics. They were selected out of other sports that did not make the cut such as: softball, baseball, karate, and roller sports.
I'm really excited about this development because I am an avid golfer and would love to see Tiger Woods and USA take on other countries in a world competition. I see it as being, or hope it would be like, a gigantic Ryder Cup.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=4396021
EDIT: They lengthened and changed the article on me. Looks like it would just be a stroke play championship. Top 15 in world would automatically qualify (both men and women) and the PGA and LPGA would alter their schedules to accomodate the Olympics.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:08 AM ^
It says stroke play in the article but I would be really interested in how they would really have the format. That being said it is one more way that Tiger will become the greatest ever to play the game!
August 13th, 2009 at 10:08 AM ^
however, the rugby version approved is the seven a side game - which is like a 100m dash v. 10,000 meter run.
It is a wide open game, but not much of a boost for rugby supporters hoping for exposure to the pure 15 a side game.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^
I totally agree. I am a bigger fan of the full 15s (maybe because I am one of the fat slow guys). I think 7s is a good first step. It might be a little easier to watch for someone unfamiliar with the game, and easier to get more people around the world playing. Let's hope rugby makes it all the way, sees some success, and adds 15s to the Olympic mix.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:08 AM ^
Didn't they just dump golf a few years back?
Rugby makes some sense but no more than baseball which just got cut. I suspect if they let major leaguers play baseball it would be back.
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August 13th, 2009 at 10:13 AM ^
They did not just dump golf.
Golf baffles me - it seems like a perfect Olympic sport. You can hold it over the course of a couple days, there are a lot of countries with chances to medal, and pretty much any Olympic site is going to have a championship level golf course within an hour or so.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:29 AM ^
Absolutely right. So much about golf lends itself to making a great Olympic sport. All Western European countries, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and even Fiji could field a top-caliber golfer or Ryder Cup-esque team. Some might argue that this group excludes poorer socio-economic countries and the field might be relatively narrow. But I would respond with, see: Basketball, Swimming, Rowing, and just about every other Olympic sport besides Track and Field.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:43 AM ^
baseball and softball getting the axe?
August 13th, 2009 at 10:48 AM ^
They're virtually non-competitive and they're expensive. This was a long time coming, and the reason the World Baseball Classic was created. I don't know how much you've seen about Iraq's national team having trouble getting started. They've used the same dented bat for four years as it's their only one.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:56 AM ^
Both sports are played world-wide. Both sports should be in the Olympics. If I had to choose one, It would be golf though. Question is; how many different events would they have if golf were to be an Olympic sport? I find that part interesting.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:28 PM ^
Tiger will be on the "back nine" of his career. He should have the records for both victories and majors by then, but it isn't a slam dunk that he will be the best player by then. Tiger swings hard, and that doesn't bode well for producing much past 35, when the body starts to lose fast-twitch muscle. That makes the "hard" swing more difficult to execute, and performance usually drops off.
Within the next five to ten years, Tiger is going to have to make one more major swing change: that from fast-twitch muscle and swinging hard to slow-twitch muscle and swinging easy. If Tiger can swing more like (in chronological order) Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Julius Boros, Fred Couples, or Ernie Els, he might be able to set records so stunning that they are unreachable. If, however, he insists on swinging hard for the rest of his life, he will eventually have to fight too many injuries to be as effective as he could be.
Hopefully, he will realize this, because he still has the best mental game, the best imagination, and is the best putter out there. Those elements would easily keep him at the highest echelon, even with an easier swing that sarcifices 20-30 yards.
Hopefully, Tiger will qualify for the Olympics in 2016, with a swing that recalls Sam Snead in his 40's.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:33 PM ^
dancing.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:45 PM ^
the IRB (the governing board of rugby union and the sevens variety) agreed to make the olympics the premier sevens event replacing the sevens world cup i.e. you will see the best sevens players in the world.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:42 PM ^
was included in the 1900, '08, '20, and '24 olympic games, with America winning gold in the '20 and '24 games.
I really wish they stopped including it...
I am happy too while reading this news. It is a good achievement ofentering golf into the olympics. And Tiger Woods will win the tournament :-)