Olympics: Adding golf a goofy move
The International Olympic Committee voted Thursday to add rugby and golf, which means no softball in 2016. Softball already is out of the 2012 London Games, so at best, softball will go 12 years between Olympiads, 2008 in Beijing and wherever the 2020 games land.
I feel sorry for softball players. A 12-year void of Olympics (minimum) means a lost generation of Olympians. I hope it doesn’t harm the sport, but I fear it might. I also can’t make the argument that softball absolutely deserved to be in the Olympics.
No matter what the softball community tries to sell, the game remains parity-deprived world wide. Only three to four nations play the most elite softball. The U.S., Japan, China, Australia, that’s about it. The game remains in need of worldwide growth, and while the Olympics most definitely would expediate that growth, a sport must stand on its own feet.
But golf? You’ve got to be kidding. Rugby, I can’t comment on. Maybe that’s a good decision, maybe not. Don’t know enough about it. But golf has no business in the Olympics.
Golf already has world championships. They’re called the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA. Maybe the world’s greatest players will compete in the Olympics — depends on a variety of things, including the date of the Olympiad; no way will a pro skip one of golf’s majors to compete in the Olympics.
If a sport’s ultimate achievement is not an Olympic gold medal, it shouldn’t be in the Olympics. And a golfing gold medal would carry less weight than a victory in one of the Buick tournaments.
The Olympics seem to be star-struck. After big names, instead of chasing the Olympic ideal. It’s a shame. All kinds of athletes were injured by this ridiculous decision, softball players included.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I couldn’t possibly disagree more…I mean, we have underwater synchronized swimming in the olympics so why not golf? This will further bolster the already incredible popularity of the game of golf and finally give these great players to represent their countries on the olympic stage which, no matter what this bonehead writer says, is completely different from the majors that he’s referring to.
Don’t forget the Ryder Cup too. When they display the leaderboard, they now include a picture of the players home country flag so in a sense, they play for their country already but the experience of playing in the Olympics would truly be awesome for anyone, no matter the sport.
golf has to be there. there is loads of so called sports in the olympics but golf IS A REAL OLYMPIC SPORT.
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I agree. If an Olympic gold medal is not the highest achievement in a sport – then it simply should not be an Olympic sport. However, that does not mean that the Olympic committee should make their decisions based on the United States. Even though the NBA title is the holy grail for NBA players, I think that the gold medal for other countries may be their highest achievment. Which brings us back to your point. Golf, tennis, and soccer already have a platform to crown World Champions.