http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/20...htm?POE=SPOISVA

 

Baseball and softball were dropped Friday from the Olympic program for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

 

Each of the 28 existing sports was put to a secret vote by the International Olympic Committee, and baseball and softball failed to receive a majority required to stay on the program. The other 26 sports were retained.

That really sucks.

i never watched either, and i don't think too many people cared that much

I can't really say I blame them.

 

When you think about all of the other major olympic team sports, how many others run directly into the competitive season of that sport?

 

Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, etc. - for all of them, if a guy wants to participate, he doesn't lose millions of dollars, so we still see guys like Ginobili getting out and competing in the olympics. In Baseball, it's the Cuban national team and a few others tossed in there, but the real big guns, the guys from the U.S. can't show up.

 

I mean...if you really want to crown the best baseball team from any country in the world...how the Hell can you do it without guys like Ichiro, Pujols, Buehle, etc. facing each other.

 

The umpcoming Baseball world cup also probably played into this as well.

I can't really say I blame them.

 

When you think about all of the other major olympic team sports, how many others run directly into the competitive season of that sport?

 

Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, etc. - for all of them, if a guy wants to participate, he doesn't lose millions of dollars, so we still see guys like Ginobili getting out and competing in the olympics.  In Baseball, it's the Cuban national team and a few others tossed in there, but the real big guns, the guys from the U.S. can't show up.

 

I mean...if you really want to crown the best baseball team from any country in the world...how the Hell can you do it without guys like Ichiro, Pujols, Buehle, etc. facing each other.

 

The umpcoming Baseball world cup also probably played into this as well.

Which is exactly why the Olympic teams, at least as far as the USA is concerned, should still be amateur athletes. "Dream Teams" are bulls***. JMHO.

Which is exactly why the Olympic teams, at least as far as the USA is concerned, should still be amateur athletes.  "Dream Teams" are bulls***.  JMHO.

I agree 100%.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/opinion/12vincent.html -- Faye Vincent chimes in...

 

Ima go dig up all my 1989 Donruss Fay Vincent cards.

Edited July 12, 200520 yr by Gene Honda Civic

Who cares. MLB doesn't have a 2-week Olympic break like the NHL does during the Winter Olympics. If they did, Venezula would crush everyone w/ Santana, Zambrano, and Garcia.

 

Sorry about the size, but that photo of Freddy is the biggest one I could find on google in a Sox uniform.

That's great, Zambrano would also be the 4th best hitter on the team. They wouldn't win anything.

Can't remember who wrote the article, but there was an editorial concerning this in the SunTimes. The guy brought up a great point. He believes, and I'd agree, that a gold medal should be the highest award in an olympic sport, the holy grail that an athlete of that sport pushes to attain. With sports like baseball and basketball, the gold medal pales in comparison to an MLB or NBA championship, for those are the true grails of those sports. With the olympics offering the opportunity to attain a second-rate award, players have less to play for and the talent can be watered down. I think he really had some valid points.

Which is exactly why the Olympic teams, at least as far as the USA is concerned, should still be amateur athletes.  "Dream Teams" are bulls***.  JMHO.

 

Is it best amateur athletes? Or best athletes? That's the difference. I think you need to know that you are the best in the world and when certain people can't or don't want to show up, then you aren't the best anything.