Phil_314 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/13128825/baseball-softball-8-sports-proposed-2020-games TOKYO -- Baseball and softball remain on course to get back into the Olympics. Squash, karate, surfing and four other sports are in contention to get into the games for the first time. Japanese organizers on Monday chose eight sports from a list of 26 that had applied for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The other sports making the cut were bowling, roller sports, sport climbing and wushu. The combined bid of men's baseball and women's softball -- sports dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games -- was considered a favorite because of their popularity in Japan. "This is a great day for our sport," said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation. "Today baseball and softball -- and the millions of athletes and fans who call it their sport -- reached first base." The federations of the eight sports will next make presentations in Tokyo on Aug. 7-8, and organizers will make recommendations to the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 30. The IOC will make a final decision on which sport or sports will be added in August 2016, when it meets ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The sports that applied but failed to make the cut were: air sports, American football, bowls, bridge, chess, dance sport, floorball, flying disc, korfball, netball, orienteering, polo, racquetball, sumo, tug of war, underwater sports, waterski and wakeboard. Under the "Olympic Agenda 2020" reforms approved in December, the IOC agreed to abolish the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games and move to an "events-based" system that would allow new competitions to come in, while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events. Host cities are allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games. Baseball and softball have failed in several bids for reinstatement. They would be a huge draw in Japan, even without the participation of players from Major League Baseball, which has said it won't alter its schedule to accommodate the Olympics. Japan sent many of its top professional baseball players to Beijing. Organizers were eager to pick sports that appeal to youth and wouldn't require the building of new facilities. Tokyo organizers have been looking for ways to reduce costs. All of the sports making the short list have applied for Olympic inclusion in the past, some multiple times. In 2013, squash and baseball-softball lost out to wrestling in the most recent IOC vote for inclusion on the Tokyo program. Fujio Mitarai, who chaired the selection panel, said two factors were key in selecting events such as surfing and roller sports, which will include skateboarding. "The most important factors were: Does the sport have the support of the younger generation and how big is the population of the sport worldwide?" Mitarai said. So baseball/ softball, squash, karate, surfing, bowling, roller sports, sport climbing (is that like parkour?) and wushu are up for nomination. Can't see bowling getting in but the others probably would be acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baer. Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Surfing is interesting because you wouldn't be able to hold the olympics in landlocked countries. I don't see it happening. Sport climbing might be rock climbing? Time trials maybe? What are roller sports? Like roller derby or roller hockey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayStation Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Baseball, squash, karate, surfing etc, but remember when the IOC wanted to take out wrestling because there is too many events? Please no baseball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRussianRocket. Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Baseball, squash, karate, surfing etc, but remember when the IOC wanted to take out wrestling because there is too many events? Please no baseball. Yep, dumbest thing in history when they wanted wrestling out of the Olympics. And agree baseball would be stupid. It's just a free medal for the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoneypuckOverlord Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Bring Roller hockey into it. That be a beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yep, dumbest thing in history when they wanted wrestling out of the Olympics. And agree baseball would be stupid. It's just a free medal for the US. Hulk Hogan deserves the gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_bassi13 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 happy to see baseball back, even if it's continues to be with non-MLB calibre players. Though it's not surprising at all that it was Japan hosting the events that would bring it back. I hope it's not just a one time return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteeun Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Bring Roller hockey into it. That be a beast. I hope it's something like inline hockey type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AriGold Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yep, dumbest thing in history when they wanted wrestling out of the Olympics. And agree baseball would be stupid. It's just a free medal for the US. I don't know about that Dominican Republic would have an unreal team.. Cano, Bautista, Cabrera, Cruz, Beltre, Pujols, and about 15 Ramirez... I know lots will be retired by 2020 but the DR talent is unreal and more are coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wash Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Disappointing that Ultimate didn't make the cut after making it to the initial round of 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tre Mac Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 No competitive gaming or poker?? Maybe 2024, maybe.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is where the sport vs pastime vs hobby classification comes into play. Baseball (and softball) for instance is a pastime not a sport, due to the fact that only one team can score at any given time so that they aren't in direct competition with each other. And if you can do it while sitting, it's not a sport. I want to see individual and team sports where athletes compete directly against each other in a match of some sort or a race style competition where they're going for the best time/score either all at the same time or successively on a course. And bridge, korfball, tug of war, etc.? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is where the sport vs pastime vs hobby classification comes into play. Baseball (and softball) for instance is a pastime not a sport, due to the fact that only one team can score at any given time so that they aren't in direct competition with each other. And if you can do it while sitting, it's not a sport. I want to see individual and team sports where athletes compete directly against each other in a match of some sort or a race style competition where they're going for the best time/score either all at the same time or successively on a course. And bridge, korfball, tug of war, etc.? No. Wait a minute. Baseball is not a sport because... only one team can score at any given time....? I guess individual sports are out, then. No weightlifting no gymnastics nothing that includes judges or scores....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_bassi13 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Wait a minute. Baseball is not a sport because... only one team can score at any given time....? I guess individual sports are out, then. No weightlifting no gymnastics nothing that includes judges or scores....? Exactly. I don't get this argument. Especially when baseball is one of not many sports where an offence and a defence are going head to head for the entire game. Not to mention it's one of the ones with a straight forward scoring method to determine victory. Might as well throw out javelin, shotput, weight lifting, archery, pole vaulting, figure skating, alpine skiing, diving, synchronized swimming, all gymnastic events, all equestrian events, luge, skeleton, bobsled, and a tonne of other sports, But not baseball, where two teams are constantly on the field against one another for an entire active game. Eliminate basketball, hockey, and soccer as well, because there aren't two balls out there for both offences to be scoring at the same time with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Wait a minute. Baseball is not a sport because... only one team can score at any given time....? I guess individual sports are out, then. No weightlifting no gymnastics nothing that includes judges or scores....? No, different criteria for judged and individual scored events. If you have two teams in direct competition both should be able to have the opportunity to score. Add to that the interior battle of pitcher and hitter where the rest of the team is effectively not participating. Weightlifting you can score every time you step up to the platform. Same with gymnastics. You could have extreme versions of those where you have someone else fighting you to lift a weight or do a floor routine, but those are still an athletic competition even without going that far. A friend of mine developed a whole criteria. I can't remember it all, but it totally makes sense. ... Eliminate basketball, hockey, and soccer as well, because there aren't two balls out there for both offences to be scoring at the same time with. That's just absurd, part of the battle is gaining possession to score. You can't take over possession on any given play in baseball, you have to wait until you've gotten the required number of outs. And you have at least one batter but at most three other teammates out of one of the teams involved in game at a given moment, but the other team has all their players on the field at once, so it's not an equal direct competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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