WWTBAM Bored

On the eve of the Rio Olympics, the IOC announced the addition of five new sports for Tokyo, although one of them isn't exactly new. Baseball (men) and softball (women) are coming back in 2020, and karate, skateboarding, surfing, and rock climbing. The other four sports will have both men's and women's competitions. This will add 18 new events and almost 500 additional athletes to the Tokyo Games. With the Olympics in the middle of baseball season (July 24 - August 9), it's unclear just how good the various teams will be unless MLB suspends its season (as the NHL does).

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ol ... /88034494/

silverscreenselect wrote: unless MLB suspends its season (as the NHL does).

No way in Hell that happens.

Rock climbing??!??!??

BackInTex wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote: unless MLB suspends its season (as the NHL does).

No way in Hell that happens.

As long as MLB has their World Baseball Classic, I'm sure they could care less about the Olympics. No team's going to allow its Major or Minor League talent to attend...

lb13

I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

Pastor Fireball wrote:I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

The reason tug-of-war was discontinued was because the championship match always was ending with a tie.

Pastor Fireball wrote:I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

What if they had Beach Badminton?

BackInTex wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

What if they had Beach Badminton?

I'd like to see beach skateboarding.

BackInTex wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

What if they had Beach Badminton?

Would they replace the birdie with a sandpiper?

The return of baseball (and softball) makes sense in baseball-crazy Japan.

BackInTex wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:I'm still waiting for tug-of-war to return to the Olympics.

Seriously, I don't want to watch f**king badminton!

What if they had Beach Badminton?

Considering the venue, I would watch that if it was a part of the Rio Olympics--only because I would want to see how many dead body parts the competitors would find on the beach.

T_Bone0806 wrote:Rock climbing??!??!??

I actually watched about 30 minutes of a rock climbing competition just out of curiosity. It was not compelling. OK, it was boring. It will last a very short time as an Olympic event.

Why not a Ninja Warrior competition also? You could make a case that those men/women are the greatest athletes? They could even have it at Mount Midoriyama!

This could work for a major league team willing to treat the Olympics like the short rookie leagues - a place to let young players get some reps against lower-level competition.

If I'm a developmental guru, I would draft some kids in June and let a few of them play that July/August against international competition. They could still go to fall rookie short seasons.

There would also be room for a couple of older guys who got sent down to AAA and who declined it and took a release. The Crash Davises of the world.

I wouldn't want to see the MLB players play for the U.S. (too much of a bludgeoning of other nations), though if a couple of guys wanted to ask for three weeks to go play for their home country that could be interesting.

Ritterskoop wrote:I wouldn't want to see the MLB players play for the U.S. (too much of a bludgeoning of other nations), though if a couple of guys wanted to ask for three weeks to go play for their home country that could be interesting.

That's assuming the MLB stars would be Americans.

I think the main beneficiary of MLB players in the Olympics would be the Dominican Republic, and to a lesser extent Japan.

SpacemanSpiff wrote:

Ritterskoop wrote:I wouldn't want to see the MLB players play for the U.S. (too much of a bludgeoning of other nations), though if a couple of guys wanted to ask for three weeks to go play for their home country that could be interesting.

That's assuming the MLB stars would be Americans.

I think the main beneficiary of MLB players in the Olympics would be the Dominican Republic, and to a lesser extent Japan.

Unlike Dream Team era basketball, I have little doubt other countries would kick our asses if all MLBers were allowed to play. I don't follow the Larry Bud Selig abomination known as the WBC, but has the US ever won that?

lb13

Rock climbing???!!??!??