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Originally Posted by Michael B
You should quit while you are behind. The fact that you bring up handball shows your lack of knowleddge of Olympic sports. Handball is not two humps slapping a rubber ball against a wall. It is a team sport. It has seven players per side, 6 who move on the floor and a goalie. The court is walled like an NHL rink and larger than and NBA court. Their court is 131' x 66', NBA is 94' x 50'. There is a goal on each end about 10' wide and 7' high. The ball is about 24 inches in diameter and weighs about one pound. It is very fast paced and can see scores of 30-35 goals in the pro leagues. I have watched the European Handball Championships and it is quite a game. You can find it on youtube.
Shooting has always been part of the games and will likely remain so. You could probably hit an 80mph fastball easier than a target the size of a dime at 25 m with an air pistol. I have never met an Olympic Equestrian athlete who was out of shape. The three day eventing competition is not a trail ride on a pony.
I don't necessarily think that synchro swimming and trampolining should be separate disciplines but they are. I can understand trampoline as it is used by most gymnasts to learn dismounts. It is also used by aerial skiers. I don't care if they bring back baseball but I don't want to see ML players. They are also adding skateboarding and surfing which seems silly to me.
By the way the only sporting disciplines the U.S. has not medalled in are table tennis, badminton, handball, trampoline and rhythmic gymnastics (a sport I would not mind if it was removed).
Sidelights. - 1984 and 1988 baseball teams - McGuire, Snyder, Ventura etc. are not Olympians. It was a demonstration sport and they are not recognized as Olympic athletes.
The 1980 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey team had only 19 gold medalist on the team. Goalie Steve Janaszak did not play a single minute in the Olympic tournament, therefore he is not considered an Olympian an may not have received a gold medal.
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Micheal, you are quite knowledgable and I am not looking to pick a fight but let's agree to disagree, Ok? I like to collect 1980's Toronto Blue Jays jerseys and you might prefer 1900's Oympic rowing medalists' autographs - both kind of niche and that's great!
Your clarification on the makeup of handball (team vs head to head) isnt helping your argument my friend. The fact that as a 48 year old, sports enthusiast I have never heard of 6 a side handball and must look to YouTube to find a game (along with semipro beer pong, I presume) tells me a lot about this sport - most clearly that it doesn't belong in the Olympics. Water polo without the water - neither is an Olympic-worthy sport, IMO.
You mention skateboarding and surfing - two reasons I can get behind these as possible additions: 1) they are participated world-wide on a large scale (Handball championships....please); 2) the world's youth enjoy these sports and the IOC Need to attract a younger demographic (the sports I mentioned won't do it).
Being a marksman in shooting is tough to do, for sure, but so is being a chess master - who wants to watch either live or otherwise. Equestrian riders are no wimps, I get that; but the horses are the true athletes in the equation.
Look, I dont have to personally enjoy the sport to feel that it belongs in the Games. I played table tennis and badminton as a youth at a high level and I know that billions of people in the world love these sports. Let's include some more popular sports such as these; cricket for example - why isn't that in over synchro?