Dumbest Olympic events?

• said_aouita

  

  What all sports/events should be eliminated from the Olympics?
  
  synchronized swimming
  synchronized diving
  ping pong
  
  
  What else?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (don't be a 'tard and say t&f)
• 4cards

  

  said_aouita;1242332 wrote:What all sports/events should be eliminated from the Olympics?
  
  synchronized swimming
  synchronized diving
  ping pong
  
  
  What else?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (don't be a 'tard and say t&f)

  I think windsurfing is pretty stupid as an Olympic event
• OneBuckeye

  

  Dressage.... Pony prancing for 5 minutes. What the fuck. Jousting should be the only Olympic sport on a horse.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  The one listed above plus: trampoline, Kayak, rythmic gymnastics, modern pentathlon, archery, equestrian, handball, shooting, badminton, the steeplechase race, and swimming blows IMO.
• GoChiefs

  

  Race walking
• namod65

  

  Most people that list table tennis in these things probably haven't seen it or know nothing about it past the recreation/backyard level. The first sign is when they call it "ping pong." Table tennis at the elite level is very fast and takes huge amounts of quickness/stamana to keep up. I'd say there are many olympic sports that deserve to be on this list before table tennis.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  namod65;1242344 wrote:Most people that list table tennis in these things probably haven't seen it or know nothing about it past the recreation/backyard level. The first sign is when they call it "ping pong." Table tennis at the elite level is very fast and takes huge amounts of quickness/stamana to keep up. I'd say there are many olympic sports that deserve to be on this list before table tennis.

  I concur.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  F. Gump
• superman

  Any event based solely on judging to determine a winner.
• like_that

  

  Raw Dawgin' it;1242335 wrote:The one listed above plus: trampoline, Kayak, rythmic gymnastics, modern pentathlon, archery, equestrian, handball, shooting, badminton, the steeplechase race, and swimming blows IMO.

  Surprise it took this long for anyone to mention the modern pentathlon. They can GTFO with that. I disagree with handball though. I find it pretty entertaining, and wouldn't mind watching it in person. Bill Simmons mentioned this in an article a few days ago, but how the hell is the US not good at Handball? Def seems like a sport where the US should be very competitive.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  namod65;1242344 wrote:Most people that list table tennis in these things probably haven't seen it or know nothing about it past the recreation/backyard level. The first sign is when they call it "ping pong." Table tennis at the elite level is very fast and takes huge amounts of quickness/stamana to keep up. I'd say there are many olympic sports that deserve to be on this list before table tennis.

  It's up there dude - i find almost all the olympic sports boring to watch for more than 5-10 minutes.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  like_that;1242348 wrote:Surprise it took this long for anyone to mention the modern pentathlon. They can GTFO with that. I disagree with handball though. I find it pretty entertaining, and wouldn't mind watching it in person. Bill Simmons mentioned this in an article a few days ago, but how the hell is the US not good at Handball? Def seems like a sport where the US should be very competitive.

  Because any athlete with any athletic ability will play a real sport.
• like_that

  

  Raw Dawgin' it;1242350 wrote:Because any athlete with any athletic ability will play a real sport.

  Plenty of D1 college bball players and football players that don't make it to the next level. I feel like they could make the transition to handball pretty quickly.
  
  Anyway, I get it, you don't like to watch any other sport other than football, hockey, and mma.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  like_that;1242351 wrote:Plenty of D1 college bball players and football players that don't make it to the next level. I feel like they could make the transition to handball pretty quickly.
  
  Anyway, I get it, you don't like to watch any other sport other than football, hockey, and mma.

  I caught some of the wrestling, but it was between 2 heavy weights who couldn't get each other down. Felt bad the guy the lost when nothing but standing grappling happened and when they were on the mat the guy on the bottom did his best pancake impression and the guy on the top did nothing. I have no idea how they scored it, but it definitely wasn't a match that looked like it had a clear winner. The smaller guys were entertaining cause they're pretty fast.
  
  I like watching the weight lifting too - amazes me that guys cause put over 500 pounds over their heads. And the short track and field races are cool, 400m races or less I'll watch. But for the most part i find the sports in the olympics to be dumb.
  
  Edit: I watch the hurdles for the falls and pole vaulting in the hopes the pole breaks.
• like_that

  

  Raw Dawgin' it;1242353 wrote:I caught some of the wrestling, but it was between 2 heavy weights who couldn't get each other down. Felt bad the guy the lost when nothing but standing grappling happened and when they were on the mat the guy on the bottom did his best pancake impression and the guy on the top did nothing. I have no idea how they scored it, but it definitely wasn't a match that looked like it had a clear winner. The smaller guys were entertaining cause they're pretty fast.
  
  I like watching the weight lifting too - amazes me that guys cause put over 500 pounds over their heads. And the short track and field races are cool, 400m races or less I'll watch. But for the most part i find the sports in the olympics to be dumb.

  They changed the rules to Greco wrestling before the 08 Olympics, and it has completely ruined the sport imo. Very boring to watch. Freestyle wrestling isn't that far off. I can't imagine someone like you without a wrestling background watching it now, it would be very hard to follow.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  like_that;1242355 wrote:They changed the rules to Greco wrestling before the 08 Olympics, and it has completely ruined the sport imo. Very boring to watch. Freestyle wrestling isn't that far off. I can't imagine someone like you without a wrestling background watching it now, it would be very hard to follow.

  It was since i didn't know the scoring or the rules - but i caught a couple lighter weight class matches that were pretty good. I thought they start top and bottom in wrestling but they started standing up and since both guys are so big and strong neither one could get the other one down. If i lost that way i'd be pissed.
• like_that

  

  http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/8292/gallo-looks-back-at-obscure-olympic-sports
  
  LOL, I would honestly watch tug-o-war over most of the sports mentioned in this thread.
• Azubuike24

  

  Soccer, with players under 23 years old.
  Basketball, with many of the world's best NOT participating.
  Tennis, with the Olympics meaning far less than the 4 major tournaments played each year.
  Softball, which SHOULD BE in the Olympics, but isn't because the US no-hit everyone's ass.
  Women's indoor volleyball, as the outdoor sand game is more entertaining and the athletes are hotter.
  
  Many of the other fringe sports that nobody even knows the rules or watches except every 4 years I'm completely fine with. I'd actually prefer the Olympics be made up of events where the winner is THE gold standard champion in the sport. Sports where it's just another standard competition is just boring to me. Like I mentioned above, a tennis player would much rather win Wimbledon than Olympic gold. A soccer player would rather win the World Cup than Olympic gold.
• like_that

  

  Azubuike24;1242367 wrote:Soccer, with players under 23 years old.
  Basketball, with many of the world's best NOT participating.
  Tennis, with the Olympics meaning far less than the 4 major tournaments played each year.
  Softball, which SHOULD BE in the Olympics, but isn't because the US no-hit everyone's ass.
  Women's indoor volleyball, as the outdoor sand game is more entertaining and the athletes are hotter.
  
  Many of the other fringe sports that nobody even knows the rules or watches except every 4 years I'm completely fine with. I'd actually prefer the Olympics be made up of events where the winner is THE gold standard champion in the sport. Sports where it's just another standard competition is just boring to me. Like I mentioned above, a tennis player would much rather win Wimbledon than Olympic gold. A soccer player would rather win the World Cup than Olympic gold.

  +1 I agree with most of this. I hate how men's soccer is in the olympics. The women take it seriously though. Also, it seems like this year the tennis players were much more serious about winning Gold than previous games. I might just be imagining that though.
  
  As for softball, not 100% sure, but I believe the US actually didn't win gold in 08. I am glad they took baseball out though. We have the WBC now.
• Fab1b

  

  I like to watch the water polo but the referee having to blow their whistle every 3-5 seconds drives me crazy!
• THE4RINGZ

  

  I used to look forward to Olympic Boxing. Rarely would there be a knock out, just two fighters trying to land blows for points. It used to be pretty simple land one punch get one point.
  
  Not so much any more, the new scoring system is ridiculous. I watched maybe a dozen fights last week, and not one of them had the guy who had the best fight winning.
  
  So boxing is moving up my list of an Olympic sport never to watch again.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  Fab1b;1242466 wrote:I like to watch the water polo but the referee having to blow their whistle every 3-5 seconds drives me crazy!

  You probably just watch to see the nip slips on the sea cows who play lol
• jmog

  namod65;1242344 wrote:Most people that list table tennis in these things probably haven't seen it or know nothing about it past the recreation/backyard level. The first sign is when they call it "ping pong." Table tennis at the elite level is very fast and takes huge amounts of quickness/stamana to keep up. I'd say there are many olympic sports that deserve to be on this list before table tennis.

  Having played in a few USATT tournaments in the past, I concur. I can think of many events that need to go before Table Tennis. I actually enjoy watching world class TT, the things they can do is nuts.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  If bruce lee can play ping pong with nunchucks it can't be that difficult.
• OSH

  

  Azubuike24;1242367 wrote:Soccer, with players under 23 years old.

  like_that;1242371 wrote:I hate how men's soccer is in the olympics. The women take it seriously though.

  I have no problems with the Olympic soccer structure. Think of it this way: the Euro's were also this summer, that takes the senior players from all the National teams to compete in a tournament that is HUGE. They happen every 4 years just like the summer Olympics do. There is NO WAY that any player will want to participate in both. There is NO WAY that any club would allow their top players to play in both.
  
  There is just too much chance for injury for it. With as big as Euro's are, adding more games to an already packed summer is asking for more injuries.
  

  Fab1b;1242466 wrote:I like to watch the water polo but the referee having to blow their whistle every 3-5 seconds drives me crazy!

  I agree. I tried the water polo thing and couldn't understand why there was always whistles blowing.
  
  
  As for the event, my vote goes to the Keirin.
• like_that

  

  OSH;1242496 wrote:I have no problems with the Olympic soccer structure. Think of it this way: the Euro's were also this summer, that takes the senior players from all the National teams to compete in a tournament that is HUGE. They happen every 4 years just like the summer Olympics do. There is NO WAY that any player will want to participate in both. There is NO WAY that any club would allow their top players to play in both.
  
  There is just too much chance for injury for it. With as big as Euro's are, adding more games to an already packed summer is asking for more injuries.
  
  
  
  I agree. I tried the water polo thing and couldn't understand why there was always whistles blowing.
  
  
  As for the event, my vote goes to the Keirin.

  It's not about participates, it's more about what the federations take more seriously. They put MUCH more stock into the World Cup/Euro/Concaf/etc than they do the olympics. This includes the Under-20 somethings big time events too. They already have their marquee events, they don't need the olympics.