The Art Neuro Weblog

Baseball Won't Be Played At London 2012
In a secret ballot, the IOC members threw out baseball and softball from the schedule at London. Baseball will still compete at Beijing in 2008, but it won't be there at London. IOC President Jacques Rogge says the London Games will be better for the axing of Baseball. He says it's going to be quanlity over quantity. To be fair he's making noises that baseball might be allowed back if the Major Leagues send MLB players and of course the issue of steroids. Mr. Rogge who represented Belgium as a rugby player (something as significant as if I represented Japan in their cricket team) thinks that these things would make baseball attractive as an Olympic Sport.
Yeah well, I don't know about that.

One of the things I have to put forward is that Mr. Rogge is probably one of those athletes who suck at bat and ball sports. Indeed, the Olympics is hardly the place you'd tune into to find expert hitters of any kind except maybe tennis, table tennis and badmington. Well, we know how uncompelling Olympic Tennis can be, and really that sport probably doesn't belong at all either. Table tennis and badmington are such minor sports they probably do well out of the Olympic competition. The rest of Olympic sports seem to be either grunt running, jumping swimming, chucking, mock fighting, or glorified contortions acts. When I stop to think about it, as much fun as Olympic baseball was in 2004, it was only fun because it was international competition - you know, finding out just how good the Japanese professional squad might be. Finding out about the Cubans and all that. To be frank, it had nothing to do with the Olympics or the Olympic Spirit. It was the excitement of international 'ball.

Really, baseball should just forge ahead and work on a better world cup concept. They should also have a world club championship too. The way I see it, when international baseball get under way with any kind of credibility, then it will be the Olympics begging the baseball federations to have them back. I mean the IOC is a hopelessly idiotic organisation from most observers' reports; chances are, they'll invite Cricket in 2012 and kick them out by 2020 (and that's a sport with 1billion Indians watching and following very closely).
In the mean time, I think I'll try out for the Australian tiddlywinks team. Maybe that'll get voted as a sport for 2012.

- Art Neuro