So as I was getting ready for bed I recieved an email guiding me to a blog that says Peyton Manning is spearheading an effort to get the IOC to admit football (American) as an Olympic sport. I would say this is about as good as idea has having Kabul or Baghdad has winning the host city bid for the next winter Olympics.
But should American football be part of the games? In 2012, baseball and softball will be dropped from the Olympic roster, and it seems the IOC owes America at least one event, football or otherwise, in which the U.S. would be among the gold medal favorites.
Why would we want to include a sport where one country would dominate? I am all for the United States owning the gold medal stand at the Olympics, but is that truly what the Olympiad has become? I for one vote for more parady in the sporting world and include events where more countries have a chance. Here are my votes for what should be considered an olympic event, and what shouldn’t, starting with the list from the blog @ http://www.asylum.com/2008/08/21/barroom-debate-should-there-be-olympic-football/
American Football – No. Yes I know, there is the NFL and NFL Europe so it does have international flavor, but can you really see any country fielding a football team like the United States and Canada can? Whose rules do we use, CFL, NFL, or will the IOC come up with Kenyan friendly rules to protect 120 lb linemen? (American Football so far has 41 percent of the vote at asylum.com)
Lacrosse – This is the one I voted for on the asylum.com site (second place at 22 percent). I wouldn’t mind seeing lacrosse played at the Olympic level, I mean we have field hockey…why not just make the nets smaller and had nets onto the tops of the little crooked sticks?
Ultimate fighting (nineteen percent of the vote). I don’t see this one being included for its sheer brutality. Nothing to spark an international incident like a huge fight club.
Golf – this would be my second choice if I got to vote twice. It has a large enough international following and the author (James Taylor) makes a great point – most nations already have great courses already built.
One percent of the vote of 2689 voters was for nascar. This must have been the one trailer park in Alabama wired for the internet (sorry folks, this is a Bills Blog site and thats my opinion of NASCAR right there).
Some honorable mentions as I see them:
Bowling – why not….has both team and individual medal capabilities.
Rugby – gaining popularity here in the United States and played more worldly than American Football is.
Dodgeball – give me a reason why not to include this as an Olympic event – if table tennis and badminton are actual events and asylum.com can think of suggestion NASCAR, then call the IOC out of dodgeball.