Field of Lost Dreams

re: Field of Lost Dreams

chaun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:23:42 GMT

I do believe that London will be hosting the Olympics in 2012 (http://www.london2012.com/) not 2016 and that the round about to be awarded to one of Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo or Rio is 2016, not 2020

http://www.chicago2016.org/news/pages/splash.html

http://www.tokyo2016.or.jp/en/

http://www.madrid2016.es/es/paginas/home.aspx

http://www.rio2016.org.br/en/

re: Field of Lost Dreams

kalamere — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:22:41 GMT

Is Mark Starr a sports writer or a political analyst? Losing on purpose? Throw the bum out!

re: Field of Lost Dreams

pug_ster — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:48:55 GMT

Baseball and softball is boring. Us has athletes who bulk up on drugs. BMX racing is going down the toilet too after a couple of people is going to get seriously injured.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

rclancy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:52:56 GMT

This story proves that people should not write about a subject that they know very little about.

No athlete in any sport should EVER allow another athlete or team to win. This will never make your sport more popular

If the writers of this article had done any research at all they would have realized the main reason Softball is out of the Olympics is because Major League Baseball will not allow their players to play in the Olympics. The IOC members who voted have linked Baseball and Softball together, so Softball is out because of Baseball. Below are some quotes from various IOC members who voted Baseball and Softball out:

“Those who bear most of the blame are the owners of the professional leagues who refuse to free up their ballplayers to compete,” - Cuban Baseball Federation President Carlos Rodriguez

“Problems with doping in U.S. baseball probably cost the sport dearly,” - Australian IOC Member John Coates

"The message ... was that the IOC wanted the best athletes, universality and clean sport," said Jacques Rogge when asked why Baseball and Softball were dropped.

Softball was not dropped because the USA Olympic team did not allow China to win a game. It is just a matter of time before the 120+ countries who have Softball Federations become more and more competitive with the U.S. team. The IOC is largely controlled by Europeans and Baseball and Softball are not popular in Europe.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

pug_ster — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:13:21 GMT

I saw a replay where the US player running towards home when the US player was intentionally ran into the player instead of just trying to touch home base. Now that's unprofessional and lack any kind of sportsmanship.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

d.polar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:02:17 GMT

"You have credibility when you're an Olympic sports," says ISF president Don Porter

That is the most ridiculous thing I've seen to-date. While I enjoyed watching the "synchronized swimming" event, and I will look forward to the Winter olympics to see "Olympic curling", both of those events hardly gather an enormous amount of credibility because they are Olympic sports. Let me know when golf attains this measure of credibility Mr. Porter speaks of, since obviously Tiger Woods, et al, do not do enough to bring it any legitimacy according to the above-mentioned quote.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

JVerna — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:47:02 GMT

Ummmm - the London Games are in 2012 - NOT 2016. But I agree that while some questionable events - like Beach Volleyball (for Gawds sake - who came up with that - except for some California beach bum) - Softball is a REAL international sport.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

last4one — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:23:42 GMT

Thank goodness, softball sucks.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

YernarFun — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:49:56 GMT

"Moreover, it's far easier to attract sponsors when you can make your pitch on stationary bearing the five rings."

It's stationery, not stationary. You were close though.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

eemarty — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:53:44 GMT

When you are on the field, you play to win. I can understand Ms. Liu comments. She wants the USA to play "nice" when it comes to playing China. However, Mr. Starr comes across as an idiot. Give me half of your salary and I could write sports articles twice as well and much more accurate.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

DRDR — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:59:36 GMT

"If the United States softball team was as smart as it is talented..." are you kidding me? Mr. Starr is critical of the US team's intelligence for NOT THROWING GAMES?? Is he familiar with Black Sox and Pete Rose and other athletes who have marred their sports by not competing?? This is despicable. What a no-win situation for USA softball. Why isn't there a "REPORT ABUSE" button next to this column??

re: Field of Lost Dreams

sregis — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:23:56 GMT

i could be wrong, but i very much doubt starr is literally advocating they throw games.

re: Field of Lost Dreams

LenE123 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:51:33 GMT

Olympics is getting too big for its own good, Each sports has to finght to get fan's attention and hosting city has to spend billions. Instead of downsize the games to fit into 2 weeks, I purpose a spin off into 4 games, one for each year. Here are the 4 games: 1) performance games: swiming, track & field, cycling. IOC can focus on catching the dopers here. 2) drama games: diving, gymnastics, boxing. think about the judging controversies. 3) team sports: softball, basketball, soccer. Indian would love cricket as an addition. 4) others "sports": pocker, chess. it will capture the true couch potatos