Olympic debate
I had a heated discussion with my roommate last night discussing olympic sports. She was upset by the inclusion of Beach Volleyball. We didn’t really come to a conclusion, though we had a few end thoughts.
–Firstly, when we think olympics we tend to think individual competition: track, swimming, etc… this also includes team sports where the individuals compete solo-style like gymnastics and archery.
–Secondly, we thought that the olympic gold should be the ultimate award. This would knock out any sport that has a larger secondary championship like tennis (world open) or Cycling (tour de france)
There would have to be a third rule that would knock out non-physical non-sport activities like monopoly or sword swallowing.
I do have a tremendous amount of respect for those contestants in less-than-awesome olympic sports like baseball. And obviously, the rules above could be debated endlessly.
And when it comes down to it, I’m 100% A-O-K with women’s beach volleyball.
Question for the readers:
Women’s beach volleyball: Worthy of Olympic sport? or just another attempt by men to get women to dance around in beach wear?
A. Kerri Walsh is an amazing athlete.
B. Bikinis are not standard athletic wear.
C. Kerri Walsh and Misty May would be just as amazing in shorts and tanks.
For the record, the skimpy bathing suits that the beach volleyball players wear do serve a purpose. If you or any piece of clothing on your body touches the net, your team loses the point. And with the new scoring system being used, your team does not have to serve to win a point, every play is very important. A lot of high school and college volleyball teams require athletes to wear spandex uniforms. (Including WPI!!)
I read somewhere that there was a rule that the shorts worn by the women in olympic beach vball had to have side seams no longer than 6″ or something. The article was talking about how it was sexist that the men got to wear tshirts and shorts and the women bikinis. I skimmed it and didn’t really care.
I suppose it would be fair for the ladies if the guys had to be oiled up with no shirt and jeans like in Top Gun.
Random stuff about the history/future of Olympic events and how they are chosen:
http://encarta.msn.com/column_olympics/What_Makes_a_Sport_‘Olympic’.html
i think thats a really ignorant comment! Beach volleyball is amazing! and…. whatever jill said = ]