Yesterday afternoon was a good example: TEAM rhythmic gymnastics. We've all made fun of the original rhythmic gymnastics for several Olympics now, but watching a group of ladies swirl around with hoops, clubs, and flowing streamers and getting awarded GOLD medals for their efforts is almost laughable.
I'm not saying it doesn't pass as fun entertainment. It's like watching dance line or cheerleading "competitions." But none of what I've just mentioned are sports. I'd like to see something like the Olympics where ALL sports involving judges and "artistic scores" are eliminated completely from the schedule.
I know that would also take women's gymnastics, the most popular and most watched competition out of the mix, but it's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make just to get rid of MEN'S synchronized diving.
I've also decided that the dumbest of real sports are those involving some kind of "goaltender." Whether it be field hockey, team hand ball, soccer, water polo, or lacrosse, it's all basically the same sport, and each variation of the same concept is equally ludicrous to watch.
Eliminate the goaltender and all would be infinitely more watchable, but they'd all still be essentially the same sport.
I'm still trying to figure out why Rugby isn't an Olympic sport. It's played world-wide and enjoyed by tens of millions, yet somehow women's wrestling and boxing (sports enjoyed by perhaps tens of hundreds world-wide) gets TV time and gives out medals.
Like I said, overall, I liked much of what I saw, but if I had missed all of it, I wouldn't really have missed that much.
I was happy to see that the men's basketball team took it easy on Spain yesterday. By just "barely winning" they kept basketball safe for at least one more Olympic Games. That involved a lot of restraint on their part.
Oh, and one last question. Why do horses compete in the Olympics?
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