Love the Olympics but….

I think I could watch just about any sport if it had “Olympic” attached to it. I’m captivated not only by the incredible level of athletic competition but also the human drama. NBC deserves a lot of credit for adding to that human drama by giving us the athletes stories, where they came from, how they came to be in the Olympics and what it means to them personally. In fact I caught myself watching women’s bad mitten last weekend.

But that got me thinking about what “sports” should really be “Olympic”. This is the last year for baseball and softball in the summer games. It’s sad to see them go, but I can understand why. Only a handful of countries can field competitive teams. Baseball and softball just aren’t worldwide sports. But I have to wonder, is bad mitten an Olympic sport? Or rhythmic gymnastics? Shouldn’t that be on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Is trampoline really an integral part of the gymnastics competition? How about synchronized swimming? I understand you have to be a pretty good swimmer to compete, but should it still be in the Olympics?

There has been talk of adding golf to the Olympics, and even though I love golf, I’m against it. The elite golfers around the world already compete regularly in four majors, the Ryder Cup and the President’s Cup. I don’t think they need another. The same goes for tennis. Players from around the world go up against each other all the time, why do we need to see the same players in the Olympics as we do at the U.S. Open?

But I suppose it’s all a matter of interest and apparently there is enough interest in many of those sports to keep them in Olympic competition. And I still love just about everything Olympic. Tonight when I get home I’ll be watching Team Handball which I DVRed.