[Dwayne]

As far as I am aware, bridge is a recognised olympic sport - it seems to me the only reason why bridge is not being played at the olympics is dramas finding room in the hectic schedule and problems with the drug testing rules.

Having played a couple of team sports at a decent level and bridge at a high level i think they are much the same thing - i have no interest in whether the word sport should encompass "mind games" but the argument that bridge or chess doesnt involve a physical element doesnt wash with me - last time i checked my head was part of my body - sports like shooting and archery are at least 95% mental and if you asked a 100 metre runner he will probably tell you the same thing about that sport.

Dwayne.

[McBruce]

What I read somewhere was that the IOC recently decreed that a prospective Olympic sport needed to involve physical exertion of some kind.

[Dwayne]

McBruce, on Sep 5 2004, 03:24 AM, said:

What I read somewhere was that the IOC recently decreed that a prospective Olympic sport needed to involve physical exertion of some kind.

Dwayne wrote originally

Quote

...but the argument that bridge or chess doesnt involve a physical element doesnt wash with me - last time i checked my head was part of my body

sigh.
Dwayne

[EricK]

Personally I don't think any team sports should be in the olympics.

Furthermore, I am rather dubious about the interactive sports (such as badminton, tennis, tae kwon do etc), where there isn't a definite measure of how well you have played (note that there is no olympic record for badminton like there is in the 100m!); and the aesthetic sports (eg diving) where your performance is subjectively judged.

Eric

[1eyedjack]

I agree with most of what Eric says.

Ditch the gymnastics completely.

The pursuit cycling is an oddity: Provided that you don't catch the pursued, there is a measure of the total time from which to set a record. But if you catch him up before the end, there is not, even though you may have (indeed likely have) gone faster than the record.

On the other hand, individual combat was, as I recall, a traditional event going back to the original Olympics, even though there is no "record" set, except possibly for an individual winning in the most number of successive Olympics in the same event.

And on the "team" aspect, would you abolish track relay races, even though there is in that case an absolute measure of performance?

[EricK]

1eyedjack, on Sep 5 2004, 09:50 AM, said:

I agree with most of what Eric says.

Ditch the gymnastics completely.

The pursuit cycling is an oddity: Provided that you don't catch the pursued, there is a measure of the total time from which to set a record. But if you catch him up before the end, there is not, even though you may have (indeed likely have) gone faster than the record.

On the other hand, individual combat was, as I recall, a traditional event going back to the original Olympics, even though there is no "record" set, except possibly for an individual winning in the most number of successive Olympics in the same event.

And on the "team" aspect, would you abolish track relay races, even though there is in that case an absolute measure of performance?

I don't like the team sports and relay races because the nationalism goes against "The Olympic Spirit".

But the relay races are better than eg the football for the reasons I mentioned.

Eric

[1eyedjack]

Still, I wouldn't want the women's beach volleyball to disappear.

[Gerben47]

There is a bridge Olympiad, a chess Olympiad and a mind sports Olympiad. If
these could be combined and given media coverage I think this would be good for all "mind sports". Plenty of people have interest in at least one of the big 3 (bridge,chess,go).

[bearmum]

EricK, on Sep 5 2004, 10:30 PM, said:

Personally I don't think any team sports should be in the olympics.

Furthermore, I am rather dubious about the interactive sports (such as badminton, tennis, tae kwon do etc), where there isn't a definite measure of how well you have played (note that there is no olympic record for badminton like there is in the 100m!); and the aesthetic sports (eg diving) where your performance is subjectively judged.

Eric

Personally I think the OLYMPICS should be banned ---------- ( A JOKE all!!)

Seriously - I TRULY believe the ONLY Olympic sports should be those events which cam be timed ----- so FORGET
1. Team sports
2. Sports which rely on subjective marking from judges

THEN Bridge WOULD qualify

[hrothgar]

The International Olympic Committee has made some extremely clear statements over the years that

(A) They do not want to expand the number of sports participating in the Olympic games
(B) That the ability to draw spectators is one of the most important evaluation criteria in judging new sports

I understand Jose Damiani's desire to suckle from the rich teat of the IOC. [The financial shenanigans surrounding the International Olympic Committee puts bridge's scandals to shame] At some point in time, he's going to have to grow up and recognize that this isn't going to happen. In the meantime, this effort has done enormous damage to bridge by

1. Wasting scare resources on what is obviously a doomed effort: As I noted earlier, the IOC has been very clear regarding where they stand on this issue

2. Forcing the adoption of ill considered and unworkable drug testing regimes. Any drug testing regime that provides exceptions for caffine and nicotine is severely flawed. Violating your own random testing proceedure proceedures by granting a pass to Lynn Deas is even more problematic.

3. Subjecting organized bridge to ridicule

[ArcLight]

>Having played a couple of team sports at a decent level and bridge at a high level i think they are much the same thing - i have no interest in whether the word sport should encompass "mind games" but the argument that bridge or chess doesnt involve a physical element doesnt wash with me - last time i checked my head was part of my body - sports like shooting and archery are at least 95% mental and if you asked a 100 metre runner he will probably tell you the same thing about that sport.

While many sports have a mental component, and some (like archery) are mostly mental, bridge is 0% physical and 100% mental. I see plenty obese, out of shape bridge players. I'd be surprised if many of them could jog 400 meters without pausing. Bridge should not be an olympic sport. If it is then so should Pac Man, Doom,Monopoly, Risk, BackGammon, Mumblty Peg, Parchesi, Jacks, Settlers of Cataan, and any of a thousand different board and computer games. Personally, I think many of the sports in the olympics don't belong there. Where does one draw the line? If you let in Bridge, then let in Go Fish and Cribbage and 100 other recreational past times.


>A) They do not want to expand the number of sports participating in the Olympic games

Makes sense. There are already too many IMHO.


>( That the ability to draw spectators is one of the most important evaluation criteria in judging new sports

You mean a non hard core Bridge person wouldn't get excited wondering what a forcing pass is? Or why someone makes a psychic opening bid? Or what all thse new systems and conventions are?

[Fluffy]

Saying bridge is 0% physic is not true: after 2 weeks of competition there comes whoom is in the good form and who isn´t, you need a good body if you want your mind to keep at a good level all the championship.

[Free]

bearmum, on Sep 5 2004, 11:46 AM, said:

EricK, on Sep 5 2004, 10:30 PM, said:

Personally I don't think any team sports should be in the olympics.

Furthermore, I am rather dubious about the interactive sports (such as badminton, tennis, tae kwon do etc), where there isn't a definite measure of how well you have played (note that there is no olympic record for badminton like there is in the 100m!); and the aesthetic sports (eg diving) where your performance is subjectively judged.

Eric

Personally I think the OLYMPICS should be banned ---------- ( A JOKE all!!)

Seriously - I TRULY believe the ONLY Olympic sports should be those events which cam be timed ----- so FORGET
1. Team sports
2. Sports which rely on subjective marking from judges

THEN Bridge WOULD qualify

Hmmm, so you suggest olympic individual tourneys??? Ugly format imo, would be a hell of a fight when anybody makes a mistake and screws his title-favorite partner

Bridge is a teamsport: you're with 4 players, against 4 players. At 1 table you're even with 2, so still not alone.

About olympics: I don't like teamsports with a toy. Soccer (the ball), badminton, tennis,...
However, rowing your skiff (or how's that called) for a few kilometres is acceptable. Any sport where you don't need much mussle, and where you only need technique isn't olympic imo.
What would I keep? Mostly everything which can have a world record, with no real calculatable minimum or maximum.
- atletics
- swimming
- rowing
- lifting

[luke warm]

1eyedjack, on Sep 5 2004, 11:56 AM, said:

Still, I wouldn't want the women's beach volleyball to disappear.

i have to say, in all candor, that i agree wholeheartedly with this insightful comment

[sceptic]

Drug testing is ok, but I would hate to see a breathalizer test brought in, as I think this would disqualify most of the peopleI have the pleasure to play with.

As for Beach Volley ball, I think the IOC should raise its profile and ban all other sports

[DrTodd13]

I just have a problem with sports that are judged. Judging is so prone to error that it is ridiculous to say someone won by 0.0012 of a point. Even refereeing is bad enough but almost every sport has a referee of some kind so you can't get rid of those. So, if you get rid of everything that is judged then you have plenty of room left for bridge. They should also get rid of these events where they just add a person or change a distance or something. Synchronized diving? Synchronized swimming? Rythmic gymnastics? I would think they would want sports that people actually did.

Todd