Womens hockey to be scrapped from the Olympics?

[mattola]

was on local news. I suppose it makes the most sense to drop (not like wrestling) as for the women its a 2 team tournament. US and Canada and its not even close. the world championships are an embarrassment in slaughtering other countries I dont even enjoy it. I only watch canada vs US.

Mens is different

Russia, Sweden, US, Canada, Finland, Slovakia, Czech Republic all have a shot every year

just learned Alexi Yashin is GM of the Russian Womens team.. wow thats weird.

what do you think?

 

[dash]

I think we'll never seen great sights like this ever again...

 

[mattola]

I think its the greatest picture of the olympics.

I think we'll never seen great sights like this ever again...

 

[pixburgher66]

............................

NO. Mostly because I want Baby Kessel to run over those hosers from Up North.

 

[pixburgher66]

Also: they gotta stop taking away these non-typical women's sports. Sure, they'll keep ice dancing, and tennis, and the skiing activities, because they're perfectly acceptable for a woman...but hockey? Softball? No. Take those away. (I understand the no competition angle, but that's why they dropped softball, and they now regret that)

 

[apachef4]

Also: they gotta stop taking away these non-typical women's sports. Sure, they'll keep ice dancing, and tennis, and the skiing activities, because they're perfectly acceptable for a woman...but hockey? Softball? No. Take those away. (I understand the no competition angle, but that's why they dropped softball, and they now regret that)

Do they regret it? I don't like them trying to remove these sports, either, but I hadn't heard anything about them regretting the decision.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I'm very much in favor of dropping it. I enjoy watching USA vs. Canada women's games, but otherwise it's a pre-determined outcome 99% of the time, which just isn't enjoyable. And I think the only time even that 1% of doubt comes in is when they're playing Sweden.

I'd like there to be a way that countries can continue supporting women's hockey outside of the Olympics, because I'd like to see it get to the point where other countries like Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, etc. can also put a good squad on the ice and make it a competitive tournament.

When that time comes, bring it back into the Olympics.

 

[ckhokie]

I'm very much in favor of dropping it. I enjoy watching USA vs. Canada women's games, but otherwise it's a pre-determined outcome 99% of the time, which just isn't enjoyable.

which is why the IOC is removing wrestling, but leaving table tennis and badminton in the summer.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

I'm very much in favor of dropping it. I enjoy watching USA vs. Canada women's games, but otherwise it's a pre-determined outcome 99% of the time, which just isn't enjoyable. And I think the only time even that 1% of doubt comes in is when they're playing Sweden.

I'd like there to be a way that countries can continue supporting women's hockey outside of the Olympics, because I'd like to see it get to the point where other countries like Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, etc. can also put a good squad on the ice and make it a competitive tournament.

When that time comes, bring it back into the Olympics.

I don't care, besides it penalizes athletes and countries that work their asses off and dedicate a lot of time energy and money to the sport.

If they always dropped event's because of the lack of competition we may have never had The Miracle on Ice. Ice hockey was dominated by just a few countries when that happened.

 

[huskers1217]

can we getz bikini curling?

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

which is why the IOC is removing wrestling, but leaving table tennis and badminton in the summer.

There are other sports that need to be removed too, most notably men's basketball.

That's not really the point of the discussion though.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I don't care, besides it penalizes athletes and countries that work their asses off and dedicate a lot of time energy and money to the sport.

If they always dropped event's because of the lack of competition we may have never had The Miracle on Ice. Ice hockey was dominated by just a few countries when that happened.

They don't always drop sports when they should, but it's part of the IOC's mission that the idea is to promote friendly competition.

Whether we agree with it or not, that's actually what they're supposed to do.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

maybe its semantics but iirc, softball/baseball was dropped because of low global participation levels and not lack of competition

I go back and forth on this because if its not Canada/USA its crap

regardless, my belief is they let it in, so they shouldnt take it out. Give it at least a couple more olympic cycles to see if there is growth in global participation and competition

that us/canada game that went to shootout the other night was entertaining. Hopefully one day, all womens games will be

 

[dash]

They need to allow bodychecking in the women's game (hell, there was plenty of hits in the Canada - USA game the other night that should have been called that were somehow deemed 'incidental contact'). Well, that's poppycock, there was nothing incidental about it, it's an effective way of separating a player from the puck. Stop the charade and just allow body checking.

 

[pixburgher66]

Do they regret it? I don't like them trying to remove these sports, either, but I hadn't heard anything about them regretting the decision.

The final year of it was the year Japan beat the US. College softball has quite a following around here. And they've discussed bringing it back in. It just ticks me off any time they remove these because it forces elite female athletes to focus on other sports. If a girl has speed, but also good at softball, she'll look to the Olympics and think "Well, not like I can make the softball team..." and focus on track. Beyond college that's the end for most female athletes, and honestly it's sad. That means we're losing some elite athletes before they reach the peak of their abilities. There are "pro" leagues, but they're obviously a joke.

 

[Darkstone42]

The final year of it was the year Japan beat the US. College softball has quite a following around here. And they've discussed bringing it back in. It just ticks me off any time they remove these because it forces elite female athletes to focus on other sports. If a girl has speed, but also good at softball, she'll look to the Olympics and think "Well, not like I can make the softball team..." and focus on track. Beyond college that's the end for most female athletes, and honestly it's sad. That means we're losing some elite athletes before they reach the peak of their abilities. There are "pro" leagues, but they're obviously a joke.

That's kind of how I feel about it, too. These female athletes used to be able to aspire to the Olympics as their ultimate goal. They've lost that, and we as fans are going to miss out on watching some very special players as a result. Also, I would probably watch professional fast-pitch softball.

 

[apachef4]

maybe its semantics but iirc, softball/baseball was dropped because of low global participation levels and not lack of competition

I go back and forth on this because if its not Canada/USA its crap

regardless, my belief is they let it in, so they shouldnt take it out. Give it at least a couple more olympic cycles to see if there is growth in global participation and competition

that us/canada game that went to shootout the other night was entertaining. Hopefully one day, all womens games will be

If you change that to "low european participation", I would agree completely. Baseball is huge in large swaths of Asia and the Americas. The Euros don't play it much, though, so nobody does.

As for softball, I just think they don't know how to handle women's team sports. North America was at the forefront of women playing team sports, so the Canadian and US teams are at the top of most of the events they play in. Unfortunately, there is so much of the world where women's sports are just not at all developed. Unless there is an Olympics for some of these less-advanced-women's-sports countries to aspire to, I don't see how there will ever be the participation and competition globally that the IIOC "requires" for their inclusion in the Olympics. A bit of a chicken and egg problem.

 

[pixburgher66]

That's kind of how I feel about it, too. These female athletes used to be able to aspire to the Olympics as their ultimate goal. They've lost that, and we as fans are going to miss out on watching some very special players as a result. Also, I would probably watch professional fast-pitch softball.

Nothing is more deadly than a rise ball in softball. They're virtually impossible to see coming (the ball is rising regardless) and adjusting up is a bit more difficult than extending for a slider.

 

[dash]

USA women taking on SUI right now on TSN - No score with 12:00 gone in the first period.

 

[pixburgher66]

If you change that to "low european participation", I would agree completely. Baseball is huge in large swaths of Asia and the Americas. The Euros don't play it much, though, so nobody does.

As for softball, I just think they don't know how to handle women's team sports. North America was at the forefront of women playing team sports, so the Canadian and US teams are at the top of most of the events they play in. Unfortunately, there is so much of the world where women's sports are just not at all developed. Unless there is an Olympics for some of these less-advanced-women's-sports countries to aspire to, I don't see how there will ever be the participation and competition globally that the IIOC "requires" for their inclusion in the Olympics. A bit of a chicken and egg problem.

You're right. It's just frustrating that as a woman I can't watch those sports at their highest level. And you know what? Upsets happen. Builds sports. When about half the participating countries (complete estimate) barely allow women to wear shorts, how can we expect them to field teams? It's NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I'd wager softball is 1A with soccer in the US for sport participation...so it kills me that the ceiling is D1 college ball. Also, look at soccer! Women's soccer is still growing! You know why? Because of the olympic/world cup stage. Gotta let it grow at that level.