http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-08-13-2055685135_x.htm

Interesting, but I wish they would play Rugby Union instead of Rugby 7s. I guess you can have more nations compete, if you play Rugby 7s though because I read they only play 7 minute halves with a 1 minute halftime to make sure the tournament is finished in 1 to 2 days.

It would also be interesting to see where this was played, if Chicago wins the bid because they have already announced a preliminary list of host cities for soccer, so you would have to rule these out for Rugby 7s. Maybe Rugby 7s could be at Soldier field, or Toyota Park in Chicago.

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/free-kicks/uncategorized/2009/02/st-louis-is-a-finalist-for-2016-olympic-soccer/

8/13/2009 9:11:38 PM

ntlb

8/13/2009 9:15:48 PM

I heard the IOC didn't like how the pros weren't going to the Olympics to play baseball, so that is part of the reason for dropping it. On top of that the addition of golf means the addition of...

8/13/2009 9:24:04 PM

The US exchanges 1 gold medal for another, no big deal.

They are dropping softball too though aren't they? If so I'll miss my girl Finch.

8/13/2009 9:43:49 PM

^Baseball and Softball are gone in 2012 and it doesn't sound like it is coming back anytime soon. It will be kind of strange having Rugby at the Olympics in Chicago if they win the bid and no bat sports in 2016.

btw, the 2016 finalist are Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro. We will find out who wins on October 2, 2009.

8/13/2009 10:23:39 PM

how about getting rid of olympic boxing

its fuckin pointless, with all its point-sparring and head hunting

8/13/2009 10:26:47 PM

^I'm not into fighting, but boxing is one of those things like Track and Field that has a rich history with the Olympics, so it should probably stay.

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 11:13 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2009 11:07:51 PM

^^ dumbest thing I heard so far

8/13/2009 11:11:02 PM

boxing is way more a sport than mma.

8/13/2009 11:11:20 PM

Baseball was an Olympic sport?

8/13/2009 11:16:11 PM

^Yes baseball and softball were.

btw, I don't see why they have to cut any sports. NBC has plenty of networks to show the different sports on. IIRC, they used USA network to show soccer games. Directv also had a deal where they had free Olympic channels, so you could watch any sports you wanted.

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 11:31 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2009 11:16:25 PM

Quote :

"Interesting, but I wish they would play Rugby Union instead of Rugby 7s. I guess you can have more nations compete, if you play Rugby 7s though because I read they only play 7 minute halves with a 1 minute halftime to make sure the tournament is finished in 1 to 2 days. It would also be interesting to see where this was played, if Chicago wins the bid because they have already announced a preliminary list of host cities for soccer, so you would have to rule these out for Rugby 7s. Maybe Rugby 7s could be at Soldier field, or Toyota Park in Chicago."

I'm really excited about Rugby 7's being in the olympics. 7's is more fast paced and easier to follow than 15s. I think for people watching it in the US that are not quite familiar with rugby, it will be easier to understand 7s.

It will be interesting to see where they have it. The USA International Rugby 7s tournament is held at Petco Park in San Diego. Even though they won't have it there, that would be a good place to have it.

Regretably, I didn't get into rugby until after college. Rugby truly is a great sport to watch and even better to play. Hopefully rugby will gain popularity in the US once it becomes an olympic sport again.

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 8:15 AM. Reason : :]

8/14/2009 8:14:57 AM

the only thing more exciting to watch than baseball is golf!

8/14/2009 8:50:30 AM

Quote :

"I'm really excited about Rugby 7's being in the olympics. 7's is more fast paced and easier to follow than 15s. I think for people watching it in the US that are not quite familiar with rugby, it will be easier to understand 7s. It will be interesting to see where they have it. The USA International Rugby 7s tournament is held at Petco Park in San Diego. Even though they won't have it there, that would be a good place to have it. Regretably, I didn't get into rugby until after college. Rugby truly is a great sport to watch and even better to play. Hopefully rugby will gain popularity in the US once it becomes an olympic sport again."

ESPN2 actually showed a IRB World Cup qualifier live about a month ago vs Canada. I don't think 7s is easier to understand than 15s. The rules are different and I already know the rules to 15s. Rugby 7s could make for an interesting Olympic atmosphere though, if you could have about 20 different teams competing in the same building and all of the fan bases cheering for the underdog like in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Also, I thought the Home Depot Center in LA had hosted the USA Rugby 7s just a few years ago?

Oh and don't get your hopes too high because I heard Chicago is ranked 3rd on the list for 2016 host cities. The USA has also hosted the most Olympic games, so that could maybe hurt us too.

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 12:26 PM. Reason : .]

8/14/2009 12:22:16 PM

^ Yeah I DVRd that game. It kind of sucked the qualifier being that weekend. We had the Cape Fear 7s Tournament that weekend and a few of our guys skipped out to go watch the Eagles play, which came back to bite us in the ass on the second day. The Eagles went to Canada the next weekend and got crushed. We now have to beat Uruguay to get in.

I guess I am biased. I've only been playing rugby for a couple years now and I started out with 7s so maybe that's why I find it easier to follow.

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 1:28 PM. Reason : :]

8/14/2009 1:26:03 PM

^I learned the rules of Rugby Union thanks to EA Sports and PS2! The same can be said for ice hockey and SNES!

8/14/2009 1:53:45 PM

Quote :

"boxing is way more a sport than mma."

Quote :

"^^ dumbest thing I heard so far"

boxing isnt the problem, pay attention to my post

the system used i the olympics sucks, it rewards nothin but punches to the head, its not like real boxing where body shots and set ups are used, its a totally different animal and I think it comes out like brawling


grow the fuck up, it had nothing to do with mma v.s. boxing superiority, dont be stupid yall motherfuckers the ones worried aout seeing famous names and shit, i just want to see good boxing in the olympics, not headhunting as frantically as you can to get more points than the other guy

for the record i dont think MMA will ever be allowed in the olympics, nor should it be. Brazilian jiu jitsu wont be allowed either because it is a bastard, hybridized sport.


judo, karate, boxing, wrestling are pure sports that have largely been unaltered and are consistent throughout the world. MMA and jiu jitsu are FAR FAR from that

so...there you go smart asses, since you like to throw out dumb shit when you have no actual idea of my opinion....you have it now

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 2:18 PM. Reason : yd]

8/14/2009 2:15:43 PM

Waaaaaaaaaaaait, I thought that Jacques Rogge was all about implementing a zero-sum rule for sports! After all, one of the first things he ranted about upon succeeding Samaranch was there were "too many sports" in the Olympics. I guess he's going back on that. Golf? Really? Do the golfers really want to participate in the Olympics?

8/22/2009 3:45:20 PM

stupidest shit i've ever heard. golf in the olympics? don't they have world competitions throughout the year to begin with?

I understand baseball because outside of your top 7-8 countries, who the hell else plays baseball.

But GOLF!?

RUGBY? Figures... surprised it isn't in there already as one of the "who gives a fuck" olympic sports.

8/22/2009 4:33:50 PM

Quote :

"don't they have world competitions throughout the year to begin with?"

That is about the worst logic there considering most if not all Olympic sports also do some sort of international competition throughout the year.

They want games where a lot of countries can send competitive representatives.

Olympic village with Rugby players.. fun stuff. Sucks to lose softball, usually good for a gold medal.

8/22/2009 5:33:20 PM

^Well said. My guess is any form of Rugby and golf with PGA players would draw more fans than crew, archery, or any of those other sports that no one watches. Olympic soccer actually draws more fans than any other Olympic event.

8/23/2009 12:44:58 AM

October 2, 2009 we will find out who hosts. Here is a good article about the pros and cons of each host city. Last I heard, Chicago was ranked 3rd on the list and London also was when the IOC had their final vote for the 2012 summer games.

http://majorleaguejerk.com/2008/09/analyzing-the-potential-2016-summer-olympics-host-cities/

9/15/2009 6:40:08 PM

nm

[Edited on September 15, 2009 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

9/15/2009 10:38:03 PM

people, you might as well go ahead and pencil in Rio. World class destination and the olympics have never been to South America. Chicago has no chance seeing the olympics have been the US so many times and Madrid's chances are pretty slim because spain just had them in 92 and they are trying to focus away from the west after london in 12. Tokyo has an outside shot but although not the west its still a first class city and very developed nation whose culture is known throughout the world.

Quote :

"traffic is a fucking joke in this city"

very professional article you've got there


Also, you can pretty much pencil in Delhi for 2020 so they can showcase india in a way Beijing did in 08. 08 was one of the best olympics of all time.

If delhi somehow falls out of the race then the most likely will be capetown (pending world cup sucess) or dubai as a backup. New olreans could also be a sympathoy darkhorse.

LOL at birmingham, tulsa and detroit submitting bids. Like atlanta wasn't bad enough.

9/15/2009 10:51:54 PM

^Birmingham did sort of get the 1996 Olympics though. Only the championship soccer games are held in the host city. The rest of the soccer games are held in other cities of the host country. Birmingham hosted a soccer game in 1996. And I do agree that it is going to Brazil in 2016.

[Edited on September 15, 2009 at 10:58 PM. Reason : .]

9/15/2009 10:58:03 PM

^^Here is a link to the official IOC evaluation report. The Olympics look to be going to Brazil (Like we didn't know that already).

http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=3110

9/17/2009 1:04:50 AM

Tomorrow is the big day. I am hoping Chicago wins, but I am 99.9999999% sure it will go to Rio. I saw on the news last night that the Obama's and Oprah are over there trying to beg the IOC while Brazil sent Pele.

10/1/2009 2:33:10 PM

Quote :

"08 was one of the best olympics of all time. "

OF ALL TIME!

10/1/2009 2:43:26 PM

^^ Brazil also sent their President, Lula da Silva, no different than the rest of the potential host countries.

10/1/2009 2:54:15 PM

^Not that any of this matters. The big factor is the fact that South America has never hosted the Olympics, yet Brazil is going to host the FIFA World Cup which is an even bigger event, before the 2016 Olympics.

[Edited on October 1, 2009 at 2:56 PM. Reason : .]

10/1/2009 2:56:08 PM

LOL! Chicago was the first town eliminated and it is now between Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.

10/2/2009 11:56:42 AM

there was an interesting article on espn earlier today about the winning city being the real loser, and constructing this massive infrastructure that typically lies dormant after the games are over. he said the bird's nest isn't even being used for sports anymore

10/2/2009 11:58:40 AM

^Yeh I read all of those. I think the USA is better set up to host a FIFA World Cup since we already have new stadiums and nothing will need to be built for 2018/2022 if we win the bid.

10/2/2009 12:04:35 PM

Baseball doesn't have enough international action, so cutting it from the olympics makes me sad. the world baseball classic will need to expand to a wider field than 16, there's so much talent on the other side of the world waiting to be discovered.

10/2/2009 12:04:58 PM

the picture on the front page of ESPN is precious...

10/2/2009 12:39:17 PM

Rio just got 2016

10/2/2009 12:51:10 PM

Olympics: Chicago out, Rio in.

10/2/2009 12:53:32 PM

Quote :

"people, you might as well go ahead and pencil in Rio. World class destination and the olympics have never been to South America. Chicago has no chance seeing the olympics have been the US so many times and Madrid's chances are pretty slim because spain just had them in 92 and they are trying to focus away from the west after london in 12. Tokyo has an outside shot but although not the west its still a first class city and very developed nation whose culture is known throughout the world. "

Never doubt me again, folks

10/2/2009 8:48:38 PM

^More like "never doubt anyone who uses a little logic." Once Brazil made it to the final four there was no point in the other 3 nations wasting their time since South America had never hosted the games. Africa has never hosted the Olympics either. South Africa has hosted the Rugby World Cup in the past and will be hosting the FIFA World Cup next year. They'll have the stadiums to do it in 2020, or 2024. It's funny reading the post vote articles on the internet. Some people thought Chicago actually had a chance. After reading all of the articles about the costs of putting on the Olympics, it was a blessing in disguise for Chicago, Tokyo, and Madrid that they didn't get it. If we get the World Cup in 2018, or 2022 then that won't be so bad because the damage has already been done as far as using tax dollars to invest in new stadiums. FIFA and the USSF will have no problem finding 12+ stadiums that meet minimum requirements for hosting a World Cup match.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=4525513

10/3/2009 2:02:55 AM

Quote :

"Never doubt me again, folks"

You had a 1/4 chance.. not impressed.

10/3/2009 11:44:58 AM

Quote :

"Olympic village with Rugby players.. fun stuff."

Rugby 7's is a lot different than rugby union

why not just have rugby league though, its fast paced and i think more exciting than 7's

(clearly 15 is best, but 13 is still better than 7)

10/3/2009 11:50:17 AM

^^yes for the winner but I also called the order

10/3/2009 12:02:17 PM

Quote :

"Rugby 7's is a lot different than rugby union why not just have rugby league though, its fast paced and i think more exciting than 7's"

I have never watched 7s, but I read that it is pretty much union rules which is what I like to watch. I don't enjoy watching league. Rugby 7s works good for the Olympics because I read they only play 7 minute halves so that they can complete the entire tournament in about 2 days. Since the Olympics is only 2 weeks long the soccer tournaments are also only half the size of the World Cup. If Rugby played Union rules then only about 8 teams could play. With 7s now they could actually set it up like the NCAA basketball tournament and have a day and night session where they play 4 games.

10/3/2009 12:20:38 PM

yeah i wasnt thinking about playing time, 7's works well for that

10/3/2009 1:24:11 PM