SOFTBALL AND BASEBALL TO DROP FROM OLYMPICS LIST
When the announcement came out of the International Olympic
Committee meetings in Singapore that softball and baseball dropped
were being eliminated from the Olympic program in 2012, many,
including myself, were stunned.
I could understand why baseball was eliminated. The fact that
Olympic teams do not include the best players in the world was one
of the major factors in that decision.
Major League Baseball has no vested interest in the Olympics. Why
should they? Participating in the Olympics would not give the teams,
players, and owners and benefits that would be tangible. Could you
see the owners deciding to shut down the season for a few weeks so
some of their best could participate? I think not!
I think that Major League Baseball’s transparent drug policy might
also have had something to do with it.
Participation in the Olympic Games would require the all professional
players would have to submit to and pass year round, mandatory and
random drug tests. The Players Union would never go for that.
My belief is “so what.” The Olympic didn’t need major league players.
Participate with those that want to follow the IOC rules and wanted to
play for the love of the game. But none of these statements mean
anything now. Baseball is gone from the Olympcis.
However, none of this relates to softball, but some will try to tell you it
does.
In the nine years since softball was included in the Olympic
Games, I have never heard of a softball player testing positive for
performance drugs.
Softball is participated in over one hundred countries around the
world. Girls are gravitating to the sport in record numbers. The sport
is gaining in leaps and bounds at the local, national, and international
level. In the past three Olympics, all games were sold out to record
setting crowds.
Prior to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, I was in Columbus, Georgia for
the 1995 Superball Classic. It was the first international softball
tournament I had ever covered as a journalist.
Not knowing what to expect, I arrived in Columbus, notepad and
camera in hand, with the naiveté of a novice softball reporter. It didn’t
take me long to realize that softball had gone big time, and this was
not the softball that I knew about.
I remembered softball as the old slow-pitch variety of my youth. The
games played in Columbus were the softball of the future. The girls
were athletes, with the skills reviling many professional baseball
players. However, that is where the resemblance ended.
It is very possible that members of the IOC thought of softball and
baseball as the same sport. It is also possible that many of those
same members had no idea what softball was.
If they did lump the problems of Major League Baseball in with
softball, there could be no greater crime.
The IOC has stated on numerous times their desire to increase the
participation of females in the Games. So why did they eliminate one
of the most popular team sports in the Games?
If any of the IOC members had ever picked up at bat, stepped up to
the plate and faced the likes of Jennie Finch, Christa Williams, Lisa
Fernandez, or even a Cat Osterman, they would know the love,
intensity, and competitiveness that many feel for the sport.
They would have understood that softball gives many young girls and
women the chance to achieve their goals, and how their success on
the diamond would carry over to their everyday and future lives.
The IOC really missed the boat on this decision. I wonder how many
of those members would own up to their true votes. The IOC did not
release the voting tallies or the outcome of the votes. I wonder why?
If they truly cared about Olympic ideals, increasing female
participation in the Games, or even had a sense of fair play, they
would reinstate softball immediately.
Only time will tell if their decision was correct. I am sure with the
passage of time, history will view their decision with the same disgust
and disdain that it deserves.
About the Author: Robert H. Kelly is a sport writer from Texas. His
writings on Texas sporting events and events with Texas participants
attempt to provide a unique perspective not covered by mainstream
media.
-DR.NAVRAJ SINGH SANDHU