Petition to bring billiards to 2024 Olympics

Shawn Armstrong said:
Pool isn’t a sport. End of discussion.
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The International Olympic Committee recognizes it as a sport. It just does not include it on the list of events held for the Olympic Games.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_IOC_Recognised_International_Sports_Federations

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Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
 
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MattPoland said:
The International Olympic Committee recognizes it as a sport. It just does not include it on the list of events held for the Olympic Games.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_IOC_Recognised_International_Sports_Federations

0736c6a927d5c161828fbf7f93096ca5.jpg



Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
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Tomatoes and avocados are fruits. What does the rest of the world call them?

Call pool a sport all you want. A league night or weekly tournament showcases few athletes. Unless smoking is considered a sport.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
Tomatoes and avocados are fruits. What does the rest of the world call them?



Call pool a sport all you want. A league night or weekly tournament showcases few athletes. Unless smoking is considered a sport.
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Tomatoes and tomatoes. If the topic is the Olympics and the International Olympic Committee recognizes it, that’s about as relevant to the topic as you can get. Heck they recognize chess as a sport.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_sports
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If you want to make the case against pool being included in the Olympics, there are much better arguments than the definition of a “sport “to make your case. That’s all I’m illustrating.

The best argument I think is the cost of hosting the Olympics. Each sport added costs logistics. For that cost, there are other “sports” more qualified before cue sports. But that alone isn’t enough to make me ever stop hoping out of love for the game.


Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
 
MattPoland said:
If the topic is the Olympics and the International Olympic Committee recognizes it, that’s about as relevant to the topic as you can get. Heck they recognize chess as a sport.
Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
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I work harder taking a shit than two people playing chess. Just because the IOC says something is so doesn't necessarily make it right. You cannot argue the fact that the IOC hasn't made some pretty f'ed-up decisions over the years.


IMHO....sports is about athleticism. Not two guys sitting in a chair (or walking around a pool table).


Maniac
 
Maniac said:
I work harder taking a shit than two people playing chess. Just because the IOC says something is so doesn't necessarily make it right. You cannot argue the fact that the IOC hasn't made some pretty f'ed-up decisions over the years.





IMHO....sports is about athleticism. Not two guys sitting in a chair (or walking around a pool table).





Maniac
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I’m just arguing that the IOC isn’t going to base its decision off of the definition of a sport when it has already included it in its definition of a sport. Beyond that, I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything beyond that one point.

For example, “shooting” is both an IOC sport and included in the Olympic Games even though it’s also not really an athletic sport either.


Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
 
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Fellas
pool is not a sport
it is a game

next ting you know bowling,horse shoes and dominoes will be in the olypics if pool gets in

i love pool.i have played for years but it doesn't belong in the olympics
 
Many sports that are not currently in the Olympics are represented at 4-year intervals in the lower-key, and far less expensive, World Games. The first venue for these Games was Santa Clara, CA in 1981, and they will return to the USA in 2017 in Birmingham, AL.

Billiards Sports were added to the World Games in 2001, consisting of 3-cushion billiards, men's 9-Ball, women's 9-Ball, and snooker.

The 9-Ball champions have been:

2001 -- Chin-Shun Yang and Jeanette Lee
2005 -- Pei-Woo Chang and Jasmin Ouschan
2009 -- Ralf Souquet and Allison Fisher
2013 -- Darren Appleton and Chieh Yu Chou
2017 -- Carlo Biado and Siming Chen

For more information: https://www.theworldgames.org/
 
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Remember too that the Olympics did not start out as an expression of "sport" per se. It was a way to demonstrate military prowess without actually having to do battle. And when the "modern" Olympics were begun back in 1896, a significant value was placed upon amateurism, and it wasn't until relatively recently that professionals were permitted to participate in the events.
So it's an evolutionary process, and it will go where it is guided.
 
Rickhem said:
Remember too that the Olympics did not start out as an expression of "sport" per se. It was a way to demonstrate military prowess without actually having to do battle. And when the "modern" Olympics were begun back in 1896, a significant value was placed upon amateurism, and it wasn't until relatively recently that professionals were permitted to participate in the events.
So it's an evolutionary process, and it will go where it is guided.
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You make excellent points in your post. I never thought about all that.
The logic is impeccable.
:thumbup:
 
I recently ran across what looks to be a summary of BCA board meetings. The Olympic Games were mentioned a couple of times. Below are those sections.

Note that the real BCA effort to get cue sports into the Summer Games was at the time the BCA moved to Colorado Springs (near the USOC) and hired someone who had previously worked with the USOC to be the Executive Director. That was well after the items below. That effort evaporated about the time the BCA sold its leagues and it no longer had any player members.

First mention of the possibility of billiards being accepted as an Olympic sport was made at a meeting at the Stevens Hotel on May 19, 1950. A request was made to meet with Avery Brundage to discuss the possibility, although it was Mr. Gibbons' impression that the Olympic Committee is presently attempting to reduce the number of games and sports and that the status of amateur sports would probably preclude because of the limited number of players who would be acceptable. At this time the council was supporting the Boys Club giving $4,275 a year and the college program which was given $5,000 a year. The college program, under the direction of Mr. William Rion, was then a key shot tournament with no face to face competition. At that time, the cost of printing a rule book was 22 cents each and the book sold for 50 cents.​

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On December 6, 1972, the US Olympic Committee sent a letter to the BCA stating that the sport must be practiced in at least 40 counties on three continents. There must be a recognized International Federation controlling eligibility and competitions. This must have 40 members and 40 member nations. You cannot have amateurs and pros under control of the same federation. This was in response to a contact by officers of the BCA who were trying to secure billiards as one of the sports of the Olympiad.​

The idea of amateur participants seems to have disappeared in the interim.
 
Dean is right about pool being a game because it definitely is not a sport.

If they were to allow pool, why not corn hole tossing or even better, video
gaming events. Let's remember that almost all of us love the game of pool.

Rationalize as much or as hard as you can but pool isn't a sport. It is a parlor
game which obviously requires dexterity but hardly any athleticism whatsoever.

Again, let me state that I love the game of pool and you can easily tell that by
the pool cues in my Az signature and ardent admiration for talented cue-making.
But arguing pool deserves to be an Olympic sport is a bridge too far even for me.


Matt B.
 
1- if cricket isnt in theOlympics, billiards has no chance.
B: all those cycling sports have been In for a while, wonder what the 2020 change is.
Bavafongoul said:
The Olympics have already become inundated with activiities that are borderline sports
and IMO, the last thing needed is to add the game of billiards as a new sports category.

At one point, croquet, cricket & even tug of war were official Olympic sports competition.
I wouldn't be surprised at some point to hear clamor for adding video gaming competition.






Here are the 33 sports to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Five (5) new sports
have been added to the program: baseball & softball, karate, sport climbing, skateboarding &
surfing. This means 18 new events and 474 new athletes will appear on the Olympic program.

Aquatics (including swimming, diving and synchronized swimming, water polo)
Archery
Badminton
Baseball and Softball - will be held at Yokohama Stadium
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe / Kayak
Cycling - including Track, Road, Mountain Bike and BMX
Equestrian
Fencing
Football (soccer)
Golf
Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampolining)
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Karate - six (6) kumite sparring & two (2) kata demonstration categories.
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Rugby 7s
Sailing
Shooting
Skateboarding - men and women's street & park skateboarding events
Sport Climbing - bouldering & lead & speed combined climbing
Surfing - men's & women's shortboard surfing to be held at Shida Shita Point
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Track & Field
Triathlon
Volleyball - indoor and beach volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling (Greco-Roman and Freestyle
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It's called the Summer Olympic Games. It's not sports, or athletics, or team wars, or.... But why quibble about the word used to describe it? Is not! Is too! Just like in the third grade.

I think there are large advantages to any sport (or game, or pastime, or ...) to be included in the Olympic Games. This is evident in many countries where the national Olympic Committee has recognized the local governing body for cue sports. It is unfortunate that the so-called US governing body for pool has given up on Olympic recognition.

In the meantime, cue sports will be in the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama in 2021, just as they have been since the Akita Games.
 
Bob Jewett said:
It's called the Summer Olympic Games. It's not sports, or athletics, or team wars, or.... But why quibble about the word used to describe it? Is not! Is too! Just like in the third grade.



I think there are large advantages to any sport (or game, or pastime, or ...) to be included in the Olympic Games. This is evident in many countries where the national Olympic Committee has recognized the local governing body for cue sports. It is unfortunate that the so-called US governing body for pool has given up on Olympic recognition.



In the meantime, cue sports will be in the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama in 2021, just as they have been since the Akita Games.
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Exactly. Plus, the International Olympic Committee already recognizes cue sports as a “sport” as far as the criteria they judge by. The challenge is that they recognize many “sports” but only host a limited number of them in the Olympic Games.

The thing people need to realize is that these things aren’t decided based off common sense logic. They’re based of bureaucracies, politics and economics.


Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
 
Wouldn't the US have to have an organization in place to coordinate the players, the drug tests and everything else the IOC imposes. The other issue would be, what kind of a team would USA have after drug testing.
 
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