Cue sports in OLYMPIC GAMES
- Thread starter icem3n
- Start date
icem3n said:
Where do you want me to begin ???
There are many many many political reason for it not being accepted into the schedule right now. One of the reasons is the fractured governing structure for cue sports and how they all report back up into the IOC.
Pool / Billiards / Snooker all have different routes up into the IOC and there is a criteria for a sports inclusion into the OG. One of these being a "trial period" for "emerging sports" that is effectively what the World Games are.
There's been lots of good work by lots of good people for years to try and get cuesports in the ciriculum.
I'm sure this is going to be a very hot thread now you've kicked it off.
icem3n said:
As far as sport recognized by the Olympics, billiards is already in the list.
As far as why it's not included in the main sports category;
1. The sport might not be globalized enough, meaning a good number of member countries have billiards program
2. The host country can not accomodate added games and athletes. Watersports are the first ones to be affected followed by outdoor games, rifle and archery.
3. There is still a debate about on how much luck is there in billiards which WPA has been experimenting on to minimize. I wouldn't be surprised if Snooker, Straight Pool and 1Pocket were the ones that get picked up.
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This was recently discussed in another thread. Cue Sports are in the World Games and are recognized by the IOC through the WCBS, which is the single world organization for all cue sports.icem3n said:
The main problem for any sport that wants to move from the WG to the OG is that the IOC feels that there are too many events/athletes already and nobody wants to give up their spot.
If it was decided just on the basis of number of participants and global distribution, cue sports would be ahead of many (most?) current Olympic Games events.
If the format of the World Games is any indication, the four disciplines/events would be men's nine ball, women's nine ball, 3-cushion and snooker.crosseyedjoe said:
Bob Jewett said:
Most skeptics question the luck-factor in 9-ball and 8-ball format.
EDIT: ... I WOULDN'T be surprised if Snooker, Straight Pool and 1Pocket were the ones that get picked up.
Ste said:
Or they can come up with modified 9-ball something like;
1. 50 different pre-defined patterns for all players to solve.
2. Top-half is picked every 10 racks to proceed to the next round
3. +number of balls on the table when 9-ball was sunk
4. 0 for regular run (like par in golf)
5. -number of balls on the table when the player wasn't able to run the table.
6. rack patterns for the next round are given to the players and coaches at the beginning of each round(every 10 rack or so)
7. no coaching is allowed once the round is started, but players can bring the "cheat-sheet" or solution with them.
time-limit per round can also be implemented
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Pool is in the Olympics, see Billiards , <<<---Click here.
icem3n said:
They way it looks right now, Billiards will never become Olympic game...
Here is something I wrote i another tread regarding big sporting goods companies sponsoring billiards and I guess it also applies to "when will billiards be an Olympic game?"
Billiards is too fragmented. That is the real reason. Perhaps someday some disciplines will make it in.
The WCBS was created to lobby the IOC for inclusion and they were close several times. In the end though it is an expensive endeavor. Sports with a lot more money to throw at getting included in the Olympics have not made it and it's unlikely that pool ever will.
Especially in the modern Olympic era when it's more and more commercial and the IOC looks to sports that can sell tickets and fill up stadiums.
Not to mention the whole "is it really a sport" debate. (yes Billiards is a sport)
Billiards has passed all of the IOC's requirements for inclusion. But it's not likely to happen as long as there is a long line of other sports with more drawing power.
The WCBS was created to lobby the IOC for inclusion and they were close several times. In the end though it is an expensive endeavor. Sports with a lot more money to throw at getting included in the Olympics have not made it and it's unlikely that pool ever will.
Especially in the modern Olympic era when it's more and more commercial and the IOC looks to sports that can sell tickets and fill up stadiums.
Not to mention the whole "is it really a sport" debate. (yes Billiards is a sport)
Billiards has passed all of the IOC's requirements for inclusion. But it's not likely to happen as long as there is a long line of other sports with more drawing power.
skor said:
Well, Earl where are you?