[De_Gambassi 896]

9 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

It’s not like baseball, cricket, or flag football are much better though. I think those four are the “frontrunners” from what I can discern. 
 

LA28 has held their cards very close though, so who knows? 

Quotas-wise, that's not possible unless IOC change its rules.

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

Lol, we have one semi-active club in the country...

[De_Gambassi 896]

1 hour ago, NaBUru38 said:

With no United States or Canada, I wouldn't be surprised if they expend it to 24 teams for 2027.

Definitely, they don't want the US missing it again, 4 years before their home World Cup

[De_Gambassi 896]

A 40 minutes video ! The FFF is really trying too hard !

 

And no Captain Tsubasa kit 

[De_Gambassi 896]

1 hour ago, Dragon said:

For my part, I don't expect cricket to ever be a permanent part of the Olympic schedule but when certain countries host the Games (Australia, India and possibly the UK or South Africa) and have suitable cricket stadiums that can be used there are financial and other reasons why it could be included.

 

The quota argument is a good argument against cricket but actually a better one against baseball and softball where the squad sizes are so much bigger.

I think 2 cricket tournaments of 8 teams would take up around 240 quota, about the same as baseball/softball in 2021.

You could even cut it down to 2 6 team tournaments with 14 players on each roster (168 quota)

It's still a lot more than individual sports and only delivers two gold medals. With the limit of athletes we have now and the number of sports/events, the odds are stacked against any new team sport entering the olympics even as additional sport. Will Brisbane even have 240 quotas to use for its additional sports ? 

Edited October 24, 2022 by De_Gambassi

[De_Gambassi 896]

9 hours ago, Nickyc707 said:

It was an argument made in response to your strawman argument that only Commonwealth countries would win Olympic medals in the next 100 years, and ignoring the possibility of further expansion, beyond the 30 or so NOCs where cricket is a significant sport, as a result of becoming an Olympic sport.

 

I referred to handball because it bears similarities in being a very Eurocentric sport which did not have the benefit of universality when it came into the Olympics and only significantly spread beyond Europe after becoming an Olympic sport. Even now it remains weak in most other parts of the world and apart from South Korea, China with a bronze is the only non-European country to win an Olympic medal in 86 years of trying.

 

Incidentally you've referred to rugby as being a Commonwealth sport which is not true in the sense you mean it. It has historically had strongholds in places way beyond the Commonwealth such as France, Italy, Romania, Argentina and Japan.

You didn't understand the discussion then...

 

I didn't make that argument in the first place, that was @Vektor. I was responding to it, particulary the point where he lumps both rugby and cricket as equally commonwealth-focused. I was pointing out that Rugby is indeed a lot less commonwealth-focused, using a slightly exaggerated argument (no shit). RU is my favorite sport btw and I know more than a bit of its history having dedicated hundred of hours searching and writing about it...

 

And back to your handball argument, it's really "but, but tennis table shouldn't be an olympic sport, because China". Yeah, the sport is heavely dominated by Europeans. But who cares, as long as the game is universal and played pretty much everywhere.  The universality of a sport has not to be judged on the regional spread of its top nations, but on the number of players around the world and the number of nations that do play the game.

 

And perhaps, it was not so the case when handball was introduced back then. But again, who cares? It was a different time with different exigences and different rules (IIRC, IOC was only asking for 25 countries to play a sport to be considered at that time)

 

I don't wish cricket to be an olympic sport because it's too commonwealth (that was never my argument, only if that was argument had to be made, rugby would fared a lot better in that regard), but because it's not universal enough in my book. Besides, I don't think cricket will gain olympic status, but not because of its lack of universality, but for more practical reasons (cost and legacy of a cricket stadium and quotas requirement).

 

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

57 minutes ago, Nickyc707 said:

In the 86 years since handball was first introduced to the Olympics only two countries from outside Europe have ever won a medal. Do you think that sport should be excluded? Afterall Europe consists of fewer countries and far fewer people than the Commonwealth.

 

The introduction of cricket would mean that a lot of countries and parts of the world that never have the opportunity to compete in team sports at the Olympics would have a chance to do so. I'm thinking in particular of South Asia, Southern Africa and the Caribbean. The Olympics needs to stop being so Eurocentric.

What kind of strawman argument is that. Handball has nothing to do with the discussion. It's an universal sport, heavely dominated by European countries, but played pretty much everywhere by locals. 

 

Cricket is not. Outside of T1 nations, the game is almost non existent or limited to expats from cricket nations. The Netherlands are often cited in these kind of discussions as some kind of proof of some depth behind T1 nations. Yet, with the country only having around 5,000 players it is demonstrating quite the opposite.

 

For me, that's a sport that should not be Olympic. 

 

In that regard, rugby is doing much better (Spain with 40k players as an exemple of a non-commonwealth, non-T1 nation), which was my initial point. Baseball also. 

 

Ps: I'm quoting numbers from european countries as they are the ones the most easely accessible. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by De_Gambassi

[De_Gambassi 896]

1 hour ago, Vektor said:

Also, I think having both cricket and rugby at the Games is a bad call. This isn't the Commonwealth Games, pick one of the two and leave the other out of the program. Personally I would pick T20 cricket over rugby sevens. T20 isn't that different from "traditional" cricket, while rugby sevens feels like a cheap imitation of the real thing. Rugby sevens shouldn't have been included in the first place, it's pretty much the equivalent of 3x3 basketball, which also shouldn't be part of the program.

Rugby (seven, fifteen) is a lot less commonwealth focused and more universal than Cricket. We already had 2 non-commonwealth countries medalists at the last olympics when you would have only commonwealth countries winning medals for the next 100 years if cricket was an olympic sport.

[De_Gambassi 896]

1 minute ago, Grassmarket said:

England beat France 42-18 but don’t show the ruthlessness they showed against Samoa last week.

Should have been less... A solid performance for the french team. Much more than most people would have expected. Still a long way to go, but the decisive game is next week-end against Samoa. 

[De_Gambassi 896]

46 minutes ago, Dragon said:

On which channels? The BBC coverage has been fine.

International one (France, Australia, NZ...)

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

And that's make for 3 breakouts of coverage...

[De_Gambassi 896]

20 minutes ago, Dragon said:

By the way, don't trust the World Rankings

 

 are 8th in the world but lost in the qualifying tournament to both lower ranked  and  by 80 points...

By players who actually can speak the language of the country they are plying for, that's seems about right. 

[De_Gambassi 896]

There has been a breakout of the international coverage for 7 or 8 minutes... 

[De_Gambassi 896]

2 hours ago, Dragon said:

 

 

  16th appearance - world ranked #8

 

Best result 2 x finalist

 

Team based around the Dragons Catalans and Toulouse teams who play in the England dominated European Super League.

Like England, Covid has ruined their schedule in recent years. This year they have lost by 20 points and by 30 to Tonga last week.

Will be a major shock if they beat England or Samoa

First time, the team is made only of professional players. It won't be enough to see the QFs but I'm hoping for some decent performances. And we need something to built for 2025.

Edited October 15, 2022 by De_Gambassi

[De_Gambassi 896]

Some Italian or greeck forumers might be surprised to learn they have a team here 😁

[De_Gambassi 896]

Teams presentation by Squidge Rugby

 

The main contenders ,  &   (well there is really only one favorite here) :

 

 

 

The possible upsets , ,  &  

 

 

 

The "challengers"  , , ,  &  

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by De_Gambassi

[De_Gambassi 896]

I honestly launched a stream only to watch this chicken live. 

[De_Gambassi 896]

That's ridiculous  National teams should not look like that.

[De_Gambassi 896]

9 minutes ago, phelps said:

when it happens, it's still too late...

I didn't understand what you mean ?

[De_Gambassi 896]

Earth-Shattering news that deserves this thread to be raised again: South Africa to remplace Italy in the Six Nations starting in 2025 ? 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-10520605/Rugby-South-Africa-set-join-Six-Nations-2025-Italy-facing-boot.html

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

No one ? you guys just suck 

[De_Gambassi 896]

Your sport <<<<< Rugby "can you believe what you're seing ?"

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

Italian rugby has a new president 

 

https://www.onrugby.it/2021/03/13/marzio-innocenti-eletto-presidente-della-federazione-italiana-rugby-per-il-quadriennio-2021-2024/

 

 

The main point here being the score of the guy who held the office so far : 3.2 %  which tell you everything you need to know about the quality of his presidency.

 

Hopefully, we will son see a decent italian side once again 

[De_Gambassi 896]

Oh my God !  (both pilots are fine )

 

 

[De_Gambassi 896]

il y a 9 minutes, Olympian1010 a dit :

I’ve always wondered why we still let people race the Dakar Rally (on bikes) and the Isle or Man TT. They’re arguably some of the most unique events in the world, but is the cost worth it?

 

When LeMans got dangerous, safety standards were put in place (even if quite delayed). It may be time to take a serious look at these events...

 

Because, it not on us (or anyone else) to answer that question, but riders only.