The olympics without the judging...

[jenP_97]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Andrew MacIan <andrew_macian at y...> 
wrote:

> Let me take a step or six back and offer a rather
> radical proposal:  Any 'sport' that requires external
> judging, where that judging awards/affects points
> should NOT be an Olympic sport.  That they are
> athletic in nature is a given.  But when the
> subjective nature of the judging is integral to the
> placements of the finishers, then the contest is not
> only between the open competitors but also
> amongst/between the judges...and the nations the
> judges really represent.


Nonono... this isn't radical.  Okay, perhaps to the "sporting 
establishment" (whatever that may be), it is... but most of the 
olympics fans I know (some of whom are athletic themselves)
would LOVE for this to be the ruling consideration for the olympic 
athletic events.  My husband, for example, is constantly telling 
me while watching a 'race' of some kind - "now THIS is nice, 
straightforward competition.  *I* can figure out who wins!"  
Perhaps that should be the rule.  If the public watching the 
competition cannot CLEARLY tell who is the winner of a competition 
without some formal education in the sport, then it can't be in 
the olympics.  After all, isn't this an *amateur* (sp??) 
competition?  Granted, amateur doesn't mean "beginner" or "easy", 
but IMO, it should at least be somewhat accessible to spectators, 
no?

Of course, if not for the olympics, would figure skating (which I 
love to watch, by the way) be as popular as it is?  And of course, 
there is the corollary (sp?) question: If not for figure skating, 
would the olympics be as popular as they are?

Jen (who loves figure skating, but wouldn't be able to judge it 
at all... unless it had rules like "the pair/skater with the most 
jumps and fewest falls wins")

PS.  Does anyone else get heart palpitations watching short-track 
speed skating?  I SWEAR, someone's gonna get KILLED doing that!! 

:)