Should snooker be part of the Olympic Games?

[Blondie]

My Sport is a member (the long one only) As I play Bowls (The short mat veriaty) for the U18 England team.... Lawn Bowls is an olympic sport...

Hi Lee,

.......thanks for confirming that lawn bowls is an olympic sport, , didn't realise this. And great that you play short bowls for the U18 England team.. Good for you..

Lol....xx

[chasmmi]

I'm a little lost here chasmmi... Squash seems to have a very good chance, and what was that about the Americans losing Softball and Baseball? I may have misunderstood but if what you meant is they are not Olympic Sports then that is not true.
Baseball has been an Olympic Sport since 1992 and softball since 1996. I distinctly remember them both being played in Athens in the last Games (in fact Greece made teams especially, as these sports are not normally played here).

Baseball and softball I believe were voted to be removed from the olympic quota of sports starting from either Beijing or London (I forget) therefore they will soon cease to be olympic sports.

It is implied by some corners that America and some other countries took offence at these sports getting removed and so refused to back squash's inclusion hence it is not to be an olympic sport for a while yet.

[chasmmi]

The 2012 Summer Olympic programme will feature 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines. The 2012 Paralympic Games will have 20 sports and 21 disciplines. London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city. The IOC reinforced their decision to drop both sports during the Turin Games after they lost votes for reconsideration. They will be Olympic sports for the last time at Beijing in 2008.

short excerpt from wiki that may help clarify what i meant.

[Nina]

Thank you for the explanations chasmmi. Needless to say, I didn't know any of that.

[Blondie]

Thank you for the explanations chasmmi. Needless to say, I didn't know any of that.

Hi Nina/Chasmmi,

.....neither did I, and thanks for all your research work here, you're both stars...**..

Lol...xx

[Welshsteve]

China tried to get "Cue Sports" for the Beijing Olympics but were turned down, which I see as a sad thing for our sport.

Bringing snooker, and pool and billiards for that matter, into the Olympics, I think would encourage more countries to develop snooker players. It is an ideal opportunity to bring the sport to a wider audience missed in my opinion.

To make things fair, maybe only two players from each country would be allowed to take part, and NO players from the main world snooker tour would be allowed to take part. That would cetainly even things up a bit, as otherwise the winner would almost certainly come from the UK, as only Neil Robertson and Ding outside the UK would stand any chance of winning.

[Blondie]

China tried to get "Cue Sports" for the Beijing Olympics but were turned down, which I see as a sad thing for our sport.

Bringing snooker, and pool and billiards for that matter, into the Olympics, I think would encourage more countries to develop snooker players. It is an ideal opportunity to bring the sport to a wider audience missed in my opinion.

To make things fair, maybe only two players from each country would be allowed to take part, and NO players from the main world snooker tour would be allowed to take part. That would cetainly even things up a bit, as otherwise the winner would almost certainly come from the UK, as only Neil Robertson and Ding outside the UK would stand any chance of winning.

Hi Steve,

...........I agree, it is sad that cue sports was turned down for Beijing, and well done to China for trying to get it entered.

And like your idea for entrants, and sounds fair, it's a shame nobody from the Olympic Commission is logged on to tsf, we've all got it sussed, they just need to implement it...

Lol..xx

[Welshsteve]

Hey, maybe we could have a lottery on here to decide who represents the UK LOL

[Blondie]

Hey, maybe we could have a lottery on here to decide who represents the UK LOL

Hi Steve,

............great, can you imagine?..., and like the idea of the guys [us fans on tsf] being allowed to choose, or nominate, whether it be a lottery, or just general views...yippee.

Seriously though, I'm still new here, so not sure how you'd go about it. I'm happy to nominate you to chair though, [and still not even sure how to work the poll option on tsf.... ], but great idea, and maybe as well if the players see tsf enthusiasm, you never know.....

Lol...xx

[Jack Wood]

I don’t think it should be a question of money

I have been reselling with this question because I could see it both ways. Their is no doubt that snooker is a sport, but for some reason I couldn’t picture it as an Olympic sport, so I had a quick look at the history of the games.
This made me see snooker is not an Olympic sport because Olympic sports are about physical ability and physical endurance and snooker is about physical skill and mental endurance.
If it’s of any interest to anyone here is a bit of what found on the history of the Olympics.
(According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years already). At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), won the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history.
The ancient Olympic Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.
Approximately 1500 years later, a young Frenchmen named Pierre de Coubertin began their revival. Coubertin is now known as le Rénovateur. Coubertin was a French aristocrat born on January 1, 1863. He was only seven years old when France was overrun by the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Some believe that Coubertin attributed the defeat of France not to its military skills but rather to the French soldiers' lack of vigor.* After examining the education of the German, British, and American children, Coubertin decided that it was exercise, more specifically sports, that made a well-rounded and vigorous person.)

[Wity]

Snooker is a game not a sport, never has been and never will be.

[Jack Wood]

Just my opinion

Personally I think that card games, dice games, and hope scotch are games. When their is more far skill involved than chance I like to consider it a sport.

[Wity]

So the 99 year old geezer paralized from the neck down in a hospital bed hooked up to a computor and playing chess is a sportsman in your book then?

[Jack Wood]

Hold on

I said that snooker is a sport because it takes physical skill and mental endurance.
Your not being very sporting.

[Wity]

It takes more physical skills to play hop scotch than to play snooker yet you dont consider hop scotch a sport, yet i presume you have no problem with the triple jump?

Thing is the definition of the word "sport" (in regard to competition and games) varies. Some dictionaries will say it requires physical exertion others will drop the word exertion which effectively puts writing your name under the sports catogory.

The Olympics has always been about athletic sports and as such snooker has no place in them, though money rules and if deemed popular enough no doubt the comitees will bend the rules to fatten their own wallets.