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Post by Phaedrus on Aug 23, 2008 7:25:38 GMT -5
Soccer in the Olympics is a 23 and under tournament, but each country can add up to three players that are older. Baseball is an all age tournament but the USA doesn't send any of the major league players because they are in season during the Olympics. So Cuba pretty much dominates with Japan and the latin countries being the other countries of interest.
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Post by GatorVball on Aug 23, 2008 13:20:19 GMT -5
Soccer on the men's side is 23 and under. On the women's side, there is no age restriction.
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Post by pogoball on Aug 23, 2008 18:35:54 GMT -5
Soccer in the Olympics is a 23 and under tournament, but each country can add up to three players that are older. Baseball is an all age tournament but the USA doesn't send any of the major league players because they are in season during the Olympics. So Cuba pretty much dominates with Japan and the latin countries being the other countries of interest. Even with the age restriction, the best eligible soccer players don't play. The IOC would like Major League Baseball to suspend their season for a couple weeks, like the NHL, in order to allow the best players to compete. MLB won't do it because they have an extremely weak commissioner who lacks any long-term vision and power. There is no way the baseball owners would give up two weeks of immediate revenue. They are completely myopic. A true commisioner like what they last had with Giammatti would make it happen because it is in the long-term and best interest of the sport. The current structure no longer has that role and no concept of sports beyond US borders.
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Post by Phaedrus on Aug 23, 2008 19:03:23 GMT -5
I would like to think that the myopia would kill their audence share and ratings, but it won't. The audience for baseball is actually pretty steady, so they don't really care if it grows or not, so why bother with the Olympics. Silly Bud.
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