We have seen Olympic events come and go. Since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, as many as ten sports have disappeared completely from the schedule, such as croquet, cricket, jeu de paume, lacrosse, polo, roque, rackets, tug-of-war, and motor boating. The Winter Olympics also has a few sports and events that have been discontinued. But who cares.
Well cricket may be making a comeback and Flag Football may make its debut when the Games return to LA in 2028. Along with Breaking Two electric boogaloo. And my personal favorite, Surfing. These sports along with a few others Karate , Kickboxing ( Call John Cusack,) skateboarding and sports climbing are on the ballot to be voted on by the IOC coming up on October 16th.
If you went to middle school you remember flag football. It's a noncontact version of regular football. Although the non contact part of that sentence was completely ignored at hard hittin Central Middle in my hometown, but for olympic purposes lets go with the real premise of the game, you strap on a belt with two flags velcro to the sides and if you ripped one off the ball carrier during the game they were down. We being the best of sportsmen would often give the flags back to their owner after the game in the “ Nurse's Office.'' Personally, I love the idea of making this an Olympic event, I can't wait for the trivia question of who is the only person to win an NCAA Title , Super Bowl and Olympic medal in Football.
Cricket is a complete F’ing mystery to me. And I intend to keep it that way. They are voting to add the T20 version of the game. I'm reading it's a sped up version of the game and I hope by sped up they mean Run Forrest Run. Even I , an avid let's play two guy in baseball, can't sit through a cricket match. But tens of millions of people worldwide can. And this is the style they love most, so personally i say hell yea. Baseball and Softball by the way wont be played in 2024 but will be back for 2028. And I welcome these new events to the Olympic docket. This is not a gimmick, this is not being trendy. This is the Olympics embracing sports that are beloved by millions of people, they may not be my or your cup of tea ( cricket joke ) but many are sipping and enjoying. I wasn’t there in 84’ but I plan on being there in 28’ and while I probably won't check out a cricket match, you can be sure ill be on the 50 yard line for flag football and on the beach watching surfers catching tubes.