olympic dreams

While we're on the topic of women's baseball, I was floored this week to discover that the International Baseball Federation is going to add women's baseball to their bid to get the sport reinstated for the 2016 Olympic Games. Apparently the move comes after a deal could not be reached between the main baseball and women's softball organizations.

I'm personally thrilled at the prospect of seeing women playing baseball on the Olympic stage. If it's not already obvious, hardball is much different from softball in many ways. So it's great to see that women and girls may not always have to accept the softball option as a "comparable" sport. Despite the existence of plenty of independent leagues around the U.S., as well as an international-level tournament team, there isn't one cohesive program similar to the well-oiled machine that exists for boys and young men who aspire to play at a high level. Having the sport as an Olympic game would certainly help make women's baseball more popular and well-established.

It also makes financial and competitive sense for the International Olympic Committee to include women's baseball over women's softball. The United States women's softball program has absolutely dominated in Olympic play, which makes the sport a lot less interesting to watch. And if host cities have to build or procure the use of one baseball stadium instead of one baseball stadium and one softball stadium, it makes things a lot cheaper, too.

Of course, there's still a long way to go before either women's or men's baseball gets added to the current Olympic program; the decision will be made in October, and there are a number of other sports putting in bids to be added. (Honestly, if squash gets in, I will be almost as excited.) But I'm cautiously optimistic that this might actually happen sooner than pigs might fly, which, suffice it to say, is a departure from my previous assumptions. By the way, if you're on Facebook, you can join this group to voice your support. ∞

my favorite medals

Every two years I get psyched up for the Olympics, and this year is no exception. The TV broadcasters this time around have been way too obsessed with Michael Phelps (though I freely admit the dude is amazing), and I wish we could get to see something other than volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics in prime time. Nevertheless, I've been enjoying the show.

I was curious about the makeup of this year's medals, which which feature rings of three different colors inside of the three medal types. It turns out that the rings are distinct types of jade, a semiprecious stone common in China. Of course, I had to look up the history of Olympic medals to find out more. I found that Summer Olympics medals are usually pretty boring; by tradition they feature the Greek Goddess Nike, who personified victory. Only recently have countries started adding personal touches to the backs of medals, and I'd say that so far, the Chinese version is the most unique—by a long shot.

Winter Olympic medals are much more creative, and therefore (at least in my view) a lot nicer. They often take an organic form that's not as perfectly circular as Summer Games medals. They also tend to include materials other than the traditional gold, silver, and bronze. I'd say my all-time favorites are the 1994 medals from Lillehammer, Norway and the 2004 rings from Torino, Italy—but the backs of the Beijing medals are a close third. &infin

a squash god lives on

As the dieting industry well knows, the new year usually gets people inspired to get their butts into the gym. My favorite way to work out is with a game of squash, racquetball's sophisticated older brother. So I was psyched and humbled to read a recent article about Hashim Khan, a squash legend and one of the sport's most revered spokespeople. I first found out about Khan when I was learning how to play the game myself. Already into his 80s at the time, Khan had amassed not only an impressive professional career, he was also well known for continuing to be a fierce competitor despite his advanced age and diminutive 5'4 stature. Now 93, Khan simply can't let squash go. The article describes how he recently hurt himself after falling on the court but refused doctors orders to hang up the racquet for good. If that's not inspiration for getting me out on the court, I'm not sure what is!

Sadly, Khan once again will not be watching nationally-ranked squash players taking part in the Olympics later this year. The drive to get squash accepted as an Olympic sport has been gaining momentum in recent years—but it's still got a ways to go. In 2005, it came agonizingly close to being voted in, but it fell short in a second round of voting by the IOC. Former pros like Peter Nichol and Jahangir Khan (Hashim's cousin's son) continue to lead the charge, believing they have a real chance of getting squash accepted into the 2016 Olympics in Singapore. I have a hard time taking seriously the process by which equestrian, in which a horse does most of the work, and kayaking and shooting—which may be nice hobbies but which really don't seem like sports—get picked over squash as Olympic events. Nevertheless, rules is rules. Hopefully, squash will get it's due very soon. It's just too bad that the sport's living legend won't get to see it. &infin