Olympic Sports that Don't Matter

The Olympic Games is the world's greatest sporting event, for every country but the USA. Why?

Capitalism has a lot to do with it. American business has already transformed any sport that people will watch on television into billion dollar leagues.

These leagues are independent of national affiliation and often have the best players from around the world competing daily.

To the rest of the athletes who don't have these opportunities to compete, an Olympic gold medal is the top prize.

There are bigger prizes than an Olympic gold medal in every event Americans care about. Here is a list of Olympic events for Beijing 2008:

Archery

Artistic Gymnastics

Badminton

Baseball - Something called a World Series

Basketball - NBA Championship is still the top prize in the sport

Beach Volleyball

Boxing - Since it is amateur only, gold is important

Canoe/Kayak

Cycling - Tour de France

Diving

Equestrian

Fencing

Field hockey

Handball

Judo

Modern Pentathlon

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Rowing

Shooting

Soccer - MLS Championship? ;)

Softball - Women's sports aren't supported in the U.S., so this one matters.

Swimming

Synchronised swimming

Table Tennis

Taekwondo

Tennis - Wimbledon, U.S. Open etc.

Track and Field

Trampoline

Triathlon

Volleyball

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Yachting - America's Cup

For the bulk of these events, it is the pinnacle of competition. Those are the Olympic medals that matter. If your event isn't on this list, be thankful. It probably means you can make a living playing it professionally.

Most of the Winter Olympics' events are legitimate, even hockey due to the strong international leagues. 

When the Olympics was an amateur-only competition for Americans, it was much more compelling for sports fans, because it was the highest honor in amateur athletics for each event.

The one exception which actually proves the rule as the saying goes, is men's Futbol. The World Cup is a much larger prize, even internationally. Americans generally are not interested in this event at the Olympics, nor in their hometown.

My point is, stop whining about baseball being dropped or golf not being in. Let the athletes that do not already have a stage keep the Olympic Games. How else will competitive canoeing  receive exposure? I guess they could always join the the X-games.