The landscape is dotted with plenty of ways for people of a certain age to try to stay relevant, up to and including sports cars, hair plugs, Botox and tummy tucks, to name a few.
But while those solutions may work for people, how do long-standing organizations stay up to date and pertinent in the public eye?
Well, if you’re Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee and you lord over a movement that is becoming less and less significant, there’s just one thing to do to start trending, as the kids say.
You add some sports and games that the ancient Greeks could never have imagined back on Mount Olympus thousands of years ago. Recently, Bach and his IOC cronies have permitted local organizing committees, who lay out millions and billions for the privilege of hosting these two-week sporting spectacles – usually at tremendous financial loss to the local taxpayers – to add so-called demonstrator sports.
These games can serve as world showcases for sports that might have intense local appeal within the host nation, but not be particularly well known or appreciated outside those borders. For instance, the committee behind the 2028 Games in Los Angeles got the go-ahead last week to add a package of largely American-centric sports to the list for five years from now.
When the Summer Olympics return to the United States for the first time since 1996, the world will see some tried and true offerings, such as baseball and softball, which were dropped from the list after the 2008 Summer Games, but returned two years ago in Tokyo. The French, who will host next year in Paris, are eschewing softball and baseball for surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing and breakdancing.
That’s right. Someone will get an Olympic gold medal next year in breakdancing.
The LA Games will also welcome back lacrosse and cricket to the fold after long absences from the Olympic slate.
Though Baltimoreans never have to be sold on the beauty of lacrosse, the game’s reach has spread globally in recent years.
And while cricket isn’t an American game, per se, for now, its appeal certainly extends far beyond these shores.
Indeed, India, the most populous nation on Earth, is a cricket hotbed. The fact that television rights for the 2028 Games have not yet been settled there can’t have been lost on the IOC, which has never missed an opportunity to make a buck.
Which brings us to the other sports. The Southern California Olympics will add squash, a game played in more than 150 countries, but hardly here in the States.
It will also welcome for the first time, flag football.
It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s at work here. The National Football League, which, like the IOC, has never passed up a chance to extend the brand, has waged a serious behind-the-scenes campaign to introduce its version of football to the world.
What better way than through two weeks of Olympic exposure?
So, NFL Commissioner Smilin’ Roger Goodell and his IOC bro Thomas Bach, will gladly risk being seen as out-of-touch hipster types if they can get a little green with their Olympic gold.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on Threads and X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
