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This is a sad day for both international softball and baseball, but it wasn't totally unexpected.
The Olympics are Euro-centric. That's why sports like fencing and modern pentathlon--which have very little appeal in North America--permanently stay on the Olympic program while softball and baseball get axed. Even weightlifting, with all its continuous drug scandals, never has to worry about its Olympic status. This decision smacks of anti-Americanism to me.
True story: When softball was first considered for inclusion in the Olympics in the 1980s, one Russian IOC delegate asked what the difference was between a softbal and a shot put! "About 15-1/2 pounds," was the reply.
What bothers me most about softball being dropped is that there are very few female team sports in the Olympics. Now there will be even fewer after 2008.
If it were up to me, "artsy sports" such as synchronized swimming, diving and rhythmic gymnastics ought to be shelved or reduced to exhibition status at the Olympics. Sports in which "style points" and "artistic impression" don't play a role in the scoring--should be emphasized instead. Softball and baseball are two such sports.
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