= obviously this is partially 'interim' because some sports haven't yet happened in these games: the various track & field things, platform diving, indoor biking, etc.
= This is also going to be judged on my enjoyment of the sport, and pay no real attention to who wins, the stories, the emotional heart-strings and all that stuff; like yes it's great to see the Philippines win their first gold medal in weightlifting, but I honestly don't find it that interesting
= This is being graded gender agnostic, so for say volleyball I'm considering both men's and women's together
Anyway, let's get to the list
Not Ranked - because the non-Olympics version of the sport is just so much better
= Baseball
= Softball
= Basketball (regular)
= Boxing
= Football (soccer)
= Tennis
= Golf
Most of these are self explanatory. Olympic baseball, softball, basketball, is just never going to be as interesting or good compared to the regular version of those sports. Same with boxing, though this wasn't always the case. For soccer it maybe is the most apparent, as literally no one gave a shit that Messi won an Olympic Gold when speaking of his heretofore struggles winning internationally. Finally, tennis is an odd inclusion given that I've written multiple paeans to the brilliant Olympics in 2016, but that was a once in a lifetime confluence of emotional players and moments. With Fed and Rafa not there, I couldn't give two damns about tennis this time around.
Not Ranked - either because they haven't started yet or I haven't watched
= Artistic Swimming
= Marathon Swimming
= Athletics (e.g. Track & Field)
= Cycling - Indoor & BMX
= Wrestling
= Non-Artistic Gymnastics
= Karate
= Modern Pentathalon
= Sport Climbing
= Canoeing - Sprint
Reason seems fairly self-explanatory here no?
Now to the actual sports
27.) Equestrian
I did watch this randomly for about five minutes. I think it was dressage. I will openly say I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the scoring works, and why this glorified Westminster Dog Show is part of the Olympics. Oh and of course I hate it even more because of the weird fact that Mitt Romney's horse once competed
26.) Sailing
I'll say this, the weird way the sailors hang basically parallel to the ocean, grapping random things, is certinaly interesting. Again, really hard to know what is going on. I get its a race, but it also seems so at mercy to the wind. Anyway, let's move on.
25.) Triathalon
Part of this is driven by how long the event takes, and triathalon just takes so damn long. Who's to watch for two hours across three different surfaces. This is certainly amazing in terms of pure athleticism, but in the end is just impossible to hold interest - and very often there are huge gaps by the end of the race so it isn't even likely to give a close finish.
24.) Weightlifting
Look, it's amazing in terms of a feat of strength, but at the end of the day it just isn't all that interesting to watch someone try to lift really heavy things while standing in place. Sue me.
23.) Cycling - Road Race
It will become obvious in a bit how strangely divergent my views are on the two cycling events that have taken place. My largest issue with the road race is once again just how long it takes. This isn't the NFL, I'm not really investing hours in an event. That said, I love the weird brilliance of the Dutch cyclist no realizing she came in second because the leader was so far ahead.
22.) Surfing
There's a bit of "hey, that's neat!" about surfing, but just not enough happens. I get that they're at the mercy of the weather and the waves - these aren't wave pools - but still 30 minutes where each surfer actually just surfs like four or five times isn't all that interesting.
21.) Taekwondo
Like my cycling takes, by martial arts views are also very divergent. My main issue is I just don't get the scoring system. All I see is two people making some kicks, doing some interesting shit, but largely having no idea who is generating points, how anad why they get those points, etc.
20.) 3x3 Basketball
Is is just me or is the court shockingly small? Like there's some five feet seemingly from behind the three point line to the end of the court. I put it down because there are no known players, and also while I appreciate the "let them call it" aspect of having no real fouls apparently, it is a bit much.
19.) Shooting
There is a bit of "holy hell, these guys are accurate" with things like air rifle and skeet shooting. I don't know why one person wouild be better than the other, but it is just cool to watch people hit flying and moving objects hundreds of feet away with such ease. Only reservation, is, well, you know,.... guns.
18.) Archery
So it's everythign I said above, but no guns! I also love the way they bend the bow back to where it hits them in teh face, the interesting shoulder harnesses, adn again the precision. It's tough, once again, to know why one person would be better than the other - also for sports like this I do wonder why they can't have a mixed one-on-one competition. These precision/accuracy sports seem like they don't need to be gender specific.
17.) Fencing
In full openness, I fenced for a bit in high school. Because of this I know enough about the rules where I should be able to follow it. Of course, I wasn't any good, so even then the sport is about 100% impossible to follow live and figure out who is doing what and who scored what. It's cool to watch though, so I'll give it some credit there.
16.) Field Hockey
I like ice hockey, which both helps and hurts my love of field hockey in the olympics. It gives us some damn interesting matchups, including the sports as a men's sport, which is a completely foreign concept to us as Americans. The action is good, easy to follow - it's surprisingly quick sport as well, but has very few goals which is, much like its iced counterpart, a bit disappointing.
15.) Water Polo
I honestly think its a bit overrated, at least compared to the similar (but obviously, not in a pool) cousin of handball. It's just a bit too slow and measured given of course they're all in a pool. It's still fun to watch, fairly short, and has some crazy action, but I prefer the version my friends and I played back in highschool which was basically basketball, with the tackling of football, in a pool. That should be an Olympic sport.
Rest in Pt. 2
