- Apr 1, 2010
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Sorry, hadn't noticed this part. I'd probably go for a -10 CF5. I see that they're selling those.
BTW, I'll never forgive Jim Easton. That vote took place in 2005, at a time when there was a lot of anti-American sentiment. The sport only needed a majority of votes to be retained. After he recused himself, the vote was 52-52, and softball was out, due to the lack of that one vote.
From an article back then:
They'rrre out! Baseball, softball out of Olympics
Sports eliminated for 2012 Games, but could win way back in 2016
The Associated Press
updated 11:41 p.m. CT, Fri., July 8, 2005
SINGAPORE - The International Olympic Committee delivered a shocking message to baseball and softball on Friday: Yer out!
The two sports were kicked out of the Olympics, unwanted by international sports officials who felt they were too American for the world sports stage.
The decision, made during a secret vote in Singapore, is effective for the 2012 London Games, meaning the two sports will have a final fling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sports, the first eliminated since polo in 1936, are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Games.
U.S. women won all three gold medals since softball joined the Olympics, at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games. American pitcher Lisa Fernandez, a three-time gold medalist, blamed the decision on IOC president Jacques Rogge.
“Rogge has basically conspired against the sports to get them removed. We had done our job as a sport world wide to show we belong,” she said. “I feel one person, the president of the IOC, a person from Europe, has taken it upon himself to ruin the lives of millions, actually billions of women.”
Crystl Bustos, who hit a record five homers during the 2004 Olympics, said the one-sidedness of the softball tournament should not have been used as a factor. The Americans outscored opponents 51-1.
“If that did play a role in the decision, then that’s pretty pathetic,” she said. “I don’t mean to cut anybody down, but it’s supposed to be the best of the best, and if you get knocked for your excellence, then that’s just not right.”
Two-time gold medal-winning infielder Dot Richardson said the Olympic dream “was ripped away from the 126 countries that play the sport of softball, that just vanished.”
“I’ve always seen in athletics an anti-American sentiment throughout the world. Most of it is through jealousy or envy,” she said. “I just don’t know if this had anything to do with that.”
Jennie Finch, the U.S. team’s star who pitched two shutouts in Athens, was shocked by the news.
“It’s devastating and heartbreaking, all combined,” she said. “Especially because the sport’s at an all-time high right now. I know it’s devastating for the young girls.
“We’re going to do all we can to get the sport back for 2016.”
