You Cannot Be Serious: Double Dutch As An Olympic Sport?

I'll admit there are several events during both the Winter and Summer Olympics that are rather dubious and are niche sports at best. But seriously, for anyone to even consider jumping rope an Olympic sport needs to have their head checked. It's an activity, yes, and it takes some coordination and skill. But it's jumping rope!

Good grief.

Double dutch, once a pastime of American black teenage girls, has gone global.

It's become such a hot jump-rope sport around the world that a team from Japan keeps winning an annual competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater.

Now, the New York-based National Double Dutch League is asking the International Olympic Committee to make it an official sport in future Games.

"In Beijing this year, some of what masqueraded as sports _ you couldn't compare that to what three, four, five, six people do in double dutch, to how coordinated they have to be, how synchronized," said Jim Greene, an organizer of the Dec. 7 championship.

He added, "There's athleticism! There's acrobatics!"

Greene said he sent an e-mail to the committee several months ago but has received no response. The nonprofit league also has encouraged aficionados to ask elected officials to support the effort.

A call Saturday to the IOC's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, was not immediately returned.

Don't expect a return call any time soon.