USA Softball has been on a white-knuckle ride since its sport was introduced into the Olympics in 1996.

The first nail biter came when Dot Richardson hit a medal-clinching home run against China in the sport's inaugural Olympic games in Atlanta.

The next thriller came in Sydney in 2000 when the defending gold-medal team lost three of its first-round games and almost didn't even advance to the medal round. Stacey Nuveman's three-run homer in the 10th inning in the semifinals saved the day and sent the United States to the gold-medal game.

The most recent scare, though, was not scheduled on the Olympic calendar. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), on a recommendation by its program commission, opened discussions to eliminate softball, baseball and modern pentathlon, beginning with the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

The IOC's reason for possibly eliminating sports from the Games (for the first time since polo was dropped in 1936) was said to be in the interest of making the Games smaller and less costly.

Other theories point to political motivations, including the desire to attract Major League Baseball players to the Olympics, the United States' domination in softball, and the lack of interest by the European countries in either softball or baseball.

Originally, the IOC intended to vote on the exclusion of the sports in November, but the vote was delayed. IOC bylaws prevent the board from adding a sport within seven years of a vote, which raised the question about whether the same principle applied to dropping sports. As a result, it appears that baseball and softball will continue at least through the Beijing Games in 2008.

"The decision to review sports on a regular basis is a fundamental and important change of policy," IOC President Jacques Rogge said after the November 29 meeting. "I believe we also took a good decision to postpone the possible exclusion of softball, baseball and modern pentathlon until after Athens 2004 as this will allow the Federations to demonstrate that they have addressed the issues identified by the Program Commission report."

Making a case

Since the IOC announced its review of sports for future Olympics, baseball and softball organizations from around the globe have banded together to make a case for the value of their sports.

"I think one of the strongest arguments for softball is that it is a female sport and has had great success in the last two Olympic Games," said Don Porter, president of the International Softball Federation (ISF). "It has grown and expanded to 124 countries."

According to the ISF, the sport ranked in the top 10 of 28 sports for attendance in 2000. The attendance at the Sydney Games was 50 percent greater than the sold-out crowds to witness softball's debut in 1996. And the number of member federations (124) ranks in the top half of the 28 Summer Olympic sports.

Average television ratings for softball were in the top five for the 28 sports in Sydney. The 1994 World Championship was broadcast to 38 million people and was covered again in 1998 in Japan, with more than 100 hours of TV coverage.

Moreover, women's softball never has had a positive test for drug use in the Olympics or World Championships.

For baseball, the collaboration of efforts seeking remedies to the cost issues has included Major League Baseball, the Players Association, USA Baseball and the international federation.

USA Baseball President Mike Gaski said in November that actions could be taken to construct venues with fewer amenities at lower costs. Softball and baseball have agreed that options would be considered to share venues to reduce infrastructure expenses for hosts.

"We've talked about reducing the schedule, the program itself," Gaski said. "The international federation (has been willing) to reduce the number of games played in preliminary rounds to make it a little more cost-friendly. We've even sat and talked with softball at length about the scope of sharing facilities and doing things like that. That's an example of creative thinking that doesn't necessarily require dropping the sport."

Softball's movement

Beyond costs, baseball is dealing with the issue of including professional players in the Olympics.

"We've taken a lot of time working closely with Major League Baseball and the Players Association, as well as with professional baseball throughout the world," Gaski said. "We've begun to answer those questions, too. If people would stop, and if the IOC members would stop and take a look at this, they would see that the participation of the better athletes in the world has continued to increase dramatically in the last seven or eight years. You can only surmise that the participation level will continue to increase in terms of premier athletes in the world."

While the period from 1991 to present might be considered softball's Olympic movement, it also has been the time when the sport has advanced to the forefront of women's collegiate sports.

"I think (the Olympics) helps them see the value of softball," said Eugene Lenti, head softball coach at DePaul University. "To see the United States be as dominant as we have been in the sport has to be a point of pride, especially when we haven't had that same level of domination in other sports. I think players want to be part of that."

When it was announced that softball would be featured in the Atlanta Olympics, 605 NCAA institutions sponsored softball. When the Olympics began in Sydney, there were 857 NCAA softball teams.

Perhaps more noticeable, though, has been the discovery of softball's television appeal.

"I think the Olympics has helped give collegiate softball an opportunity for increased television exposure," said Jay Miller, head softball coach at Mississippi State University and assistant for the Olympic squad. "We used to get only one game every year, and now all of the games at the Women's College World Series are on TV. The major conferences are getting their games televised on a more and more regular basis. The exposure has helped."

In the Olympics, the average ratings for softball ranked fifth among women's sports in 1996 and moved up to fourth in 2000.

The Women's College World Series has jumped from three games being covered in 1999 to every game being broadcast live in 2002, which will happen again in 2003. The WCWS final has outrated every Major League Baseball game on ESPN or ESPN2 on Memorial Day the last three years.

The Olympics also has created an avenue through which athletes can continue play after their collegiate eligibility has expired.

"The legitimacy of the Olympics really gives our athletes another level to achieve," said Kirk Walker, assistant coach for the national team and head coach at Oregon State University. "It is an extremely positive opportunity to travel and compete at a higher, or at least different, level. With the retirement of many of the original national team players, there is a larger number of current NCAA athletes involved, which I think creates more of a college-to-national-team feeder system than we had in 1996 and 2000."

Exceptional players may be selected for the national team before concluding collegiate eligibility, as Stacey Nuveman was in 2000. After the Sydney Games, the catcher returned to the University of California, Los Angeles, to compete for the Bruins.

"I think because of international softball, I believe our (collegiate) players have been able to benefit," UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. "It isn't just in terms of the skills on the field. It is understanding a greater commitment to the sport and those intangibles that it takes to make the sacrifice every single day to ready yourself as a player and ultimately represent your country."

Not surprisingly, softball coaches share a common thought about eliminating their sport from the Olympics.

"I think it would be a tragedy," Lenti said. "The Olympics gives young women a great chance to do something that is one of the best things you can ever do, and that is representing your country in uniform."

Whatever the fate of softball's Olympic future, coaches still believe that college softball has solidified its place as a prominent women's sport.

"With our TV exposure over the past few years, we've made a tremendous impact," Lenti said. "For instance, our conference championship game was supposed to be tape-delayed for after the Cubs game last year. The Cubs game got rained out, so our game was live on Fox. I can't tell you how many people have told me they saw the game on TV.

"I think not having the Olympics would diminish softball's appeal for younger players."

Olympic baseball

For baseball, the Olympics is obviously not the last stop for post-collegiate opportunities. It can, however, be a quality alternative, as well as a proving ground for some players.

"I personally had one of my players as part of the 1996 Olympics team, and he said it was the greatest experience of his life," said Dennis Womack, head baseball coach at the University of Virginia. "Pro or college baseball did not do as much for him as representing his country."

Baseball doesn't have the same challenges as softball to prove international interest. Twenty-five percent of all Major League players are foreign born, and countries such as Japan and Cuba also have traditions in the sport.

"It would be crazy to take away such a tremendous experience to compete at the international level," Womack said. "So many countries are playing baseball these days. Why drop any sport?"

Baseball was voted as an official Olympic sport in 1986 and has jumped from 54 member countries in the international federation to 112. The International Baseball Federation had only 19 countries participating in its official competitions in 1986 and now boasts 91 in 2002, an increase of 380 percent in 16 years.

Stay of execution

Although the final report about the future of baseball, softball and modern pentathlon is due to the IOC in July, the vote on the future of the sports isn't likely until after the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

At the meeting in Mexico, representatives from each of the sports' international governing bodies were given 10 minutes to speak for its sport's Olympic life. Thirty-nine representatives took advantage of the opportunity. Until the vote is taken, the respective governing bodies will continue working toward redemption.

"At least we have enough time available to go on fighting to defend baseball before the discussion to take place after Athens 2004," said Aldo Notari, president of the International Baseball Federation, after the postponed vote. "I am sure that if the vote had been carried out as previously announced by President Rogge, baseball would have obtained a positive result and today our future would clearly be defined."

Until the tally is final after Athens, Porter said college coaches and administrators can continue to help spread the sport around the world by sending the ISF used equipment and traveling to do international clinics.

For now, though, the white-knuckle ride will continue.