NASCAR RACE at Daytona Beach, Florida (U.S. Air Force photo by Larry McTighe)

No institution is perfect; the best change as the times do. 

Los Angeles will be the host city for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and has suggested adding – and in some cases – re-adding – five sports. They are baseball-softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash.

But, frankly, do all of these nominees reflect the interests of an American audience?  I’m OK with baseball and softball and flag football, but cricket? And I’m not sure whether squash is a game or a vegetable or perhaps a game played with a vegetable.

So the way I see it, that leaves two slots. After careful research I believe I have placed my finger on the two best choices to reach the widest audience.

First, let’s have stock car raising. Wildly popular in the South, this is a sport in which the principal attraction is the possibility of a high-speed crash with shards of sheet metal and tire strips flying into the stands.

National pride can be played upon. Who wouldn’t want to see Toyota and Chevy bumping fenders for the gold? How about a tug-of-war between a Jeep and a Range Rover? I’d like to see that.

What’s more, I might even bet on that. America’s fastest growing “sport” appears to be betting, and billions and billions of dollars are changing hands – some of it even legally – every time a football is fumbled or a puck hits the crossbar.

Violence and gambling. Odd-on favorites for success in today’s society, I’d say.