Hide 'n Seek an Olympic sport for 2020 Games?

The news that Tokyo will host the 2020 summer Olympics was overshadowed, in my mind at least, by the story of a Japanese professor who wants competitive hide-and-seek included as an Olympic sport.  This is disturbing for two reasons: 1) this guy is a professor? And 2) if his idea gains some traction, Japan, as the host, will be in a position to make it happen. Yasuo Hazaki, professor of media studies (which means he watches a lot of TV), is serious about this; he believes hide-and-seek is a “sport” anyone can play, making it easier to identify with the “athletes”.  It's a “sport” that doesn’t require sophisticated equipment.  It's a “sport” requiring strategic thinking.  And it's a “sport” that has no place in the Olympics.  No, wait, that’s my opinion. On the other hand, it could be a TV viewer favorite: teams of mini-camera-toting participants hiding in closets and behind trees all over Tokyo waiting to be seeked, or maybe its “sought”, before an international audience, none of whom would have any trouble understanding the rules since it pretty much boils down to: one guy hides, the other guy seeks.  Hazaki set up the Hide-and-Seek Promotion Committee that claims 1,000 members, many of them are college students who, even in Japan, can be a little weird.  who knows; one day spectators in an Olympic stadium will thrill to the call of “98, 99, 100. Ready or not, here I come.”

......and that's the way the ball bounces.