Baseball is no longer an Olympic sport. Neither is softball.

Trampoline is, however.

And that’s OK.

To tell you the truth, I’d much rather watch a dude doing flips on a trampoline than watching Joey Votto hit a home run for Team Canada off Yu Darvish of Team Japan, if Major League Baseball would have let them play.

The Olympics are about the sports no one gets to see on a daily basis and the people who play them.

Basketball? Pfft. Who wants to watch Team USA beat Angola by 100? Besides, the international rules for basketball are strange. The key is a trapezoid? I’m an American. I don’t even know what a trapezoid is.

Boxing? Bah. I’m uninterested.

Here are some of the sports and athletes I am looking forward to seeing in London this summer:

• Russian Alexandre Moskalenko on the trampoline.

Moskalenko has one of the coolest nicknames ever for an Olympic athlete: “The Russian Bouncer.”

We only get a chance to see him every four years, after all.

• Badminton.

It’s amazing that anyone who doesn’t possess the dexterity of Lt. Cmdr. Data can hit one of those speeding, zipping shuttles with a small racket.

Yet, they do. And it’s fascinating to watch.

Denmark isn’t just famous for Hamlet and pastries. It has two of the world’s best badminton players.

• Handball.

What do you get when you take soccer, (er, football) and make it fun to watch? You get handball.

Plus, they get to use their hands.

Handball began in 130 AD. It has stood the test of time.

• Water Polo.

What do you get when you take soccer (er, football) and make it fun to watch? You get water polo.

My first exposure to water polo came in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. I was glued to my TV.

• Judo.

Athletes picking each other up and throwing them to the mat. What’s not to love?

Teddy Riner of France may be the one to beat, ending the Japanese dominance in the sport.

• Weightlifting.

Because one year, someone’s head is going to pop off on live television.

• Michael Phelps.

In 2008, he dominated the games in China to the point that he blotted out other amazing achievements.

I’m more interested in seeing him lose this time around — and who will beat him.

• Oscar Pistorius.

Most know who he is by now. Pistorius, of South Africa, lost both of his legs as a baby. With carbon-fiber blades as legs, he will be the first double-amputee in Olympic history.

He has two absolutely awesome nicknames — “Blade Runner” and “The Fastest Man on No Legs.”

How can you not root for him?

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.