Comments on: God I hate these people.

By: Paul Marks

Paul Marks — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:04:56 +0000

Swimming and being able to ride a bycycle – two things I wish I had learned to do as a child.

By: Derek Buxton

Derek Buxton — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:59:18 +0000

I also avoided all school sports, because it was football in winter and cricket in summer. You cannot compare sport with the subjects taken in order to improve you education, totally different. However, as soon as I left school I joined a very good sports club and played a little rugby and then learned to play squash properly. It was great and I went on to golf and played for many happy years. So, it should not be compulsory in schools, but sports clubs should be encouraged to flourish, it gives choice and better coaching.

By: BigFatFlyingBloke

BigFatFlyingBloke — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:33:03 +0000

I’ve never enjoyed running as a form of exercise from a very young age. That dislike did not calcify irretrievably into hate until I was forced to do cross-country running at school at which point I actively tried to find ways of skiving out of it. Just like I actively hate both Rugby and Cricket because I was forced to play them “competitively” at school and would much rather have used that wasted time for cycling, squash or swimming.

By: AKM

AKM — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:13:18 +0000

A bit OT (sorry), but possibly the funniest (read: clueless) sport commentary ever from an Irish commentator covering Olympics sailing:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=510_1344196881

By: Paul Marks

Paul Marks — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:57:21 +0000

Agreed – with the post and the comments.

Whatever the evidence it will be used as an excuse for more statism – and the EXACT OPPOSITE evidence will be used to justify more statism.

It is a basic (a fundamental) collectivist bias in the metacontext.

By: Tim Almond

Tim Almond — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:44:05 +0000

If Olympic sports inspire kids, why do they need more of my money? Surely, they’ll be able to sell lots of tickets to their events, replica kids, the rights to Sky or collect money from rich endorsements?

By: mike

mike — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:32:25 +0000

“Oooh can I have a go Mike?”

Go ahead – knock yourself out…

By: Stonyground

Stonyground — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:15:26 +0000

Oooh can I have a go Mike? I have a black belt in karate. Admittedly it has twenty years worth of rust on it but I’m sure I can remember some of it.

Actually, as I commented on another blog, All those in favour of compulsory sport should be rounded up, dressed in tee shirts and little nylon shorts, and made to run around a muddy field, in January, by an army PT instructor.

Oh yes, and slippering, there should be lots of slippering.

By: mike

mike — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:57:17 +0000

I’m not a boxer, but if I were put in a boxing match with one of these miserable little fuckers they’d not need an ambulance on standby, they’d need an undertaker.

“Gone in 60 seconds” is the phrase that leaps to mind.

By: CaptDMO

CaptDMO — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:35:49 +0000

Which brings me to Goodwins Law.
It has always been my experince that those disingenuously citing the “law” as in “You said NAZI first, debate over, I win!”
when they otherwise have NOTHING (after “it’s for the children/poor/women/minorities/”gays”/equality/
“access”/environment/economy-script is roundly thrashed) to defend “the script”, are usually “defending” Nationalism, Socialism, Politically duped Labor, or “condensed” political party platform, as undeniable logic to otherwise justify the “mandates” similarly put forth by well….NAZIs.

They even have a symbol in the US. (SEE:Barak Obama election material/ “new” government department logos), but generally, a simple (D) serves as the “codespeak” version.

“Mandatory”, PRE-school, K-12, and demands for “free” College.
All with (ie) “Obama” money.
Yet “The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America” is FORBIDDEN, as is trading a demonstrably superior private (US version) education for gold.

(ie.)Imagine my raising an eyebrow at unemployed “OWS” folk, refusing to get out of the street sweepers way, as they are DEMANDING (countersigned)”education loan” forgiveness from actual tax payers and eeeeeevil banks, that they can resume their cloistered “studies” in…..socio-economic psyco-gender poli-sciences.

I ask them about “Failure to launch”(at ANY “chronological IQ” age), or their best remedy for calloused hands, when I simply want peace and quiet to return to my crossword puzzle.

By: Alisa

Alisa — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 12:50:54 +0000

I was thinking about why this feels more repulsive than the compulsive studying of math, history or any other academic field – that, in conjunction with the totalitarian-regime comparison. I think the answer is that those totalitarian regimes, although having always paid the appropriate platitudes to academic and other mental work (and made it work for their own purposes as much as they could), really preferred sports to academics on a visceral level, precisely because sports require much less actual thinking – both on the part of the puppet-masters themselves, and from their puppets to be.

By: Michael Jennings

Michael Jennings — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 11:46:22 +0000

The British cycling team won seven out of ten track cycling gold medals, and one out of four road cycling gold medals.

In 2008, the British cycling team won seven out of ten track cycling gold medals, and one out of four road cycling gold medals.

So, the performance of the cyclists was actually the same as last time. Undoubtedly everyone is very pleased, but I think the team officials were actually reasonably confident they would do this well again. They may have said that their expectations were a little lower because it is dangerous to predict dominance of this level publicly, but I doubt they were.

It wasn’t just the British who failed at swimming: Australia and Japan (who both have much more venerable traditions of swimming success than Britain) also did awfully in the pool. Something happened there, but we are still trying to figure out precisely what.

The really impressive feat of the British team seems to me to be what has happened in track and field. Several of the British gold medal winners were favourites, but in extremely competitive events that are prone to upsets. I really did not think they would do as well as they have done there.

As for the medal table, I don’t think anyone watching carefully actually thought Britain would finish any lower than fourth. (They were fourth in 2008). That they will likely finish above Russia in third is maybe a small surprise, but only a small one.