BS: Boat race disrupted...

Subject: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Will Fly
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 09:34 AM

Just seen the Oxford/Cambridge boat race stopped and re-started becase of a protester swimming under the blades... 3 or 4 minutes to a restart.

(2.33pm BST)

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 09:52 AM

What were they protesting?

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Will Fly
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 09:57 AM

No idea yet - the police launch carried him away - with a smile on his face.

2.56 - just about to re-start...

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Will Fly
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 10:04 AM

Now there's been a clash of oars - Oxford clashed and lost an oar through their own fault. Cambridge have it in the bag and have just won.

Weird...

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Will Fly
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 10:11 AM

Now the Oxford lead oarsman has collapsed and has been taken off to hospital.

I haven't seen a boat race on the TV in over twenty years - my other half had switched it on - and now I've seen the oddest one for a long time.

Ah well, back to the guitar...

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 11:53 AM

Stupid man - deserved to lose his head under the oars.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Leadfingers
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 12:04 PM

What ever he was Protesting about , it seems a Bloody Silly thing to do !!

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 12:15 PM

Swimming in the Thames is indeed silly. It's a lot cleaner than it was fifty years ago, but there are still loads of dodgy bacteria in the water! Didn't David Walliams do a charity swim of its whole length and have to go to hospital with a nasty bug after he swallowed some water?

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:14 PM

When I lived on a boat moored above Kingston upon Thames, I used to swim in the Thames regularly.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Hoookey Wole
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:24 PM

The Boat Races first ever streaker ????

[ If he was only wearing Speedos, they near enough count as skinny dipping ]

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,petecockermouth
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:26 PM

i have never known why anyone but a tiny handful of sporty toffs would have the remotest interest in the boat race. just one of those things that irritatingly come round once a year - some thief holding up a red box on budget day: ladies day at ascot races; random anniversaries of shameful wars; pictures of kids getting exam results - at least they aren't still wheeling out the queen mother to wave at a few over dressed soldiers on her birthdays - or are they? anyway, whatever the bloke was protesting about - well done.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: EBarnacle
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:31 PM

Apparently, there is some interest. It's broadcast to several continents.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:40 PM

Aye, it's because of the attraction of archaic class based entertainment. As most elite events have been outlawed by the PC brigade, it's all they have to watch now.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 01:41 PM

Yeah.......It was on MSNBC awhle ago under the category, "Who could possibly give a shit."


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 02:48 PM

Yes, the rowers in the boat race are top class. Sorry they are not tatooed miners!

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 03:13 PM

Recently a good number of the crew members have come from American and other nationalities, thus can hardly be construed as class based....can it?

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 03:19 PM

Aye, but they're rich Americans, so the elitist card can be employed ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Greg B
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 04:36 PM

There's not a few "elite" schools who'll offer a member of the working class a full scholarship if they can turn to an oar particularly well. Here in the US, becoming a rower seems to be more of a question of whether one lives in a region where the sport has traction. (The running joke hereabouts when they first started the swimming 'Round Manhattan Race' was "Last one to dissolve, wins.")

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 05:14 PM

The swimmer is rumoured to describe himself as a protester against elitism.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 05:42 PM

The swimmer is rumoured to describe himself as a protester against elitism.

Well he obviously has no regard for the safety of the all the rowers, to say nothing of the people on all the other vessels involved. He is nothing but an elite wanker!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 05:50 PM

Well maybe , he's got something. I can't see people getting as annoyed about this as they were when the George Davis is Innocent group disrupted the Test Match.

I don't think many people really CARE about rowing - not like they do about Football, Cricket and Britains Strictly Got Talent on Ice.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Hookey Wole
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 05:50 PM

This archaic elite sporting event would be far more enjoyable as a public participatory celebration
and television spectacular
if the banks of the Thames were lined with hundreds of redundant local authority education staff
armed with high velocity paint guns.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Hookey Wole
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 06:14 PM

balls... I obviously meant paint ball guns.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 12 - 10:31 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 03:54 AM

and the right wing hooray tossers out to defend it all.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 05:10 AM

Well ,this right wing hooray tosser lives in Henley on Thames ,where people , many of them "working class" (whatever that is ) can be seen out on the river , enjoying the sport of rowing ,as they have been able to do for many years without having to have been educated at Oxford or Cambridge ,or indeed any "elitist" University . It is entirely possible ,in fact ,that many of them were , like me , born in a Victorian terraced house with no bathroom ,and an outside toilet, but who were able , nevertheless , to get through life without having a huge chip on their shoulders about "the rich" ,elitism , or the inherent unfairness of life in the Real World .
       I would like to add that I don't row myself,nor do I follow it or even attend the Henley Regatta that is on my doorstep ,and am currently subsisting on a small Naval pension,and "Pension Credit" and Housing Benefit ,from The State. But I don't see much to complain about ; there are more important things in life.

God Save The Queen !

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 05:32 AM

Any of the left wingers here prepared to give solid data as to the number of students who get to Oxford or Cambridge, solely by dint of being rich?

As I understand it, the academic qualifications would suggest that only the most intelligent get in, whether rich or poor.

So I suppose that the elitist force you are all objecting to is Mother Nature?

Good luck with changing THAT!!

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: theleveller
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 06:15 AM

Whilst I agree that elitism does lead to tyranny and I have no objection to peaceful civil disobedience, I think this was a fruitless, thoughtless and rather pathetic protest that, quitefrankly, seems to smack of way to gain personal notoriety rather than achive any defined aim.

Now, organised protest at the ludicrous and expensive jubilee celebrations will be a much more worthwhile demonstration against elitism.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 06:34 AM

I agree with that Leveller.....from sunny Malaga with the new Albion Band loud on my headphones! Bonzo

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 06:55 AM

"Any of the left wingers here..."
Come on Don!!
While education has moved on from Richard Attenborough's 'The Guinea Pig' days, higher education is still very much a privilege in Britain; even if the need for an extra wage packet for some families wasn't still a major factor, crippling fees and the need for student loans have made sure of that, as well as a whole load of other factors.
http://militantstudent.org/britain/239-government-provokes-fury-ucas-changes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/sep/29/british-universities-fail-poor-students
I very nearly posted to the 'my favourite teacher' thread, our science teacher Mr Cobban of Speke Secondary Modern, (a typical factory-fodder factory) who told me a year before I left school, "the only thing you need to know when you leave here is how to tot up your wages at the end of the week" - with that statement he made me determined that it wasn't all I needed to know.
Higher education is still very much the domain of the privileged in practice, if no longer in theory.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 07:20 AM

Rubbish,students only start to repay loans if income £21k. You have a big chip on your shoulder Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 07:32 AM

petecockermouth (and others) your post sounded rather jaundiced and bitter to me. It almost seems that ANYONE out enjoying traditional events comes under your general umbrella of the despicable and deplorable. Lighten up, please do! Can't we all enjoy ourselves in our various ways without incurring condemnation from the Correct Brigade? I'm not even middle class myself, my parents were workers and proud of it, but I enjoy the Boat Race, and all the other things that '...come round irritatingly once a year...) I like seeing the hats at Ascot and the 'toffs' (silly expression!) at different occasions. Why all this venom and hate spewing out?

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,petecockermouth
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 07:53 AM

is it a good thing that many students will never repay their loans because there no real jobs for young people anymore? phrases like 'usual lefty claptrap' make me smile (i am trying to give up getting angry) on every level the system we have is failing the vast majority of people in every country and has done for ever. the current version of capitalism is patently obscene and destructive-subjecting the world to work (or die) for the benefit of a few ultra rich predators. the stupidity is we let them do this to us and every time someone tries to question if this is the best way of doing things there are plenty of brain-dead establishment lackeys to point the finger and dismiss any more hopeful and imaginative ideas as 'the usual lefty claptrap.' sure, some protests (and protesters) may be naive and foolish but these are trivial incidents in comparison to greed,sectarianism,racism and war.


(hello leveller -not seen your name much since the flood)

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Owen Woodson
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 08:09 AM

The Boat Race Elitist? I should cocoa. According to the news, the two teams had been practicing flat out for the previous seven months. Surely that would entail neglecting their studies? Well, it must do because you can't row a boat and read Immanuel Kant at the same time.

Remember the days when left wing students were accused of neglecting their studies to demonstrate against racism, capitalism etc. What was the cry that used to go up from the tory press and the tory party? "Wasting taxpayers money".

Alright for some it seems.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 08:11 AM

"You have a big chip on your shoulder Jim Carroll
No I haven't - I'm proud to be a member of a class whose labours and skills provide the essentials of everyday living and without whom our society would grind to a halt tomorrow.
The financial and practical burdens of higher education have been insurmounable barriers for virtually every family I have known throughout my life - even recognised by the term 'underprivileged' - education being one of the major privileges out of our reach.
Having said which - not sure I find the unarguable 'privilege' a barrier towards my enjoyment of the Boat Race. I saw most of them live when I lived in West London and enjoyed the atmosphere there
I do find your man's protest a little unfathomable - not that I'm against such actions - I feel my life would have been that much poorer without the efforts of Erica Rowe.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 08:19 AM

Apparently one of the UK Sunday papers is asking

"Was this a race hate crime?"

Now that's the best thing to come out of this trifling incident so far.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Greg B
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 09:26 AM

The sport of rowing has contributed significantly to our understanding of the human cardiovascular system. There's some very interesting work done recently around age-predicted maximum heart rates that suggests that the old "220 - age" and similar formulas may not apply in the cases of well-trained athletes. Until now, they'd been thought of as pretty much as inevitable as death and taxes. Rowers work as hard and intensely as track and field athletes, but they do so sitting down. Where a runner might just fall down when they hit a certain point, the rower will probably work deeper into his cardiovascular limit, and find it sooner. In my own experience, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can push my heart rate to the wall sooner, and allow me to hold it for longer, than the rowing machine in the gym. Even the stair-mill, which is second best, doesn't come close. So while the external trappings of the sport may be socio-economically "elitist" the athletes themselves ought not to be taken lightly at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 09:34 AM

I love the bit in The Ginger Man where Sebastian Dangerfield takes an axe to a blue blanket, to make cravat like rowing blue - and get a load of stuff on credit.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 10:28 AM

one of the best and cruellest vignette's English (Irish) mealy mouthed deference to wealth and class.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,petecockermouth
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 10:42 AM

hi eliza- i do try to not be 'jaundiced and bitter'- and really have no problem with anyone who wants to splash about in boats (or swim!)at any level. (blood 'sport' is another matter mind you) i have nothing but admiration and pity for the poor souls who die in wars but do feel justified in feeling 'venom and hatred' to the men who so often send the young to die and kill. as long as we all continue to put our faith in religious rulers or vote for politicians who lack compassion and intelligence, and exploit us by urging us to hate each other, then our world is not going to improve much-despite the best efforts of many millions of people with generosity of spirit.   
peace and love, pete

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 10:58 AM

Thread drift coming on.
Donleavy was a neighbour in Dublin to Brendan Behan while he was working on 'The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B'.
He went out, leaving the manuscript on the table, open at a page with heavy crossings-out.
He returned to find the French windows had been forced, but when he checked, the only evidence he could find of the intruder was a bottle of whisky missing from the sideboard and a scrawled note across the manuscript saying "leave it in".
"i have nothing but admiration and pity...."
Amen to that Peter.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 11:08 AM

Do they , in fact , have capital letters in Cockermouth , or are they in some way proscribed in that locality ??

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,petecockermouth
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 11:18 AM

cockermouth - a town as delightful as it sounds, except when we are 6 feet deep in flood water. the lack of capitals is just a lazy affectation of mine. as an ex-english teacher i can feel as angry as any right thinking person about the misuse of apostrophe's but don't like to be told what to do otherwise and try to make up my own rules as far as possible. is this what you folk on this site call thread drift? good-i am all for not sticking to the point.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 01:44 PM

Name five great black working-class rowers...
Surely, rowing is a white, middle-class sport, and,
with that in mind, it really shouldn't be taken seriously.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: theleveller
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 01:45 PM

"(hello leveller -not seen your name much since the flood)"

Hi Peter. Delightful to hear your dulcet tones again - glad your flood experiences haven't dampened your political ardour (as if!).

Personlly, I've come to the conclusion that the only answer to elitism is anarchism. The more you delve into it, the more sense it makes (well, some of it).

Regardless of their background, what I do respect about the boat race teams is the huge amount of commitment and physical pain that it takes to reach that standard of fitness (been there - didn't get close - got the fucked-up joints)

"......from sunny Malaga with the new Albion Band loud on my headphones! Bonzo"

Ah, I love Malaga - my parents used to go there for a couple of monthe each winter because it was cheaper than staying in England. Are there still the litle back-street bars where they chalk the tab on the wooden bar in front of you? Anyway, I've just finished a nice chilled bottle of Morrison's Fino with a delightful lunch with my kids, son's girlfriend and my mother-in-law whose been telling me of her disdain for the Windsors following her war-time experiences of being bombed out and having to listen to their "we're all in this together" shit (some things neverchange!). Still rancours even though she's now in her 80s.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: theleveller
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 01:48 PM

Apologies for spelling - must have been the bottle of Argentine Merlot!

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: GUEST,Hookey Wole
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 02:06 PM

.. anyway, it's the 21st Century......

If these elite privileged bright young toffs are getting such a fine edumacation..

how come they aint got the sense to use outboard motors !!!?????

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 02:17 PM

""While education has moved on from Richard Attenborough's 'The Guinea Pig' days, higher education is still very much a privilege in Britain; even if the need for an extra wage packet for some families wasn't still a major factor, crippling fees and the need for student loans have made sure of that, as well as a whole load of other factors.""

Perhaps my know-it-all friend, you would care to explain that to my son, because his first with honours in fine art has led him to believe that even the son of a man working as a school caretaker for £12000 per annum, can make it to a good university.

He'll be gutted when you tell him he must have had a rich dad because he'll know it couldn't be me.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 02:27 PM

Bitterness is rather like swallowing poison and expecting somebody else to die.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Boat race disrupted...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 02:41 PM

Don, my son has a Phd, and is a scientist in the USA. His success has bugger all to do with me, or my bank balance.
It also doesn't explain why we televise a minority sport like this every year, when there are other sports or pastimes which are indulged in by many more people, that don't make the goggle box