Boat Race

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  • If that idiot of a protester had got his noggin chopped off by the Oxford crew, The Sun would have been calling for the end of this sport. Toffs being allowed to carry on a sport that was harmful to Joe Public, innit mate!
    ;)
  • It's a tactic to force the other boat in to slower flowing water.
  • SuperCazSuperCaz ✭✭✭
    As an open water swimmer, I can say that a couple of meters does make a big difference in some rivers.  I'm not familiar with this stretch of water though so cannot comment on this particular instance.
  • It's all about the fastest flowing bit of water kk.  That stretch is tidal and I don't fully understand all the mechaniocs of it, but according to the precise mix of water flowing one way and tide you can get either very little benefit or a major boost (and at times it can make it a lot harder work).  According to the commentary crew the stream was with them.  However, the fastest flowing bit of that is pretty narrow which is why they row so close together; they both want the same chunk of water.

    I've rowed on the boat race chunk of water numerous times and it can make a real difference.

  • The deepest water is the fastest flowing i thought.

  • Mr PuffyMr Puffy ✭✭✭
    Tmap wrote (see)

    XFRbear - what I meant is that she (in fact both) responded well each time the umpire warned them prior to the swimmer

    Were we watching the same race? At least 20 warnings given to Oxford prior to the swimmer!

  • I wasn't counting but yes there were loads, I can only recall one shout of Cambridge.
  • TmapTmap ✭✭✭

    As I said above, I agree with you that the Oxford cox was at fault as for whatever reason she didn't move away prior to the decisive clash, despite very heavy warnings.

    If you're really suggesting that only one of the pre-swimmer warnings was directed at Cambridge then there's not a whole lot of point discussing it.  In the version I watched and have re-watched since, both crews had a number of warnings, and both responded well to the umpire's warnings.

  • Why do the BBC waste their time showing this elitist trash. Why is this contest only open to two teams from two universities. Face it, the only reason anyone took any notice this year was because of the protester and because of the complete cock ups that followed. How about showing a contest that is open to all rowers.
  • TmapTmap ✭✭✭
    XFR Bear wrote (see)
    I wasn't counting but yes there were loads, I can only recall one shout of Cambridge.


    Prior to the swimmer there were at least 15 separate warnings at Cambridge and 18 directed at both crews.  Which, I might point out, includes Cambridge.  There are around 23 directed specifically at Oxford, but it's a little less one-sided than you seem to claim, and not really grounds to ridicule me.

  • You haven't answered my question about why then did the umpire repeatedly shout at Oxford?  Or in your opinion did that not occur?

    I wouldn't for a second suggest that my memory is perfect, but I'd be surprised if it was hugely out.

    It's a bit of a moot point anyway as the clash of blades was Oxford's fault, regardless of what happened before.

  • Eh?  Where did I ridicule you?
  • Anyone who counts 23 warnings directed at Oxford deserves to be ridiculed. Even though XFR Bear didn't. He just disagreed with you.
  • TmapTmap ✭✭✭

    XFR Bear 

    You appeared to be suggesting that my memory of the race was wrong.  I think if you watch it again you'll see that I am right in saying that the coxing prior to the swimmer was responsive to the umpire (see immediately after Hammersmith Bridge as one of several good examples).  You will also see that your memory of only hearing one call to Cambridge is not quite right.  As I've now said twice, I agree with you that the clash was indisputably the fault of the Oxford cox.  So I'm struggling to see quite why you think my memory of the race is so wrong.

    Sussex Runner -it's great to see that you're finding this "elitist trash" so interesting.

  • And still you don't answer my question.

    I've just rewatched the first minute again - and pretty much as I remembered, there are repeated cries to Oxford - five within less than fifteen seconds (and none to Cambridge).  Why was the umpire continuing to shout if Oxford were as reponsive as you suggest?

    This really was my main point of disagreement, and regardless of the count of shouts later, in my opinion the first minute demonstrates that the Oxford cox wasn't as responsive as you suggested.

  • TmapTmap ✭✭✭

    She moves out each time he warns her, right the way through the race.  There's only one point where they come anywhere near to a clash (before the decisive one), which is in heavy contrast to practically every race in recent years where coxes have seemed to be actively seeking a clash and ignoring the umpire.  It was good to see and the commentators mentioned it too.

    You seem desperate to pick a fight here but I'm agreeing with you on everything except your claim that the umpire's warnings were only directed at Oxford, which is, objectively, not the case.  You are quite right that the decisive clash was the fault of the Oxford cox, and you are quite right in your explanations of the tide, and I think the commentators also did an usually good job of explaining that too.  Clearly the crews are keen to grab the best of the tide, as you explained, and generally you'd expect the crew on the outside to be the one doing the nudging.

    So if I still haven't answered your question, apologies but I just haven't understood.

  • Sussex Runner (NLR)if you thinks it's 'eltist trash' no one is forcing you to watch it. You can sit there quietly and read your copy of The Socialist Worker if you like.
    ;-)
  • popsiderpopsider ✭✭✭
    If the guy is making a serious protest about elitism in British society then fair play to him - there's a tradition of non-violent protest in this country and if he genuinely feels strongly about this rather than just being an attention seeker it's not a bad way to make his point.

    Clearly Oxford and Cambridge do not just take the "most brainy" or whatever the term used earlier in the thread was - you only have to look at the social background of their intake to see that - especially so with some of the colleges. The education system in this country does serve to reinforce privilege to a greater degree than it should - and Oxford and Cambridge are part of that.

    As for showing the boat race on BBC - nothing against it but got to agree with Sussex - a contest between two universities doesn't merit the coverage the BBC gives it.
  • The boat race is a British tradition. Something that the EU can't take away from us.
    Anyway, I don't like the way that the Jeremy Kyle Show gives airtime to unemployed layabouts who seem to be baby making machines, but instead of calling for it to be banned, I just don't watch it.
  • Isn't all sport elitist?

    I'm pretty sure, for example, that Arsenal football team chooses the best group of players it can get, with the money available. It doesn't get a giant tombola bucket at the start of the year, put in the names of the hundred thousand people who would like to play for it, and draw them out at random.
  • Life is competitive. Kids are growing up these days being told that everyone will have equal opportunities and are being led in to a false sense of security that they won't have to try hard and everything will work out.
    This does them no favours when it comes to applying for a job with 100 applicants for one position. Competitive sport is a good thing, just as there is a place for sports where everyone can participate. I'm sure that very few of us here have won a 10k or a marathon, but we take part because we enjoy it, but we also know that at the sharp end of the field it's very competitive, with runners trying to win the race.
    These rowers are highly trained athletes who have trained all year for this event and it's unfair on them that their hard work was ruined by an idiot.
    If he had been injured, would he expect to be treated by the NHS that is paid for by capitalist taxes, or would have stuck to his principles and refused a service that was paid for by the taxes of these businesses?
  • MuttleyMuttley ✭✭✭
  • Sussex Runner (NLR) wrote (see)
    Why do the BBC waste their time showing this elitist trash. Why is this contest only open to two teams from two universities. Face it, the only reason anyone took any notice this year was because of the protester and because of the complete cock ups that followed. How about showing a contest that is open to all rowers.
    My guess is that they show it as a memorial to a time when Britain was truly great. That time when being german was a pre-requisite to becoming a monarch and whatever the contest, it was always someone from Oxford or Cambridge who got to take home the prize.
  • Disagree. It's just just a "tradition". Like the grand national, which is even more elitist, and also gets lots of air time every year. Most of the rowers in the boat race couldn't afford many race horses.

    Why don't the bbc show more democratic boat events, like head races or bumps? Because they take ages, and are boring. Don't forget that tv audiences are, in the main, slack jawed morons with no attention span.

  • In these austere times they should combine the boat race and the Grand National.

    A Grand National Boat Race. A boat race between two increasingly inbred teams of thoroughbred horses rowing on the Thames. I for one would be sure to Tivo it.

  • RICKSTER wrote (see)
    The boat race is a British tradition. Something that the EU can't take away from us.


    Ooo - so close to Godwin's Law.

     :-]

  • Now this is much more like it. Why don't the BBC televise this?!

    http://www.thegoatrace.org/

  • Weevil, it has nothing to do with Godwin's law.
  • SuperCazSuperCaz ✭✭✭
    But it's not hard to see how the convesation could go that way if someone decided that it should...
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