Would be even nicer if they spoke English on the BBC channels. Just watching the BMX coverage and having to hear awful stuff like "less points". Hard to imagine that people in foreign lands used to listen to the BBC in order to learn English
Location: A civilised little County..with a bit of eccentricity to boot
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Ah yes, the BMX racing. Hardly an Olympic sport I would venture to suggest ( others may disagree, as is their prerogative...but they are wrong of course ... ) as it does remind one of grown up's riding kids bikes and indeed brings back nostalgic memories of the hordes of kids riding in packs around certain areas of Manchester.
Then there's the dressage..the rider gets all the praise, the poor bloody horse does all the work ! And in any event, despite the success, can you really see a kid from Gas Street Comprehensive participating in future ?
I did like Boris's "idea" that we all do 2 hrs PT a day and I am sure numerous families will be delighted to learn how to follow this edict, whilst looking after the more mundane aspects of daily life...starting with, lets see, work perhaps.
OK, back to the fulsome praise fraternity then.....
Yah I'm not sure why horse dancing gets all the praise. A guy/gal in a tuxedoo and top hat sits unsmilingly on a horse, who then proceeds to dance on 2 of its 4 legs in the gayest manner possible. And the crowds go wild.
Olympic sport?
How 'bout some good old Rodeo with ropin', ridin', and steer rasslin'. At least there the cowboy does some of the work.
And in any event, despite the success, can you really see a kid from Gas Street Comprehensive participating in future ?
Well a girl from "Gas Street Comprehensive" (figuratively speaking) won it this time, as you appear to acknowledge, so why not next time and the time after that?
obgraham, by a tuxedo I assume you mean what we Brits call a dinner jacket (or used to anyway). Look carefully, these are NOT dinner jackets, which in any case are never worn until the evening
Yah I'm not sure why horse dancing gets all the praise. A guy/gal in a tuxedoo and top hat sits unsmilingly on a horse, who then proceeds to dance on 2 of its 4 legs in the gayest manner possible. And the crowds go wild.
After the original Olympic sports Running, Discus Javalin etc many of the sports which were added came from Colleges for young Gentlemen. Like Fencing, Archery or Shooting the roots of Dressage can be traced back to the noble martial arts. Dressage whilst nowadays has become a high stylised form, It was origianally developed to Hone fighting skills. A knight had to learn how to control his steed whilst engaged in combat. So with a Sword in one hand a shield in the other the legs were the only way to pass commands to the Horse. All the little twee prancing about we see nowadays was once the skills needed to survive in a cavalry formation and the gay kicks were used in the melee. How do I know all this? I once very stupidly got engaged to a dressage instructor. Who then dumped me when she got a job with one of the stables that trained the Olympic team.
The reason dressage is so lame as an Olympic sport is that the star of the show is the horse, not the person. Even synch swimming or BMX or windsurfing focus on a person's ability/prowess. Yes I know the rider must have skills, but the horse is still the prime athlete and focus of the 2.
They may as well have a dog show and award medals to the handlers, or a cat competition and drape a gold around the owner of whichever one whacks a pinwheel the fastest.
Since they'd never allow rodeo in the Olympics because North Americans would win all the medals for the next 100 years, if they must have animals they should at least pick something exciting and fun to watch. Lion-taming and crocodile-wrestling come to mind.
Windy - so she went on to train the team in more ways one than one??....
We should ditch BMXing, dressage, plinking, synchronised swimming/the gymanastics with strings and balls and brass knobs on, some cycling, windsurfing and some of the yachting -- for a start.
Since they'd never allow rodeo in the Olympics because North Americans would win all the medals for the next 100 years
I suspect there might be some Aussies in the running there, and I saw some very impressive Chilean riding when a bull got loose in San Pedro de Atacama.
I suspect there might be some Aussies in the running there, and I saw some very impressive Chilean riding when a bull got loose in San Pedro de Atacama.
They crossed my mind, and gauchos as well. But I stand by my statement that the cowboy/vaquero/charro bloc would dominate for a century.
There has been a lot of drivel spouted by the TV presenters, purely to keep the flow going when silence would have been preferred. A couple of examples from yesterday....
Presenter: At the age of 25 the rider will not have much experience? Richard Mead: Well, she has been on horses since the age of five, I think twenty years counts as "experience".
Sailing presenter at venue: The race has been postponed until tomorrow due to lack of wind. Studio presenter: How do they know there is not enough wind?
I didn't realise it had already been shown. She certainly is a good sport. 
) as it does remind one of grown up's riding kids bikes and indeed brings back nostalgic memories of the hordes of kids riding in packs around certain areas of Manchester.
that we all do 2 hrs PT a day and I am sure numerous families will be delighted to learn how to follow this edict, whilst looking after the more mundane aspects of daily life...starting with, lets see, work perhaps. 
