The Boat Race saboteur Trenton Oldfield's online manifesto includes this:
' pseudo competition' - anyone who has ever rowed knows the effort involved in becoming a good rower, let alone of the standard to compete in the Boat Race. The 16 rowers who made it to the Oxford and Cambridge Eights have been competing for at least a year just to get a place in the boat, let alone the effort involved in keeping free of injury so as to make it to the stake boats at Putney. As to the racing itself, the Olympics and World Championships are raced over 2,000 metres. By the time Trenton Oldfield raised his ugly head in front of the crews they had rowed far further than that and had further to row. 'pseudi competition'? I think not.
'assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected' - yes that's how elite sports selection works and much more in this society should.
'inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm' - anyone who has studied up at Oxford and Cambridge knows how important the Boat Race is to both of those great educational institutions, obviously one being greater that the other.
'inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race' - Just as the majority of the population of this country are disinterested in cricket, rugby and maybe even football. Sport is for the people who are interested in that sport, the rest are free to ignore it if they wish. The Boat Race is about more than just sport, it is a piece of tradition that helps to bind this country together and keep it rooted in its shared past. People choose to support Oxford or Cambridge despite never having studied there, not knowing anyone who has studied there or often never having even having visited either. It's about feeling connected to history.
'The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar' - What utter rubbish. The Boat Race is covered live by the BBC who, along with the broadsheet newspapers, for days beforehand show the course of the race, the best vantage points and of course the best pubs to watch the race from. What is the social networking calendar? I think the very confused Trenton Oldfield may be thinking of the social calendar that includes the far more exclusive Henley rowing regatta as well as tennis at Queens and horse racing at Ascot.
'This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'' - This makes the least sense of all of the pillock's claims. It is a public event, in that it is held on a public river, in full view of the public but the rest of the claim is tripe...
'The boat race itself, with its pseudo competition, assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected …etc, is an inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm. It is also inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race. The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar. This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'Let's examine the 'logic':
' pseudo competition' - anyone who has ever rowed knows the effort involved in becoming a good rower, let alone of the standard to compete in the Boat Race. The 16 rowers who made it to the Oxford and Cambridge Eights have been competing for at least a year just to get a place in the boat, let alone the effort involved in keeping free of injury so as to make it to the stake boats at Putney. As to the racing itself, the Olympics and World Championships are raced over 2,000 metres. By the time Trenton Oldfield raised his ugly head in front of the crews they had rowed far further than that and had further to row. 'pseudi competition'? I think not.
'assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected' - yes that's how elite sports selection works and much more in this society should.
'inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm' - anyone who has studied up at Oxford and Cambridge knows how important the Boat Race is to both of those great educational institutions, obviously one being greater that the other.
'inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race' - Just as the majority of the population of this country are disinterested in cricket, rugby and maybe even football. Sport is for the people who are interested in that sport, the rest are free to ignore it if they wish. The Boat Race is about more than just sport, it is a piece of tradition that helps to bind this country together and keep it rooted in its shared past. People choose to support Oxford or Cambridge despite never having studied there, not knowing anyone who has studied there or often never having even having visited either. It's about feeling connected to history.
'The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar' - What utter rubbish. The Boat Race is covered live by the BBC who, along with the broadsheet newspapers, for days beforehand show the course of the race, the best vantage points and of course the best pubs to watch the race from. What is the social networking calendar? I think the very confused Trenton Oldfield may be thinking of the social calendar that includes the far more exclusive Henley rowing regatta as well as tennis at Queens and horse racing at Ascot.
'This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'' - This makes the least sense of all of the pillock's claims. It is a public event, in that it is held on a public river, in full view of the public but the rest of the claim is tripe...
Still, pretty boring innit?
ReplyDeleteNice,Goat, alo nice to discover your blog site.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:15: Not at all boring, rowing requires rather more knowledge and understanding than football, maybe you lack those qualities?
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention football, but seeing as you did can you quantify that statement?
ReplyDeleteThis fellow A N O'Nymous can be found all over the Internet these days. Football players and supporters as a group have pretty one-sided view of their obsession and know little of the world beyond the pitch.
ReplyDeleteNeanderthals, many of them, have barely learned to walk erect.
Anon 14:22: Indeed you did not, I did. Do I really need to?
ReplyDeleteRogerJ 16:19: No football followers are 'Neanderthals'. indeed many are intelligent people but many others are also obsessed beyond reasonable levels with their teams.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. It is a terrible sport (basically it is a body building exercise) and it is not necessary for it to be sponsored by the BBC and is, if you know your history only on TV because the Oxbridge crowd were running the BBC post war and put it there. Wimbledon, FA cup, Grand National are national/international competitions. The boat race is an inter university race. Sure it has grown in status recently but think about how elitism works (when it is negative). Just like the boat race . Privilege first, advantage first, better facilities first then inevitable performance improvements over the less well advantaged.
ReplyDeleteisisandgranta: Nice name! Rowing is nothing like bodybuilding. Rowers are fit, trong and athletic, not over-muscled. If you are an Oxford resident: varsity or town, then take a trip down to the river and watch the rowers training or rowing and see what you think.
ReplyDelete