swimmer interrupts boat race

HB58

deanos wrote: »

Is he actually breaking the law, isn't the river public ??

I was wondering the same thing.

Itismehonest

HB58 wrote: »

I was wondering the same thing.

Stretches of the river are closed for various events throughout the year. It's always been that way. He was in the relatively short stretch shut for the race but, more to the point, he knew he shouldn't have been there. It wasn't an accident on his part. He was very lucky to not have his head taken off by an oar or be chewed up by a propeller.
All he achieved was to make himself look a prat & ruin the day for everyone else.
He's also very lucky that the Oxford bowman, currently in hospital, is recovering or he may possibly have been charged with far worse.

Abbafan1972

Good on the swimmer! I find this race boring and couldn't care less who wins! It's just to keep the toffee nosed snobs happy anyway.

dickydonkin

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

Good on the swimmer! I find this race boring and couldn't care less who wins! It's just to keep the toffee nosed snobs happy anyway.

I don't condone the swimmers actions, however, I do agree that the race is a pointless 'event' between two teams of privileged toffs where the majority of the country could not give a toss of the outcome.

What is more annoying is the BBC coverage which in my mind is a total waste of license payers money - bearing in mind the sports that appeal to the majority are being scrapped because of financial restraints.

davidlizard

dickydonkin wrote: »

Snip ...

What is more annoying is the BBC coverage which in my mind is a total waste of license payers money - bearing in mind the sports that appeal to the majority are being scrapped because of financial restraints.

Cannot agree more.

Only the BBC seem to think the boat race is a serious sporting event. They are only interested these days in covering sports that their "toff" management like - Wimbledon, Rugby Union, Grand National, Golf and the Boat Race.

I did not know what to laugh at most today - the faces and whining of the chinless champagne charlies on the river bank getting wound up because some oik had spoilt their day out, or the pompous BBC having their tongues so far up the backsides of their Oxbridge old boy friends having their bonfire well and truly pee'd on.

Jennifer_Jane

dickydonkin wrote: »

I don't condone the swimmers actions, however, I do agree that the race is a pointless 'event' between two teams of privileged toffs where the majority of the country could not give a toss of the outcome.

What is more annoying is the BBC coverage which in my mind is a total waste of license payers money - bearing in mind the sports that appeal to the majority are being scrapped because of financial restraints.

Well, just because you don't like it - does that mean no-one else should do? When I lived in South Africa, we would watch the whole thing live - thanks to the BBC - and so did everyone else I knew. I think the BBC probably raked in the cost of transmitting from selling it to foreign TV stations so that millions can enjoy it.

I went to a secondary modern, I'm not elitist in any way at all, and the comments from reverse-snobs has saddened me. The race was starting out to be very close, and this Trenton Oldfield has behaved illegally (the river shut for the event), and spoiled something that I and millions others were enjoying.

How narrow-minded of you to think that because you don't enjoy it, that others shouldn't be allowed to either. Shame on you!

chucknorris

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

How narrow-minded of you to think that because you don't enjoy it, that others shouldn't be allowed to either. Shame on you!

Well said!

I have no particular interest in the boat race, but obviously appreciate that a lot of people do and also the effort and hours training that the athletes who took part in it invested in the race.

eezer

Itismehonest wrote: »

He's also very lucky that the Oxford bowman, currently in hospital, is recovering or he may possibly have been charged with far worse.

That's stretching it a bit far trying to pin that on him. Perhaps a more balanced view would have been to charge the Oxford cox as a result of their negligence in breaking an oar and forcing 7 men to do the work of 8?

dickydonkin

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

Well, just because you don't like it - does that mean no-one else should do? When I lived in South Africa, we would watch the whole thing live - thanks to the BBC - and so did everyone else I knew. I think the BBC probably raked in the cost of transmitting from selling it to foreign TV stations so that millions can enjoy it.
How narrow-minded of you to think that because you don't enjoy it, that others shouldn't be allowed to either. Shame on you!

You have missed my point.

I alluded to the point that the majority of people don't give a toss about the outcome of this farce, although the opportunity is there for the many who can attend the event. I can assure you that in my region of the country - other than University Students - it is a non-event.

My gripe was the BBC paying extortionate fees - what I contribute to - to broadcast an event that very few people are interested in - but at the same time, are axeing many sporting events that many viewers are!

You 'Think' the BBC 'probably raked in' the cost of transmitting this folly to other countries - bold assumptions indeed!

How narrow-minded of you to think that because you don't enjoy it, that others shouldn't be allowed to either. Shame on you!

Some people may wish to watch programmes with obscene or extremely violent content - are you sugggesting those who would wish those to be banned are also 'narrow minded'?

For minority events like the Boat Race - let Sky or ESPN have it and let those who wish to watch - pay for it and let's see if it really is self financing!

"Satellite broadcasters such as Sky and Setanta are rarely keen to bid for one-off events that cost a great deal to cover, unless they can charge a pay-per-view fee as they do with major boxing matches. The Boat Race is unlikely to fit that profile."

So it's the license payer who will be financing this for the foreseeable future.

vax2002

You have to understand that the media is a totally exclusive haunt of private school chums and its associated idiots with their brand of socialism, which equates to everyone else gets a mataz I get a jag....