Grassmarket

Arrgh! Disastrous start again for the Mellows!

Here we go with the countdown clock....

Just watched the Final of the European Speedway Championships from Wednesday night on Eurosport. Great night of racing, will recommend if you haven’t seen it & don’t know the result. And have Eurosport Player.

Do know for sure that the first time the Downhill was run in Garmisch 1936 they had to climb. Or perhaps a car half-way up, or something but definitely some climbing. The other thing I do know was that the tuck position was only introduced in the early 60s, so they were never going all out before that. As you can see in the film, they are still racing in powder, so way slower.

Very definitely a different sport here in Europe, much rougher, steeper tracks for hill running. Really a hardcore sport for amateurs or part-timers.

Well, good luck. Unusual for someone so fit to get it bad enough to be hospitalised.

Am I right in saying they didn’t even have ski lifts in those days? You had to climb most of the hill yourself to start. Ski Jumps only came in with Squaw Valley 1960. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Maybe a track built within the Eventing Course (without the jumps obvs) - a MTB track would be very hard. Hill running is a sport in itself, really. Or the golf course perhaps.

Easy to say if you start as a Baron.

Well, we got almost a respectable weekend’s sport here. Rugby League - NRL continues & Super League restarts on Sunday. Sadly Toronto have had to withdraw for the year owing to the impossibility of the whole thing under CV MLB - Yankees v Red Sox series! Cycling - 2 Strade Bianchis tomorrow, Tour de l’Ain starts. Athletics - Quality meet from Trieste. Plus Football including English & Portuguese Cup Finals, snooker, cricket, marbles....

Like I said, some are more-or-less Dutchified French military terms - banderol, echelon, complotteren, piket, razzia. Some words that must have gone from British India >- English >- Dutch - jamboree, koelie (coolie in English) Jerrycan is English - a German (Jerry) fuel tank. ampeer is surely just ampère!

British interest will be on Mo Farah in the 100000m.....I don’t see it happening. His marathon career never worked, so he comes back to track. Too many new young athletes won’t give him any respect & I don’t think the last-lap kick is there anymore.

Ironic that about half these Dutch words look to be military terms used in the Indonesian Army.....but that they themselves were originally French words imposed on the Dutch Army in Napoleon’s time.

Looks like a very good meet coming up on Saturday from Trieste. Lots of big names in action, some for the first time this year. International events start 17:30 Euro 16:30 UK https://www.triestecafe.it/it/news/il-comune-di-trieste-informa/sabato-al-grezar-il-xiii-triveneto-international-meeting-memorial-jack-benvenuti-30-luglio-2020.html Live on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/atleticaitaliana

But the coaches have their reputations to defend, that is their entire career. To be accused of abusing their athletes is professional suicide. They will have no choice but to lawyer up: in fact, it would be grotesquely unfair not to allow them to defend themselves.

No way. All coaches concerned are going to need legal representation for a start. There will be depositions, cross-examination, witnesses, appeals, arbitration......it will take years.,

Looking forward to the Dutch return to top-level gymnastics at the 2032 Olympics, then.

Bah, Orangers out on the randan clubbing, so COVID19 tests for all! Sheer irresponsibility.

Actually that’s a good idea. Lets’s have a descent time-trial for once! Down an alpine ski-slope! Sadly, would be ruled out by all the safety complainers.

Agree with Federer: in some Western countries there is a lot of funding for big (number of medals available) Olympic sports like athletics, rowing, gymnastics & swimming. Competitors in their teens & early 20s get paid much more than their non-athletic friends. Unfortunately here in GB some of them have recently developed a new mentality that just because they are being paid big money & belong to a top Olympic nation then success is their right, and if they are not successful then it is someone else’s fault. Also the media here is very forgiving, so athletes don’t often hear the criticism they deserve.

I’m afraid there’s a bit of a contradiction here. On the one hand the media is constantly bombarding us with images of strong, confident, do-anything kick-ass women. On the other we’re being told Olympic athletes can’t perform if someone says they’re overweight.

This is exactly what happened to British track cycling: one of the world’s mist successful programmes in any Olympic sport has been practically destroyed by allegations from a mediocre athlete who failed to meet minimal expectations (ie get an Olympic qualifying place). Bad headlines in the press, great coaches got fired, bureaucrats micro-managed, medal-winning athletes quit, results declined, sponsorship money dried up......

Wish I could say I was surprised. We have seen the same thing in several sports in Britain with successful programmes being destroyed because some athletes are unwilling to subject themselves to the kind of discipline your average army recruit would accept as normal.

In 7s you can easily restart by a tap off the ground. But the problem for RU is that the game without scrums would basically be Rugby League....

it is mysterious. My mother had it - five weeks in hospital, recovered - but neither me, my father, my brother or my sister-in-law got it even although we were in contact for several days.