tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post1805564923440812479..comments2024-03-06T04:50:47.440+01:00Comments on More than just wine: Rugby 6 nations: what counts most?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-58632945240036489582011-04-29T03:30:58.321+02:002011-04-29T03:30:58.321+02:00Thanks for the information. I bet 6 nations hospit...Thanks for the information. I bet <a href="http://www.itcsports.co.uk/rugby/six-nations-2011" rel="nofollow">6 nations hospitality</a> is a really cool event to attend.Rugby Supporters Tourshttp://www.itcsports.co.uk/rugbynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-79772292332132743912011-02-10T16:06:45.089+01:002011-02-10T16:06:45.089+01:00I played some football at school, and in parks and...I played some football at school, and in parks and public greens, of course. But I wasn’t very good at it. My main asset was I could run fast and knew where to stand. Apart from that: just a peeper.<br />But you must have heard of Constant Vandenstock. He was the owner of the – very run-off-the-mill -Gueuze company “Bellevue”, the worst around, but also the chairman of Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht. And I think he did a better job at sports than with ales. He was a platonic lover of elegant and skilled players. The one he admired most was Robbie Rensenbrink, though he was a Dutchman. I must admit the chappy was a pleasure to watch: grace, elegance, explosivity, surprise and enthusiasm. In a way, the Thierry Henry of the bygone good days ... except he never used his hands!<br />Since I don’t possess a tele, I’m not aware of which players are in the same league now.Luc Charliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-80124419703291573582011-02-10T14:06:50.843+01:002011-02-10T14:06:50.843+01:00Goerge was...the best. I have given up on football...Goerge was...the best. I have given up on football since way back (for reasons explained in my article on an ancestor and international footballer of the 19th century), but watching him play was always exciting. I suupose the French equivalant (didn't they both play on the right wing?) would have been Dominique Rocheteau.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-3626878468027590932011-02-10T08:40:57.958+01:002011-02-10T08:40:57.958+01:00I did not know that one, David. Fully appreciate i...I did not know that one, David. Fully appreciate it, indeed. Who wouldn’t like to be the ... sixth Beatle? Léon, perhaps.Luc Charliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-91125005239452746212011-02-09T23:53:12.457+01:002011-02-09T23:53:12.457+01:00A quick George Best story that Luc will appreciate...A quick George Best story that Luc will appreciate. Towards the end if his life, when quite broke, George was asked what he had done with all the money he had earned during the years with Man U. He said "I spent a hell of a lot of it on fast cars, booze and women. The rest I just wasted."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-54610291150024216902011-02-09T15:44:19.450+01:002011-02-09T15:44:19.450+01:00@ Hervé: the only ad they should exhibit on their ...@ Hervé: the only ad they should exhibit on their jersey is “Label Rouge”, the grain-fed free range poultry.Luc Charliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-87556449962977252162011-02-09T15:41:15.245+01:002011-02-09T15:41:15.245+01:00David, I know I have an outspoken tendency towards...David, I know I have an outspoken tendency towards cynicism. But my eyesight is excellent: never wore spectacles before the age of 48, and my Mumm was an eye surgeon. I used to be a keen sportman myself, liked my female-friends to be ... a good sport, and watched sport events on the tele now and again.<br />I quit all that now. I’m truly disgusted at what those wonderful men – there is NO DENYING their skill, dedication, talent, sometimes even genius, efforts ... – are obliged to do to reach top level and stay there. I’m also scandalized at the number of parasites gravitating around them and at the profits the sport gear manufacturers make thanks to them. I even believe (but this is purely conjectural) the scores are mostly set before the matches even begin, as in pro boxing events.<br />Would the competition not be as interesting if they all resorted to their “natural” capacity ?<br />When we watched Pietro Mennea cut the finish line of a 200 m in roughly 20 sec, with runner-ups just a few inches away from him, wasn’t that nice?<br />When Ken Rosewall won a game of tennis at Wimbledon, in spite of his being a diabetic patient, wasn’t that fascinating enough?<br />When George Best, or Paul Van Himst, or Robbie Rensenbrink managed one of their wonderful dribbling movements, wasn’t that moving?<br />This does not mean to say they were all perfectly “clean” – “le pot belge” has been around quite a while – but at least doping was considered an offense and not the rule.<br />Do you know the very junior rugby players (age 15) of a team like Béziers (I know a precise example there, but they’re ALL the same) are given “stuff” by the training staff on the very first day they join the “system”. I suppose it is creatine and some vitamins. But even then.<br />As for Maxime Mermoz, full sympathy to the lad, but many an expert (which I’m not, by any means) expresses the view he should not even have been on the bench for that match. His shoulder, this very fragile joint if there is one, has been injured so often, as received so many injections (anaesthetics, but also steroids, other anti-inflammatory drugs, possibly antibiotics, cartilage–enhancing products and so on, I haven’t seen the prescriptions), has had so many revalidation programs applied to it ... I heard him on the radio yesterday, and it was pathetic. The chappy has guts and passion, besides talent, but he believes (wants to believe?, fakes ?) all the bullshit they tell him. So the butcher will cut on him again, the pharmacist will earn on him again, the sport journalist will be offered free meals and possibly more to write on him, the physiotherapist will earn his living on him and, in 5 years time, his drug-dealer and his shrink will make a fortune on him as well.<br />“I’d rather be any kind o’ thing than a fool, but I wouldn’t be ... him”.<br />Not bad, huh, this pastiche of King Lear’s jester? And I’ve got others in petto.Luc Charliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-55400040723834784132011-02-09T13:51:25.264+01:002011-02-09T13:51:25.264+01:00On Luc's comment, I suppose that he knows what...On Luc's comment, I suppose that he knows what he is talking about so I will have to defer. I hate the idea of dopage of any kind, and am not in a denial syndrome about this, but hard work and the professionalisation of sport also explains a lot in terms of resistance capacity, muscle development, and the incentive to win. In the latter case, this is an intrinsic part of any competitive sport and includes the will to go beyond what is normally sustainable by mind and body. It can, of course, lead to injuries. I do not think that you can blame the injury to the excellent Maxime Mermoz on dopage or trainers pushing him too hard.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-87697742716867239012011-02-09T13:43:22.821+01:002011-02-09T13:43:22.821+01:00Well those are two quite valid reasons. I quite ag...Well those are two quite valid reasons. I quite agree about adverts on sports shirts, and particularly rugby. I am in favour of the professional game, but not enamoured with the transforming of players into billboards.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-6676277267654504912011-02-09T11:32:03.866+01:002011-02-09T11:32:03.866+01:00Seems the French are the only ones without an ad o...Seems the French are the only ones without an ad on their national shirt. <br />For this reason (and because I'm French),I will support them. :-))Hervéhttp://hlalau.skynetblogs.benoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-26547988888804280102011-02-08T13:42:18.879+01:002011-02-08T13:42:18.879+01:00Sorry, I know you won’t like this post.
Profession...Sorry, I know you won’t like this post.<br />Professional sportsmen, rugby included, are all of them treated with drugs they shouldn’t be given, either as a muscle development scheme, or as an orthopaedic/physiotherapeutic tool, or as a pain-killer. In a way, they are all junkies. I’ve been active in the pharmaceutical world, I’ve been a hospital physician in an area where bicycle-race is very popular and I’ve been following very closely (almost as a coach) top female fencing (World cup epée), not quite a full-blown “pro” circuit. They all take “things”, all of the time, and to various extents. A “simple” injection of corticoids, of lidocaïne or its derivatives, of anabolic steroids, of EPO is NOT inocuous. And repetition of these is simply blatantly dangerous.<br />Look at what happened to poor USAP Maxime Mermoz. Those repetitive injuries are the result of: too competitive a spirit (of their own design or due to staff’s pressure), too precocious return to the training fields, inconsiderate use of drugs on behalf of the sport doctors (not much better than lawyers, these rogue bandits) or just plain doping programs.<br />And don’t start your “it’s not true” commedia dell arte. Everybody sees it, knows it and accepts it. The “manufacturers” of illegal medicines are always one step ahead of the official controling labs. From the Six Nations to the Tour of France, over Wimbledon and GP racing: a whole bucket of cheat.<br />In Belgium, you buy EPO on the parking at the start of enthousiast amateur cyclo-touring events, needles and syringes included. It costs you one euro per international unit.Luc Charliernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-24509751609345704322011-02-08T12:33:19.887+01:002011-02-08T12:33:19.887+01:00Agree on Flood but boy was Wilkinson lively and st...Agree on Flood but boy was Wilkinson lively and strong in defence when he came on! Sort of gives you hope having a couple of talented characters like that in the team.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06121541468293903883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-17096043938601971012011-02-07T15:32:02.086+01:002011-02-07T15:32:02.086+01:00I would also say the Flood gets better and more co...I would also say the Flood gets better and more convincing each game he plays.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-10502524311065579902011-02-07T15:31:06.375+01:002011-02-07T15:31:06.375+01:00Yes Andy, and silly penalties given away by Englan...Yes Andy, and silly penalties given away by England are not new either! Not as silly as Wales' in this game though, and the Deacon one (with assorted yellow card) did save a try.<br />It was a very good game and I am also very much looking forward to England vs France.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15635428184895066582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219646897587177986.post-38125896992836495332011-02-07T15:01:37.951+01:002011-02-07T15:01:37.951+01:00Apart from some silly penalties given away by Engl...Apart from some silly penalties given away by England, nothing new there, I thought it was an excellent match. England France will be the one to see though in my view, should be a corker!Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06121541468293903883noreply@blogger.com