Best SUnday laugh ever -Of course I expected the vindictive class to be vindictive and nasty

[malaise]

Boat race rower blasts protester
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/apr/08/boat-race-protest-reaction
<snip>
An Oxford University rower has hit out at the self-styled anti-elitist protester whose dip in the Thames forced the Boat Race to be halted and rerun, denouncing him as "a mockery of a man" who had interfered with a "proud" sporting tradition and shown no respect for the crews' "dedication and courage".

Hailed as "a philosopher and rower extraordinaire" by the BBC's race presenter Clare Balding, 22-year-old Zeng argued Oldfield's intervention had "made a mockery" of his fellow rowers and done little to honour his anti-elitist cause. "If you say you are a protester then no matter what you say your cause may be, your action speaks too loudly for me to hear you," wrote Zeng, an American Rhodes scholar, who is studying for a DPhil in computer science at Oriel College.

Oldfield, an activist who on his blog, 'Elitism leads to Tyranny',, suggests acts of civil disobedience such as taxi drivers taking passengers on the most expensive routes and waiters in smart restaurants serve their customers cold food, mounted a robust defence of his actions yesterday, attacked the media for focusing on his apparently privileged background and insisted his act had been a legitimate form of attack on the injustices of society.

"Of course I expected the vindictive class to be vindictive and nasty about having disrupted their fun and 'months of training'," he posted on Twitter, adding: "I'm 100% behind my actions, if it's jail time, so be it." Oldfield, whose four years spentat private school and MSc in contemporary urbanism from the London School Economics had sparked criticism, from many quarters,said he had gone to the LSE on a scholarship and had worked his way through the course. He had left private school at 16, he added, "because I couldn't stand the elitism".He added: "Having been deep within elite institutions I have a very good understanding of them. I protest their injustices - ask anyone that knows me."
-------------------
The 1% must not be disturbed when at play and rowing is sacrosanct.

[Robb]

1. Meh. Oldfield sounds like a pompous asshole, too.

[Raine]

2. I agree, sure sounds like it. nt

[zeemike]

3. I have always admired the dedication and courage of boat rowers...

I mean really...one false move in a boat and you could fall off in the water and get wet...Takes a lot of courage to face something like that.

[JNelson6563]

9. It's hard.

Really, harder than you think. The sport is referred to as "crew". My uncle went to Annapolis and he decided to give crew a try. Other on his team were athletes and figured this would be easy win type sport. Boy were they wrong!

By all accounts after a practice session all had a very deep respect for the sport. I hear the boat had a few inches of "water" in it afterward that was actually sweat, that's how hard it was.

These guys, this particular group my uncle was part of, they took Navy from last place team to first place against the other schools. They were the US champs which meant they went to the Olympics. This was in '52, with the whole cold war thing. They won the gold for the US, made friends with the Russian team and served us well as ambassadors.

Don't be too quick to dismiss the sport. It is very difficult and requires endless practice and dedication. After seeing the documentary on The Great Eight (the team I am referring to) I certainly had a new respect for the sport.

Julie

On edit: Here's a link http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-crewhvy/spec-rel/092602aaa.html

[zeemike]

12. How is it courage to participate in a sport?

That was my point.
There is no risk...and you stand to gain a prize or the adulation of the crowd.

[11 Bravo]

14. Stand in against a chin high 90 mph fastball, then get back to me.

[zeemike]

17. And that is the reason you don't find many of the elite doing it.

And still fewer of them getting in a ring of rope with another that wants to knock you out.

My comment was about it taking courage to row a boat....strength yes...dedication to it yes but not courage unless you have hydrophobia.

[JNelson6563]

15. Ok, did I say word one about courage?

Though there are some sports that do require it.

But nevermind, obviously you missed my point. Carry on. Athletes suck, sports suck, fuck it.

Julie

[zeemike]

16. No I got it.

And I do admire athletes too...I was commenting somewhat sarcastically about how the article said they were courageous...and questioned it.
But that is the reason we need to use the sarcasm smiley

[freshwest]

4. Sounds okay. He's a 'traitor to his class.' We need more of those...

[treestar]

5. I'm of two minds

One says this will do no good

The other likes the elitist facing actual difficulty and inconvenience.

[malaise]

8. Precisely

That's why it's hilarious

[intaglio]

6. What would your reaction be to a similar disruption to

say ... Army vs Navy?

Or the Kentucky Derby?

Although "Oxbridge" is heavily elite this one rowing event is followed by all classes and the event keeps rowing in the public eye as a valid sport.

[intaglio]

7. To add a little detail for those who do not know or understand this event

The course is 4 miles 374 yard or nearly 6,770 metres (compare the longest Olympic rowing course is 2,000 metres). The race takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete and the stroke rate is 38 - 42 strokes per minute or above. To those who regard this as a non-sport, go to your local gym, set the resistance on a rowing machine to its highest then try to row at 40 spm for 15 minutes. To be a bit more accurate have the machine set on side on side rockers that might allow it to tip over and get someone to throw mugfuls of cold water on your face or back at random intervals.

[JNelson6563]

10. Thank you.

The person the OP is about really was disrespectful of his team-mates to get attention. Pretty selfish.

I don't see the "hero" others are seeing, I see a self-promoting asshole, like so many DU heroes.

Julie

[malaise]

13. Look I love sport

but I love a good protest against 1%ers.