Clearly the answer is to restrict the Olympic Games to sports where gender doesn't matter. Croquet, Tiddlywinks and Wine Tasting come to mind.
The PB collective should enter a wine tasting team
You would need extra long ribbons so that the medals could get over the abnormally large noses.
Did a charity one of these on the 'call my bluff' lines a few years ago in the City. We were all dreadful ; 4 way tie for 1st place with 5/8 correctly identified wines. Luckily, my knowledge of cheese origins pipped us the gong in the tie-break.
Possibly the pinnacle of my oenological career - pretty representative that is was something other than wine that won it for us!
''It's great that the human race doesn't fit into neat classifications.''
If you are arguing that we should do away with separating men's and women's sports altogether, well its a brave suggestion. Very brave.
Not sure how you got to that. All I want is a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual.
That's Corbynite waffle that could easily be put alongside 'no person left behind' (a decidedly un-Olympian slogan).
What does "a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual" mean in practice in this case?
Create a simple rule, stick to it and put a stop to endless debate unfairly focussed on individuals who have their private bits dragged through the media. Ie the opposite of "Corbynnite waffle".
If anything, I think it is you who secretly desire to wear one of those funny caps and create a public committee called the "the people's gender assignment tribunal".
The problem with simple rules is that they tend not to work with difficult cases.
BTW - I see Ruth Davidson is channelling what Mike wrote on August 4th
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has become the most senior party figure to float the idea of an early election as she cited concerns about rebellious backbenchers.
She said the “usual suspects” on the backbenches could “cause problems” for Mrs May and added there was a clear “temptation” to call an election sooner than 2020.
Clearly the answer is to restrict the Olympic Games to sports where gender doesn't matter. Croquet, Tiddlywinks and Wine Tasting come to mind.
What a narrow minded view. We should have the Caring Games - where those who emote the most get to feel really good about themselves. There are no winners or losers as that'd demean their self-worth.
You clearly have never played Croquet, a bitter, brutal sport.
I once went on a “team bonding weekend” where we were encouraged to play croquet........
At least it was a bit more subtle than paintballing, which I had to do once as part of a management development course. Though plinking the boss of another department with a headshot from a well planned ambush was distinctly satisfying.
Incidentally there is a great spoof of management development courses in Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens - well worth a read on so many levels.
''It's great that the human race doesn't fit into neat classifications.''
If you are arguing that we should do away with separating men's and women's sports altogether, well its a brave suggestion. Very brave.
Not sure how you got to that. All I want is a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual.
That's Corbynite waffle that could easily be put alongside 'no person left behind' (a decidedly un-Olympian slogan).
What does "a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual" mean in practice in this case?
Create a simple rule, stick to it and put a stop to endless debate unfairly focussed on individuals who have their private bits dragged through the media. Ie the opposite of "Corbynnite waffle".
If anything, I think it is you who secretly desire to wear one of those funny caps and create a public committee called the "the people's gender assignment tribunal".
The problem with simple rules is that they tend not to work with difficult cases.
I think it's a simple rule. XX compete in female events, XY in male. Anything else goes into a separate classification at the Paralympics.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
Maybe they should just eliminate the different styles. Rowing or running or just about any event are about how fast you can go. What's so interesting about how fast someone can go in a swimming style that's not as fast as crawl? Or...they could have athletics running events with hands tied behind the back - it's kind of the same idea.
The answer might be to introduce a handicapping system. Every athlete gets a DNA and hormone test, and are assigned a Natural Advantage Indicator. Then they have different weights to slow them down, the higher their NAI is. The athletes that train and work hardest will then win, so matter how they are born.
The answer might be to introduce a handicapping system. Every athlete gets a DNA and hormone test, and are assigned a Natural Advantage Indicator. Then they have different weights to slow them down, the higher their NAI is. The athletes that train and work hardest will then win, so matter how they are born.
That sounds like an "everyone must have prizes" system.
Maybe they should just eliminate the different styles. Rowing or running or just about any event are about how fast you can go. What's so interesting about how fast someone can go in a swimming style that's not as fast as crawl? Or...they could have athletics running events with hands tied behind the back - it's kind of the same idea.
Exactly. This is another of my hobbyhorses which I trot out every four years. By the same token, we can eliminate walking from the athletics.
Clearly the answer is to restrict the Olympic Games to sports where gender doesn't matter. Croquet, Tiddlywinks and Wine Tasting come to mind.
What a narrow minded view. We should have the Caring Games - where those who emote the most get to feel really good about themselves. There are no winners or losers as that'd demean their self-worth.
You clearly have never played Croquet, a bitter, brutal sport.
I once went on a “team bonding weekend” where we were encouraged to play croquet........
At least it was a bit more subtle than paintballing, which I had to do once as part of a management development course. Though plinking the boss of another department with a headshot from a well planned ambush was distinctly satisfying.
Incidentally there is a great spoof of management development courses in Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens - well worth a read on so many levels.
Thanks. Not read that one. Pratchetts summoning by Death has left a serious literary gap.
Clearly the answer is to restrict the Olympic Games to sports where gender doesn't matter. Croquet, Tiddlywinks and Wine Tasting come to mind.
The PB collective should enter a wine tasting team
You would need extra long ribbons so that the medals could get over the abnormally large noses.
Did a charity one of these on the 'call my bluff' lines a few years ago in the City. We were all dreadful ; 4 way tie for 1st place with 5/8 correctly identified wines. Luckily, my knowledge of cheese origins pipped us the gong in the tie-break.
Possibly the pinnacle of my oenological career - pretty representative that is was something other than wine that won it for us!
At room temperature, holding your nose (or not often), I would bet good money on no one being able to tell the difference between red or white wine; or whisky or brandy.
It's quite a good party trick. Especially if there is a "wine expert" there...
''It's great that the human race doesn't fit into neat classifications.''
If you are arguing that we should do away with separating men's and women's sports altogether, well its a brave suggestion. Very brave.
Not sure how you got to that. All I want is a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual.
That's Corbynite waffle that could easily be put alongside 'no person left behind' (a decidedly un-Olympian slogan).
What does "a bit more sensitivity and decision making from the authorities that protects the individual" mean in practice in this case?
Create a simple rule, stick to it and put a stop to endless debate unfairly focussed on individuals who have their private bits dragged through the media. Ie the opposite of "Corbynnite waffle".
If anything, I think it is you who secretly desire to wear one of those funny caps and create a public committee called the "the people's gender assignment tribunal".
The problem with simple rules is that they tend not to work with difficult cases.
I think it's a simple rule. XX compete in female events, XY in male. Anything else goes into a separate classification at the Paralympics.
Simpler than that - functioning SRY gene is male, mutant or absent is female. You can get XY "females", and concentrating on SRY means XXY's and the like are easily catered for.
The answer might be to introduce a handicapping system. Every athlete gets a DNA and hormone test, and are assigned a Natural Advantage Indicator. Then they have different weights to slow them down, the higher their NAI is. The athletes that train and work hardest will then win, so matter how they are born.
That sounds like an "everyone must have prizes" system.
I've not noticed 40 winners at the Grand National.
What about bell-ringing as an Olympic sport? (Technically, I believe, campanology is the study of bell-ringing rather than the exercise itself). I know I've just doubted the validity of sports that require judges, but judging in these contests is for accuracy and timing rather than style - something a computer could easily do. It is an exercise that requires more than a little physicality, skill, practice, dedication etc... It would be a tedious spectator event, admittedly - although it would provide a pleasant musical backdrop for a couple of days. But GB&BNI would be in with a good shout of a medal (along with Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), natch).
Nah - Belgium and the cloggies would win it with some carillion action.
The other thing that occurred to me is that now we're actually good at the Olympics it might be time to raise the bar for honours from four golds for a knighthood to five golds. If we're still as good in Tokyo then raise it again to six. It was fine to set the bar at four golds when were weren't very good but we are now in a different place with performance, giving out the highest honour needs a higher bar.
Forget the absolute number, concentrate on doing it at a high level over multiple Olympics - that was what was so special about Redgrave, and I'd put Kat Grainger above several cyclists, swimmers etc.
What about bell-ringing as an Olympic sport? (Technically, I believe, campanology is the study of bell-ringing rather than the exercise itself). I know I've just doubted the validity of sports that require judges, but judging in these contests is for accuracy and timing rather than style - something a computer could easily do. It is an exercise that requires more than a little physicality, skill, practice, dedication etc... It would be a tedious spectator event, admittedly - although it would provide a pleasant musical backdrop for a couple of days. But GB&BNI would be in with a good shout of a medal (along with Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand), natch).
Nah - Belgium and the cloggies would win it with some carillion action.
I think you are pushing your luck there.
According to my numbers Worcestershire has 50% more listed bell towers suitable for ringing than the whole of North America.
"A bold headline emblazoned with the Chinese flag praises “China Heroes” such as weightlifter Long Qingquan and table tennis champion Ding Ning."
What an ace name!
Try Dong Dong, the trampoline silver medallist. Funny how the Chinese now think total medals are what really matters, when they claimed to "win" the Beijing Olympics based on golds.
Comments
Possibly the pinnacle of my oenological career - pretty representative that is was something other than wine that won it for us!
Incidentally there is a great spoof of management development courses in Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens - well worth a read on so many levels.
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/GERS/queries/008
.....it doesn't exist.....
The answer might be to introduce a handicapping system. Every athlete gets a DNA and hormone test, and are assigned a Natural Advantage Indicator. Then they have different weights to slow them down, the higher their NAI is. The athletes that train and work hardest will then win, so matter how they are born.
By the same token, we can eliminate walking from the athletics.
NEW THREAD NEW THREAD
It's quite a good party trick. Especially if there is a "wine expert" there...
According to my numbers Worcestershire has 50% more listed bell towers suitable for ringing than the whole of North America.