Chabenda
Amsterdam is a lot like the Tour de France. It's just a lot of people on drugs riding bikes!
(c/o Sickipedia)
Trippp
This all started with that b*tch, Mother Nature. Genetics ensures nobody starts off on equal footing. In horse racing it's the owner/breeder that gets the prize, not the horse. I say give all athletes' winnings to their parents ?
IceCreamMan
Trippp wrote
This all started with that b*tch, Mother Nature. Genetics ensures nobody starts off on equal footing. In horse racing it's the owner/breeder that gets the prize, not the horse. I say give all athletes' winnings to their parents ?
shock horror ,,,are you saying we not all equal ...in this egalitarian world this is very politically incorrect...... genes more important than upbringing ...
seems to be a lot of people saying lance was not completely honest in his confession to oprah....mmmmmmm interesting
Chabenda
seems to be a lot of people saying lance was not completely honest in his confession to oprah....mmmmmmm interesting
ICM - Lance and Opera, and their respective crews, must have spent hours, if not days, setting up the questions and replies. In the Land of the Brave where Beyonce and the Marine Corps Band lip-synch the national anthem for the president's inauguration (that takes more lack of respect than guts) would you expect anything else of them?
Hopefully the President wasn't lip-synching his oath!
It is my jaded opinion that the whole interview and confession was stage managed to generate as much publicity, and profit, as possible. Both Oprah and Lance are very effective at making money.
studmissile
With all due respect, I know people have been harping on about Beyonce Lip Sync, but I don’t blame her. The weather and freezing cold temperature where not conducive to singing. That instrument of her is worth millions and employs hundreds.
I can understand people being all-patriotic about it but I think her move was far more sensible then plain brave and stupid.
One US president actually got pneumonia and died from give a long inaugural speech way back when in the January winter.
I’m tired of the Lance saga, I’ve got nothing more to add to that.
Chabenda
studmissile wrote
With all due respect, I know people have been harping on about Beyonce Lip Sync, but I don’t blame her. The weather and freezing cold temperature where not conducive to singing. That instrument of her is worth millions and employs hundreds.
I can understand people being all-patriotic about it but I think her move was far more sensible then plain brave and stupid.
One US president actually got pneumonia and died from give a long inaugural speech way back when in the January winter.
I’m tired of the Lance saga, I’ve got nothing more to add to that.
Studmissile - you put forward very good points.
I feel though that these are the 'Muricans we are talking about here. Patriotism is one of the things that they are BIGGEST on. Watch what happens if you say or do something anti-american. If you are an American you are expected to die for for your country if needs be. I can't imagine a Country and Western singer refusing to sing in those conditions (they may prove me wrong). I mean, this was the Presidential inauguration!! It smacks of a world with no backbone to me. This must have been one of the Marine Corps Band's most shameful events ever. I feel for them.
studmissile
Chabenda wrote
studmissile wrote
With all due respect, I know people have been harping on about Beyonce Lip Sync, but I don’t blame her. The weather and freezing cold temperature where not conducive to singing. That instrument of her is worth millions and employs hundreds.
I can understand people being all-patriotic about it but I think her move was far more sensible then plain brave and stupid.
One US president actually got pneumonia and died from give a long inaugural speech way back when in the January winter.
I’m tired of the Lance saga, I’ve got nothing more to add to that.
Studmissile - you put forward very good points.
I feel though that these are the 'Muricans we are talking about here. Patriotism is one of the things that they are BIGGEST on. Watch what happens if you say or do something anti-american. If you are an American you are expected to die for for your country if needs be. I can't imagine a Country and Western singer refusing to sing in those conditions (they may prove me wrong). I mean, this was the Presidential inauguration!! It smacks of a world with no backbone to me. This must have been one of the Marine Corps Band's most shameful events ever. I feel for them.
MMMHHH! I’m just trying to think which Country Singer would have been invited to a Democratic President Inaugural. Maybe Hayes Carll?
=
Bob-Dubery
Chabenda wrote
I feel though that these are the 'Muricans we are talking about here. Patriotism is one of the things that they are BIGGEST on. Watch what happens if you say or do something anti-american. If you are an American you are expected to die for for your country if needs be. I can't imagine a Country and Western singer refusing to sing in those conditions (they may prove me wrong). I mean, this was the Presidential inauguration!! It smacks of a world with no backbone to me. This must have been one of the Marine Corps Band's most shameful events ever. I feel for them.
I think that's too simplistic and one dimensional a view.
I was at an Amnesty International show in 1988. Springsteen was top of the bill. He gave a great speech about how you can love your country but hate what your country is doing. Springsteen was a draft dodger - and doesn't cover that up. A lot of American musicians were critical of the Viet Nam war in the 60s and 70s (Phil Ochs wrote the splendid "I Ain't Marching Anymore"). More recently there have been songs critical of the USA's presence in the middle east. The Dixie Chicks - a band on the poppish side of country - denounced George W Bush from the stage. Eliza Gilkyson (daughter of Terry Gilkyson who wrote soundtracks for Walt Disney) wrote and recorded the song "Man of God" which took several big swipes at Dubya and the war on terror. I haven't checked to see what Steve Earle had to say about all of this, but I can imagine.
America is a big country, and I find it hard to generalise about America and Americans because it's so big and because there's so many people and because they don't all think and act the same. Hell, a lot of them don't even drink lite beer.
studmissile
FYI Bruce Springsteen wasn’t a draft dodger; the military rejected him due to a knee injury he sustained from a motorcycle accident.
Steve Earle wrote Johnny Walker Blues which stirred up one hell of a hornet nest and came out of far left of left field! Damn Hardcore Troubadour!
Bob-Dubery
Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, The Freedom Singers, Gil Scott-Heron, Harry Belafonte, Joan Baez, Joe Hill, Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, Odetta, Rage Against the Machine, Jackson Browne, even Pink. Neil Young wrote "Let's Impeach The President" about George W Bush. There's a long tradition of dissent in American music and culture. Yipp Harburg, Dead Kennedys, The Doors... and that's just off the top of my head.
studmissile
I regard these nit picking and cliché arguments more superficial fodder for a deeper resentment brewing underneath over political affiliations or orientation, namely either a Republican or Democratic.
It is a country that (most would agree) has become deeply divided on numerous issues.
That said I would like to hear the Dead Kennedy Sing The Star Spangled Banner.
Bob-Dubery
Another pro sportsperson, F1 driver Mark Webber, on Armstrong:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21240896
Wizard
And that sums it up pretty damn well.
Jack-Flash-Jr
Centenarian Sikh 'retires at the top'
If Lance Armstrong destroyed your faith in endurance sports, an illiterate, turban-wearing pensioner could restore it. Not that drugs would ever appeal to devout Sikh athlete Fauja Singh, 101, the world’s oldest marathon runner who has announced his retirement.
"I recognize that the longer distances are becoming challenging and taking part in races adds pressure on me as I like to be seen to be enjoying myself and not struggling," Singh told Metro from India. "I’m not sad and want to retire at the top. I have achieved all I wanted and there are no more records to be broken."
The Indian-born Briton, who ran his first marathon at age 89 and seven more since, now has an eye on his legacy.
"I want the young to be inspired to take up physical activity and maintain it through their lives. Hopefully they will see the folly of taking drugs. I also want the elderly to embark on getting fitter – if I can run my first marathon so late in life, no one should use the excuse of old age as a barrier."
Singh’s epic journey has seen him post records in eight distance categories, including his best time of 5 hours 40 minutes at the 2003 Toronto Marathon. His achievements have earned him a lunch date with Queen Elizabeth II, and a starring role in TV commercials alongside David Beckham.
Harmander Singh, his coach of 13 years, credits Fauja’s enthusiasm. "He was my best trainee, always keen to do more than I expected. I would suggest a 10-kilometer run and he would ask 'why not 20?'"
Harmander describes his student as a "simple and humble man" – he has always been illiterate – who has stayed close to his faith.
The pair established the ‘Sikhs in the City’ running club in London, now participating in inter-faith marathons across the world. In retirement, faith and sporting charities will become his focus, along with "meeting people at a more leisurely pace."
Fauja’s achievements have become a reference point for sports scientists.
"He has demonstrated the limit of human capacity," Professor Jose Gonzalez-Alonso, Director of the Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance in London, told Metro. "I’m sure it will motivate other elderly runners to beat his times."
Fauja’s last official race will be a 10-kilometer event in Hong Kong on February 24.
Q+A with Fauja Singh
Metro: What has been the proudest moment of your running career?
Singh: Every moment has been topping the last but I was particularly pleased to have completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon at the age of 100 and finally my home London Marathon – I also value crossing the finish line of my first marathon as special.
Who is your sporting hero?
When I was young there were great Punjabi and Sikh wrestlers who were legends and everyone wished they could be like them. Later it was Ajit Singh from Huddersfield and Amrik Singh from Glasgow, friends who ran many marathons all over the world long before me, and persuaded me to try longer distances than the 100 and 200 metres I used to run.
Would you like your record as oldest marathon runner to be broken?
All records are meant to be broken, but it is great while they last. I wish the next record breaker well and hope they enjoy doing it.
Do you wish you had taken up running a bit earlier?
I never worry about things that I cannot control, I am grateful to God that I have lasted this long as it can be tiring to be ahead of the field for so long – 13 and a half years is I am told exceptional to be at the top. No British Prime Minister has lasted as long.
Chabenda
Studmissile - I just saw this and it tickled my fancy -
How can you tell when a politician is lying?
Beyonce's lips are moving.
