h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Great find from jwf

No wonder the Kazakhstanis are doing so well. A quarter of a million dollars would probably be enough to pay for a small Kazakh village.

I'm getting a bit bored with the cycling, BUT (and note 2legs), I got in a while ago feeling completely done in, turned on the telly, and there was this magnificent big dark horse, Valegro doing the most wonderful performance..and looking like he/she was totally in the zone and with the rider, Charlotte Dujardin. I was smitten and entranced. I know nothing about Dressage..but I know a good thing when I see it, and I felt soo much better in myself

I was right. Apparently they nearly broke the world dressage record

I think its my high point. Also I fell in love last night with fencing...

I love the cycling but I just don't understand keirin: why have the motorbike on for so long?

Oh wow, yes cycling ain't so bad Brilliant world record from the boys.

I love that little motorised bike thing in the keirin, (yes I know you're a cyclist HI, but I've always been a lazy so and so that preferred motorbikes and now scooters, as 2 wheeled things).

Here's everything you ever wanted to know about dressage
as understood by a reporter who is apparently just coming
to grips with such an understanding - even misinterpreting
Stephen Colbert's efforts to make dressage "the official
sport of Everyman for this summer".

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/08/01/rafalca/


~jwf~

Stephen Colbert, in questioning a dressage trainer,
asked how the sport evolved, especially considering
that horses are traditionally used in warfare. He
tried to imagine the first warhorse who had to tell
his dad, "But I don't wanna go to war. I wanna dance."

The LA Times sees Colbert's satirical approach as the
best thing that's ever happened to dressage.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-0803-oly-elliott-20120803,0,1471649.column

"Colbert's antics might be the best thing that has happened to dressage in a long time.

"We've totally engaged with him," said James Wolf, executive director of sports programs for the U.S. Equestrian Federation. "He's a satirist and he pokes fun at everyone. We do compete in top hat and tails. You've got to be able to laugh at yourself."


~jwf~

For the record, GB is doing very well in dressage.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/03/london-2012-charlotte-dujardin-dressage?newsfeed=true


~jwf~

And a Canadian rider has broken with one
of the great traditions of dressage by
refusing to wear a top hat.

http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/08/03/rider-makes-olympic-dressage-history-hard-hat/#.UBwSdvZlRd0


~jwf~

And if you think helmets are a good idea for riders,
wait'll you see the new airbags they have.
http://www.pointtwousa.com/
If you get thrown they inflate before you hit the ground.

~jwf~

one of the guys at work told me today that the members of the South Korean (men's) football team have been told that if they get a medal (whatever colour) they are excused military service.

As someone who has never, and I mean never, enjoyed soccer
I found myself watching the Women's between GB and Canada
in Coventry for the past 45 minutes.

It confirmed for me why I think it is such a cruel sport.
It's like monkey-in-the-middle. All that running about to
be frustrated when you get near the ball as the possessor
kicks it awy to someone else. On and on it goes.

Anyway, at the half Canada leads GB 2-0.

~jwf~

Oh well done Andy Murray

Shame he can't be Djokovic when it's important eh?

My evening's viewing has been characterised by alternating impressive triumph and brave defeat:

‎1. Vicki Pendleton wins the women's keirin. Did you see her kick just before the last lap? It left the rest of the field looking like they were walking!
2. Rebecca Adlington trying to look in two directions at once, while expending more effort in 800m than I have in the last month, and losing out to a dark horse who was instants off (Adlington's) world record time. I was also pleased to see her mount a spirited opposition in the interview afterwards to the attitude that "Third is second loser," often espoused by people who couldn't complete this event in the time it took the _last loser_ to complete it, get out of the pool, do a couple of interviews for their home media, dry off and get changed.
3. Andy Murray going toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovich, who has looked at times in the last year or more like he is anatomically incapable of losing a tennis match, and overcoming him. Apart from the great tennis, it was also nice to see both players emoting throughout, thus implying they may actually have personalities.
4. The British women footballers really didn't play badly in what I saw of their match against Canada. They just met a team who were playing even better. This is a marked contrast to the England men who, when they lose, generally seem to me to lose abjectly, with very few positives to look to.

I'm not sure that the hats they wear in dressage are actually top hats, as such, as I think they're 5 and something inches tall, a little shy of the height of a true formal top hat... err... I'm sure there's a name for them, I just can't remember kinda like the height of a deadmans hat, only without the turned up brim, and of course with a wider brim... think the brim might be a shade under the width for a formal top hat too... I'm thinking of buying one once I've got my pith helmut, as I can't seem to find any decent stove pipe hats for sale, and a proper topper would just be too* formal for wearing with jeans and a coffee stained shirt...
Anyone up for doing a joint effort guide entry on dressage?

As I posted on my facebook, Victoria Pendleton seemed to have an unfair advantage in the keirin final: her bike must have had a 'later suckers' button on it for her to make the rest of the field look so pedestrian.

The British dominance in the track cycling does take the mickey a bit, for most events no-one else even looks close. The mens team pursuit showed that up as did the womens team sprint: they beat the word record and made it look easy.

I'm up for a joint effort on dressage...my contribution might be along the lines of how to fall in love with a horse

This is true to an extent, but on the other hand, look at the pool: http://www.london2012.com/swimming/medals/
Note that the USA have 14 gold medals right now. The rest of the world put together have... 14 gold medals.

That was no walkover by Pendleton. She beat off a *very* strong challenge by the Chinese competitor. Awesome.

She also Shone, as a Woman

The women's basketball was also incredibly close, and while their extra time defeat may mean that they didn't win a match, they certainly gave it their all and did not make it easy for France.