Seriously dude… it’s a real grass roots thing, loads of village clubs, especially in places like Fife, and after work leagues. If you know The Meadows in Edinburgh, there’ll be three of four games going on there every week day evening in the summer.

Stick throwing is a strictly highland thing along with Shinty.

On the Scottish front, while fitba is undoubtedly the king os sports, there are more cricket clubs per head of population in Scotland than any other part of the UK and more Scots play cricket than Rugby.

Rugby, when it is going well, and we have a champagne team at the moment (by Northern Hemisphere standards anyway), transcends all that social stuff, and football is an English/ Scottish thing, so Rugby is the prime Irish product at the moment, apart from Rory McIlroy, and I believe the volleyball team who are in the quarter final of some big competition somewhere

Otherwise most our superstars seem to be (well, in the North anyway) alcoholic lunatics with their finger always within touching distance of the big red self destruct button, and best allowed to fade into the past

@Oli
maybe best thought of as exploratory international dialogue

Now I’m off for hill repeats and an ice bath.

@ChrisO

@Marcus and FrankJust to be totally clear and pedantic the UK and GB are not the same thing.Officially it is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Great Britain was formed after the union of England and Wales with Scotland.Later they formed the United Kingdom by a further union with Ireland, as it then was, now Northern Ireland only.I think technically by referring to England you also include the Welsh, as Wales is part of the Kingdom of England.

Spectacular work. I loves me a good History lesson, especially one that justifies for me my confusion on the subject.
One of the most beautiful things about Europe is how small all the countries are and how fiercely nationalistic their peoples are. It’s a beautiful thing.

Actually, Wales is not included into England (especially these days). The Welsh, like the English, are a distinct national identity, with a seperate language, cultural and historical tradition. True, Wales was occupied by the Crown, but not exterminated or assimilated into England. These days, Cymru (Wales) has devolved self-government. Welsh is spoken as a first language by more than a quarter of the population. They are not English.

Sorry, very superficial of me. I’ll comment on her ass instead ;-)

Sounds more American trailer park to me,

@Marcus

You only needed to say we’ve got Kylie for the win!

Scherri-Lee ?
Family name is it ?
Australia… Essex in sovereign-nation form.

Seriously, you’re commenting on her name?

sadly nothing in league to offer you from the Emerald Isle

Family name is it ?

Australia… Essex in sovereign-nation form.

So far, this seemingly innocent T-Bone post has brought on history lessons, treatises on sport and a high degree of nationalistic fervor. However, the question of “Who Has The Best Country?” cannot be answered on the road, nor by any sort of geo-political measure.

That’s right, there is only truly global (and beyond) competition. To that end I give you Scherri-Lee Biggs – Australia’s newly crowned contender for this year’s Miss Universe title.

Do the Brits submit a Miss England, GB or UK??

I know this breaks the rules on bikini photo posting – but rules are there to be broken Frank.

I was less sure about the Irish. I know rugby has some massive strongholds but was wondering if a substantial part of the population, if not a majority, might care more for Gaelic football ? Particularly in some parts of the country ?

Pretty much everywhere rugby union is played it seems to compete as the second or a localised/stratified game rather than the main national sport. Apart from Wales and Kiwiland.

Doctoral thesis in there somewhere.

Au contriare on the Irish Rugby thing, it is the only thing we care about, as we are shit all use at anything else internationally (apart from fishing and rolling stones down country lanes in Cork)

Maybe I should be going for the intermediate sprints.

Why are you now Msrcus ?

Yes I know Green Edge but at the same time a year ago Pegasus was on the way and it turned out to be as mythical as the original.

Continuing the classical theme… a little less hubris would do the Aussie image some good after that debacle :-) They should learn from Sky who came in waving their swords and found they were at a gunfight.

And to be fair, more than half the English and Scots couldn’t give a fuck about rugby either, and I suspect quite a lot of Irish too. Rugby is probably comparable to football/soccer in Australia. It’s League in the north and football everywhere. As in Oz, rugby is predominantly a middle class and localised sport.

The Welsh are the only ones who really care on a national scale, apart from the Kiwis.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-7-VAN-CINELLI-Allen-Wrench-/290583037637?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a81946c5#ht_5446wt_1270

America fuck yeah.

and the Ashes was really a gift to the English…..

a gift they keep on giving. They certainly didn’t fight for it!

bit too much of this going on yesterday – did Tomeke make the start line for today? – he looked on a fuckload of pain yesterday

is that Cav in the picture foreground?

@frank @ChrisO Oh yes, and that particular cycling team called Sky is ultimately owned by the second-most famous Australian-turned-American in the world (Mel Gibson is the most famous).

@ChrisO

@Marcus
Yes and it even managed to employ some Aussies… I mean it’s not like they have their own team is it ;-)

And we wonder why a Kiwi gets upset when we asked if they are an Aussie – when Aus tries to become friends with USA by inviting Oprah round for a free holiday…. that said, Nathan Outteridge is an extremely nice chap (I suspect he is a really Kiwi)

Anyway, we know you are only joshing, and the Ashes was really a gift to the English…..

@Marcus
Yes and it even managed to employ some Aussies… I mean it’s not like they have their own team is it ;-)

If the rugby sports reporting in some of the Australian papers is anything to go by it wouldn’t surprise me if the British members of the team never get a mention or the team is described as being Australian.

Yes and it even managed to employ some Aussies… I mean it’s not like they have their own team is it ;-)

@ChrisO

@Marcus and FrankJust to be totally clear and pedantic the UK and GB are not the same thing.Officially it is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Great Britain was formed after the union of England and Wales with Scotland.Later they formed the United Kingdom by a further union with Ireland, as it then was, now Northern Ireland only.I think technically by referring to England you also include the Welsh, as Wales is part of the Kingdom of England.

Spectacular work. I loves me a good History lesson, especially one that justifies for me my confusion on the subject.
One of the most beautiful things about Europe is how small all the countries are and how fiercely nationalistic their peoples are. It’s a beautiful thing.

And for all those countries, Great Britain has now founded a cycling team with Bradley Wiggins as a GC hope. HaHaHa.

@Marcus and Frank
Just to be totally clear and pedantic the UK and GB are not the same thing.
Officially it is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain was formed after the union of England and Wales with Scotland.
Later they formed the United Kingdom by a further union with Ireland, as it then was, now Northern Ireland only.
I think technically by referring to England you also include the Welsh, as Wales is part of the Kingdom of England.

Spectacular work. I loves me a good History lesson, especially one that justifies for me my confusion on the subject.

One of the most beautiful things about Europe is how small all the countries are and how fiercely nationalistic their peoples are. It’s a beautiful thing.

@Marcus and Frank
Just to be totally clear and pedantic the UK and GB are not the same thing.
Officially it is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain was formed after the union of England and Wales with Scotland.
Later they formed the United Kingdom by a further union with Ireland, as it then was, now Northern Ireland only.
I think technically by referring to England you also include the Welsh, as Wales is part of the Kingdom of England.

And clearer still; Since the 1998 “Good Friday” peace agreement, citizens of Northern Ireland can refer to themselves as British, even though they are not. And I always thought that Wales is a “principality”. Hence the heir apparent is alwas the “prince of wales”. Now…on with the cycling.

@Chris
Fuckall, that’s some funny stuff!
http://youtu.be/RZjLATAUwao
I tihnk we need to come up with a Velominati routine involving V-Kit and Silca frame pumps. Great post-ride activity for Cogals!

Frank was talking about a Velominati cross team, that would fuck with the oposition on the start line. No warm up on the rollers for the Keepers!

@Jeff in PetroMetro

Rule #69 old chap, dancing shoes only please!

http://youtu.be/RZjLATAUwao

I tihnk we need to come up with a Velominati routine involving V-Kit and Silca frame pumps. Great post-ride activity for Cogals!

@zalamanda
I stand corrected.
Unlike today’s stage, carnage.
My question on the whole Austrailia thing (and with great respect, as I have chewed dirt next to those hard asses) is where do The Wiggles fit in all this? I mean, it is a wiggly wiggly world!
Does Wiggy know?

In all the time I spent watching tv early in the morning in Sydney with my daughter I don’t recall any cycling based story lines. What’s more they seem to have diversified into Rule #58 contravention in the UK with this so I suspect there is some sort of subliminal Anti V message being beamed at the kids.

@Dan_R
now that I’m caffeinated, I have to correct you. It wasn’t the Scotch per se that invented the ghilli suit it was Scottish poachers as it was the only way of blatting bambi off the lairds property and getting away with it.

Ghillie is also term for a gamekeeper or hunting/fishing guide. My understanding is it was developed by the gamekeepers to help them culling deer.

Unlike today’s stage, carnage.

My question on the whole Austrailia thing (and with great respect, as I have chewed dirt next to those hard asses) is where do The Wiggles fit in all this? I mean, it is a wiggly wiggly world!

Does Wiggy know?

Just to be totally clear and pedantic the UK and GB are not the same thing.

Officially it is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain was formed after the union of England and Wales with Scotland.

Later they formed the United Kingdom by a further union with Ireland, as it then was, now Northern Ireland only.

I think technically by referring to England you also include the Welsh, as Wales is part of the Kingdom of England.

I’d have to agree with you to a certain extent there but if you think about it Morris dancers might not dish out lashing of The V, there are aspects of what they do that you might find you have in common with them; they practice a pastime that many of their friends and colleagues find rather odd, they don outfits that cause bystanders to question their masculinity but for them is the subject of a strict code and they drink nothing but ale. Not to mention that they treat their traditions with a similar reverence that we reserve for the Classics.

At the end of the day these traditional dances are about war and sex. It’s a bit like the Kiwi’s Haka but for those that are comfortable within themselves.

Then again, they also gave us Brett …

After your lot got knocked out, and we kept on playing in the tournament, your press ‘renamed’ the NZ soccer team, ‘Australasia’. Jeez, at least keep track of the kiwis you nick and claim as your own.

@frank

@snoov

As a Scot I find it necessary to point this out as us Scots hate it when folks use England as a synonym for Great Britain or The United Kingdom, we deserve as much blame for killing indigenous peoples or enslaving them as the English.

Indeed. As a Dutchman who takes great offense to the use of the word Holland to describe The Netherlands (even though many Dutch do this themselves and it bothers them none), I would think I’d be more sensitive to that type of thing. I actually spent about 17 seconds pondering if it was England or GB and realized that I couldn’t remember which was the offending term.

Depends on the situation – Welsh, Scot, English, Irish (the Protestant ones) all label themselves British when it suits. They all love calling themselves Great Britain come the Olympics (so they can claim 2 extra non-gold medals) and when the “British Lions” play rugby…

You mean like “Australasia”, that team at the Soccer world cup? Where were they from again?

Does Pier 39 still smell like a thousand sea lions?

You never come across Morris dancers.

I wish, they have contaminated Massachusetts with their mincing nonsense. Enough I say! Fuck off back to England. Actually these are the worst kind of Morris dancers, they are American’s with delusions of English mincing. Oh the horror.

It was great to be here…

@snoov

As a Scot I find it necessary to point this out as us Scots hate it when folks use England as a synonym for Great Britain or The United Kingdom, we deserve as much blame for killing indigenous peoples or enslaving them as the English.

Indeed. As a Dutchman who takes great offense to the use of the word Holland to describe The Netherlands (even though many Dutch do this themselves and it bothers them none), I would think I’d be more sensitive to that type of thing. I actually spent about 17 seconds pondering if it was England or GB and realized that I couldn’t remember which was the offending term.

Depends on the situation – Welsh, Scot, English, Irish (the Protestant ones) all label themselves British when it suits. They all love calling themselves Great Britain come the Olympics (so they can claim 2 extra non-gold medals) and when the “British Lions” play rugby…

Chick Young would know a thing or two about being a c*nt

Also, tomorrow’s pizza special will be the “maillot a pois rouges” (french for red polka dot jersey)- tomato, ricotta, and spicy sopressata. The name is a nod to the King of the Mountains rider in the Tour de France. The ricotta and sopressata also match the polka-dotted patterning, thus the name.

We also need a lexicon list entry for the fear/feeling you get when it is the middle of summer and you see your winter riding gear.

It’s the same feeling I had during summer vacation from school when I’d see a back to school advert.@Oli

@Durishin
I’m sadly a loooong way in the wrong direction from being an adolescent, but I’m most definitely unsophisticated. I trust this assists in your understanding of the discussion.

A+1

As a Scot I find it necessary to point this out as us Scots hate it when folks use England as a synonym for Great Britain or The United Kingdom, we deserve as much blame for killing indigenous peoples or enslaving them as the English.

Indeed. As a Dutchman who takes great offense to the use of the word Holland to describe The Netherlands (even though many Dutch do this themselves and it bothers them none), I would think I’d be more sensitive to that type of thing. I actually spent about 17 seconds pondering if it was England or GB and realized that I couldn’t remember which was the offending term.

Ha I heard another version of that one, told by Chick Young who is a sports reporter over here.

Britain used to be a Kingdom ruled by a King.
Then Britain was an Empire ruled by an Empress.
Now it’s just a country.

That was insane. I don’t think I breathed for the final 3 km.

What a great finish, what a great Stage 4. I don’t know if I can keep this up for three more weeks.

I love seeing Cadel race that hard…and then hearing him talk. Wee voice for a Big Gun.

@Chris
Not bad – but the origin of that joke may have been a true parliamentary quote from PM Gough Whitlam:
Speaker: “…motion from the Country Member”
Gough: “yes we remember”

Nice, we haven’t had charisma in our politics since Trudeau died. Not that I liked the basdard, but he had charisma and he gave ugly guys something to look up to because he tagged a lot of hot tail.

Damn this stage, get to that last k.

And I spent time in a highland regiment, haggis and scotch tastes as good as it sounds, but you consumed it like it was the prom queen. The scots invented the guillie suit.

Long live the queen, because her son is a wanker. Now, her new granddaughter…

And I called Tyler on the Fourth! And I don’t see my picks on the VSP standings wtf

Speaker: “…motion from the Country Member”

Gough: “yes we remember”

@snoov
…countries like Australia who choose to keep the Queen as our head of state. If u don’t know we had a referendum a few years back and decided to keep on the Queen…

That reminds me of the of the old John Howard joke

Things are a bit rough on the popularity front for John Howard, the chirpy Australian Prime Minister, so one night after a Bundy and Coke too many, he gets on the the phone to the Queen.

“Your Majesty, mate, I’m sure my ratings would go up if I were King of Australia. It works for you”

The Queen laughs dismisively and replies, “To be a king one needs a kingdom.”

Not to be dissuaded, Johnny asks, “In that case could I not be Emperor then?”

“No, you chubby-faced chap,” snorts the Queen, “to be an Emperor you need an Empire”

Howard thinks for a moment and then asks if he could be a prince.

The Queen replies, “Australia is not a principality.”

Pausing for a sip of her tea, Her Majesty then adds: “To be quite honest, Australia is a Country and we should leave it like that…”

Of course this is in stark contrast to countries like Australia who choose to keep the Queen as our head of state. If u don’t know we had a referendum a few years back and decided to keep on the Queen. As far as I can tell the compelling reason for most of us is that we were worried we would lose the Queens birthday public holiday.

@Durishin
R u fucking serious? The language around here has never been particularly mature.

regarding the Cav question, perhaps this diagram will give you a better understanding, albeit the Renshaw suit was originally a female draft

it’s actually a little Manxman in there

Do they really mention increasing your average speed? If so, that’s awesome…

I always choose my next bike based on my avg speed.

T-Bone flashes the W, Feillu clenches his fist, JJ Rojas adjusts his shoe tightness, Hinault hangs his head, Cav sits in, and Thor flashes the pearl whites…

That’s because he is wearing a full Fedex sponsored Mark Renshaw Lookalike Fancy Dress Party Skinsuit, head, bike and all, which he bursts out of with about 15 metres to the line – hope that solves the riddle

When I see my winter tights at the back of my drawer in the middle of July, when it’s 103*F out, I wonder how I ever manage to pull on all that junk – tights, cap, booties – and get out the door. The thought of having to pull on all that stuff makes me want to quit cycling.

I’ve experienced that woozy feeling as I try to hold on to the rear wheel of my cycling companions as we get close to the end of our rides. I hadn’t realised that everyone gets it – thought I hadn’t eaten the correct combination of velocombustibles.

The language here has taken a decided turn towards the unsophisticated and adolescent.

@Oli

@Chris

@snoov

As an American and having a limited education courtesy of our public school system, this is the only frame of reference I have concerning this conversation.

So then, now that I’ve gotten all pessimistic about the GC, what am I looking forward to? Panache, fucktards. I wanna see Faboo tow Frandy through the TTT for Leotard Schleck (thanks Dr C) and then make some perfect amount of dumb remark afterward. I wanna see Cavenisgrowingonmedish win some sprints. I wanna see Farrar beat The Manx Mouth in some sprints or cry trying. I wanna believe in the Rainbow Jersey again. I wanna see if Tomeke still has what it takes. I wanna see Jens hurt EVERYBODY. I wanna see some Russian or Spanish dude I’ve never heard of have the ride of his life and shed some tears on the podium, and I wanna see Gilbert on a long solo break on his birthday get himself a stage win and maybe even the yellow jersey for a bit.

Only three days in and I’ve already gone five for eight. Vive le Tour!

Who was the 2nd guy leading out T-Bone? Thor &…?

Awesome to see Thor over Farrar’s shoulder smiling like a kid. You could tell how happy he was for his teammate.

And, I’m having trouble picking Cavendish out in the pack. He’s so skinny these days I don’t recognize him.

It can’t be that the Morris People are targeting Kiwi’s otherwise they would all be in Earls Court.

you’re bit too clever for your own good. That’s a London thing. They wouldn’t get it. I think the Yanks are still asleep or hugging the porcelain phone calling Ralph or Huey.

@Chris

@snoov

I have one small correction to make… …us Scots… …deserve as much blame for killing indigenous peoples or enslaving them as the English.

You never come across Morris dancers.

This is not true. For many years every hungover Sunday stroll along the Oriental Bay Parade here in Wellington, New Zealand would be interrupted by the jingling sticks and wildly flung handkerchiefs of the Morris People – at times their to-and-fro “dancing” would block the entire promenade!

I had long suspected the Peruvian thing was personal persecution, maybe the pipers as well (I’m sure the same group of Peruvians has targeted me in number of cities in both hemispheres – although oddly enough not in Lima).

It can’t be that the Morris People are targeting Kiwi’s otherwise they would all be in Earls Court.