c4countdown

Phil H

Grade gets a big pat on the back for actually bothering to turn up to the Lords.

Phil H

James Robinson's commentary on the spoilers thread for the 30BC final was better than actually watching any of the games.

Phil H

I've just tuned in to watch the final stages of this season and it just looks such an unhappy show. Clearly not helped with Suzie being away and leaving Adrian Chiles on his lonesome and a maternity cover for Rachel but boy, it just looks such an utterly miserable production. I thought Anne was an ...

Phil H

Took me until the second half to notice Stu's "!" top.

Good game played in a good spirit, well done to both.

Phil H

One of the "other" sides of the cheese grater can be used to generate cheese slices.

(Yes, I really hadn't realised that.)

Phil H

From the BBC A campaign by PC Andrew Harper's widow to give mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency service workers has been backed by the government. I don't like this at all... It panders to the populist string-em-up mentality... I also don't think some lives are worth more than othe...

Phil H

Thomas Carey wrote: ↑Wed Nov 24, 2021 1:48 pm!

Damn, you beat me to it

Impressive [re-]debut to say the least!

Phil H

Johnson is incredibly bad at a lot of things, but this shows he still has some halfway decent political instincts (even if it was a bit of an open goal).

Phil H

500-1 pre-tournament odds for Raducanu versus (famously) 5000-1 for Leicester.

Phil H

So. Obsessed. With. Marriage.

Phil H

When everyone is so gushing and sycophantic in their praise of someone, across all media, Facebook etc., is it just me that thinks "Maybe it would be funny if they lose"? Edit - I also find the national mania slightly disturbing. There's always someone who's a bigger contrarian than me!

Phil H

I enjoyed the change from the usual shitey adverts during the breaks.

Phil H

[Triple post - drunk]

Phil H

[Double post}

Phil H

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 7:49 pm Fraser-Price beats Thopson- Herah in Diamond league 10.6 secs

Personal best for SAFP, and Thompson-Herah's 10.64 comfortably inside the previous best time ever for a second place finish (10.73, twice.)

Phil H

This Jeremy guy is pretty good value.

Phil H

The bush trimming chat at the end was great.

Phil H

Callum Todd wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 4:43 pm Who's parkrunning for this event?

Might even shave my oxters for the occasion if I'm feeling really keen.

Phil H

I found myself feeling glad that Phil didn't win today - not because of anything to do with him, but because I suspected Anne wouldn't let the 13 thing go if he went on a run.

Phil H

Japan doing really well to come 3rd. It does seem like the host nation tends to do better than they normally would. And this time it can't be down to home support. I'm guessing some events confer some inbuilt home advantage (familiarity with the track/venue, or conditions) but mostly is because the...

Phil H

Just found a site where you can map your football ground CV:

https://www.footballgroundmap.com/

Phil H

Before this year, the under-18 record for men's 200m was Usain Bolt's 20.11 - although, confusingly, his 19.93 at age 17 isn't counted as an under-18 time because he turned 18 later that year. However, Erriyon Knighton has now run faster than 20.11 seven times, including two times quicker than 19.93...

Phil H

Interestingly enough, every athlete in this year's 800m women's final ran a better time than the same-placed athlete in 2016, when the DSD rules weren't in operation. So perhaps a point against the need for such rules, but also a point towards doping suspicions?

Phil H

World records are tumbling. Maybe the track as well - the shoes must make some difference, but it's not as if records have been getting broken every week this season. Is this year really such an outlier though? We had two world records in Rio; the seventh-placed athlete behind Rudisha when he set h...

Phil H

Elaine Thompson runs 21.66 in the 200m semi-final. 21.60 or better in the final, which now looks within reach, would give her the "non-FloJo" record in both 100 and 200m.

Phil H

Dina Asher-Smith doesn't make the 100m final but her teammate Daryll Neita takes one of the "fastest loser" spots by 1/1000th of a second. Very much enjoyed the Eurosport commentator trying to create a sense of anticipation: "This field - is ab-so-lute-ly - stacked." Eh, well aye...

Phil H

Fred Mumford wrote: ↑Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:51 am Flo-Jo's world records... should be ignored

I agree they're highly suspicious, but in a way it doesn't matter. Until/unless the governing bodies agree, it'd be very controversial for the athlete with the next best time to go about calling herself the record holder.

Phil H

I also see Jakob Ingebrigtsen as quite a big deal, and if he can win a gold I'll think he'll get quite a lot of publicity. Agreed. Grant Holloway in the hurdles is another one - he might not get that much publicity "just" for winning the gold as he probably will, but if he breaks the worl...

Phil H

Is [Eliud Kipchoge] a full-on household name? I wouldn't say he's a household name. You also have to factor in the not insignificant number of people who would take one look at that name and not even consider trying to remember it. I might submit Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as the most famous globally,...

Phil H

When you talk about Athletics and popularity of athletes, really you're talking about the 100m (and potentially 200m). Michael Phelps is considerably more famous than any long jumper/high jumper/hurdler etc. Hmm... If we're talking UK/Ire only, then Farah, for one, would be more famous, and I think...

Phil H

When it comes to Usain Bolt's fame, he's obviously incredibly famous but he is also a sample of one, so I'm not sure it proves that much. ... And it's not as if the athletics is full of household names right now. I don't think a swimmer could ever be as famous as Bolt, probably not as famous as Ben...

Phil H

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:32 am
Not even the aquatics centre? I would argue that's equally as big as the athletics itself, frankly, especially the swimming and diving.

No chance. I'm not even confident that I'd recognise Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe in the street. How many people would fail to recognise Usain Bolt?

Phil H

Team GB's women kick off the Olympic tournament at 8.30am tomorrow against Chile, with the men's tournament starting the following day. As usual, the US will have the strongest women's team - at first I thought being midway through their own season would work against them, but the opposite might tur...

Phil H

I don't know enough either way to know how big a difference drugs make. Obviously enough to be worth it at a certain level, but I assume a clean Ben Johnson would still have been comfortably sub-11, at least.

Phil H

I'm still 50:50 on whether the suggestion is that this dude took a course of steroids just for a seventh-place finish in Braintree parkrun.

Phil H

Getting excited about your team's prospects when you've reached a semi-final is not "entitlement". I think this is fairly wilful refusal to see what's there. For what it's worth, I think many Scots have a similar sense of entitlement when it comes to qualifying for tournaments. A few year...

Phil H

I usually avoid Twitter. Top search was Harry Kane saying they can regroup for the World Cup. Second result was a group of England fans with a 10 year plan to win the world cup. Having a plan isn't the same as being in a great place. This idea that England fans are "entitled" is 50 years ...

Phil H

Paul Worsley wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:34 pm I doubt you'll find a single England fan that thinks we're in "a great place to win the World Cup".

Ha, for real?

I think one knows otherwise without needing any proof, but just to be sure, I went and whacked "win world cup" into a Twitter search, and it was as I expected.

Phil H

None of the teams left in the tournament are close to the level of Spain in 2012 or France in 2000 Obviously I'm no expert in football but I did watch some of Euro 2000 and were France even the best team in that? I felt the Netherlands were. They lost to Italy in a 1 in a million statistical fluke ...

Phil H

Are England that good or are the rest of Europe mediocre? It's all relative. England have a very decent squad but there's been an element of luck in others being affected by injury (Belgium) and in-fighting (France). None of the teams left in the tournament are close to the level of Spain in 2012 o...

Phil H

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 9:20 pm Im not sure when he was unreal at free kicks but not for at least 5 years

Scored that one v Spain in the 2018 World Cup

Phil H

I don't know if R9 quite had the discipline to reach Messi/CR7 levels of consistency, but I did love him more. He would certainly have a good case to be the best u-21 player of all time.

Phil H

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:48 pm What is that down to though?

Phil H

would Balotelli necessarily have got his teams to win titles if he as just one person had been better motivated or disciplined? Not so much that he would have got lesser teams to win titles, but that he might have been coveted by teams full of other top-tier players. Callum on good form in the last...

Phil H

I think the difference between Ronalso and Messi is Messi is a natural talent but Ronaldo has worked so hard to get wjere he is One of the biggest myths going. There's no way Messi would have achieved the consistency he has without constantly working on it, and nor would the 17-year-old Ronaldo hav...

Phil H

Belgium (without De Bruyne) Is having to come from behind against Denmark any worse than "only" narrowly beating ten-man Wales? I'd expect a right good match between Belgium and Italy if both make the quarters, and personally I prefer the best players to beat the best systems, i.e. Belgiu...

Phil H

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 9:02 pm Ronaldo has won more trophies than Messi

Not so.

Phil H

I'm Messi and arse if anyone's interested.

Phil H

[Double post - again - sorry]

Phil H

What is wrong with UEFA? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/57564093 Neur also censured for wearing a rainbow captains armband No poppies But taking the knee ok Well, it was announced before this that Neuer won't be censured, and refusing permission for poppies was a FIFA decision rather tha...

Phil H

"The report faced immediate opposition, including from among the committee's own members... [One member] said she disowned the report and had submitted her own alternative version, which was voted down by the Tory majority." https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jun/21/tory-mps-accuse...

Phil H

It seems that white working class pupils have been let down . But this generally goes under-reported. And it shows how unhelpful and simplistic terms like "white privilege" are. Edit - I wonder if Countdown will have a special "working class" edition? Who had "Gev turns Tor...

Phil H

The peaking too soon thing sounds like superstition. I tend to agree. It's true that none of the eventual World Cup and Euros winners since 2008 won all three group games, but Portugal in 2016 is very much an outlier nevertheless. All the other tournament winners still managed to come first in thei...

Phil H

[Double post]

Phil H

Who are people tipping to win the Euros then? Obviously Italy have been impressive, but I still think that France beat them or anyone else head-to-head if they play to their potential. Making predictions in a largely knockout tournament is always hazardous, though - all it takes is a Covid outbreak...

Phil H

FWIW: - Agree that the players should be given top billing in the final & if push came to shove, S2 final did this better than S3 - Don't mind the length, quite like the room for flexibility - If anything I prefer all the maxes etc to be given - Do tend to agree with Graeme that best to avoid su...

Phil H

There's no law against me farting in Priti Patel's face, so I'm sure she'd defend my right to do so.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 65409.html

Phil H

Compelled speech on a philosophical, political, or moral topic is a bad thing, yes. This is not the same as going along with something more trivial out of politeness. So what does taking the knee 'say' ? If something, it's compelled speech when people feel compelled to do it. If nothing, then why d...

Phil H

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:25 am can i mention the compulsion for young Germans to join the Hitler youth

To be honest, it sounds like you knew on some level that this was a ridiculous point - so why go ahead and post it anyway?

Phil H

Excellent points, well made. I suppose my question then, is that necessarily a bad thing? Exactly - I don't disagree with Callum as such, but there are many situations in life where it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that one felt compelled to do X or Y, but doing so would simply be seen as basic pol...

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