The gall of the guy that was a part of a Conservative government that sold off all the school playing fields complaining about private schools winning half the medals is amazing. I am amazed that half of the medals come from outside public schools considering this and the almost total focus on subjects that count in the league tables.

Murdoch is an even bigger cunt in that article; picking on "the aversion to competitive sports in state schools" is willfully perverse given the real pressures schools face.

Well, Murdoch can obviously fuck off with his opinion on anything but why the Telegraph is reporting that, I don't know

An utter bollocks of a non-contraversy.

It reflects the public school/university nature of rowers as much as anything. There were 6 rowing medals last time, but 25 medallists. Compare that with eg canoeing where we won 2 medals, both in individual events, and the same bloke who should be more famous. Tim Brabants. Who is also a doctor. (Not sure if he's state school but you get the point).

A look at the rowers suggests that university was more important than school anyway. Wonderful though their efforts have been, it's possibly a bit harder to win a medal in athletics, for example, which is a state schooler sport. No doubt the reason we don't hammer those Americans is down to lefty teachers.

For a nice antidote to the Whiggish bollocks talked about school sport, check out Victoria Pendleton's school. Very good reputation for sport, went into special measures.

As an aside, you can sell off playing fields and still improve sports facilities. Someone on another forum said his old school replaced a shitty field with a proper gym. I doubt Moynihan's lot did that.

On this theme, a chap on another board (who yields to no-one in hating the Tories or Blairites) posted this:



You can add in income from letting the astro pitch out to the equation too.

As another wise man on their said, "selling off playing fields" has a touch of "bobbies on the beat" about it- nostalgic, easily understood, simplistic.

Harold McMillan had it right when he talked about selling off the family silver. There may be a decent reason to do that (as he indeed thought there was with some privatisations, contrary to how some people understood) but there's a big problem if you get used to living off the proceeds.

Colin Moynihan Is A Hockey Hooligan mp3.

A Tory MP on the Radio said that in British state schools, kids get bullied for being good at sport. I find that sort of thing to be really frightening - this is why they win, I think - if you're prepared to lie so brazenly, so needlessly, you're impervious to anything, aren't you? Who can stop you?

Jesus Christ. Utter fucking bollocks.

Was he called David Davies, by any chance? The clown that's MP for Monmouth.

It was a female MP, I can't remember who - no one I'd heard of before

Angela Watkinson?

Possibly, yeah

The olympic rowing competition is taking place in Eton's private rowing lake. I just thought I'd throw that in there.

Aye, it would have been fairer had they held it at Coleraine Inst's on the Bann, Campbell and the Chambers brothers would defo have golded then. Not that I have entirely fond memories of the Culchie shithole, having been concussed there once in an U-15 rugby game. When I came round, they told me I was Willie John McBride and stuck me in a lineout.

Colin Moynihan is one of two senior politicians at whom I've hurled an over-ripe tomato. The other: Mary McAleesenthal.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Why is it sunny today?

Oh and fuck off Colin Moynihan.

I have just got in and wanted to check - Tubby, are you disagreeing with me in any shape or form?

Oh shit, no! The non-contraversy wasn't you, it was the rubbish Moynihan and others are trying to get going. Or were, until the athletics started and state schoolers were conspicuous by their presence.

It won't surprise you who's struck the lowest blow so far. Toby Young:




Now you might notice something interesting there- "most teachers". Because, the article in the TES is actually called "My best teacher"



And anyway, state schools must be wondering what they're supposed to do. Wasn't it all about "international league tables" for the 3Rs?

Where are Finland, Singapore and all in the medals tables?

Finland think sport is best used to stop people dropping dead of heart attacks.

On the issue of selling pitches, I take the point about replacing a field with a facility, but I think there's something different about a field in which kids can play, as opposed to a facility in which they must be coached (in which letting kids dick around is against the legal agreement with the leisure company who own it to use in the evenings etc.

You do have a point there. Fields on the school sites are just that - a place where kids can run around letting off energy, playing tag, pick-up games of football, rugby, football or whatever.

To be honest, we are splitting hairs to an extent. The Tories sold off the land that the fields were on so that, in many places, there is no space to have the 3G pitches. I am the first to criticise New Labour's continuation of Thatcherite policies in education but, at least, their ring-fencing of school sports money slowed the decline of playing fields

As important was planning policy guidance 17 and Sport England being granted statutory consultee status in 1996. The first gave planning authorities the ability to object to a change of use if there wasn't an equal or better facility. As many councils were part of the problem (they needed the sale to balance school books), the second change made Sport England able to object to any such change, which meant that the council couldn't railroad it through, and there was an appellant outside the community who only cared for sporting facilities.

It was quite widely reported that Tom Daley was bullied about his diving when he was at school. Don't know if it's happened to others but that may have been behind her point.