The Shit Hill You Will Die On

[simonworden]

On 12/16/2018 at 1:41 PM, Brewster McCloud said:

This is a bit like "post an unpopular opinion", but I'll take the spirit of the thread by the balls. This is very specific, and will be of interest to almost no one else, but it is a hill I'll die on: I've lived in Jakarta for the past 9 years. Expats love to slag it off because the traffic is terrible and the Indonesian government is lousy, but do you know what? I bloody love it. I will defend this maddening city until the cows come home: great food that costs a fraction of what it does in the West, lovely attractive people, such a feeling of discovery and newness. It's never boring, which is all I ask for of a city. It's a life sentence for me, and screw you if you don't like Jakarta, you grumpy old oil man drinking your vast salary away at the bar.  

Hmm Id love to be able to compare Jakarta to Saigon as the sentiments don't fully follow through after 5 years. Lots I can understand and agree on but the core programming of the government, ignorance causing environmental damage and u justness of the whole system fuck me right off. Perhaps it's not quite the same where you are. 

[seph]

4 hours ago, garynysmon said:

Particularly controversial if you're from Wales, but Rugby Union is a crock of shit. (Butch is going to kill me now)

In fairness, if I’d grown up in a foreign country I don’t think that rugby would bother me at all. I actually quite enjoyed playing it in the rare occasions we did at secondary school.

What I can’t stand is Welsh Rugby specifically and what it does to us as a country. Its been dominating the newspapers and tv for 6 weeks now, 70% of the regional news last night was taken up talking about it.

Yet we throw so much effort and attention into something that honestly does nothing to elevate us really. Go anywhere outside the former British Empire and try and bring up Gareth Edwards or George North. You will get blank looks.

During the Six Nations there are always mad celebrations that we have defeated ‘the English’ or ‘the Scots’. But honestly, what percentage of their populations genuinely give a toss? It will hardly make the back pages of their newspapers the following day, let alone the front. 

Rugby Union is a minority sport. Wales’ success at the 2016 Euros brought us more prestige worldwide than 50 grand slams ever could. 
 

That, and scrums tend to take twice as long as a VAR call in soccer (provided the players don't fall over and the ball comes in at the exact angle the referee feels is perfect), yet give no real field position advantage. You may as well force a rear pass to enable some upfield momentum.

[Devon Malcolm]

Somehow rugby league manages to be even worse than union, which is quite some effort, really.

[PunkStep]

The thing I hate about Rugby Union is that it seems to be so bloody exclusive (I have no problem with the sport itself). Not just in terms of participating in this country (generally you need to be a bit of a posh boy in England to get anywhere), but in terms of progressing the sport globally. The three Southern Hemisphere teams took a while before finally allowing Argentina to take part in their precious little annual round robin tournament. The trophies for individual matches within a tournament are a load of bollocks too and it's the same old teams that play each other all the time, every year. Yes I know Japan have progressed quite a bit, but the big swinging dicks of Rugby Union aren't going to let them grow too much are they?

But yeah, at least it isn't Rugby League (which is just for Yorkshire really, isn't it?).

[gmoney]

9 minutes ago, PunkStep said:

But yeah, at least it isn't Rugby League (which is just for Yorkshire really, isn't it?).

And Canada, for some fucking reason. 

[tiger_rick]

42 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Somehow rugby league manages to be even worse than union, which is quite some effort, really.

This is the worst opinion you've ever had.

Tory.

[Slapnut]

3 hours ago, garynysmon said:

What I can’t stand is Welsh Rugby specifically and what it does to us as a country. Its been dominating the newspapers and tv for 6 weeks now, 70% of the regional news last night was taken up talking about it.

Can’t speak for the rest of the Welsh population, but I’m personally more than happy to see a bit of joy on the news for a week or two instead of the depressing shite we’re constantly getting at the moment.

I appreciate this is the shit hill to die on thread, but I find this one particularly odd.

[Rey_Piste]

53 minutes ago, PunkStep said:

The thing I hate about Rugby Union is that it seems to be so bloody exclusive (I have no problem with the sport itself). Not just in terms of participating in this country (generally you need to be a bit of a posh boy in England to get anywhere),

But yeah, at least it isn't Rugby League (which is just for Yorkshire really, isn't it?).

I don't know if it's growing up in South Wales in the 80s and 90s, because Cardiff City and the Jack bastards were playing 3rd and 4th division football. So maybe less popular than it is now, when both teams are in the top tiers. Rugby is incredibly inclusive. No matter your size or ability there's a position for you to play in. If you're a fat bastard (AKA me) front row, Lanky beanpole second, or third row and catching the ball in lineouts. If you're a more nimble Billy Whizz type then on the wings or scrum half is for you. Class wise, back before it was a professional sport there was a mixture of doctors and lawyers, playing alongside docker and builders. 

I'll agree with you that league is a shit game only loved by Northerners.

[PunkStep]

38 minutes ago, Rey_Piste said:

I don't know if it's growing up in South Wales in the 80s and 90s, because Cardiff City and the Jack bastards were playing 3rd and 4th division football. So maybe less popular than it is now, when both teams are in the top tiers. Rugby is incredibly inclusive.

I think growing up in Wales definitely is different, which is why I specified England. It's definitely a posh boy sport in England, I think we had a similar discussion a while ago on here. I didn't mean exclusive in a physical aspect, because you're right in what you say in terms of there being a position for everyone, but for the other reasons I outlined.

[Keith Houchen]

14 minutes ago, PunkStep said:

It's definitely a posh boy sport in England,

Yep, English rugby is fully representative of colonialism via sport.  It's more a working class game everywhere else (Bar Dublin) but as Nick Hancock quipped, you can tell it was invented at a public school.  Had a lad at a comprehensive picked up the ball and ran with it, he'd have been met with "WEBB ELLIS!! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, lad" instead of "I say, Webb Ellis has invented a new game, hurrah for Webb Ellis"

Also, this.

 

[Rey_Piste]

@Keith Houchen I went to an Agricultural college in England and was on the rugby team. There were definitely more Tarquins and Quentins than Daves or Garys on it. The front row were all from working class backgrounds myself included, rest of the team did seem to all have double-barreled surnames and no chins though.

[hallicks]

I wouldn't mind rugby as much if rugby fans weren't forever comparing it to football and how much better than football it is. Talk about an inferiority complex. 

[Rey_Piste]

48 minutes ago, hallicks said:

I wouldn't mind rugby as much if rugby fans weren't forever comparing it to football and how much better than football it is. Talk about an inferiority complex. 

That's a bit of a weird one, because international rugby is rather jingoistic, the same as football. Club rugby on the other hand means you just sort of support your local club, you don't get glory hunting rugby fans, like you do with Premier sides. Rugby both nationally and internationally is a lot smaller and does lack a lot of the international appeal of football. At the end of the day it is horses for courses and the only people who I've heard espouse how great rugby is have been gobby northerners trying to say that league is better than union.

[Keith Houchen]

5 minutes ago, Rey_Piste said:

you don't get glory hunting rugby fans,

Funnily enough, nearly everyone I know in Rugby supports Leicester.  And a few Coventry fans call Wasps fans glory hunters.  Cov were saved from bankruptcy and are doing really well now, my brother and his lad go to loads of games and they enjoy it more than going to the football now.

[Rey_Piste]

1 minute ago, Keith Houchen said:

Funnily enough, nearly everyone I know in Rugby supports Leicester.  And a few Coventry fans call Wasps fans glory hunters.  Cov were saved from bankruptcy and are doing really well now, my brother and his lad go to loads of games and they enjoy it more than going to the football now.

It might be a bit different since everyone down here supports the Chiefs, with the most local teams after that are Bath and Bristol. The midlands though is a lot like London for football teams as in you're spoiled for choice and a lot of them are top tier as well.