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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2013 8:16:32 GMT -5
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Post by ahinton on Nov 24, 2013 16:23:40 GMT -5
I confess to being unable to understand the question or your motivation in asking it because I cannot imagine what "purpose" it might serve, but that's only my view...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2013 22:58:18 GMT -5
The question is about war, Mr. Hinton, among other things. And one cannot help imagining the following exchange:
Neville Chamberlain: ". . . consequently this country is at war with Germany." Messieurs Hinton, etc. (in shrill chorus): "It's a deliberate wind-up!"
Oh and the booby with the tattoo is quite the show-off is he not?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2013 4:13:02 GMT -5
There is a sense in which the sport of hunting, for example, formed an essential element of military accomplishment in medieval Europe, so the purpose of sport can be thought of as good training for war. Of course, you could argue that we don't have wars any more, but any reading of the twentieth century, for example, would suggest that wars are becoming increasingly destructive, and that conflict remains an essential element within the human condition. As for cricket, well, it is a quintessentially English sport, of which the Celts of Ireland, Scotland and Wales tend to exclude themselves, so it provides an essential element of cultural identity for those who understand the rules of the game, for example, in Australia. But does not music offer essential elements of cultural identity too, Sydney?
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Post by ahinton on Nov 25, 2013 6:27:23 GMT -5
The question is about war, Mr. Hinton, among other things. Is it really? Well, it would be impossible to guess as much from the manner of its wording, namely "what, however, is the purpose of sport?" And one cannot help imagining the following exchange: Neville Chamberlain: ". . . consequently this country is at war with Germany." Messieurs Hinton, etc. (in shrill chorus): "It's a deliberate wind-up!" Which "one"? On what groundds can the said "one" not "hlep" but do this? What on earth has Chamberlain's 1939 announcement that Britain (not Australia) was at war (not competing in sport with Australia) with Germany (not Australia)? And how could I have responded, individually or as part of any "shrill chorus", to Chamberlain's announcement when I was not alive at the time when it was made? Oh and the booby with the tattoo is quite the show-off is he not? "Booby"? What is supposedly meant by that? Some of what you write here becomes increasingly bizarre and incomprehensible by the sentence and, whatever topic (if any) it might relate to, it's certainly not that of this thread which, to remind you, is Australian sport.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2013 10:05:15 GMT -5
As an Administrator here in ' The Third', I should perhaps clarify that although the topic of this thread is indeed Australian sport, my intention was to limit the discussion neither to Australia nor to sport! Of course, sport has long been an important part of Australia's cultural identity, and winning the Ashes has always been of considerable cultural importance to many Australians. For myself, I am pretty neutral about most sporting events, although I naturally hope that great fun will be had by all! In direct answer to my question in the opening post (OP), I suppose that one key purpose of sport is physical fitness, which is important to our general well-being! BBC Sport - Cricket - Ashes 2013-14 explained: The key questions answeredWhen I was still at school, ahinton, I remember chatting to the chairman of the school governors over a champagne reception with my customary dry, and very English, sense of humour. He was asking me how I had developed my indecently good googly which seemed to defy the very laws of spin. This is something with which England could have done last week at the Gabba in Brisbane. I explained how the leg spinner's prize weapon, as bowled properly, was almost undetectable, and then offered to give a practical demonstration. My old English teacher threw a particularly old cricket ball at me. Here it is again, if only for everyone reading ' The Third'. A googly, or a "wrong'un", is a delivery which looks like a normal leg spinner but actually turns towards the batsman, like an off break, rather than away from the bat. Unlike a normal leg break, a googly is delivered out of the back of the hand, with your wrist 180 degrees to the ground. In terms of the dark art of spin, here is a quick masterclass, which would have impressed even Shane Warne, arguably the greatest leg spinner of all time: The chairman of the governors listened carefully to this explanation, and then replied, "You know, kleines c, the Almighty gave the English cricket as a foretaste of eternity." As for tattoos, I note that they have become increasingly fashionable of late, although I do not sport any tattoos myself, Sydney!
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Post by ahinton on Nov 25, 2013 10:21:05 GMT -5
As an Administrator here in ' The Third', I should perhaps clarify that although the topic of this thread is indeed Australian sport, my intention was to limit the discussion neither to Australia nor to sport! Of course, sport has long been an important part of Australia's cultural identity, and winning the Ashes has always been of considerable cultural importance to many Australians. BBC Sport - Cricket - Ashes 2013-14 explained: The key questions answeredWhen I was still at school, ahinton, I remember chatting to the chairman of the school governors over a champagne reception with my customary dry, and very English, sense of humour. He was asking me how I had developed my indecently good googly which seemed to defy the very laws of spin. This is something with which England could have done last week at the Gabba in Brisbane. I explained how the leg spinner's prize weapon, as bowled properly, was almost undetectable, and then offered to give a practical demonstration. My old English teacher threw a particularly old cricket ball at me. Here it is again, if only for everyone reading ' The Third'. A googly, or a "wrong'un", is a delivery which looks like a normal leg spinner but actually turns towards the batsman, like an off break, rather than away from the bat. Unlike a normal leg break, a googly is delivered out of the back of the hand, with your wrist 180 degrees to the ground. In terms of the dark art of spin, here is a quick masterclass, which would have impressed even Shane Warne, arguably the greatest leg spinner of all time: The chairman of the governors listened carefully to this explanation, and then replied, "You know, kleines c, the Almighty gave the English cricket as a foretaste of eternity." As for tattoos, I note that they have become increasingly fashionable of late, although I do not sport any tattoos myself, Sydney! That's all very well, but SG's statement that (your) "question is about war...among other things" remains entirely off-topic in a thread entitled Australian sport and indeed does itself no favours by seeking to claim that your question was about a subject that you have still not mentioned here; his reference to Chamberlain's WWII announcement is likewise of no relevance here and his purported presumption of how I did or would have responded to it is just plain absurd.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2013 10:34:45 GMT -5
On the contrary, I would agree with Sydney that the historical purpose of sport has connections with war, among other things. I should perhaps clarify that sport is not war, although some people do take competitive sport very seriously indeed. Once when I was doing a business course, a sports fanatic challenged me to a game of something, and I asked him what he would like to play. He suggested squash, a game which I can play, but not at all well. So we played, and I lost, badly, so he proceeded to tell me off for wasting his time. I found the dressing down very funny indeed! As for Sydney's Chamberlain joke, I do have an absurdist sense of humour, so at least for me, it is amusing. As for your original point, ahinton: Good health, ahinton?
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Post by ahinton on Nov 25, 2013 12:20:41 GMT -5
On the contrary, I would agree with Sydney that the historical purpose of sport has connections with war, among other things. But this is not what SG actually wrote; he imputed that the "question" - i.e. that in your opening post - was "about war", as distinct even from the matter of whether "the historical purpose of sport [does it have only one such?] has connections with war"; you made no reference to "war" in the post in which you posed your question. I should perhaps clarify that sport is not war, although some people do take competitive sport very seriously indeed. You hardly need to do that, but on what do you base your implication that sport's "historical purpose" (assuming it to have but one) is connected to "war"? I would be astonished if more than a tiny handful of professional sports practitioners over the past century or so would recognise such a connection but, in any case, I do not see it as SG's (or indeed anyone else's) place to change the subject by seeking to redefine your question! Once when I was doing a business course, a sports fanatic challenged me to a game of something, and I asked him what he would like to play. He suggested squash, a game which I can play, but not at all well. So we played, and I lost, badly, so he proceeded to tell me off for wasting his time. I found the dressing down very funny indeed! That's hardly "war" - or even "rumour of war" - though, is it?! It does however remind me of the old cliché that warns that one should not play squash to get fit but get fit to play squash... As for Sydney's Chamberlain joke, I do have an absurdist sense of humour, so at least for me, it is amusing. It backfired completely for me, I'm afraid, since all good jokes ought to have some point of relevance besides just being "funny" (which this one wasn't anyway). As for your original point, ahinton: Good health, ahinton? And good health to you! But for a more serious answer to that, see my reference to squash playing above. That said, trying to improve one's health by playing certain sports is hardly illustrative of "historical connections" between sport and war, is it?!... Australian? Sport? Tie me kangaroo down, peut-être. Now that really isn't a joke...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2013 12:37:15 GMT -5
You misunderstand me, ahinton. Good health is a purpose of sport. Of course, one does not need to play sport to enjoy good health, and plenty of people suffer all sorts of injuries as a direct result of playing their sports. Moderation in all things?
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Post by ahinton on Nov 25, 2013 13:08:08 GMT -5
You misunderstand me, ahinton. Good health is a purpose of sport. Of course, one does not need to play sport to enjoy good health, and plenty of people suffer all sorts of injuries as a direct result of playing their sports. Moderation in all things? I don't believe that I do misunderstand you. Professional sport is usually for competitive reasons (although conducting, instrumental playing, singing and composing are not sports!). Yes, some careful participation in sport can have health benefits for some people but if good health is an intended purpose of something with historical connections with war, we must have very different views about what constitutes human health!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2013 13:29:28 GMT -5
Out of interest, ahinton, what do you consider constitutes human health?
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Post by ahinton on Nov 25, 2013 16:23:59 GMT -5
Out of interest, ahinton, what do you consider constitutes human health? How can such a question be answered meaningfully? There are so many possible issues surrounding this and some will affect certain people more than others.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2013 3:52:09 GMT -5
So we shall never know! As far as Australian sport is concerned, it seems likely to me that Australians are, in general, rather healthier than the British, and one good proxy for human health is life expectancy. Australians are ranked fourth in the world, ahinton, whereas the British weigh in at twenty-seventh. Wikipedia - List of countries by life expectancyThe Japanese top the table, although they are not necessarily renowned for their sporting prowess. In general, the available data indicate that longer lifespans became more common recently in human evolution. This increased longevity is attributed by some writers to cultural adaptations rather than genetic evolution, although some research indicates that during the Neolithic Revolution natural selection favoured increased longevity. Nevertheless, all researchers acknowledge the effect of cultural adaptations upon life expectancy. During the early 1600s in England, life expectancy was only about 35 years, largely because two-thirds of all children died before the age of four. The average life expectancy in Colonial America was under 25 years in the Virginia colony, and in New England about 40% of children failed to reach adulthood. During the Industrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically. The percentage of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5% in 1730–1749 to 31.8% in 1810–1829. Public health measures are credited with much of the recent increase in life expectancy. During the 20th century, the average lifespan in the United States increased by more than 30 years, of which 25 years can be attributed to advances in public health. In order to assess the quality of these additional years of life, 'healthy life expectancies' have been calculated for the last 30 years. Since 2001, the World Health Organization publishes statistics called Healthy life expectancy (HALE), defined as the average number of years that a person can expect to live in "full health", excluding the years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury. Since 2004, Eurostat publishes annual statistics called Healthy Life Years (HLY) based on reported activity limitations. The United States of America uses similar indicators in the framework of their nationwide health promotion and disease prevention plan "Healthy People 2010". An increasing number of countries are using health expectancy indicators to monitor the health of their population. Wikipedia - Life expectancyUpon reflection, I would guess that a good walk is probably healthier for me than a game of squash, particularly if I am wasting the sports fanatic's time! My Australian cousins would probably beg to differ, Sydney.
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Post by ahinton on Nov 26, 2013 3:54:55 GMT -5
Who can say? Not from me, for sure, but I'm not the only person to ask!
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