Sporting Terms

Venues, fixtures, teams and related matters.
Neil Graham
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Sporting Terms

Post by Neil Graham » Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:27 pm

Looking at the requirements for the new 4NCL over-the-board season, I see that the box I would call "Entries" is entitled "Runners and Riders".

Frankly looking at the members of 4NCL squads the chances of them running anywhere is remote in a lot of cases.......and as for riders? I suspect there were very few chess players in the London Marathon or indeed as jockeys in the 3.30 at Ascot. There again if a tiebreak is required at the end of the season possibly a couple of laps of the hotel carpark or a visit to the velodrome might be a more entertaining spectacle than resorting to games scores or whatever.

Moving on, I see that entries will be accepted until "close of play" on October 31st. I assume that this is a sporting rather than a theatrical reference. Of course the Andrew Lloyd Webber flop "Jeeves" lasted about as long as the time remaining to the closing date - but I have discounted this and think that perhaps "close of play" refers to a cricket match though how that fits in with the 31st October I have no idea. Maybe "midnight" or some other arbitrary time would have been a better bet.

Consequently may I suggest that we kick this one into touch or into the long grass. Taking the bull by the horns, the ball is in their court - let's replace these boxes. It's after all plain sailing. You'd never catch me out using silly sporting terms!

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:56 pm

Absolutely, but in fairness I believe Lorin D'Costa did the London Marathon and played online Blitz somehow at the same time.

Anyway in the spirit of Neil's comments, I propose "Chess-Jousting", where you do ride a horse and knock the pieces into place using a lance, then gallop back the other way to hit the clock.

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Joey Stewart
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Joey Stewart » Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:06 pm

Neil Graham wrote:
Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:27 pm
You'd never catch me out using silly sporting terms!
Well, y'know, at the end of the day its a game of two colours
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

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John Upham
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by John Upham » Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:11 pm

From which sport is the term

"Winning hands down" derived?

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Andrew Martin
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Andrew Martin » Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:09 am

I believe it was a jocular term from the dim, distant past describing ECF electioneering practices. It refers to the utter uselessness of a member turning up at any meeting and putting a hand up to vote on any motion , because the result had already been decided in advance.

Is that correct?
Last edited by Andrew Martin on Wed Oct 06, 2021 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Matthew Turner
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Matthew Turner » Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:11 am

John Upham wrote:
Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:11 pm
From which sport is the term

"Winning hands down" derived?

No Search Enginining now...
I had assumed it came from bridge where you can claim a certain number of tricks and then just lay you cards down. Then the opposition can dispute the claim with the massive advantage of seeing which cards are in which hands.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:19 am

Matthew Turner wrote:
Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:11 am
I had assumed it came from bridge where you can claim a certain number of tricks and then just lay you cards down.
Google can give the perhaps surprising answer.

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Joey Stewart
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Joey Stewart » Wed Oct 06, 2021 2:50 pm

It's hard to know if Google is even right with things like this, anyone could have invented an 'origin' of that phrase and other competitor sites cut and pasted the false information (which happens more often then you would think)

I personally would have thought boxing would be a good contender for the origin - winning a boxing match without needing to put your hands up would surely mean the opposition was thoroughly outclassed.
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Oct 06, 2021 3:03 pm

Joey Stewart wrote:
Wed Oct 06, 2021 2:50 pm
It's hard to know if Google is even right with things like this, anyone could have invented an 'origin' of that phrase and other competitor sites cut and pasted the false information
They could have, but they'd have to fake a sporting publication from 1855 to do so
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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Wed Oct 06, 2021 3:31 pm

The horse-racing one is a good explanation - if your hands are down they're relaxed and the horse isn't being hurried, whereas if you're getting agitated, the horse may well speed up.

However, Andrew Martin makes a good case... I recall a BCF meeting, where they claimed (incorrectly) my organization didn't have any votes.

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John Upham
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by John Upham » Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:17 pm

In which sport is the term "5-hole" employed?
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Graham Borrowdale
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Graham Borrowdale » Thu Oct 07, 2021 8:50 am

No idea about the 5 hole - probably not golf, but maybe something American?
On the use of sporting terms, it looks more like 4NCL borrowing terms from business: close of play means the end of the business day, as in ‘get that report to me by COP on Wednesday’. Mind you, a closing date of 31 October still gives a good window of opportunity for teams to get their ducks in a row without needing to go overboard. FWIW.

John Sellen
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by John Sellen » Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:37 am

" in which sport is the term 5 hole employed "

According to Wiki it is the space between the goalies legs in ice hockey !!!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hole

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John Upham
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by John Upham » Thu Oct 07, 2021 12:45 pm

In hockey, the 5-hole is the space between the goalie’s legs. A player can score in the 5-hole by slipping the puck past the goalie’s leg and stick.
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Neil Graham
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Re: Sporting Terms

Post by Neil Graham » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:59 am

Here is an update on 4NCL entries. Which ones are running and which are riding I'm not quite sure.

Entries for the curtailed 2019-20 season were 98 in total; current entries stand at 46 though there is a week to go till close of play whenever that might be. There is a propensity for some to leave things till the last minute which cannot be helping organisation.

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