Eddie the Eagle

[Andy in Sig]

What with all this winter mullarkey going on in Vancouver the conversation turned to it at coffee this morning and one of my German colleagues pointed out how it is that everybody remembers Eddie the Eagle and that whoever won the event is completely forgotten.

It also made me remember that Mr E was ready to jump for Britain in the following Olympics but some t**t at the British Olympic Association (or whatever it's called) said that funding/assistance would be refused him because he "didn't represent the image they wanted to project" or similar. The apparatchik who said that is also long forgotten as are the long chain of no hopers who got funding presumably because they did have the right image.

Eddie the Eagle was to me one of the things which sport should be about: getting stuck in and not giving up. So here's raising an imaginary glass to him: well done that man.

 

[Fnaar]

 

[Crackle]

I was looking for Eddie The Eagle on youtube and found this instead


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q4lzpUxK_0&feature=related

 

[Crackle]

OK, now I've got him


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jDB6q9wCk&feature=related

 

[Hilldodger]

He later did a law degree at Leicester Uni and I met him a few times down the pub. Nice guy.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

he truly represented the 'plucky amateur' which the professionalism has all but driven out with performance minimums meaning that being the best in your country is not necessarily a ticket to the games…

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

I've met him skiing. He's the best technical skier I've ever been on a slope with.

 

[Theseus]

I have a lot of respect for the man considering the facilities he had to train with. He probably still holds the British record.

 

[colly]

What with all this winter mullarkey going on in Vancouver the conversation turned to it at coffee this morning and one of my German colleagues pointed out how it is that everybody remembers Eddie the Eagle and that whoever won the event is completely forgotten.

It also made me remember that Mr E was ready to jump for Britain in the following Olympics but some t**t at the British Olympic Association (or whatever it's called) said that funding/assistance would be refused him because he "didn't represent the image they wanted to project" or similar. The apparatchik who said that is also long forgotten as are the long chain of no hopers who got funding presumably because they did have the right image.

Eddie the Eagle was to me one of the things which sport should be about: getting stuck in and not giving up. So here's raising an imaginary glass to him: well done that man.

+1


A much maligned athlete IMO.

He may not have been the best ski jumper but he was the best ski jumper WE had. He was a creditable skier in his own right.

What a pompous arse that official was ( probably still is).

 

[ASC1951]

he truly represented the 'plucky amateur' which the professionalism has all but driven out with performance minimums meaning that being the best in your country is not necessarily a ticket to the games…

I have some sympathy with the IOC view. It was supposed to be a competition between athletes, not countries.

I mean, who would want to watch me and three mates enter as a beach volleyball team if there isn't a UK side, just because we could afford the plane fare?

 

[accountantpete]

+1


A much maligned athlete IMO.

He may not have been the best ski jumper but he was the best ski jumper WE had. He was a creditable skier in his own right.

What a pompous arse that official was ( probably still is).

The same applies to many of his fellow competitors at the time who muttered about the effect of his participation on the ski jumping's public standing.

 

[BigSteev]

I have a lot of respect for the man considering the facilities he had to train with. He probably still holds the British record.

Afraid not. It was beaten a few years back by someone nowhere near as memorable*


*I can't remember his name.

 

[Fnaar]

Sid the Sparrow

 

[Over The Hill]

Don't we have enough crap sportsmen and crap eurovision entries to be getting along with as it is?

 

[rich p]

It's worth reading his Wiki entry. Much maligned bloke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_the_eagle