[HPFGU-OTChatter] Britishisms & Bowling

[Shaun Hately]

On 12 Jan 2004 at 20:02, Kathryn Cawte wrote:

> Now I'm not an expert on the rules or origin of either sport but that's my
> take on it. Saying Ten Pin Bowling is British because Skittles has a long
> history is like saying American Football is British because Rugby is -
> although there's probably more Brits willing to claim Bowling than American
> Football, since there's something slightly odd about guys who claim to be
> macho but feel the need to strap on ten pounds of padding just to play rugby
> .... (<eg> yes I know that the padding is as much or more about bulking the
> player up to do damage to his opponent as for protection, but it still looks
> wimpy to me)

I played rugby at school. When I was 16, we had an exchange going 
with related schools overseas, so we had some American students 
with us for quite a while, including some apparently very good 
American Football players - they joined our Rugby team as the 
nearest equivalent.

They virtually had to be rebuilt after every game (-8 They were 
*extremely* impressed as to how tough we were, because we could 
play through and be virtually uninjured, while they nearly crippled 
themselves.

It took them quite a while to realise that the reason we weren't in 
absolute agony all the time is because we didn't take the types of 
risks they did - they were so used to their near body armour that 
they played as if they were covered in it, even when they weren't - 
and we didn't explain things to them because they were just so 
useful - opposing teams rapidly came to understand that there were 
three players on our team who were completely and totally insane 
and didn't care how much they hurt themselves to take you down. At 
least that's how they appeared to our opposition.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia