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A new European sports competition has been conceived and could start soon. The idea has been tested for years and the name for the new concept has already been registered.


'The name European Sport Contest was chosen after careful consideration,’ says Mr. Daniel Davidson, chief engineer and financier of the idea.


'I don't deny that the Eurovision Song Contest, in its name, had an influence on the naming decision,’ Davidson clarifies.


According to Davidson, the song contest can be thanked for the new sporting event, as the basic idea of ​​both is that the name does not have to correspond to the content.


Davidson, a failed singer and a poorly accomplished athlete, has already designed the basic framework for the European Sport Contest. According to the plan, athletic performance is not important, but athletes and teams should dress in eye-catching outfits and draw attention to the spectacularity of their performance. For example, a pole vaulter gets the most points if, after crossing the bar, he continues to fly like a bird over the stadium.


'Let me clarify the basic idea. For example, in the pole vault, the highest clearance, or result, is not important. Voters and political juries in different countries decide who wins. Their vote is decisive, not the sporting performance.


image from google gemini


author: Emerick Meriwether



Saturday sees the start of the 2021 Autumn Internationals, where the three ‘home nations’ – and Wales – will rugby against bigger and better rugbiers from the southern hemisphere to prove that we’re still not as good as them.


However, despite ‘fans’ confidently demanding that they do, no-one actually understands what is happening.


So, our in-house rugby expert, Hugo ‘Binky-Balls’ Hertfordshire-Pyle has produced a handy guide to help you pretend to understand the rules too.


The Game


Rugby was invented at the school which gave the sport its name – Harrow. The object of the game is for each team to rugby their way up the pitch to their opponents’ line and fall over while holding the ball. This is called a ‘try’. But it’s not as easy as it sounds! The opposing rugbiers will attempt to stop this happening by physically assaulting the person with the ball and knocking him/her to the ground.


If someone does score a try, they are then allowed to attempt kicking the ball towards the big H at the end of the pitch before a helicopter lands on it.


Players must run backwards but ensure they pass the ball forwards - if they fail to do this, they are subjected to a ritual debagging.


The Scrum


Rugby is famously a gentleman’s sport, where respect is of utmost importance. As such at various intervals in the game, play will stop to allow the eight fattest players on each team have a manly or womanly group hug. Lots of Vaseline is used.


Positions


Quite possibly you’ll have heard television commentators mention the strange names for rugby playing positions, such as prop, hooker, bingo, whinger, Barney McGrew, rabber-dabber, scrum-half, and gezuntheit. Below are explanations for the most important of these.


Prop. A fat simpleton, so-called because those playing in the position were said to 'have the brains and speed of a theatre prop.’


Hooker. A fat and deeply unpopular player who is only allowed on the team if he/she gives sexual favours to the coach.


Fly-half. A pretty boy/glamour girl who thinks they’re God. Will often be heard shouting ‘not the face’ in the vicinity of a tackle.


Whinger. A slight person who runs away from the big boys and girls. So called because he/she stands on the side of the pitch always moaning “It’s not fair; throw the ball to me!”


The Silent Raver. This is person not dressed in any of the teams’ colours and doesn’t touch the ball. They will stand beside the scrum and other fights, usually dressed in fluorescent rave garb, making rave hand signals, and blowing a whistle.


With this handy guide, you will now be able to convince others that you know what rugby is all about. Just remember to wear the uniform: your favourite team’s shirt with a pair of red trousers, sand coloured Caterpillar boots, a donkey jacket, a pint of warm beer, and an obnoxious demeanour.





First published 2 Nov 2021


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August 2024


The Paris Olympics come to an end. Britain wins 65 medals and comes in third behind the USA and China. More importantly, we are top in Europe, and we get more medals than Australia.


To tarnish Olympic success, the month is marred by summer rioting. This is fuelled by nonsense spread by social media, which is lapped up by the gullible. After warming up (ha!) on winter fuel payments, Keir Starmer continues to play the tough guy. He releases some old lags from prison to make more cells available to lock up the rioters.


UK water companies are fined millions for sewage spills. Again. Does this happen every month? It seems to.


In the entertainment world, police issue an arrest warrant for Katie Price after she fails to attend a bankruptcy hearing. And Harry and Meghan go to Colombia to ‘make the internet safer for children’. And to promote their charity work. And themselves. How could they choose Colombia over the Edinburgh Festival?


In overseas news, Ukraine, Gaza.


In the US, a judge rules that Google have an illegal monopoly over internet searches. Finally, an American news story that isn’t about the US Election.


Here is a selection of the top stories from August 2024. Click through to read the stories and the author credits. Scroll down to see some of the month’s best headlines.


Crime and punishment


Politics


Sport and entertainment


Other news


Headlines


GCHQ close to decoding rules for cycling Keirin

'I take my job as an MP seriously,' wins joke of the Fringe

Puppeteer offers to explain string theory

Search for 'Google's illegal online monopoly' yields no results

Top uni accepts students with 25m back stroke certificate

Police tasked with arresting Katie Price have no idea what she looks like

Builder who lost his plans of the stairs told to retrace his steps

Israel and Hamas, in a rare show of unity, agree to continue hostilities

Starmer pledges to transform UK steel industry into no-steel industry

No signs of green shoots on Conservative party stump

‘The UK is too dangerous for me and my family’ says Harry as he lands in Colombia

English tourist resort attracts more visitors with rioting mini breaks



Image credit: Wix

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