When I was a kid the boat race was a really big deal. Quite common for people to wear either light or dark blue ribbons and practically everyone was either a Cambridge or Oxford supporter. Looking back now how fricking sad was that. Proves there was not a lot to get exited about back then.
Harry Carpenter at the Oxford-Cambridge boat race 1977 - "Ah, isn't that nice. The wife of the Cambridge President is kissing the Cox of the Oxford crew."
When I was a kid the boat race was a really big deal. Quite common for people to wear either light or dark blue ribbons and practically everyone was either a Cambridge or Oxford supporter. Looking back now how fricking sad was that. Proves there was not a lot to get exited about back then.
A 'class' sport that the working man can indentify with!!! ER..not!
When I was a kid the boat race was a really big deal. Quite common for people to wear either light or dark blue ribbons and practically everyone was either a Cambridge or Oxford supporter. Looking back now how fricking sad was that. Proves there was not a lot to get exited about back then.
Exactly what my Mum told me. They were brought up in slums in the East End, but all those poor, working class people pledged allegiance to one or other of those elite seats of learning. Strange looking at it with modern eyes as you say SHG.
Remember this when I first became aware of it, going right back to the mid 50's....it was a big deal back then and we talked about it for days before and after at school. The Boat Race...The Derby...Wimbledon...The Cup Final....Henley Regatta......The Grand National and The Derby....all great old institutions going way back. Happy days and memories of The Boat Race.....everyone had to choose it was quite fun. My elder brother and sister went a few times if my memory serves me right. Can't see where all this working class /upper class stuff comes from....it was just a lot of innocent fun...never the thought of class crossed our minds, can't honestly see why the issue should be raised today either. A bit of daft eccentric British/Englishness unique to us...let's celebrate it and it's rich old tradition....but no....in true British tradition of an entirely different sort let's find reasons to knock it.
Back in the day it was a bit of fun with two crews mostly made up of genuine under-grads who worked hard to get into shape for the race. These days it's become a bit semi-professional with undeniably talented rowers being drafted in as post-grads and getting to study a bit while mostly training full time.
Can't see where all this working class /upper class stuff comes from....it was just a lot of innocent fun...never the thought of class crossed our minds, can't honestly see why the issue should be raised today either.
I think that people just thinking of it as innocent fun and not seeing the class stuff just the point. In those days (if not still now) the majority of ordinary people wouldn't have a sniff of getting anywhere near one of those boats, and yet everyone used to watch the boat race. It just seems a bit odd that so many people would have had such an interest in a sport that they didn't have a chance of being involved in. Of course, in some respects there's plenty of other sports like that. Loads people like Formula 1, but most won't get nearer to track racing than an occasional try a go-karting. Loads of people follow the nags, but haven't sat in a saddle since they were 6 years old on a day trip to Margate. But there's something that was deliberately exclusive about the boat race. It's not just that working class people couldn't afford to have a try, let alone take it up; it's the fact that participating was entirely dependent on which university you went to, which was entirely dependent on which school you went to, which was entirely dependent on which class you were born into.
Then as now, many people take as their entertainment exactly what is handed down to them from above. Whether that someone is Simon Cowell or Lord Grade or Lord Reith. The difference is now, that what is given to us as entertainment either by the BBC or by private companies is usually something that ordinary people can have a go at. In those days it wasn't.
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Happy days and memories of The Boat Race.....everyone had to choose it was quite fun.
My elder brother and sister went a few times if my memory serves me right.
Can't see where all this working class /upper class stuff comes from....it was just a lot of innocent fun...never the thought of class crossed our minds, can't honestly see why the issue should be raised today either.
A bit of daft eccentric British/Englishness unique to us...let's celebrate it and it's rich old tradition....but no....in true British tradition of an entirely different sort let's find reasons to knock it.
Then as now, many people take as their entertainment exactly what is handed down to them from above. Whether that someone is Simon Cowell or Lord Grade or Lord Reith. The difference is now, that what is given to us as entertainment either by the BBC or by private companies is usually something that ordinary people can have a go at. In those days it wasn't.
Oxford 2/5 F
Cambridge 15/8