Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

[MontysMerkin]

First topic message reminder :

That's why these pursuits should be undertaken in videogames and not in real life. Real life has a nasty habit of finding you out to be the hopeless loser you don't think you are.

[BlueCoverman]

Anyone Played Royal Zoute in Belgium..

Booking my annual trip..

I've had two golf trips to Belgium Mysti. On the second one in 2008 we played at Royal Zoute, Golf Club Oostburg and the Damme Golf and Country Club. I wasn't expecting the golf courses in Belgium to be up to all that much if I'm honest, but I was pleasantly surprised about how good the quality and how well maintained they were. The other thing that struck me was how peaceful and quiet they were even at weekends, not at all like the packed courses you sometimes encounter in other European countries. The Belgians don't play on a Monday and the golf club staff tend to have this day off so the clubhouses are closed. I remember being on this beautiful golf course with our group of 12 Brits with the place to ourselves and we didn't see another soul on the course all day!

[raycastleunited]

Belgium strikes me as a strange golf holiday destination if you live in Britain. The courses don't match up to what we have around the UK, the weather isn't any better, and it's not a cheap place either.

They have nice beer... love a bit of Blanche de Bruges, but I don't see that as a good enough reason for a golf holiday!

[mystiroakey]

When you go to France a lot like I do. You have to realise that Belgium is so close as well. It is literally 1 hour from calais

Going through that tunnel is so easy for those of us that live in the south east. You take your own car. You get to experience a difference in culture within an hour or two

But as pointed out by Blue. The golf courses are of a good condition and no one plays on them!!! Although France is much more popular than Belgium as a golf destination the rounds are still pretty quick .

The amount of trips i have had in the Uk that are ruined or partially ruined with 5 hour rounds etc.. Like the typical trips to the belfry with the sleazy night club attached!! full of prostitutes shipped from town and 7 hour rounds

I am also going to check out the course in holland which many of pros suggest is one of the best courses on the european tour..

Its a mini break as well as a golf trip

Yourgolftravel has some amazing deals.. Infact they are so cheap that you can rarely find deals to just stay at the hotels they provide as part of the package for less than with a crossing and the golf.

Royal Zoute is supposedly the best course ion Belgium. Its worth a go,.



You get to go to a different country, experience the different culture..

[raycastleunited]

Any views on the Pietersen "sacking"?

I can only assume that he must have said some really stupid things behind closed doors to wind everyone up. Otherwise this is a case of England shooting itself in the foot. It's a real shame that they can't do anything to get England's best batsman to play for the team.

Will KP go down in history as an all time great? No.... ultimately his test average dropped below 50 and his records will be surpassed. Wasted talent.

[mystiroakey]

I have so much to say on the KP saga its best if I dont say to much.

It was probably inevitable.

I want him to be remembered as a quality England cricketer not a saffa mercenary that only cared for himself.

He is the type of person that is hard to fit into a team.. The players clearly didn't get on with him

Thanks KP. You were an amazing addition to England and international cricket.. But its time to move on. I hope that is the end of it- I dont want the media circus to go on for ever pressurising the ecb(as inept as they are) or KP about every little detail.

[kwinigolfer]

Seems he was skating along a very thin line, easy enough when he's scoring tons every match, but not so much on a mediocre team when he's clearly been seen as a disruptive, couldn't-care-less force.

He's had two mega dust-ups which could have seen him dumped ages ago; would think there's more to this than meets the eye and better he goes out like this than hanging about and ultimately becoming a pariah.

Anyone who knows anything about baseball would see similarities between KP and Manny (Manny being Manny) Ramirez and/or Alex (A-Fraud) Rodriguez.

[navyblueshorts]

Spot on methinks Kwini. If I was playing in that team, someone like KP would drive me insane.

[Davie]

KP has been hung out to dry. Of all the commentators on TV and radio that have had their say, the main ones to be against him have been the Victor Meldrew types like Bob Willis and Jack Bannister. It was a p!ss poor England side that went to Oz but KP was still the best of a bad lot

Losing Trott mid-series (for whatever reason) and Swann who basically left them in the lurch, didn't help matters one bit

[navyblueshorts]

Nah. Sorry Davie. KP's an arse. There's only so long a team can put up with a selfish arse. As Boycott (and he should know) said - KP said this is how I play, take it or leave it. England have taken it as long as they can so now they're leaving it. All the evidence (and there's a lot) says he's a selfish arse. I'll go with the available evidence.

P!ss poor side that went to Oz? This would include Swann, Anderson, Cook, Prior, Trott etc? I presume you knew in advance they'd be playing so poorly? Nope, thought not!  

[puligny]

Back to Royal Zoute - we go over and play it every year. Fabulous course, previously used for European Tour. Winners have included Darren Clarke (his first in Europe) Lee Westwood and "the most interesting man in golf"
There are two courses, Championship and Rabbits, which is much shorter, and a graduation course for local members. Until they can play properly on Rabbits, in competition, they are not allowed on Championship.
Sadly we have been told that over the next few years the land will be sold for development, with two new courses being built on the outskirts of the town. It will be difficult to replace.
The local town is very well heeled! Can be expensive!

Royal Waterloo is a superb course which has only recently become available to non members. Well worth a trip, and further down, have played Mons which is also excellent.

[Davie]

How ironic that Boycott should say that.

And of course no one knew they would be so rubbish .. but of course they were p!ss poor when they were out there - just look at the names you mentioned! Not one of them performed and two didn't even go the distance

[navyblueshorts]

Completely ironic that Boycott would mention being selfish...he wrote the book on that re. cricket. My point about the names mentioned is that before this tour, everyone would have said how good those players were. No-one was saying that any of them shouldn't have been picked as there were better players available were they?

[beninho]

KP is obvioulsy a bit of an arse. That is true. But apart from the text issue in 2012, there has not really been a reason for getting rid of him. Until something comes out giving valid reasons for dropping him, then i think he has been dealt with harshly, and it seems that Cook has sacrificed KP to keep him in the job. Cook was much worse in Australia, and how he clings on to the job is beyond me. These are all grown men, apart from Joe root, and they should be able to get on with playing without moaning about each other or complaining. All acting like school kids. But it will be England that will suffer, as we have only Cook and Bell as established batsmen left. And Cook is not looking very good at the moment.

Teams have fallings out if the management cannot deal with it then its the management that need changing.

[Davie]

You seem to be misunderstanding what I'm saying Navy .. no one that I know of says that was a bad team on paper, or before they went out .. but the fact is WHEN THEY GOT THERE they didn't perform. None of them. KP was actually the best of a bad lot. Losing Trott and Swann certainly didn't help either but KP has been hung out to dry. A team that was #1 in the world not that long ago and who whitewashed the Aussies not that long ago either were simply blown away. And what do they do? Sack the best player. It's a disgrace

[navyblueshorts]

Nah. It's not a disgrace. We don't have a clue what's been going on behind the scenes. It's a team game and KP was an "I". I don't care how good someone is, if it's undermining the rest of the team there has to come a point when the ego gets the boot. If KP had been hitting 100s and getting jaffas that would be one thing; not getting 100s and getting out like a fool, despite the need to play for the team, means he gets what's coming to him.
As I said before, if I was a member of the squad, KP would drive me mad. I'd definitely struggle to put a unified front on when he's (possibly) getting preferential treatment/management and then still not playing for the benefit of the team.

[mystiroakey]

Thanks both of you for your feed back on Zoute.

I will deffo play it..   

I was thinking about an Irish or Scottish trip this time but the cost is looking like over double and one of my party is tight as a ducks ass.

[mystiroakey]

I thought the Olympics had started . Does anyone know where I can find some coverage!!

[mystiroakey]

Found it BBC 1 red button

[Davie]

Nah. It's not a disgrace. We don't have a clue what's been going on behind the scenes. It's a team game and KP was an "I". I don't care how good someone is, if it's undermining the rest of the team there has to come a point when the ego gets the boot.

But that's just the point .. as you say no one really knows what's been going on behind the scenes (apart from Piers Morgan apparently) .. of all the TV and radio pundits I've heard, the majority seem to think he's been hard done by .. one close to the team even said that KP had fit in better this time around than he has done for years. And don't forget even the ECB said that he had been "successfully reintegrated" after text-gate.

When names like Botham, Vaughn, Gough and Strauss and quite a few others question the decision - and the most vocal in favour of the decision are Victor Meldrews like Willis Boycott and Bannister .....

Well I know who I'd tend to believe.

To comapre it to golf would you drop Poults from the Ryder cup team because of HIS ego?

[navyblueshorts]

No. Poults may have an ego but he's nothing if not a team player in the RC. KP is nothing like a team player. Comparing IJP with KP in a team environment is about as bad an analogy as I can think of.
The existing players were never, ever going to say KP didn't fit in while the recent Tour was on were they???? I'm not sure what they said when a mike was in their faces over the last few weeks bare any resemblance to anything that was really going on.
Of the ex-players you say think it's a 'disgrace', the only one I'd give the time of day to is Strauss and I doubt even they know what went on so any of their opinions are really just as valid as ours or mine. Unless, that is, they'd like to quote some sources.
Anyway, he's gone now. He can go and earn stupid money in that corrupt non-event that's known as the IPL. He was/is an extremely talented batsman. Certainly one of the best I've ever seen but I'm not sure he has anyone to blame for his England career ending this way except himself.

[McLaren]

How good is the snowboarding commentary, the commentators are crying and whooping and yelling.  So much better than the usual boredom from the box.  Our first ever medal on snow as well, apparently.

[beninho]

The slopestyle commentary has been awful. They sound like they haven't got s clue. The men's final was terrible.

[incontinentia]

How good is the snowboarding commentary, the commentators are crying and whooping and yelling.  So much better than the usual boredom from the box.  Our first ever medal on snow as well, apparently.

If they were cheering other nations falling or whatever then that's pathetic

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26116848

[pedro]

Can you imagine that people actually bother to complain about these things? What's next? Somebody complaining over the use of the term 'Luck of the Irish'.  

[super_realist]

Ed Leigh is a moron.

[kwinigolfer]

The founder of snowboarding might live just down the road, but why is this in the Olympics and sports like squash miss out. Gimme a break.

'Ave a good time s_r?
Glad you seem to have steered clear of Schumacher-type difficulties.

[super_realist]

Snowiest region of the Alps Kwini and it was poor, bad snow, bad light, barely left the bloody piste, but you can't book the snow and it's not exactly much better anywhere else.

Always next year!!

[kwinigolfer]

 
Not bad here right now . . . . . . pretty good, solid base which ain't going anywhere until April.

[McLaren]

Snowiest region of the Alps Kwini and it was poor, bad snow, bad light, barely left the bloody piste, but you can't book the snow and it's not exactly much better anywhere else.

Always next year!!

Climate change?

Or are you a denier?

[pedro]

In Sochi they book the snow... And spray paint the grass.

Mac, CO2 (man) contributes to global warming, but there are natural cycles far more significant than man can influence. Greenland is called Greenland because it was once green! Yes.

[McLaren]

Kwini

Whats your issue with snowboarding?

Looks like you need a lot more skill than in squash, which seems a fitness dominated game.  Which there are already plenty of in the olympics.

[kwinigolfer]

Not snowboarding per se, just the plethora of niche sports designed to creat more medal opportunities for the wealthiest countries.
The various mogul competitions fall in the same category as far as I'm concerned.
Like synchronised sports, whether swimming, skating - and there's another phoney one, short-track speed-skating. Good lord!

I've never been any good at squash but always thought it was a pretty skilful game.

Anyway, I've always thought the Olympics should be dis-integrated and the increase in X-Games-type sports being invented for medal purposes only just reinforces my curmudgeonly view!

[McLaren]

I am no winter sport expert so have no idea how many events each discipline should have but most of events on show so far have been very enjoyable to watch compared to many olympic sports.

Swimming for example could be 3 events -long, medium, short race - per sex for all I care.

[super_realist]

I don't think sports which are judged have a place Kwini.

[super_realist]

Snowiest region of the Alps Kwini and it was poor, bad snow, bad light, barely left the bloody piste, but you can't book the snow and it's not exactly much better anywhere else.

Always next year!!

Climate change?

Or are you a denier?

No Mac, I'm not, there is however a difference between Climate Change, Global Warming and human influence of those two.

However I've spent enough time in the Alps to know that every season is different, some years you will get more and some less, not sure how you inferred I deny climate change.

[McLaren]

Super

So you are a denier of the science?  Your first sentence is classic denier stuff.

[super_realist]

What are you talking about you ninny?

I don't deny climate change, I am however aware that climate change would happen without human influence and can see the difference between natural and anthropogenic climate change. Something the media can't seem to separate.

[McLaren]

Super

That is the classic denier line, which goes something like "we didn't do it, its all part of a big cycle".

Wrong.

We did do it, and the climate will change (by about 99% certainty) by 2-5 degrees in the next 50 to 100 years.

As you are a man of reason and science I did not expect you to struggle to understand the mass of peer reviewed literature on the subject.

[super_realist]

I didn't say that Mac did I?

I merely said that my experience with the snow this year was a result of the fact that all seasons are different (and always are), i never said anything about climate change or the degree to which people have affected the climate.

Have you forgotten what I do for a living? I'm dealing with rocks 300m years old. It is an absolute certainty I know more about this subject than you, so stop trying to put words into my mouth and try and insinuate that I am saying stuff I haven't.

There is climate change and there is anthropogenic climate change, and I never conflated the two.

[McLaren]

So I assume you support acting now - and in a big way -  to tackle the climate problem of the coming century?  i.e reduce emissions at almost all costs.

[super_realist]

I don't really care Mac.
I don't think we have a right to stop developing countries using their resources to develop their economies.

[puligny]

Mac, most sports are fitness dominated! Squash is incredibly skillful, and a battle between extremely fit squash player and one more skillful but less fit can be intriguing. Isn't skiing of all types simply a combination of strength, balance and stamina?

[MontysMerkin]

Best winter sport is boarder/ski cross. Absolutely love it, and it's real racing too!

[incontinentia]

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/10/opinion/giraffe-culling-against/

Was anyone else completely disgusted by this?

[super_realist]

Not really, it's only a giraffe. I'd rather they did it to Davina McCall though.

[kwinigolfer]

s_r,
Ban all sports where judging is involved?
Completely agree.

[barragan]

especially boxing   

[incontinentia]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/world/middleeast/suicide-bomb-instructor-accidentally-kills-iraqi-pupils.html?smid=go-share&_r=0

Ha ha, this is like something out of Four Lions.

[McLaren]

Best winter sport is boarder/ski cross. Absolutely love it, and it's real racing too!

When is that on?

[navyblueshorts]

Kwini

Whats your issue with snowboarding?

Looks like you need a lot more skill than in squash, which seems a fitness dominated game.  Which there are already plenty of in the olympics.

Says the man who's never played it....

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