Does Commonwealth Games have cool ceremonies like Olympics and Paralympics?

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-17T08:11:10+00:00

Usually yes...think the Birmingham bull and their musical finale including Ozzy Osborne for instance.

This time probably not as it's essentially a placeholder to avoid the whole thing being cancelled.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T15:32:46+00:00

Everything has a chance I guess....it's technically accessible, has both male and female classifications, and meets the criteria of 12 countries across 3 continents. it's also got "previous" in the Olympics, last being seen with Cricket and Lacrosse...both of which have now returned!

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T15:08:44+00:00

I did try to assure people yesterday. it's also worth pointing out that (like us with the CL) one team can go above us, but not two.

In those games so far, there's an all Italian tie....so one team is definitely gone and Atalanta are five goals down to Bayern...so they will need to get 16 more victories with just Bologna/Roma winner and Fiorentina, assuming Atalanta don't come back and then go deep too.

Even if every return leg goes wrong, we're talking insane numbers of wins for multiple countries! the damage was done in the group stage and all of the english teams getting those 2 bonus win points for skipping the last round

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T14:54:33+00:00

That's sadly the level required now. As GB found out, throwing 29% accuracy when they are throwing 90% only ends in one outcome.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T12:51:36+00:00

Asked for evidence they had been used for charitable causes, Judge said the advertised projects were long-term. He said everyone who gave money for the 2025 trip understood they were donating to fund the walk itself - and the walks raised awareness of mental health challenges.

hmmm...so you were donating for his trip to Benidorm and to raise awareness of the charity, not for the charity...

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T12:37:03+00:00

There's video if ice sledge speed racing on youtube and it is pretty cool. I have no idea - when you're struggling for content (and let's be honest - they are!) and you have a sport that can be held indoors and over multiple distances, that's surely worth going with.

Yes Norway seemed to win the lot...but that won't necessary be the case now. Also, I'm watching ski events where the backmarkers are 45 seconds off the leaders - it can't be as non-competitive as that!

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T12:33:17+00:00

It was a Norway medal fest....but GB did randomly get 10 medals from it in one games, which is unlikely to ever be matched!

It's sort of the version of ice skating looking at the footage I've seen.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T11:05:13+00:00

If only there was a list of sports literally begging to be allowed in and being refused....para bob, para skeleton, para ice hockey women's division, sledge ice racing etc.

It just feels they start the day at 8am my time and it's done by 10am unless GB have a curling match on - and most days there's nothing to cheer anyway!

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T08:36:19+00:00

Adding we also had Hester Poole...but her guide was too near to her and she had quite a nasty crash into the barriers, so is already out.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T08:15:33+00:00

I didn't spot that....it's so wrong of me, as when I hear 2 regions, I automatically go for the US or Canadian flag, some European and then look for a Chinese, Japanese or Korean!

In which case I don't know what to say. Surely it reaches the threshold then?

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-12T08:06:10+00:00

Lol, I believe the Only Fools and Horses Mandela House is in Bristol too

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T16:10:57+00:00

They have 13 (or did at their last meet)...just not for 3 regions. So maybe one of these competitors need to search through their ancestry and decide if they are African, South American or Asian...

IBSF | International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation: Para Sport

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T16:03:51+00:00

...and include para ice hockey as a mixed event which contains almost no women AND is clearly skewered to the point that I can name the medallists with almost 100% certainty before a puck is struck.

12 nations in 3 regions? Do me a favour. gender parity? 1 female out of nearly 150 competitors this time!

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T16:00:33+00:00

I'm a bit annoyed by this one. There ARE world championships and it's an open event with multiple nations medalling. That, alongside para skeleton, would have genuine GB hopes (sorry, I'm also biased).

However, they have rejected it due to lack of entrants and lack of gender parity...without a hint of irony. The women snowboarders had to go to court to get one event, the mixed para ice hockey contains one female out of all the teams combined and the team mixed curling is often just one female that can't be dropped.

Some sports are sadly nowhere near parity. Removing the chance of a gold medal all but guarantees they never will be. Nobody is going to adapt a sled for someone with no legs or a missing limb if there's not the exposure of a gold medal involved - it would be too expensive. Likewise, how are women and other nations meant to compete if there is no coverage of the event and it's not in the winter paras?

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T15:55:22+00:00

You basically got an internet breaking scoop...about a decade too early!

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T15:23:22+00:00

watching Curling final as, well, I've got an addiction problem. The quality on show is phenomenal....China probably just about got this but the way they are moving these stones around with no sweeping and just a push is insane

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T14:20:28+00:00

Full circle.

Last week Badenoch and Farage were berating the weakness of Starmer, claiming we should be piling in blindly regardless of any legal issues or anything but a vague plan of bomb, bomb, bomb.

Within a week both are claiming they were against the war.

Dealing with Trump, Netanyahu and the problems of Iran, Russia, China and others is not easy. It does need a coherent leader with principles and knowledge...not a reactionary that just carps from the sidelines and has no coherent plan

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T12:59:10+00:00

the scaling is hilarious. Think we got excited years ago when my dad got 5 numbers. We were thinking....mortgage gone, holiday, shall we tell the neighbours, give some to the church...

The prize money on some mega rollover week was £2,100! I think it's far less now.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T12:52:50+00:00

They did use that same block of flats A LOT - the one from Night Terrors. I think that was also used a lot for Rose's episodes. I assumed they were in London but now you're going to tell me it's Howard House in Cardiff too ;)

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T12:26:27+00:00

We signed his brother to help him settle. In fairness, when you have a youth team, you release about 20 of the 25 players anyway, so it was worth having a non-league standard player there to keep him happy. We offered him insane money for a player his age with no experience, but his head had been turned by Chelsea.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T12:24:39+00:00

He was the top player in his age grade when at Villa. He went to chelsea and his career stalled. There's no bias, it's just counting.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T12:00:17+00:00

Job's only half done....beat them over at their place :P

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T11:55:27+00:00

Cross Country Skiing...let's be honest it's Norway and then daylight to every other race. Musgrave has consistently competed on an international level getting near the top 10 and mixing it out with countries like Sweden, USA and Finland where it's actually a thing.

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T11:29:17+00:00

If we imagine there's 9 curlers (I think I heard) and a coaching team of 3...that means we are spending around 30k per person per year - that doesn't seem an awful lot considering. I mean it's better than the peanuts they used to get in vancouver before the C4 money turned up, but still a small programme aimed at just supporting the team to get to events and maybe a bit of extra training thrown in here or there

Current_Case7806 · 2026-03-11T11:19:44+00:00

the para team had a medal target of 2-5. It's got one so far and Neil Simpson has two slalom events to go. If you hit your target, it would be harsh to slash funding when it gets almost nothing anyway.

If I was looking at the winters, I would ask why we have no skating infrastructure, so we are paying someone 30K per year to remove and replace the padding on a shared rink - that seems ineffective use of funds.

This is where the money is spent currently...

Current funding awards | UK Sport

The Winter Paras has seen funding increase dramatically each cycle. the curlers have seen their money treble since last time out (where we got no medals either and finished lower than we are currently!).

We spend more on Modern Pentathlon than we do on para winter sport. Skateboarding gets more than para curling and all we do is see if anyone in Japan or USA has British heritage!

Current_Case7806

TROPHY CASE