Halberg Awards
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Joking aside, there are always the same arguments when awards go to the eventers as well.
Tim Price is number one eventer in the world with his wife Jonelle being number two.
Being ranked highly in many sports correlates with activity and having a well established stable certainly helps in that regard as horse injuries can derail a program of events for you. I am guessing that it is similar in racing as the better you are the more rides you are offered on better horses which helps with ranking.
All good “athletes” in their chosen sports but I don’t think it is a travesty for them not to be nominated in awards that are partly aimed at getting others interested in playing sport. -
The "your sport sucks but our one athlete beat a few others so yay" awards doesn't have much of a ring to it
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@dogmeat said in Halberg Awards:
@Crucial It's not even a proper sport nowadays, more a vehicle for betting.
Joking aside when I was growing up racing was huge and was followed by people who weren't necessarily gambling on the outcome. That doesn't seem to be the case nowadays.
Would horse racing exist without betting now? I'n not sure it would, but don't know enough about the sport to know for sure. What do others with a knowledge of the sport think? @Smudge?
Gamble responsibly.
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could someone point me to that glorious time when horse racing existed without betting? As someone who knows a bit about the history of the sport, especially in Australia, the two have been intrinsically tied since the 1800s.
i absolutely love how we are trying to exclude racing as being only for a certain sort of person, but fucking downhill skiing is the sport of the people. If there was a sport with enormous barriers to entry it is skiing
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@mariner4life said in Halberg Awards:
could someone point me to that glorious time when horse racing existed without betting? As someone who knows a bit about the history of the sport, especially in Australia, the two have been intrinsically tied since the 1800s.
i absolutely love how we are trying to exclude racing as being only for a certain sort of person, but fucking downhill skiing is the sport of the people. If there was a sport with enormous barriers to entry it is skiing
Reminds me of that book "Black Friends I made while Yachting".
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@mariner4life I think it goes back longer than that TBH. The Romans liked a little flutter on the chariot races, but it wasn't the sole driver
Most sports nowadays encourage betting so I don't see the issue. If you can be a sportsman riding a horse in something as cock-eyed as dressage then why not thundering towards Beechers Brook. F1 and America's Cup are largely technology races but we celebrate them.
You have gotta have skill, stamina and balls to compete as a jockey so you should be recognised. More of a sport than fucking ballet on ice or synchronised swimming.
To me it is a simple sport a contest with a clear winner. It's sports that allow for subjective votes on performance that are the dubious ones.
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@dogmeat said in Halberg Awards:
I think it goes back longer than that TBH. The Romans liked a little flutter on the chariot races, but it wasn't the sole driver
it does for sure, i was simply making a point.
agree with the rest.
In reality i shouldn't be shocked at the Halbergs, which seem to track along to their own agenda. Over-weighting Olympic achievement may be viable if we had an athletics gold, a single gymnastics discipline seems a bit stupid.
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@booboo said in Halberg Awards:
@dogmeat said in Halberg Awards:
subjective
There is a degree of subjectivity. Jockey has to obey the rules and ride fair, transgression of which is a judgement call.
But yeah, first across the line (generally) wins.
Same with all sports that have a referee or umpire
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@Stargazer said in Halberg Awards:
Yeah! Wayne Smith wins the Coach of the Year award!
Other nominees very good but there was only ever one result in that category
Same goes for Sportswoman. Zoi wins easily. -
@Stargazer said in Halberg Awards:
Sportsman of the Year is Nico Porteous (snow sport- freeskiing).
As predicted a while back, Olympic golds and World Cups usually triumph at the Halbergs.