Drink Sponsorship of Sport

[IainR]

I am 48 yrs old and when I think of what I was like in my early 20s in a rural Irish village. There was nothing there but the pub and basically the measure of how big a man you are was how many pints of Guinness you could knock back. I was some man!

Kids thinking drink is "cool" is not a new fenonomon!

I don't think it can be compared to smoking...

Smoking kills.. alcohol can kill.. but in moderation it is no health risk at all, in fact has beneficial qualities, and not just in allowing ugly people to have sex..

Sport and alcohol are linked. I think its interfering, sport needs money. Whether that comes from McCains or Guiness, its still money in the sport which wouldn't be there otherwise.

[Wheeze]

I don't think it can be compared to smoking...

Smoking kills.. alcohol can kill.. but in moderation it is no health risk at all, in fact has beneficial qualities, and not just in allowing ugly people to have sex..

Sport and alcohol are linked. I think its interfering, sport needs money. Whether that comes from McCains or Guiness, its still money in the sport which wouldn't be there otherwise.

60 years ago, you would have typed 'Sport and smoking are linked blah blah' and pointed to the adverts showing Stanley Matthews and doctors endorsing fags for freer breathing and clearing the tubes or some such guff.
Agreed, sport needs money but not from things that harm health. And there is no escaping the fact that alcohol harms health directly and indirectly.

[DrPatrickBarry]

I think its interfering, sport needs money.

But its the controdiction, Iain, sport is about heath and well being, the drinking culture in the british isles is anything but that. This attitute that it is cool to get pissed has to be broken. Unfourtanatly that involves removing all advertising and marketing that portrays alochol in a good light.

With the smoking ban in place smokers only effect their own health.

Drinkers effect their own health and the welbeing of others such as:
Family members of an alcholic
Victims of an assult or car accident cause by somebody drinking,
All of us by having to pay for drink related healthcare costs.

[rocksteady]

Agree, the tast of beer and spirits is an acquired one and one that requires you palate to develop a liking ,for but now with all the fruit flavoured drink , no wonder the teens are downing in vast quantities

[dylan]

i was lambasted and had the p taken out of me when i criticized an advertised boozing session on an open club forum,
nobody could see my argument that it is the wrong impression to portray to new and junior members that it is acceptable to train and race hard then get totally wasted.
i still feel that way but am treated as odd.

[IainR]

60 years ago, you would have typed 'Sport and smoking are linked blah blah' and pointed to the adverts showing Stanley Matthews and doctors endorsing fags for freer breathing and clearing the tubes or some such guff.
Agreed, sport needs money but not from things that harm health. And there is no escaping the fact that alcohol harms health directly and indirectly.

Yes, but then we found out smoking kills, and it rightly stopped. Alcohol doesn't. Any smoking has a negative effect on health, alcohol in moderation doesn't.

I never said it doesn't harm health, but it can promote health, its all about moderation.

EXCESSIVE alcohol, does harm health.. any smoking damages the lungs.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholAndHealth.html

[IainR]

Agree, the tast of beer and spirits is an acquired one and one that requires you palate to develop a liking ,for but now with all the fruit flavoured drink , no wonder the teens are downing in vast quantities

I think thats a different issue.. and I thought there are rules about alco-pops. I can see that as an issue.

In the US free beer post race is pretty much the norm, even in Europe, after Jungfrau we got a beer, but they have a much healthier relationship.

[IainR]

But its the controdiction, Iain, sport is about heath and well being, the drinking culture in the british isles is anything but that. This attitute that it is cool to get pissed has to be broken. Unfourtanatly that involves removing all advertising and marketing that portrays alochol in a good light.

With the smoking ban in place smokers only effect their own health.

Drinkers effect their own health and the welbeing of others such as:
Family members of an alcholic
Victims of an assult or car accident cause by somebody drinking,
All of us by having to pay for drink related healthcare costs.

I just don't think its that simple. The countries with the strictest alcohol policies often have the worst issues.. Scandanavia, Britain..

In Germany I can even by a beer at my gym, almost any establishment sells beer, til any time of day, and its just far less of an issue. Advertising is everywhere. I do agree its a problem but we have tried stricter licensing, we're looking at more expensive drinks, but I think we're looking at forcing it through via legislation and banning which rarely works.

[Dr H Tool]

Society itself is responsible for the abuse of alcohol, we cannot get away from the old cliches, from the hearing of the neighbours discussing how enjoying the sunny weekend cannot be done without getting bladdered, to the likes of Wiggins espousing how he can't wait for a pint after finishing Tour despite the ills it has brought in his life. Every cycle or fell running event I have taken part in has had alcohol on the prize menu and it is the main draw in many cases. I would say that drinking is a Social Disease that has been in our culture for Centuries, workers used to get paid with it. Through school, college etc you were odd for not taking part in the drinking game and it's fallout. A Social Disease that turns into worse, we ignore the fallout because we believe through peer pressure that it is the done thing. As for Advertisement! they don't need to spend anything advertising it, it shifts itself. No I'm not part of the Temperence Society and I enjoy a single malt on the top of a mountain or a fine wine in France, but hey! half the beer tastes shit, puts on weight, and gets people out of their heads. I'll be out of my head when I'm dead and that is enough thank you. Rant of the day, methinks

[dylan]

i sometimes wonder if the problem with beer is to do with its actual chemical components.
cheap beer leads to a really bad hangover yet after drinking some of the european beers i feel fine the next day.
could it be that the manufactures just throw a load of crap into the cheap beers as they do with other cheap food products,
as people buy cheap buy more?