more horrific tv coverage of o?

[harry]

anyone read that news item on bof about celebrity fit club doing orienteering? i won't watch it but would be intrigued if someone did and can report back on what on earth "to make it more exciting the emit units were hidden out of sight of the flags" is all about. are they doing orienteering or is it just fat people going on a treasure hunt?

[DesignatedDriver]

... is it just fat people going on a treasure hunt?

a definite idea for a new reality tv series, thats for sure!

[Rookie]

yeah, didn't watch it (lack of TV part of studentness) but read that on the BOF site. Why? Not sure what's worse, some stupid US marine trying to create an
O course or BOF putting that on their site. Are the planners mentioned orienteers anyone?

So you find the control, and if you're lucky their might be an emit station around

add extra excitement for the television

Is this the future for Olympic orienteering!

[guest]

is this not emit's great advantage? that you don't have to see the unit in order to punch....

hope this helps

[rocky]

i watch fat club. its on when i get in from intervals and i sit down with a huge pile of pasta and stuff myself while watching bobby george et al try to shift the pounds and eating rabbit food.

[pyrat]

pasta is so unhealthy

[rocky]

i have chocolate sauce on my pasta.

[Mrs H.]

I love fat club. It makes me feel so......thin

apparently Anne Diamond has only lost 1 lb after 3 weeks and a stomach shrinking operation

Good publicity, bad publicity- it's what you do with it afterwards that counts.
I understand Harry's concerns but at this end of things it's not about preserving the dignity of the elites, with a bit of luck it will show people of all ages and sizes having fun orienteering - which would be good - on the other hand it could just be a bunch of not very famous fat people on a treasure hunt - which wouldn't be so good - but as long as they look like they're enjoying it - it wouldn't be so bad either.

We wait and see.

[harry]

But can't they have fun just orienteering and show the sport for what it is. It doesn't really matter that they are fat, the bit that annoyed me was the hiding the emit punches. what is the point of that? I think orienteering is fun anyway without having to add stupid little gimicks.

It's got nothing to do with elite or not elite it's about portraying the sport as what it is, at face value. This is what orienteering is. With MicrO, emit punch hiding and all these things it is like we are saying orienteering is not good enough as it is, we'd better add some lame gimick in order to capture the interest of outsiders. Surely the gimick in fat club is that they are fat and can't really run and they can't really understand orienteering maps. So they enjoy the challenge, get some fresh air and enjoy themselves and perhaps don't notice they are doing exercise and burning some lard. Then maybe they'll put them in teams and there will be some big argument as to which way to go. for entertainment. Anyway someone watch it and tell us what happens.

[rocky]

i think its a metaphor. in real orienteering people do lose time by not being able to find the controls. but as we know this is very hard for tv to show, especially to a lay-audience. so hide the controls and you get the same effect, especially given the tough navigational challenge of finding flag when it is surrounded by a tv crew.

i can appreciate your concerns harry, but i can also see the crazy world that tv producers live in. i'm just glad they've tried to convey one of the fundamental aspects of our sport.

[Mrs H.]

Did I miss something?

[PorkyFatBoy]

No - I think they hid the emit controls in Anne Diamond's stomach band.

[P2B]

They featured orienteering in a program I watched at the weekend - that one where fat, disrespectful kids get told what's what - and some annoying scientist woman does a computer mock-up of what they would look like at 40 if they carried on with their couch potato lifestyles.

Anyway, it was briefly shown as a walk round a country house, but they did flag up the leadership (it was done in a pair) and decision making elements of it...

Just a thought.

[Carnage Head]

I watched the whole episode that o was supposed to be featured in, and it never turned up. Just overweight people getting weighed and 'coached'. I have a feeling that the Anne Diamond (or whatever her name is) stomach-stapling thing pushed the o segment out of the final cut. It was surprisingly difficult to force myself to see such tat.

[Kitch]

did they change the vegetatation screen descriptions on the map though ?

white = passable
light green = squeeze
mid green = tight squeeze
dark green = you'll get stuck