Tubby Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 When I played in the 70's and 80's it was definitely the 25 yard line, the change to lines every 10 metres seems relatively recent in my decrepit mind. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomersall Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 44 minutes ago, BadlyOverdrawnBoy said: The Aussies changed to metric in 1970, yet the commentators still say things like "Dominic Young is six foot seven." But still chuck in that he weighs X kilos.Β 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomersall Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 45 minutes ago, David Shepherd said: IIRC, they serve ale in pints in some pubs. If youβve never been, Australia will blow your mind David. They canβt make up their minds which measure to use for serving beer. Midi, schooner, pot, pint Weirdos the lot of βem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, Gomersall said: But still chuck in that he weighs X kilos.Β Just went to the NRL stats page and clicked on the first clickable name. All details metric. https://www.nrl.com/players/nrl-premiership/rabbitohs/latrell-mitchell/ I'm assuming commentators using feet for tall players is very similar to the British media rolling out 100F for hot days here when most people couldn't contextualise the rest of the Fahrenheit scale. 1 Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.Β (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomersall Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 11 hours ago, DoubleD said: Commentators and pundits often mention yards rather than metres. Is there a reason for this? Have pitch dimensions ever been measured in yards? At least in your thread title you managed to spell metres correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Poster Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 5 minutes ago, Gomersall said: At least in your thread title you managed to spell metres correctly When COVID kicked in, in more than one place I saw "please stand 2 meters apart". I often used to ask if it was Gas meters? Water meters? What?Β Mostly the spelling wasn't even seen as wrong.Β 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonM Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 2 hours ago, gingerjon said: Genuine sign apparently Same thing on crossing the Irish border, of course. No politically controversial 'welcome to northern Ireland' sign, just one that says speed limit now in mph. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjonn Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 11 hours ago, MZH said: I have no idea about metres and yards in terms of rugby league history, but the UK went to the metric system in the 60s, so it stands to reason that before that yards were probably the preferred measurement. it was voluntary to go metric,Β that is it was supported by government but not compulsory.Β Then in late 70's the Metrication Board was setup and started introducing orders to make metrication mandatory to certain industries.Β This was scrapped in the 80's and again was voluntary. Of course in the 90's further regulations introduced for specific area's to regulate use of metric units in retail use - although supplementary units could still be displayed and this was changed in 2009 then again in 2010 allowed to continue if retailer wanted. Confusing for sure...Β mind you 1849 the florin was introduced as 10 florins to one pound - a first step towards decimal currency. Anyway to add to those comments on where we still apply imperial.... we still say so many inch TV e.g. 43 inch TV. Β 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blind side johnny Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, David Shepherd said: IIRC, they serve ale in pints in some pubs. British pints or American? Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blind side johnny Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, David Shepherd said: I think feet and inches for someone's height are pretty standard throughout the Anglosphere. But try referring to stones rather than pounds in the USA. 3 Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Picture Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, DoubleD said: Commentators and pundits often mention yards rather than metres. Is there a reason for this? Have pitch dimensions ever been measured in yards? Originally the field measurements were in yards, though I'm not sure when the Aussies changed over.Β From the old Aussie matches I've seen it was during the 1980s at the latest, the commentators on those referred to the 22 metre line rather than the 25 yard line. In Britain is was 1993, before then you can clearly see in old matches at venues like Central Park and Headingley which had full-length fields of play that the distance between the 10 and the quarter-line was half again as much as the distances between the other lines.Β From 1993 on it was the same as the distance between the other lines. 2 hours ago, David Shepherd said: I think feet and inches for someone's height are pretty standard throughout the Anglosphere. Anglos do seem to be the odd holdouts against a measurement system so good that it's spread around the world and swept everyone else's primitive measuring systems away. Edited May 5, 2023 by Big Picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Picture Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 13 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said: But try referring to stones rather than pounds in the USA. Ditto Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedfordshire Bronco Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, Gomersall said: But still chuck in that he weighs X kilos.Β Yeah it's weird how older people in Aus still use imperial for heightΒ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjonn Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 I live in the country and some of the locals talk about hectares of land... they interchange hectares and acres not fully realising they are interchanging between metric and imperial....Β Mind you a cricket pitch is... one chain = 100 linksΒ or more normally expressed as 22 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Picture Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 6 minutes ago, redjonn said: I live in the country and some of the locals talk about hectares of land... they interchange hectares and acres not fully realising they are interchanging between metric and imperial....Β Mind you a cricket pitch is... one chain = 100 linksΒ or more normally expressed as 22 yards. And 22 yards is just a smidge over 20 metres, 20.1168 metres to be exact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Shepherd Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 42 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said: British pints or American? TBH, when I was in Toronto I was too βrefreshedβ to notice. Iβd assume it was the 16 ounce version. I noticed that our Canadian cousins are just as poor at boozing as their noisy neighbours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomersall Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 3 minutes ago, David Shepherd said: TBH, when I was in Toronto I was too βrefreshedβ to notice. Iβd assume it was the 16 ounce version. I noticed that our Canadian cousins are just as poor at boozing as their noisy neighbours. Thatβs because they wonβt put in the hard metres like us Brits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Toppy Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, redjonn said: I live in the country and some of the locals talk about hectares of land... they interchange hectares and acres not fully realising they are interchanging between metric and imperial....Β Mind you a cricket pitch is... one chain = 100 linksΒ or more normally expressed as 22 yards. The 'chain' was the standard unit of measurement in the construction industry for centuries, In fact its only largely been phased out over the last few decades. I was still taught to use a 'chain' as part of the surveying module on my degree course and my first site job as a summer student was as a 'chainman'.Β St.Helens - The Home of record breaking Rugby Champions Β Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogledd Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 5 hours ago, The Masked Poster said: Does anyone say "I'm going to the game in Hull, it's 85 Km down the M62" though? I don't imagine anyone over a certain age does and would be surprised if even someone aged 25 didn't say "it's X miles" or "my new car can do 110 miles per hour".Β Metric is the more logical system but certain things still hangover from the past. And let's not forget, America still use the imperial system. I have to have tools in both as I often go to US companies whose machines are all in imperial.Β It depends...if I'm cycling I always use kilometres ...... cos it sounds further! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsontown Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 Cyclists do tend to talk in kilometres, possibly because of the continental influence on the sport. Railway distances are still normally given in miles and chains. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonM Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 31 minutes ago, gogledd said: It depends...if I'm cycling I always use kilometres ...... cos it sounds further! I do exactly the same for running - measure pace and distance in km. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 minute ago, JonM said: I do exactly the same for running - measure pace and distance in km. It's an even mix at the running club I saunter around Hastings with - although it does tend to skew that my age and younger use kms and slightly older and above use miles. I'm doing the Rye 10 mile on Sunday and break it down by kilometre sections because I have no concept of running in mile sections even when that is the race format. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.Β (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hull Kingston Bronco Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Gomersall said: If youβve never been, Australia will blow your mind David. They canβt make up their minds which measure to use for serving beer. Midi, schooner, pot, pint Weirdos the lot of βem. Even weirder, they can't agree on how big those sizes are from state to state. Order a pint in Adelaide and if you're from Melbourne you won't be happy when it turns up... maybe that's why they got rid of the Rams, 'cos the pitch was 10% too small? A bit like CasΒ Β Edited May 5, 2023 by Hull Kingston Bronco Typo 1 Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 6 hours ago, BadlyOverdrawnBoy said: The Aussies changed to metric in 1970, yet the commentators still say things like "Dominic Young is six foot seven." Thank goodness they do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, JonM said: I do exactly the same for running - measure pace and distance in km. I use furlongsΒ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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