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lappinitup

What's you second sport?

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Apart from watching football, the only other sport I really enjoy watching is gymnastics. There''s always a good variety on offer and some of the manoeuvres are simply breathtaking. My favourite events are the trampoline and floor.
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[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]FAO Kick -it-Off.

Have you ever dived at the Reef off Belize? I hear it is 2nd only to the Barrier Reef?[/quote]
No, not been out that side of the world yet. The reef in Belize is second in size to the Barrier Reef, but the diving in Belize has a much better reputation than the Barrier Reef. Barrier Reef is apparently very over-rated and very damaged but I want to do it just to tick it off the list.
Best diving in the world is Galapogos Islands. They only allow a limited number of divers per year, and it''s VERY expensive, but it''s incredible. We met a guy in Egypt who freelances for Discovery channel and he showed us a vid he took in the Galapogos which blew me away. Link is below, but basically, he''s somewhere near the sea floor and above him are maybe 500 or so Hammerheads! Amazing.
My list of sites/areas I want to dive is (in no particular order):
Costa Rica
Caribbean
Indonesia/Malaysia
Hawaii
Belize
Australia
Indian Ocean (Especially around the Maldives with the Manta Rays)
Papua New Guinea
Scotland

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Can''t find the right link to his vid, but if you search youtube for "Hammerheads Galapogos", you will see the kind of thing I''m talking about.

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That''s actually pretty cool, I am meaning to get into diving in time for my years sabbatical in 2017. Is it worth doing my padi in UK before I go or try do it somewhere abroad?

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[quote user="Tetteys Jig"]That''s actually pretty cool, I am meaning to get into diving in time for my years sabbatical in 2017. Is it worth doing my padi in UK before I go or try do it somewhere abroad?[/quote]
I would say do it abroad. It''s a lot cheaper, and you get to do 5 open water dives as part of the Open Water (entry level) course. The open water dives are obviously more fun if you do it somewhere worth diving rather than cold, poor visibility British waters.
If you have the cash, and the security situ in Sharm is OK (bit sketchy atm with ISIS so close by) then I would go there. You save £150-200 off the price of the course (compared to doing it in the UK), so that''s about 30-40% of the price of a package deal with flights and all inclusive in term time, and the diving is mindblowing. There is an option to do the theory bit online, and do the practicals in resort, but I would advise against it. It''s only one day of theory, and there is a real benefit to having someone who knows what they''re talking about explain it to you, and being able to ask questions etc, compared to online learning imo.
There''s nowhere else that''s cheap, that''s really worth diving from here, although if you''re on a year''s sabbatical, you could pick up a cheap last minute deal somewhere. Avoid diving anywhere in the med. Not many fish, not much underwater landscape to look at, the only good things to see there are wrecks, and there''s a huge, underwater statue of Jesus off the Italian Riviera which looks like a really good dive (but it''s just one really good dive there, there''s not much else). I dived Fuerteventura, and Turkey, and it''s just naff. I probably won''t even bother diving next time we go to the Med.
Top tip is to pick one of the best rated dive companies on TripAdvisor for whatever resort you end up in, and try and pick a smaller size company, as you will usually get a better service. If you did end up in Sharm, I can HIGHLY recommend Elite Diving. That''s who I did my Open Water with, and they''re amazing. Were awarded the best Dive Company in the world accolade by SportDiver magazine. Really small company, only 6 or 7 instructors, but they''re great. When we were out on the boat, we met loads of people who were going back to Elite every year and wouldn''t dive Sharm with another company (we''re talking serious divers with hundreds/thousands of logged dives and experience with companies all over the world here). Really nice, chilled atmosphere, and all the staff go for a beer or two in the evenings and it''s open invitation to everyone on the boat to join them, so you get to socialise with lots of experienced divers, meet new people, pick up tips etc. Dived with Super Divers in Phuket/Koh Phi Phi over the summer and they were great too. Also dived with Phangan Fun Factory in the gulf of Thailand because they were the only company on the right side of Koh Phangan for our hotel, and they were naff. The diving was awesome (We dived Sail Rock which is world renowned for the sheer quantity of fish, and it lives up to it''s reputation) but I didn''t like or trust the dive guide.
And get your own mask and snorkel. I picked up a Fourth Element one off Amazon for around £35-40 in a sale (down from around £100) and it''s a worthwhile investment. Every other bit of kit the dive companies provide is fine, but I find they often get cheap masks because they''re frequently dropped/lost and the whole point of diving is to see underwater so it''s worth chucking a few quid at it and getting your own. To stop masks fogging up during dives, everyone will tell you something different, but my personal opinion is you can''t beat a bit of baby oil. Rub it into the lenses inside, then rinse in freshwater and you''ll have no troubles. Toothpaste and spit also work, but not as consistently or reliably.
If you want any help picking a company or any advice about it, email me (rather than filling this thread up) Tomblazak@hotmail.co.uk

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Sorry, just realised you said "before you go" on your year''s sabbatical, so it depends where u plan on going. I was basing the Sharm etc stuff on you being in the UK but if you''re travelling then that''s even better. 
If you''re going further afield then obviously Sharm may not be an option (although the Red Sea is on every diver around the world''s dive list!).
If you know what country/countries you''ll be in and the months, then give me a shout, and I''ll do a bit of digging on where to dive and what companies have good reps, as scuba diving is hugely variable because of migration patterns (Eg you may have a good chance of seeing a Manta Ray or a Whale Shark in February, but not in April, and then be almost guaranteed to see them in September in the same location), annual current cycles effect water visibilityetc, so it often depends on the time of year as to the best place to dive (EG Thailand - October-May (Dry Season) the diving is best in the Andaman Sea. June to Sept (Monsoon Season), the Gulf of Thailand is better as visibility in the Andaman reduces by about 50% and the bigger stuff migrates away (although that''s where I saw my first shark this summer, so you can still get lucky :) ).

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I love sport. I can pretty much enjoy any sport. But my favourite sport behind Football is definitely Tennis. Such an intense physical and psychological sport and is always fascinating to watch. After that it is F1, although the excitement of the sport has died down a lot in recent years.

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Really interesting debate

For me my number 1 sport is American football, in fact football is a little lower on the list.

The reason being that NCFC is everything and I care nothing else about watching league football. I will go to unique small grounds and watch the first round of the cup. But I have no interest in any other team or football other than NCFC, our games and those that have an impact on us for relegation/promotion.

It is a question of fandom.

I watch NFL games thoughout the season and I do travel to America, where I used to work to see games.

I have travelled to see tennis, I played up through till 18 with coaching and watch all ATP tour games. I do watch rugby league, not union, love cricket, AFL and Gaelic sports.

Athletics was always a great one for me, but about 8 years ago I lost a little interest due to the drug story, which continues now.

I am a sportaholic with, probably gymnastics the only sport which I do not watch.

I could go into this much more as it is a great debate, but football is not my top sport. NCFC is in my blood, football is not.

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Watch all sport (no keen on the "judged" sports like Gymnastics or diving.

Only actively play Golf now - I''m playing in the CSF golf day on the 22nd if any other of you golfers are playing let me know before hand so we can put faces to names.

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Redders I worked for warriors MD travelled with the mll a great sport and again loved it in the us

As you say amazing sport. I was based near the big college teams of unc and duke. Best years of my life over there

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AFL (Aussie Rules), and hoping my team (West Coast Eagles) makes the Grand Final.

The AFL and football season''s are polar opposites with a slight overlap so I get to enjoy sports all year around.

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[quote user="AJ"]But my favourite sport behind Football is definitely Tennis. Such an intense physical and psychological sport and is always fascinating to watch. .[/quote]

Agreed.  Football - specifically NCFC - is my main interest in sport, but tennis is the complete gladatorial type sport for me.  Two (or four) players confronting each other, trying to dominate. The spins, the power, the movement, the drama, the strength of mind displayed, the sheer length of some matches, is fascinating, at any level.   Take into account the lengths the top players go to, to stay at the top and it can be remarkable to behold.  One of the best sports to get involved in, imo.

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Rollerball. A beautiful, graceful sport pitting man against man. (With a couple of motorbikes thrown in for good measure).It''s being officially introduced in 2018. They made a documentary about it many years back. Well worth a look.[Y]

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Punk rock and UFC!

I''m surprised that we dont have a Norwich City punk band - I might start one - The Barclay Bootboys!

In regards to actual sport, I''m a big fan of UFC and i''m proper looking forward to the McGregor/Silva fight!

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American Football/NFL.. sadly i''m a Steelers fan :(People who don''t follow it or understand it possibly won''t agree but there isn''t a more tactical sport on the planet.the way the game is run, everyone has a star player, Salary Capping works too.We could learn so much from the NFL.

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[quote user="jas the barclay king"]American Football/NFL.. sadly i''m a Steelers fan :(People who don''t follow it or understand it possibly won''t agree but there isn''t a more tactical sport on the planet.the way the game is run, everyone has a star player, Salary Capping works too.We could learn so much from the NFL.[/quote][Y]Dolphins for me...... [:$]

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These days, my second sport is football. I''m a season ticket holder, and can''t see that changing. I love my football, but...

The last couple of years I''ve become obsessed with golf. Watching and playing. To me it''s the perfect balance of mental strength and physical skill. A lot of people think it''s very dull, but the array of incredible shots the top players can execute under the most extreme pressure is mind blowin, and the levels of sustained brilliance they have to achieve over 4 days in order to win is fantastic.

Also, the Ryder cup is the best team event in the world IMO. Nothing beats it. The drama at medinah was unsurpassed.

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[quote user="smooth"]Redders I worked for warriors MD travelled with the mll a great sport and again loved it in the us

As you say amazing sport. I was based near the big college teams of unc and duke. Best years of my life over there[/quote]

Right, I''m out by JMU in VA for school right now and it was actually my first roommate who showed it to me

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[quote user="BootBoy"]Punk rock and UFC!

I''m surprised that we dont have a Norwich City punk band - I might start one - The Barclay Bootboys!

In regards to actual sport, I''m a big fan of UFC and i''m proper looking forward to the McGregor/Silva fight![/quote]

Do you mean mgregor/Aldo.

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[quote user="kick it off"]Can''t find the right link to his vid, but if you search youtube for "Hammerheads Galapogos", you will see the kind of thing I''m talking about.[/quote]
This video just popped up in my Facebook, and by sheer coincidence, happens to feature the exact same footage I referred to!!
https://vimeo.com/103355614 << Starts at 26 seconds and it''s his footage all the way up to 43 seconds. You can really see the sheer number of hammerheads in the first 10 seconds of the clip, the raw footage goes on for about 12 minutes!!!

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3 hours ago, nbestreviews said:

Trampoline is my favorite physical education

Now this is a strange introduction to the board, why set up a new account just to post this on a 5 year old thread? 

  • Haha 2

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Worth reigniting the debate, though. I love so much sport, I even have a top 10. The top four rarely move, but others shift around regularly.

1) Football
2) Snooker
3) Cricket
4) Rugby union
5) Baseball
6) Tennis
7) Golf
8) Boxing
9) NFL
10) Basketball

And I can happily watch most other sports, although absolutely no interest in gymnastics or horses.

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1 hour ago, cornish sam said:

Now this is a strange introduction to the board, why set up a new account just to post this on a 5 year old thread? 

You could almost say that has all the hallmarks of a spambot...

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