Latest news with #RobBaker
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Norfolk: Cold war plane transported to new home
A Cold War fighter jet has been transported across Norfolk to a new home where it will be refurbished. The Hunter F.6 jet, which weighs more than 8 tonnes, has been transferred 30 miles (48km) from the City of Norwich Aviation Museum to the Veterans Central charity at West Raynham near Fakenham. Veterans Central supports military and emergency veterans and the larger community in wellbeing, socialization and community F.6 will now be restored and repainted by members, including veterans who flew the same kind of aircraft. The 12.8m (42ft) plane was transported on a low-loader along the A1067 before a crane was used to hoist it into position at its new home. Rob Baker, a former RAF engineer is the team lead for the Hunter project at Veterans Central, said the volunteers were looking forward to the refurbishment. "We are delighted that the jet has landed safely and is now ready to be worked on by the team of volunteers , who can barely wait to get started on the restoration. "It's going to be a fantastic centrepiece for the work we do here and a brilliant hands-on project for our veteran volunteers, including many worked on Hunters during their time in the RAF." The plane is owned by the Coltishall Heritage Trust which has given Veterans Central a long term loan of the craft. It will take pride of place at the entrance to Veterans Central and work will now begin to restore and paint the plane. The group is currently renovating its Grade II listed building as a facility for veterans, serving personnel and families, to support activities, wellbeing and social engagement. They also have a therapy garden on their 3-acre (1.2ha) site. The Veterans Central charity has also been providing monthly breakfasts for armed forces and emergency services veterans on the second Saturday of each month since summer 2023 and in May reached the milestone of 1,000 breakfasts served. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
New York Times
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Boat Race: Walking the route to understand a quintessentially English institution
Putney Bridge station in south-west London is overwhelmingly busy at 10am. What's going on? Are Fulham playing at home in the Premier League just up the road? Is there a half-price sale on matcha green tea cream frappuccino blended beverage coffees with soya milk? Nope, something different. There are police officers everywhere, but they're not armed with batons or riot shields, they're in boats and on bikes, relaxed and chatting to the public. Advertisement On Putney Bridge itself, dozens of people hop off several buses and stride purposefully in the direction of a bar. Many are wearing beige trousers and some are in brown blazers. Yep, OK. Got it. Welcome to the Boat Race. For the uninitiated, this is a true British — or more specifically, English — sporting event like no other. Once a year, on a four-and-a-bit-mile stretch of the River Thames in this part of the UK's capital, crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge do battle in two boats of eight rowers (with a ninth person called a cox, who guides and motivates them along the route). The first race took place in 1829, with the men's race run every year since 1856, while the women's version started in 1927 and 10 years ago moved to take place on the same day as the men's one. It's a huge deal, not just for the rowers and the two universities, but for a crowd of between 200,000 and 250,000 watching on and alongside the Thames, or millions watching on television. There are hundreds of media members accredited, including from France, Spain and China, not to mention the remarkable prominence it still gets on UK television, with the BBC giving three whole hours of coverage on BBC One, its main channel, for two races that will last between 15 and 20 minutes each. One of the reasons the race endures and thrives (it is being sponsored by Chanel for the first time this year) is its rivalry, which is deep-seated and very real. Oxford and Cambridge are two historic institutions that have much in common, but when it comes to the Boat Race, they don't exactly have a drink together afterwards, as you'd get during the Ashes, England vs Australia in cricket, for example. They're not swapping spandex shorts after the race, like how they swap shirts in football. This year, the rivalry has gone up a notch, with Oxford successfully getting a few Cambridge rowers banned from the race by arguing that studying for a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education), i.e. training to be a teacher, is not at degree level, so they should not be eligible to compete. Oxford's actions were deemed to be 'slimy' and Cambridge will, as their coach Rob Baker says later, '100 per cent' use the dispute as extra motivation. Advertisement It should also be noted that while this is a one-off race between people who have to study at one of the universities to compete (but no trainee teachers, remember), the standard is still incredibly high. Across the 16 rowers on the men's and women's teams, there are Olympic medallists, World Championship competitors and youth champions not just from the UK, but the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. The rivalry extends to the banks of the Thames, too, albeit in a much gentler fashion. There are no skinheads with their tops off singing, 'Oxford 'til I die' and no chants of, 'You're just a bus stop in Bicester'. But there are allegiances on show; people hand out Cambridge or Oxford flags for spectators to wave, others don university hoodies (light blue for Cambridge, dark blue for Oxford, as per the colours of their respective crews), while there is merchandise on sale, such as T-shirts, hats, programmes and jumpers. There are still three hours to go until the women's race starts at 1.21pm, but at the start line by Putney Bridge, people are already lining the route to get the best vantage point. Who are these people? Well, there are a lot of families, plenty of locals, some tourists, and lots of people with very, very well-spoken accents. All the crews and reserve crews are assembling nearby for the coin toss (to pick which side of the river the boats will start from) and their families and fellow students have converged to support them. A man wearing a gilet drinks coffee from a Greggs cup. He is the most working-class-looking man The Athletic will see today. The Boat Race is also extremely white; in fact, it's hard to imagine a whiter, more middle-class sporting event. In gorgeous spring sunshine, there is a carnival atmosphere already. An English sparkling wine stall is selling bottles of it for £45, while a food stand is headlined 'Crepes et Galettes, de Saint-Malo', which, to be honest, The Athletic has to Google (basically, fancy crepes). Advertisement There are runners and cyclists everywhere. And small dogs. The crews arrive by minibus and are wildly cheered as they do so by the assembled crowd outside Thames Rowing Club. People mill around, chat and drink. Conversation topics include tiramisu, the actor Hugh Laurie being a former Boat Race rower, Canary Wharf boat parties and the high standard of tennis commentary on BBC Radio 5. There is no doubt it's an incredibly well-educated crowd, with V-neck woollen jumpers, bunting and a remarkably high proportion of men draping cardigans over their shoulders. It's hard to imagine there is a single person here who does not know their 12 times table or the capital of Australia. And as this train of thought passes through, literally there is Clare Balding, the ultimate front-facing figure of a posh sporting event in Britain. She's hosting the BBC's coverage and there's another famous face nearby in Sir Matthew Pinsent, quadruple Olympic rowing gold medallist, who will be the umpire for the women's race today. Pinsent oversees the coin toss, which Oxford win, and they pick the southern Surrey side (Cambridge, therefore, have the northern Middlesex side), which will give them an advantage on the second bend. There is hearty applause for the two teams and whenever this happens, a small dog incessantly barks. This could not be more middle England if it tried. That label means a sizeable chunk of the country will completely ignore these events. When The Athletic messages a friend about attending, he replies with: 'Is this some sort of sick joke?' (he is a socialist from Birmingham, to be fair). And yes, this is essentially a private race between two elitist educational institutions, but it is also incredibly popular as a sporting event. Only the London Marathon will host more spectators in the UK this year (an estimate of 750,000), although as with the Boat Race, numbers are difficult to judge exactly as it is a free event and nobody is actually doing a head count. Advertisement Anyway, by comparison, the Silverstone race track will host up to 164,000 people for one day of Formula One's British Grand Prix, believed to be the biggest ticketed one-day sporting event in the UK, in July. While stopping short of counting, it can be confirmed from walking the entire route up and down the Thames that there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people who have ventured out to watch some boats row past them for just a few seconds. For the majority of these people, though, the Boat Race is about so much more than that; it's a day out with friends and family, to socialise, to drink, to enjoy the rare April sunshine. The race itself is secondary. Heading up through Fulham and then Hammersmith, you see people on deckchairs sat waiting from their prime position, a brass band plays old-time classics to entertain crowds as they walk through Bishops Park up the Fulham Pier fan zone, housed in Fulham Football Club's Craven Cottage stadium, specifically in their fancy new Riverside Stand. The hot tub in said stand isn't open, sadly, but its ground floor is, for people to buy lager, ice cream, coffee, tacos, cocktails and, of course, Pimms. You can buy a bottle of Veuve Clicquot if you have a spare £105, while there are also two virtual rowing machines which see people compete on the 'Thames', watched by a medium-sized dog this time. Further up the river, the rowdiness starts at the Crabtree, a pub which backs onto the Thames and is absolutely heaving. It might be 12.30pm, but drinks are double-parked. Thousands have picked their spot to watch the race already and line this entire section of the route, drinking cans of cider and eating pastries. It's a boat festival, basically. All the way up to Hammersmith Bridge, the route is completely full, complete with a stifling bottleneck outside the Blue Anchor, which takes 10 minutes to shuffle past. At Furnivall Gardens, there's another fan park full of picnic blankets, crisps and alcohol, as well as Morris Dancers, because why not? Advertisement The crowds thin out from there onwards, firstly because you can't even walk alongside the Thames on Chiswick Mall because people's private gardens are there instead. There are still thousands dotted along the way, watching the women's race on their phones, and then the finish line by Chiswick Bridge is a more sedate affair, albeit one still fuelled by copious drinks. A gentle-looking, grey-haired man takes a little tumble as he tries to stand up with his glass of red, which importantly stays upright. Meanwhile, the women's race has experienced a dramatic start, with Oxford steering into Cambridge's line, leading Pinsent to stop the race after 90 seconds and restart it with Cambridge having a third-of-a-length advantage, a lead they never relinquish. The men's race goes a similar way, with Cambridge extending their recent dominance in both the men's and women's races by winning both, to applause and whoops as they cross the finish line. 'I feel like Andy Murray when he had just won Wimbledon. This is our Wimbledon final, our Champions League,' Cambridge's George Bourne says. 'That's the only way I can describe it — it's like a taste of that and it's awesome.' As the men's race finishes, the clouds darken overhead and the rain starts. An empty Chiswick Bridge, which had felt like a scene from zombie movie 28 Days Later when it was closed to traffic during the races, goes from empty to completely full across all four lanes in seconds. After a couple of hours of gentle frivolity, the real London is back. Time to go home. Or back to the bar.
The Guardian
13-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cambridge sweep Oxford aside to maintain Boat Race dominance with double
The Cambridge men's coach, Rob Baker, said his athletes '100%' used the recent eligibility row as motivation after the light-blue crews sealed dominant victories at the Boat Race on Sunday. The women's boat claimed an eighth consecutive win in dramatic circumstances while the men, having been pushed by the Oxford crew early on, pulled away to secure a third successive victory in crushing fashion. In the unedifying pre-event controversy over eligibility that led to four Cambridge athletes being barred from racing, Oxford were accused of 'slimy tactics' by their rivals and Baker said the affair fuelled their competitive urge. 'In terms of the noise, it's not really interrupted our progress,' he said. 'It's just been motivation frankly. The guys realise that two guys could have rowed with us in the boat today and they didn't get that opportunity. 'It was extra motivation 100%. Matt [Heywood] and Tom [Ford] are fantastic guys, really great individuals. They've supported the team all the way through. It takes quite a strong character to come down here and watch the race when you weren't allowed to do it, and support the team all the way through. We're really proud of them.' After a uniquely controversial buildup the start of the 79th women's race could hardly have been more dramatic or confrontational. Cambridge took control with a smooth, powerful start and Daniel Orton, the Oxford cox, steered aggressively into the early leaders' line, apparently attempting to turn rowing into a contact sport. The umpire, Matthew Pinsent, warned Orton but had no choice but to stop the contest after just 90 seconds when the crews' oars repeatedly clashed. Pinsent raised the possibility of a 'straight DQ' in consultation with the reserve umpire, Sarah Langslow, but decided to restart the race, thus avoiding a calamitous outcome for Oxford. A dominant Cambridge retook control and never looked troubled. They were two lengths in front by Barnes Bridge but Katy Hempson, the Cambridge bow, was not the only athlete reduced to tears of joy as the winning boat drifted towards a gaggle of cheering teammates on the riverbank. 'It definitely pops into your mind,' Pinsent said of the possibility of a disqualification for Oxford. 'But the rules express that in the event of a foul, you can see if it affects the outcome of the race. 'In the end Cambridge won so it becomes a bit of a moot point. The rules allow you to do it [disqualification] and the rules allow you to wait and see. You're considering all and any options from that moment on, but in the end they got to race the full track. That's the best outcome – that their speed does the talking.' Annie Anezakis of Oxford told the BBC: 'I've lost two prior to this. The most meaningful things are the friendships I make and the memories I make along the way. Win or lose I have those memories and those friendships for the rest of my life.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The start of the men's race was delayed by a piece of driftwood and when hostilities began, Oxford stayed on terms for the first section of the four-mile, 374-yard course. But Cambridge forged a lead by the Surrey Bend, taking the racing line and leaving Oxford struggling in their wake. 'Relief is a big part of it,' the Cambridge president, Luca Ferraro, said. 'As that starts to subside, it's really an appreciation for the team around me. Everyone at Cambridge has put in such a big shift this year. 'Matt [Heywood] is one of my closest friends. He's been such a big part of what we've done this year, such a big part of the squad, he has such wisdom. I'm gutted he couldn't race. I hope that today, in some way, was our way of paying him back because he was a huge part of that result.' The defeated Oxford men's president, Tom Mackintosh, a gold medallist for New Zealand in the men's eight at Tokyo 2020, said: 'They pushed away at quite a formidable part of the race so full credit to them. We settled into a good rhythm and executed a plan but unfortunately it didn't go our way. 'I don't feel like we've lost. I'm proud of all the work the Oxford men and women have done. The race won't define you, and it won't define Oxford. We've got some exciting things in the pipeline and I think there's a prosperous future for us.' Clutching a bottle of sparkling wine, George Bourne of Cambridge said: 'Rob Baker is epic. He knows what he wants. He treats us like adults. And that breeds the culture which is the best I've seen in a team. 'When coaches and presidents come in and set that standard every day there's no excuse for us, the rabble, not to meet that level. You do that every day and you can come out here and enjoy this moment. I'm so proud to be wearing light blue and to be part of this club.' He wasn't the only one.
The Independent
13-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Cambridge coach Rob Baker hails ‘best crew' of career after Boat Race success
Coach Rob Baker hailed the 'best crew' of his Cambridge career after they overcame controversy and secured a dominant victory in the 170th men's Boat Race. It was a clean sweep for the light blues, who also secured wins in the women's and reserve races, Baker's men claiming the trophy for a third-straight year by a margin of five-and-a-half lengths. Build-up was dominated by an eligibility row that resulted in 2024 British Olympic gold medallist Tom Ford and former under-23 world champion Matt Heywood ruled out of competing for Cambridge for separate reasons alongside two potential members of the women's crew. 'It's the best crew I've ever coached without question at Cambridge,' said Baker, who was appointed in 2018. 'Maybe that made me a bit more nervous because I knew what they were capable of doing. 'You want them to fulfil what they are capable of doing and I think we were a bit under the radar somehow. We have no Olympians – Oxford have three stars in the boat – so I couldn't be more proud of them. 'The noise (has) just been motivation, frankly and we treated it pretty sensibly. 'There are two guys who could have been in the boat today and didn't get that opportunity, so they're rowing for them as well.' The men's race was due to begin at 14:21 but was delayed for just under 10 minutes to clear some floating debris. It started out evenly before Cambridge began building up a steady lead, ultimately crossing the finish in a winning time of 16 minutes 56 seconds. Cambridge six seat James Robson, a Team GB reserve athlete at last summer's Paris Olympics, told the PA news agency: 'I think there's been a lot of external noise this entire year and I think one of the things that Rob has done so masterfully all year is just focus on the guys that we've got in the building. 'We heard everything, we listened to nothing and we just went out there and tried to perform our best on the day.' Oxford sent out a crew comprised of several Olympians including men's president Tom Mackintosh, who won gold with New Zealand's eight at Tokyo 2020. He said: 'Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way today, but I don't feel like we've lost because I'm still proud of the work that all the Oxford men and women have done. 'That's the beauty of an event like this and the beauty of sport. Some days it doesn't go your way, but the race won't define you and it won't define Oxford.' Cambridge cruised to an eighth-straight victory in the 79th edition of the women's race, which began with some drama. The crews clashed oars within the first two minutes and umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent elected to restart rather than disqualify who he deemed to be the Oxford instigators. Cambridge ultimately took victory by a two-and-a-half-length margin in a winning time of 19mins 25secs. Winning six seat Claire Collins – a two-time United States Olympian – revealed her crew had visualised a pre-race interruption, which allowed them to quickly regroup. She said: 'It feels amazing. It's so fun. There is a huge team around the team, so it's every person on and off the water that helped this happen. 'We are really proud, but it was also great competition from Oxford, we respect them a ton and are just glad we got some good racing in.'
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Readers sound off on pro-Israel media bias, Greenland's size and Cuomo's record
Ambler, Pa.: Corporate state media and politicians describe what Israel has done in Gaza (photo) as a war rather than the slaughter and starvation of imprisoned Christian and Muslim refugees. They characterize a prison outbreak as an invasion, as if the people imprisoned in Gaza weren't driven off their land during the Nakba of 1948; that peaceful demonstrations called the Great March of Return were stopped by Israeli snipers in 2018-19. They trumpeted unsubstantiated allegations of baby-killing and sexual violence by Hamas on Oct. 7 while downplaying substantial evidence of sexual violence and torture of Palestinians by Israeli forces. It reminds one that Black men were once seen as predators in America while white men raped Black women and lynched Black men with impunity. They are quiet about Israel's long-term support for Hamas and warnings it had prior to Oct. 7. They don't mention the Arab Peace Initiative. Why does the media call those who protest apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide 'pro-Palestinian'? Aren't they simply human beings with a conscience, neither 'pro' nor 'anti' any tribe, religion or nation? White people who believed in human and democratic rights for all during the Civil Rights era were called 'N-lovers.' American Christians believed slavery was biblical. Nothing has changed. Evangelicals today believe that it's righteous for Israel, founded and led by non-religious people, to rob, oppress and kill its neighbors. Why do many Americans ignore, minimize or excuse the violence the ruling class has dealt to innocent people around the world? Corporate media, in a nation ranked 55th in the world for press freedom, peddles false narratives, minimizes our crimes and publishes without challenge lies by government officials, politicians and those paid to shape public opinion. It has become the voice of the ruling class, a mouthpiece for monsters, and the heralds of the gods of war. Rob Baker Williamsville, N.Y.: Israel's foes don't have a leg to stand on. How do we know? They advance anti-Israel arguments that are patently and demonstrably false because the truth doesn't support their positions. For example, Voicer Michele P. Brown misquoted former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. His actual quote was: 'They [Arabs] only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country.' Brown deliberately left out the first part to make it appear that Ben-Gurion was admitting theft. This is false. He was referring to the unfortunate and false Arab perspective. Israel is fighting a seven-front war of self-defense against its mortal enemies. Brown and her fellow travelers are trying to pile on, but they only have the ammunition of falsehoods. Trying to kick the country while it's down is morally bankrupt. Daniel H. Trigoboff Bronx: To Voicer Rob Weissbard: You say that Mahmoud Khalil wholeheartedly supports Hamas and Hezbollah. Show me where he has said that. You, on the other hand, wholeheartedly support a country that bombed an American navy ship, the USS Liberty, during 1967's Six-Day War, killing 34 and wounding 171. W. Twirley Bedford, N.Y.: Khalil, students and thousands of ordinary people throughout the world are not celebrating the killings of men, women and children on Oct. 7. They're protesting the slaughter of men, women and children by the Israeli army since Oct. 8, 2023 — to date, more than 60,000 dead, including 17,000 babies and children, thousands buried under the rubble and thousands more taken hostage and disappeared in Israeli prisons. Céline Secada Sunnyside: To Voicer Toby F. Block: I don't think it was accurate to say that '400,000-700,000 Palestinians left Palestine.' The late, great Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin admitted in his autobiography that Ben-Gurion ordered the Israeli army to expel tens of thousands of Palestinians soon after Israel was established (maybe even more). Of course, we have to acknowledge that there were atrocities committed by Arabs against Jewish Palestinians, such as the massacres of about 70 Jews in Hebron in 1929 and about 80 Jews traveling in a caravan to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem in 1948 (in retaliation, the Irgun and the Stern Gang murdered an estimated 150-200 Palestinians in a village called Deir Yassin). We must always acknowledge that there have been innocent people killed on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just as innocent people were killed by Irish Republican Army terrorists, Ulster Defense Association terrorists and the British Army. John Francis Fox Bellerose: On Tuesday, I fell again for the seventh time due to cancer and a knee that is bone-on-bone. This happens on my job at Northeast Plumbing in Mineola, L.I. This occurs at a number of different locations. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, friends and co-workers, they got me up and onto my feet, not to mention the EMS workers. I guess at 76, it is time for me to retire and take better care of my wife Eva, who is on an oxygen machine. I only work 14 hours a week now and have been with the company for 45 years due to caring and kind employers. Please keep me in your prayers. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Plainview, L.I.: Trump, who is well-known to be obsessed with the size of things, is probably driven to annex Greenland — even by military force — because he vaguely remembers how big it looked on the wall map in his 1950s third-grade classroom. As a schoolteacher, I know it looked as big as Africa, but that was because it was a Mercator projection flat map, which distorts the apparent size of land masses far from the equator. On those maps, Greenland looks bigger than South America (which is eight times larger) and as big as Africa (which is 14 times larger). Trump needs to take a look at Greenland's actual relative size on a globe. He says we need Greenland for national security purposes, but I believe he partly wants it for his big ego. If only Trump had been in one of my third-grade classes where each student had their own globe on their desk! Richard Siegelman Ledyard, Conn.: 'Trump and the Magic Sharpie' may make for a good book title but it's useless as a policy strategy. Lisa Allen Manhattan: Our federal government has scrubbed the word 'climate' from its records, but Americans know that climate warming is already getting us into serious trouble. In New York, which should be a climate leader, Gov. Hochul is delaying critical climate policy as if we had all the time in the world. Now she wants to put off the Advanced Clean Trucks rule under pressure from truck manufacturers and dealers, who would rather have us breathe dirty fumes than act responsibly to clean them up. She's also balking at getting the All-Electric Buildings Act off the ground by making sure all the regulations for it have been updated. To be clear, ACT and AEBA are already law. Hochul just needs to take her foot off the brakes. Matthew Schneck Mineola, L.I.: Re 'The facts on Cuomo and the COVID nursing homes' (op-ed, March 12): In judging Andrew Cuomo's stewardship of the Empire State during the pandemic, one is compelled to paraphrase Mark Twain: There are lies, damn lies and media distortions. As Paul Francis notes, 'Statements that insinuate that Cuomo was responsible for unnecessary nursing home deaths in New York are demonstrably false.' While he may never attain the rhetorical heights of his eloquent paterfamilias, Cuomo is a sui generis politico whose pragmatic approach to governance elided the differences between liberal orthodoxies and conservative principles. As governor, Sheriff Andy wielded power effectively, if pugnaciously. Whatever transpires in the mayoral race, he should heed Marcus Aurelius: 'Although others may at times hinder me from acting, they cannot control or impede my spirit and my will. Reserving its judgments and adapting to change, my mind bypasses or displaces any obstacle in its way. It uses whatever opposes it to achieve its own ends.' Rosario A. Iaconis Ocala, Fla.: I believe if the FDNY is blocked by a car illegally parked by a hydrant, the car windows should be broken immediately so hoses can be used. Too bad for the person endangering humans by blocking hydrants. Let them pay for their windows if they impeded our valiant firefighters from saving people. Lynn Miller
