Trouble at Brookes

[fatsculler]

Looks like trouble is brewing in the men’s squad at Oxford Brookes after someone leaked the coaches “toughness sheet”….a list of every athletes weaknesses that was posted in the boathouse & which contains some pretty unflattering comments. Someone has also leaked a coaches message about the leak saying own up to the leak! Looks like the toys are being thrown out the pram as Brookes have just scratched all their men’s boats from this weekend’s Fours Head of the River (the main autumn race).
Get the popcorn….this is going to get interesting

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[lt.wolf]

Not sure who is overreacting more here

Who in their right mind lets their phone drop to 30 percent battery life?

[FullSend]

Spelling on that sheet certainly isn't beating the "Brookes not Books" jokes

[socalstroke]

This can't be real? Not even worth the effort to write up as a joke.

[fatsculler]

This can't be real? Not even worth the effort to write up as a joke.

Apparently it is genuine

[lt.wolf]

I am really surprised by the whole situation as Brookes normally is pretty professional. Some of the “toughness” comments are out of line when put to paper.

[fatsculler]

It’s all the more embarrassing as it comes a few days before this book gets published

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[Slim]

Would you rather be a "sponge bob" or a "morning wood"?

[KitD]

There are some pretty big names on that list, U23 internationals. "Everyone gets a mention, no one is special" is quite a good message to give. Plus some of the comments are definitely "banter"- rated so I'm not sure how deeply anyone will be feeling the hurt.

IMO, it's raising an expectation of performance in front of your team mates via intense pressure of training, which is a valid strategy, albeit an attritional one. These are young guys who want to be there so you can get away with quite a bit in that environment.

TBH, I don't think Bailache-Webb needs to be so upset about it. All those on Reddit and elsewhere mocking them for it will have to shut up when Brookes rows away from them over the horizon.

[Slim]

Results aren’t a proxy for culture.

[FullSend]

Results aren’t a proxy for culture.

A lot of the athletes I've heard talk about their time at Brookes speak pretty highly of the culture (in their opinion), but I am far from talking to a plurality of them. I don't get the impression the toughness board is a new thing, so if a ton of athletes had issues with it, I would have thought we would have heard more about culture issues before now.

[lt.wolf]

Now British Rowing is involved, simply epic.

[Slim]

Results aren’t a proxy for culture.

A lot of the athletes I've heard talk about their time at Brookes speak pretty highly of the culture (in their opinion), but I am far from talking to a plurality of them. I don't get the impression the toughness board is a new thing, so if a ton of athletes had issues with it, I would have thought we would have heard more about culture issues before now.

They have an insular secretive exceptionalist culture. Just look at the pressure campaign to get the leaker to come forward and the collective punishment when they didn't. It shouldn't come as a surprise when no one talks about the bread game.

*metaphorically speaking of course

[fatsculler]

It’s even made the BBC now!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33ey2jr8n2o

[lt.wolf]

Now we see if the phrase “winning cures everything “ holds up