This week the great Sachin Tendulkar passed 14,000 Test runs, while amassing his 49th Test Century, both clear records. It caused some in the media to enter into a discussion about whether Tendulkar should be regarded as the equal, or perhaps a superior cricketer to Don Bradman.
This debate is now going on all over the world, and while also possibly feeding into a rivalry between Australia and India which borders on the unhealthy, it is getting heated with many cricket followers, despite having never seen Bradman play, having strong opinions about the subject.
I'm not going to really get into the Bradman v Tendulkar debate, other than to say that Bradman scored all of his runs on uncovered pitches, and played most of his Test Cricket against the second best side in the world, so add this to Bradman's amazing average, and Bradman still remains the best, and probably always will.
However, it feeds into a deeper trend about disparaging, even if only by the mere mention of another in serious comparison, of many sportspeople who came before.
Haydn Bunton made his name in Aussie Rules at the same time as Bradman was dominating attacks and scoring a century every third time he batted. He won 3 Brownlow Medals before turning 27, and then won three Sandover Medals in the WAFL.
His 122 Brownlow votes in 119 games stands alone as the most incredible feat in polling votes in our game, and is also the best candidate for a stat like Bradman's average of 99.94.
But Bunton died young (he's been dead for 55 years), and his legacy has been mostly forgotten.
In more recent times, the AFL awarded the Full Back position in the team of the VFL/AFL's first 100 seasons to a then current player, Stephen Silvagni, over Jack Regan, the Collingwood champion of the 1930s. Regan was known as the "Prince of Full Backs", and duelled with Bob Pratt at the height of his powers.
Silvagni's feats were fresh in our minds, while Regan's had been consigned to history, forgotten in the deep archived compactus of the game. Numerous other examples exist of such thinking.
William Goldman, the famous and successful screenwriter, co-authored a book on sports in 1987 with Mike Lupica titled "Wait Til Next Year". In a chapter by Goldman defending Wilt Chamberlain, he gave us this::
"The greatest struggle an athlete undergoes is the battle for our memories. It's gradual. It begins before you're aware that it's begun, and it ends with a terrible fall from grace. It really is a battle to the death."
He suggested the best players of that day, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, would also get the same treatment as many that had gone before, with pundits suggesting that "they couldn't play today".
While it is both honourable and right to celebrate the genius that is Sachin Tendulkar, we should never forget what those incredible sportspeople who achieved their greatness before the 24-7 sports blogosphere Twitter media circus became the norm.
As Halls of Fame become fat with the mere passing of time, we should also occassionally take time to recognise those that revolutionised the game with pioneering play, whether it be the way Bill Russell played defence, to how Polly Farmer handballed, to how Usain Bolt is changing sprinting by his mere size.
Without Bunton we would not have had Judd. Without Regan we would not have had Scarlett. And without Bradman, we would not have had Tendulkar. The best, often, is not the most recent in the memory. Let us remember that.
Showing posts with label AFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFL. Show all posts
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Live Footy on TV - The Real Solution
The past 12 months haven't been great for capitalism and the free market. A lack of regulation and the unique idiosyncracies of the USA's politcal system have contributed to the fact that the world's economy has headed south quicker than Hawthorn for a home game.
No one is really out there advocating free market solutions to economic problems any more. Kevin Rudd, self proclaimed economic conservative in 2007, is now dancing on the grave of John Howard's neoliberalism and economic rationalism a short 16 months later. The worm has turned.
At the other end of the public spectrum, the footy season is nearly upon us. Two weeknight prime-time games greet us in Round 1, Cousins v Judd (or Richmond v Carlton) on Thursday night on Channel 10, and the Grand Final re-match (Hawthorn v Geelong) on Friday night on Channel 7.
These games will not be shown live into Melbourne. Ten is showing Thursday night's game on a half-hour delay, while Seven will show it's regular Friday night match on it's usual one-hour delay.
A lot of hard-core footy fans aren't happy about this. Channel 7 is targeted for particular vitriole, considering the hour delay is usually filled with Better Homes and Gardens, not exactly can't-miss television for the average footy fan.
Channel 7 have their reasons, and don't appear to be budging from this any time soon. It doesn't bother me much, because I can usually wait the hour. Having said that, I don't usually make it all the way through a Friday night match on the TV unless St Kilda are playing.
So how do we get the networks to change? Well, here is where a free market solution will work.
Don't watch.
A lot of the louder critics of footy-on-delay state that they listen to the game live on radio or watch updates on the league's website. I can usually manage to avoid doing this, but many other cannot.
My suggestion is you keep doing this, but once it comes on the TV, don't turn your TV on.
The only way the networks are going to get the hint that this is important is through ratings. If the ratings fall through the floor, then ad revenues will as well, and so will the amount the AFL can charge for the rights. This means that the AFL will eventually have to permit the networks to show the games live, even if they would prefer this not to be the case.
So, if you want live footy on TV, settle for nothing less. If it ain't live, don't watch it.
No one is really out there advocating free market solutions to economic problems any more. Kevin Rudd, self proclaimed economic conservative in 2007, is now dancing on the grave of John Howard's neoliberalism and economic rationalism a short 16 months later. The worm has turned.
At the other end of the public spectrum, the footy season is nearly upon us. Two weeknight prime-time games greet us in Round 1, Cousins v Judd (or Richmond v Carlton) on Thursday night on Channel 10, and the Grand Final re-match (Hawthorn v Geelong) on Friday night on Channel 7.
These games will not be shown live into Melbourne. Ten is showing Thursday night's game on a half-hour delay, while Seven will show it's regular Friday night match on it's usual one-hour delay.
A lot of hard-core footy fans aren't happy about this. Channel 7 is targeted for particular vitriole, considering the hour delay is usually filled with Better Homes and Gardens, not exactly can't-miss television for the average footy fan.
Channel 7 have their reasons, and don't appear to be budging from this any time soon. It doesn't bother me much, because I can usually wait the hour. Having said that, I don't usually make it all the way through a Friday night match on the TV unless St Kilda are playing.
So how do we get the networks to change? Well, here is where a free market solution will work.
Don't watch.
A lot of the louder critics of footy-on-delay state that they listen to the game live on radio or watch updates on the league's website. I can usually manage to avoid doing this, but many other cannot.
My suggestion is you keep doing this, but once it comes on the TV, don't turn your TV on.
The only way the networks are going to get the hint that this is important is through ratings. If the ratings fall through the floor, then ad revenues will as well, and so will the amount the AFL can charge for the rights. This means that the AFL will eventually have to permit the networks to show the games live, even if they would prefer this not to be the case.
So, if you want live footy on TV, settle for nothing less. If it ain't live, don't watch it.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Embrace the Humanity
I haven't got all touchy-feely on you - this is a blog post on footy. But as we enter the six month religious festival known as the home and away season, I just wanted to remind everyone of one thing. We're all human.
How does this relate to footy? Well, relating to those people we pay to watch play, another tactical revolution is underway in 2009 with the widespread adoption of a full-field zone defence, or "the cluster". Hawthorn used it to great effect last season.
Now, it is a system. That means that it is a way of given your blokes an advantage over and above whatever they have in the way of raw football skill. You can't teach someone to kick like Luke Hodge, but you can teach them to run to places on the ground like Luke Hodge.
It worked for Hawthorn: they're defending premiers. But the real reason it worked is because the Hawks knew they could implement the system, so they recruited players who had what no system could manufacture: skill. Birchall, Guerra, Young, Hodge, Bateman, etc.. the list of Hawks who are exquisite users of the ball is as long as your arm. In short, Hawthorn can beat a full-field zone defence with their skill.
And until someone else comes up with another system to beat this system, skill will have to do. Humanity over mechanical adherence to a system.
On the other side of the whistle, our umpires struggle, and understandably so. They're job is too bloody difficult, and I've umpired at a very low open age level, so I have some appreciation.
Take this year's most contentious rule change for example. The umpire must now make a judgement on whether a ball was forced deliberately through for a behind by a defensive player. In short, the umpire must make a judgement on the evidence available to him.
The other option was to stop the player who rushed the behind from being the player to kick it in. This would have stopped Brent Guerra rushing about 14 gazillion behinds in last year's Grand Final and hitting a target with the resulting kick-in every time. And it would have required no judgement on behalf of the umpire.
There's a reason it takes a long time to become a Magistrate or Justice - it's really hard, and we want someone really qualified to do it. Someone who has many years experience working with the law, and has demonstrated a long record of good judgement.
So, the answer to improving the quality of umpiring at the highest level is easy - reduce the number of judgement calls an umpire is required to make. Make the game easier to umpire.
Firstly, minimise the number of times an umpire has to judge intent. Deliberate out-of-bounds and rushed behinds fall into this category.
Secondly, train the umpires to only act on decisive visual evidence. This would eradicate the holding-the-ball decisions when a player's back is to the umpire, and he cannot even see the ball.
Thirdly, get them to do much more match simulation at training, with players of any level. Just get blokes doing match simulation, and send around umpires to all the clubs around the place to do 30 minutes of match simulation twice a week.
We only have humans to do the job, so make it easier. The players have a system, but the umpires just want to rest on their skill. The game will be the poorer for it.
How does this relate to footy? Well, relating to those people we pay to watch play, another tactical revolution is underway in 2009 with the widespread adoption of a full-field zone defence, or "the cluster". Hawthorn used it to great effect last season.
Now, it is a system. That means that it is a way of given your blokes an advantage over and above whatever they have in the way of raw football skill. You can't teach someone to kick like Luke Hodge, but you can teach them to run to places on the ground like Luke Hodge.
It worked for Hawthorn: they're defending premiers. But the real reason it worked is because the Hawks knew they could implement the system, so they recruited players who had what no system could manufacture: skill. Birchall, Guerra, Young, Hodge, Bateman, etc.. the list of Hawks who are exquisite users of the ball is as long as your arm. In short, Hawthorn can beat a full-field zone defence with their skill.
And until someone else comes up with another system to beat this system, skill will have to do. Humanity over mechanical adherence to a system.
On the other side of the whistle, our umpires struggle, and understandably so. They're job is too bloody difficult, and I've umpired at a very low open age level, so I have some appreciation.
Take this year's most contentious rule change for example. The umpire must now make a judgement on whether a ball was forced deliberately through for a behind by a defensive player. In short, the umpire must make a judgement on the evidence available to him.
The other option was to stop the player who rushed the behind from being the player to kick it in. This would have stopped Brent Guerra rushing about 14 gazillion behinds in last year's Grand Final and hitting a target with the resulting kick-in every time. And it would have required no judgement on behalf of the umpire.
There's a reason it takes a long time to become a Magistrate or Justice - it's really hard, and we want someone really qualified to do it. Someone who has many years experience working with the law, and has demonstrated a long record of good judgement.
So, the answer to improving the quality of umpiring at the highest level is easy - reduce the number of judgement calls an umpire is required to make. Make the game easier to umpire.
Firstly, minimise the number of times an umpire has to judge intent. Deliberate out-of-bounds and rushed behinds fall into this category.
Secondly, train the umpires to only act on decisive visual evidence. This would eradicate the holding-the-ball decisions when a player's back is to the umpire, and he cannot even see the ball.
Thirdly, get them to do much more match simulation at training, with players of any level. Just get blokes doing match simulation, and send around umpires to all the clubs around the place to do 30 minutes of match simulation twice a week.
We only have humans to do the job, so make it easier. The players have a system, but the umpires just want to rest on their skill. The game will be the poorer for it.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
2009 AFL Season Preview
It's that time of year again, so I'll offer a few choice thoughts on each team, and then put my neck on the line with a predicted ladder.
Adelaide
The Atlanta Braves of the AFL. In the 1990s, the Braves won their division every year, and despite only 8 teams making the playoffs every year, won only one World Series.The reason - their manager (head coach), Bobby Cox, micromanaged their regular season, leaving them no improvement once October came around.
The Crows are no different. Neil Craig has an unenviable finals record of 2-5, which compares unfavourable to Blight's 6-1, Cornes' 1-2 and Ayres' 2-4. There's every chance Adelaide will make finals again, but no chance they'll win the premiership.
Brisbane
I'm not in the Michael Voss as a Coach fan club. While he was one of my favourite two or three players when playing, I've heard nothing from him that makes me feel he'll make a good coach. Most of his effectiveness will come from the aura he carries, earnt from a stellar career.
The Lions have a clear deficiency in key defenders, have ruckmen and forwards who always seem to be injured, and an ageing midfield. While they were gifted Daniel Rich, I'm not expecting big things.
Carlton
I'm on the Carlton bandwagon, however. They have a deep midfield, a good collection of small defenders, and one of the best key forwards in the game.
A lot of this year will depend on how good Brett Ratten is. He seems to be getting a lot out of guys like Thornton and Cloke, who are GOPs. They're my pick for the "from out of the eight into the top four" team this year.
Collingwood
Today in the Hun there is an article which highlights the fact that it is hard to pick the Pies' best player. Well, it certainly is not their captain, who has taken the mantle of "football's biggest empty-head" from Michael Osborne.
Malthouse will always have them competitive, but they are still capable of losing to anyone on any given day. They have a great group of youngsters, but a very even group. They remind me a little of Geelong before Bartel and Ablett got really, really good.
Essendon
Name the Bombers' three best players. If you said Lloyd, Lucas & Fletcher, you wouldn't be alone. The massive hole that will be created when these guys retire will take a while to fill, even if guys like Hille and Stanton are taking up some of the slack already.
At least Matthew Knights has the Bombers playing a brand of football which means they are capable of winning any game if they are "on". They're fun to watch.
Fremantle
Going to be a long few years for the Dockers. While they'll probably finish ahead of Melbourne because of home ground advantage and their gun forward Pavlich, in all honesty, the Dockers are further away from their next premiership than Melbourne is.
I like the direction they went in last off-season, but they probably still need another clean out before they really start moving in the right direction.
Geelong
Be afraid. The Cats know this is probably their last chance before guys like Scarlett, Harley, Mooney, Corey & Ottens really start to decline. They're healthy, and they're probably going to win the NAB Cup.
And they have something to prove after last year's missed opportunity. By the half way mark, they should be three wins ahead of Hawthorn.
Hawthorn
Speaking of which, the Hawks will be good again, but certainly fallible in the first half of the year with so many injured and underdone players.
The exciting thing about the Hawks this year will be seeing the guys who didn't get much of a crack last year. Dowler, Muston, Tuck, Thorp, Morton & McGlynn will all get plenty of games before the Hawks are really up and running.
Melbourne
They have reached the bottom, and now are working up. It'll be interesting to see how the youngsters will go, and obviously not all will make it. Hopefully we'll get to see Jack Watts before the end of the year.
Next year is the year when weight of expectation and improvement will start to weigh on Dean Bailey and his club, but for this year 5 wins should suffice.
North Melbourne
It's hard to get enthusiastic about the Roos after seeing them wave the white flag in Round 22 last year in person. They then had the Swans on toast before handing their opponents that game on a silver platter.
Those scars must still remain. They were flogged in the NAB Cup, and Dean Laidley's style must be wearing. Not a "buy" stock for me.
Port Adelaide
They have an exciting bunch of youngsters, but it is clear that Choco Williams has outstayed his welcome. Another coach with an abrasive style, it works well when they are winning, but not when they are losing.
They also have ageing superstars in Chad Cornes, Brendan Lade and Warren Tredrea. Turns out 2007 may have just been a false dawn.
Richmond
They seem to have a even spread right across the field, and addition of Ben Cousins to what was a promising, if not particularly deep, midfield, should have the Glen Waverley line rocking many times this year.
What Richmond really need is some meaningful contributions from those players in their 3rd, 4th or 5th seasons at the club. But it should be finals this year for the Tigers.
St Kilda
Apparently now masters of the cluster, St Kilda has a tough ball-winning midfield, a top-ranked defence and a superstar forward.
Unfortunately, St Kilda has shown an inability to use outside footballers effectively in the past, which contributed to poor seasons from Nick Dal Santo and Aaron Fiora last year.
What St Kilda really needs is that ability to effectively use their more highly skilled players, and a third marking medium-sized forward. Evidence suggests that attention has been paid to these concerns.
Sydney
Their premiership ticket is in County Kerry, Ireland. Hall, Goodes, O'Loughlin, Barry & Kirk are all on the wrong side of the middle of their careers.
Paul Roos will keep them competitive, but they probably don't have the cattle any more, and no depth thanks to playing 26 players for three years.
West Coast
You can never have enough quality midfielders. The Eagles forgot that idea at the draft, and while it may not hurt them in the short term, the chances that Nick Natanui may be the biggest bust this side of Anthony Banik are too large to ignore.
Hard to see the Eagles improving significantly on last season, when too much was left to too few. They did, however, get some games into some youngsters and that'll will pay them dividends.
Western Bulldogs
Let's end a myth: In the first half of 2008, there were 3 clearly superior teams. In the second half of 2008, there were only two.
The Doggies should be kicking themselves after their Preliminary Final loss last year, a match they dominated, and for some poor skill execution on part of Western Bulldog player and umpire alike, they would have played (and lost) in a grand final.
Now they are dinged up and out of form, and without a working forward structure. It could be 2007 all over again for the Doggies.
Final ladder prediction
Geelong
Hawthorn
St Kilda
Carlton
Collingwood
Western Bulldogs
Adelaide
Richmond
Brisbane
Sydney
Port Adelaide
North Melbourne
Essendon
West Coast
Fremantle
Melbourne
Adelaide
The Atlanta Braves of the AFL. In the 1990s, the Braves won their division every year, and despite only 8 teams making the playoffs every year, won only one World Series.The reason - their manager (head coach), Bobby Cox, micromanaged their regular season, leaving them no improvement once October came around.
The Crows are no different. Neil Craig has an unenviable finals record of 2-5, which compares unfavourable to Blight's 6-1, Cornes' 1-2 and Ayres' 2-4. There's every chance Adelaide will make finals again, but no chance they'll win the premiership.
Brisbane
I'm not in the Michael Voss as a Coach fan club. While he was one of my favourite two or three players when playing, I've heard nothing from him that makes me feel he'll make a good coach. Most of his effectiveness will come from the aura he carries, earnt from a stellar career.
The Lions have a clear deficiency in key defenders, have ruckmen and forwards who always seem to be injured, and an ageing midfield. While they were gifted Daniel Rich, I'm not expecting big things.
Carlton
I'm on the Carlton bandwagon, however. They have a deep midfield, a good collection of small defenders, and one of the best key forwards in the game.
A lot of this year will depend on how good Brett Ratten is. He seems to be getting a lot out of guys like Thornton and Cloke, who are GOPs. They're my pick for the "from out of the eight into the top four" team this year.
Collingwood
Today in the Hun there is an article which highlights the fact that it is hard to pick the Pies' best player. Well, it certainly is not their captain, who has taken the mantle of "football's biggest empty-head" from Michael Osborne.
Malthouse will always have them competitive, but they are still capable of losing to anyone on any given day. They have a great group of youngsters, but a very even group. They remind me a little of Geelong before Bartel and Ablett got really, really good.
Essendon
Name the Bombers' three best players. If you said Lloyd, Lucas & Fletcher, you wouldn't be alone. The massive hole that will be created when these guys retire will take a while to fill, even if guys like Hille and Stanton are taking up some of the slack already.
At least Matthew Knights has the Bombers playing a brand of football which means they are capable of winning any game if they are "on". They're fun to watch.
Fremantle
Going to be a long few years for the Dockers. While they'll probably finish ahead of Melbourne because of home ground advantage and their gun forward Pavlich, in all honesty, the Dockers are further away from their next premiership than Melbourne is.
I like the direction they went in last off-season, but they probably still need another clean out before they really start moving in the right direction.
Geelong
Be afraid. The Cats know this is probably their last chance before guys like Scarlett, Harley, Mooney, Corey & Ottens really start to decline. They're healthy, and they're probably going to win the NAB Cup.
And they have something to prove after last year's missed opportunity. By the half way mark, they should be three wins ahead of Hawthorn.
Hawthorn
Speaking of which, the Hawks will be good again, but certainly fallible in the first half of the year with so many injured and underdone players.
The exciting thing about the Hawks this year will be seeing the guys who didn't get much of a crack last year. Dowler, Muston, Tuck, Thorp, Morton & McGlynn will all get plenty of games before the Hawks are really up and running.
Melbourne
They have reached the bottom, and now are working up. It'll be interesting to see how the youngsters will go, and obviously not all will make it. Hopefully we'll get to see Jack Watts before the end of the year.
Next year is the year when weight of expectation and improvement will start to weigh on Dean Bailey and his club, but for this year 5 wins should suffice.
North Melbourne
It's hard to get enthusiastic about the Roos after seeing them wave the white flag in Round 22 last year in person. They then had the Swans on toast before handing their opponents that game on a silver platter.
Those scars must still remain. They were flogged in the NAB Cup, and Dean Laidley's style must be wearing. Not a "buy" stock for me.
Port Adelaide
They have an exciting bunch of youngsters, but it is clear that Choco Williams has outstayed his welcome. Another coach with an abrasive style, it works well when they are winning, but not when they are losing.
They also have ageing superstars in Chad Cornes, Brendan Lade and Warren Tredrea. Turns out 2007 may have just been a false dawn.
Richmond
They seem to have a even spread right across the field, and addition of Ben Cousins to what was a promising, if not particularly deep, midfield, should have the Glen Waverley line rocking many times this year.
What Richmond really need is some meaningful contributions from those players in their 3rd, 4th or 5th seasons at the club. But it should be finals this year for the Tigers.
St Kilda
Apparently now masters of the cluster, St Kilda has a tough ball-winning midfield, a top-ranked defence and a superstar forward.
Unfortunately, St Kilda has shown an inability to use outside footballers effectively in the past, which contributed to poor seasons from Nick Dal Santo and Aaron Fiora last year.
What St Kilda really needs is that ability to effectively use their more highly skilled players, and a third marking medium-sized forward. Evidence suggests that attention has been paid to these concerns.
Sydney
Their premiership ticket is in County Kerry, Ireland. Hall, Goodes, O'Loughlin, Barry & Kirk are all on the wrong side of the middle of their careers.
Paul Roos will keep them competitive, but they probably don't have the cattle any more, and no depth thanks to playing 26 players for three years.
West Coast
You can never have enough quality midfielders. The Eagles forgot that idea at the draft, and while it may not hurt them in the short term, the chances that Nick Natanui may be the biggest bust this side of Anthony Banik are too large to ignore.
Hard to see the Eagles improving significantly on last season, when too much was left to too few. They did, however, get some games into some youngsters and that'll will pay them dividends.
Western Bulldogs
Let's end a myth: In the first half of 2008, there were 3 clearly superior teams. In the second half of 2008, there were only two.
The Doggies should be kicking themselves after their Preliminary Final loss last year, a match they dominated, and for some poor skill execution on part of Western Bulldog player and umpire alike, they would have played (and lost) in a grand final.
Now they are dinged up and out of form, and without a working forward structure. It could be 2007 all over again for the Doggies.
Final ladder prediction
Geelong
Hawthorn
St Kilda
Carlton
Collingwood
Western Bulldogs
Adelaide
Richmond
Brisbane
Sydney
Port Adelaide
North Melbourne
Essendon
West Coast
Fremantle
Melbourne
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Job Justification and the AFL
Blog note: I have been asked by BigFooty.com to post blog entries twice a week on AFL, and I'll reproduce them here. That is why there will be a lot of footy blog posts over the next seven months. I'll try to still post about other stuff when I can. Apologies to my non-footy constituency.
My previous job (other than football authority) was with a government statutory authority. This organisation shared a Human Resources department (known as "People and Culture") with another statutory authority which worked roughly in same area as mine did.
This HR department was well resourced (unlike some other "operational" areas of our organisation), and went around ensuring we upheld the organisations values, knew our rights and responsibilities regarding all manner of things that had little to do with our day-to-day work.
I envisaged them sitting in their office cubicles, or more likely in one of their 34 meetings for the day, trying to brainstorm things to do so they could feel and look important, and more importantly, indispensible. When all we needed was someone to make sure we got paid on time, made sure our leave balances were correct, and then left us alone to make the world a better place.
I get the same feeling when I think of Adrian Anderson. News from the AFL is that at the Telstra Dome/Etihad Stadium/Docklands/ for the remainder of the NAB Cup, the crowd will be able to see how long there is to go in a quarter by viewing a countdown clock located on the scoreboard.
Who thought of this, and more importantly, what identified problem does this solve? Most people I know love the uncertainty of the end of a quarter, especially at the end of a game when it is tight.
But this is only typical of the noise coming from Harbour Esplanade. Hawthorn, keen to utilise a glut of silky left footers in their back half, rush a few behinds in a Grand Final. The problem isn't that big, and the easy, quick solution (stopping those who rush the behind from kicking it in) is ignored, instead responsibility is placed upon umpires to make a judgement call about player intent, and now we have a deliberately rushed behind infringement.
Sydney have 19 men on the field for 30 seconds at the end of a game, and the extra player arguably has an effect on the result of the game, which is a draw. Instead of accepting a quick, effective solution (docking Sydney two points), the AFL throws out decades of precedent (and not for the first time - see StK v Freo 2006) and radically alters how players interchange on and off the field.
And so it goes. I sat next to Adrian Anderson on a train to the cricket on December 27, and he really struck me as a man full of his own importance (and he really looks like his brother, who was with him).
It is clear that he feels a need to justify his existence, at a time when interest in the game and attendances are at an all-time high. But someone in a role like his doing no tweaking to a game that doesn't need it is a man on borrowed time. So we keep changing rules, adding "innovations", and so on.
The rushed behind change is a classic example. Instead of trying to limit the number of judgement calls an umpire needs to make in a game, thus making the game easier to umpire and minimising mistakes, the AFL under Anderson's stewardship goes the other way. It's just ridiculous.
What we need now is what a lot of players have been saying for a while: time. Some time without changes, for the game to organically and holistically evolve, and for problems to sort themselves out. And if that makes Adrian Anderson superfluous, then so be it.
My previous job (other than football authority) was with a government statutory authority. This organisation shared a Human Resources department (known as "People and Culture") with another statutory authority which worked roughly in same area as mine did.
This HR department was well resourced (unlike some other "operational" areas of our organisation), and went around ensuring we upheld the organisations values, knew our rights and responsibilities regarding all manner of things that had little to do with our day-to-day work.
I envisaged them sitting in their office cubicles, or more likely in one of their 34 meetings for the day, trying to brainstorm things to do so they could feel and look important, and more importantly, indispensible. When all we needed was someone to make sure we got paid on time, made sure our leave balances were correct, and then left us alone to make the world a better place.
I get the same feeling when I think of Adrian Anderson. News from the AFL is that at the Telstra Dome/Etihad Stadium/Docklands/ for the remainder of the NAB Cup, the crowd will be able to see how long there is to go in a quarter by viewing a countdown clock located on the scoreboard.
Who thought of this, and more importantly, what identified problem does this solve? Most people I know love the uncertainty of the end of a quarter, especially at the end of a game when it is tight.
But this is only typical of the noise coming from Harbour Esplanade. Hawthorn, keen to utilise a glut of silky left footers in their back half, rush a few behinds in a Grand Final. The problem isn't that big, and the easy, quick solution (stopping those who rush the behind from kicking it in) is ignored, instead responsibility is placed upon umpires to make a judgement call about player intent, and now we have a deliberately rushed behind infringement.
Sydney have 19 men on the field for 30 seconds at the end of a game, and the extra player arguably has an effect on the result of the game, which is a draw. Instead of accepting a quick, effective solution (docking Sydney two points), the AFL throws out decades of precedent (and not for the first time - see StK v Freo 2006) and radically alters how players interchange on and off the field.
And so it goes. I sat next to Adrian Anderson on a train to the cricket on December 27, and he really struck me as a man full of his own importance (and he really looks like his brother, who was with him).
It is clear that he feels a need to justify his existence, at a time when interest in the game and attendances are at an all-time high. But someone in a role like his doing no tweaking to a game that doesn't need it is a man on borrowed time. So we keep changing rules, adding "innovations", and so on.
The rushed behind change is a classic example. Instead of trying to limit the number of judgement calls an umpire needs to make in a game, thus making the game easier to umpire and minimising mistakes, the AFL under Anderson's stewardship goes the other way. It's just ridiculous.
What we need now is what a lot of players have been saying for a while: time. Some time without changes, for the game to organically and holistically evolve, and for problems to sort themselves out. And if that makes Adrian Anderson superfluous, then so be it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Small Poppy Syndrome
You have to endure many things as a St Kilda supporter. In many respects, it is a calling, or to take the half-glass-empty approach, an ordeal.
Just in my nearly 29 years, I have had to put up with:
Just in my nearly 29 years, I have had to put up with:
- Not beating Essendon until I was in High School
- Losing that final to Geelong in 1991 because Gary Ablett was always more like the Old Testament "Vengeful" God than the New Testament compassionate god (see N Burke)
- Seeing Nicky Winmar almost walk out on the club in 1993, mere weeks after his (and Gilbert McAdam's) heroics at Victoria Park
- Seeing Ken Sheldon and Stan Alves dumped as coach before their time
- Seeing Tim Watson coach at all
- Seeing Malcolm Blight get lured by money
- Seeing Rod Butterss go completely b@tshit insane
- Nicky Winmar and Stewart Loewe's 1997 Grand Final Week
- Darren Jarman
- For that matter, pre-2008 Adam Schneider
- Barry Hall cheating his way to a Premiership (he dropped his opponent, took an uncontested mark and kicked a goal, and the punch was officially ruled illegal, so he cheated)
- Trent Knobel, and Cain Ackland post 2005
- Seeing Brent Guerra in a Hawthorn jumper (with hair)
How long do you have, I could keep going on and on and on .....
But you know what I hate the most?
The people who hate St Kilda.
And do you know why this rankles with me the most?
Because they have no good reason to.
Many people hate Collingwood. They are many good reasons. In the period 1960-1981 they made the Grand Final eight times, so they were pretty good through that period. And the Collingwood Army does self-promotion better than most.
Essendon dominated the competition in the 1980s, and St Kilda particularly. Kevin Sheedy coached Essendon to victories in his first 20 encounters with St Kilda, finishing his long coaching career with 33 wins and only 8 losses. And Essendon supporters let everyone know about it. This is why I hate Essendon.
But why would anyone hate St Kilda? I just don't get it.At the Olympics in Sydney in 2000, "Eric the Eel" got quite a bit of media for his unflattering performance in the 100m freestyle, taking only slightly less time to swim the distance than Susie Moroney would take to swim the English Channel. But he participated, wasn't hurting anyone, exemplified the Olympic value of taking part, and was sort of cute.
On the other hand, American swimmer Gary Hall Jr predicted the Americans would play the Aussie swimmers like a guitar in the 4X100m freestyle relay, an event they had never lost before those Olympics. The Aussies, behind a world record from Michael Klim and an amazing anchor leg from Ian Thorpe, took the gold medal.
Now, by reckoning, hating St Kilda is like hating Eric the Eel. He's embarrassing, he's making a mockery of the competition, he should be confined to anonymity where he belongs.
The AFL's efforts to make the competition more even have been advantageous to a club like St Kilda. But that is making up for years of neglect and worse by the league, including removing the Peninsula from our recruting zone in the mid 1960s, robbing us of Leigh Matthews and Dermott Brereton.
Hating St Kilda is hating the little guy. Hating the unemployed. Hating the refugee. Hating the famine stricken.
I'll be happy for the hecklers to hate us when we are winning premierships, which I hope (but do not expect to) starts this year.
We have a lot to put up with as St Kilda supporters, so much so that at times I have seen little kids trudging out of another St Kilda loss and felt compelled to grab them and yell, "Stop barracking for St Kilda, before you get emotionally attached and it's too late!" But we don't need to put up with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon supporters, whose history is far from blot-less, telling us we have no right to be in the league, or dredging up old, murky incidents. Just let us barrack in peace.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The NAB Cup Ramblings
With apologies to my man Bill Simmons, otherwise known as ESPN's "The Sports Guy", here are my random thoughts about the first (three) weeks of the NAB Cup...
I think I'd take a blood transfusion from Amy Winehouse before I put money on Sydney to win a NAB Cup match.
If you are an AFL footballer, you may want to think twice before bumping another player.
Geelong are going to be hard to beat this pre-season.
Watch out, AFL, Brendan Goddard is coming.
It may be a slow start to the season for the Doggies.
Are Carlton the Tiger Woods of the AFL pre-season, or is Tiger Woods the Carlton of golf? I thought so.
Jarryd Roughead may kick more goals this season than Lance Franklin.
Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins Ben Cousins
If you thought no one paid any attention to the Dockers before this season, you haven't seen anything yet. They may get 10,000 to Melbourne v Fremantle if lucky.
How long will it take the West Coast Eagles to forgive themselves for picking Nick Natanui over Daniel Rich? 10 years? 15 years?
Kudos to Kelli Underwood, who called Saturday's game with the amount of excitement a football match in February deserves. (And, no, I'm not being sarcastic.)
It'll be a cold, cold day in Hell before the AFL moves a NAB Cup game for a A-League Grand Final again.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2009 - A Year for Firsts
Allow me to go all introspective for a while. Permit me, if you will, a little self-indulgence. Well, considering what I usually right, a little more self-indulgence than usual.
For all intents and purposes, 2009 looms as the best year of my life. You see, I'm getting married, an event which a small, now dead, part of me thought unlikely to ever happen. While trying unsuccessfully most of the time to avoid cliches, I really do feel like the luckiest man on Earth. And because of what is happening this year, perhaps the busiest.
Getting married is something that is, to a certain extent, within your control. Once you find yourself in the right circumstances, you can decide to get married, or not to get married.
Likewise, you can decide to have children or not to have children. To change jobs or stay in a job. To eat a roast beef sandwich or ... you get the idea.
When I think about all the things I want the most in my life, I can conjure up some way through which I can have control over the realisation of that goal. I can work harder, choose more wisely, talk to the right people, come down on the right side of an issue. All except one.
I have no control over whether St Kilda wins a premiership or not.
How frustrating this must be for Saints supporters. We can buy our membership, attend club functions, buy club merchandise, and so on. But that only has a small affect on the club's on field fortunes. We can send positive vibes down to Moorabbin, but that's getting into the highly untested category.
I'm nearly 29, and hopefully have plenty of good years ahead of me. But I really want to see a St Kilda flag. I mean, I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllly want to see a St Kilda flag.
Last year's final series was a long feat of endurance, as I battled an uneasy nervousness and excited nausea about five weeks, right from the moment we beat Adelaide. Then came the overwhelming greatness of beating Essendon by 18 goals to finish fourth, the expected capitulation to Geelong, the equally expected rebound against Collingwood, and the long, drawn out death rattle to our season and Robert Harvey's playing career against Hawthorn.
And yet, we didn't get there. At testing times like these, one's thoughts turn inwards, asking questions such as "what more can I do?". The sober conclusion is very little. People like to use we when talking about their sporting teams, but as Jerry Seinfeld put it, "they play, you watch".
I don't particularly want to go through that ordeal again. It won't be like that once we win one. But will we win one? I mean, will St Kilda win one while I watch, in the stands?
Well, let the karma battle begin. I'm drawing the line in the sand now. I'm pushing all my chips in the table. I'm all in. If you're with me, say it now, otherwise, you're out.
This year will be the best year of my life. I'm going to get married. And St Kilda are going to win the premiership.
For all intents and purposes, 2009 looms as the best year of my life. You see, I'm getting married, an event which a small, now dead, part of me thought unlikely to ever happen. While trying unsuccessfully most of the time to avoid cliches, I really do feel like the luckiest man on Earth. And because of what is happening this year, perhaps the busiest.
Getting married is something that is, to a certain extent, within your control. Once you find yourself in the right circumstances, you can decide to get married, or not to get married.
Likewise, you can decide to have children or not to have children. To change jobs or stay in a job. To eat a roast beef sandwich or ... you get the idea.
When I think about all the things I want the most in my life, I can conjure up some way through which I can have control over the realisation of that goal. I can work harder, choose more wisely, talk to the right people, come down on the right side of an issue. All except one.
I have no control over whether St Kilda wins a premiership or not.
How frustrating this must be for Saints supporters. We can buy our membership, attend club functions, buy club merchandise, and so on. But that only has a small affect on the club's on field fortunes. We can send positive vibes down to Moorabbin, but that's getting into the highly untested category.
I'm nearly 29, and hopefully have plenty of good years ahead of me. But I really want to see a St Kilda flag. I mean, I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllly want to see a St Kilda flag.
Last year's final series was a long feat of endurance, as I battled an uneasy nervousness and excited nausea about five weeks, right from the moment we beat Adelaide. Then came the overwhelming greatness of beating Essendon by 18 goals to finish fourth, the expected capitulation to Geelong, the equally expected rebound against Collingwood, and the long, drawn out death rattle to our season and Robert Harvey's playing career against Hawthorn.
And yet, we didn't get there. At testing times like these, one's thoughts turn inwards, asking questions such as "what more can I do?". The sober conclusion is very little. People like to use we when talking about their sporting teams, but as Jerry Seinfeld put it, "they play, you watch".
I don't particularly want to go through that ordeal again. It won't be like that once we win one. But will we win one? I mean, will St Kilda win one while I watch, in the stands?
Well, let the karma battle begin. I'm drawing the line in the sand now. I'm pushing all my chips in the table. I'm all in. If you're with me, say it now, otherwise, you're out.
This year will be the best year of my life. I'm going to get married. And St Kilda are going to win the premiership.
Friday, September 26, 2008
AFL 2008 Grand Final
Last year I predicted a fizzer, and I was only half right, predicting a 10 goal Geelong win when it was much, much closer to 20.
This year I have much the same feeling. I don't read a lot into their game against the Western Bulldogs where, for much of the game, they were outplayed, and the three best players on the ground were from the opposition (Lake, Cross & Hargrave). They stumbled at that hurdle last year, and the stumble wasn't fatal.
Hawthorn were superb last week ... for a quarter. Over the other three quarters they were a 3 goal better side, even taking into account St Kilda's missed opportunities in the first quarter (Milne's two misses, Eddy's dropped mark and missed goal). If the play like they did in the 2nd quarter last week, they can win.
But they need to do it for four quarters, and against inferior opposition last week, they could only keep it up for 30 minutes. I know it's hard to play out finals when you know you have won, and Shane Crawford bravely admitted he was running away from where he thought the ball was going to go last week in order to ensure he would be able to play this week. However, Hawthorn needed to smash St Kilda to take the maximum momentum into the Grand Final. A nine goal victory needed to be a 15 goal victory.
The other thing that worries me about Hawthorn is a preoccupation with the man. This smells like 1989 with the roles reversed. Back then, Hawthorn had lost 7 games in 2 years, and had comfortably disposed of Essendon in the Second Semi, before Geelong and Gary Ablett annihilated the Bombers in the Prelim.
Geelong decided they needed to make a telling physical blow to Hawthorn early, and Dermott Brereton was the initial target, but the physical focus continued for the entirety of the first quarter. While the Hawks had sustained some injuries by the completion of the quarter, they were also 40 points in front. They hung on to win by a goal.
Nineteen years later, it is the Hawks who will be tempted to go the physical route. Much has been made of their reputation for playing "unsociable" football. Last week Hawthorn were much too physical for St Kilda, a side filled with ball-only players. The site of Chance Bateman's lingering extra-long tackles on Nick Dal Santo not only displayed a major flaw in Dal Santo's game, it provided an insight into how Hawthorn like to go about it.
On the other hand, nothing worries me about Geelong. Their delivery into their forward line is usually first rate, their defence is predicated on getting numbers to the contest or at the fall of the ball, their tall forwards are competent and their small forwards are quality.
So, I think it's going to be a long day for the Hawks. After much deliberation, I have decided to make the same bet I made last year, for almost the same payout. $10 on Geelong by +39.5 points, $5 on Steven Johnson for the Norm Smith. Johnson polled three Brownlow Votes versus Hawthorn in Round 17, so he has the form.
My prediction - Geelong by 50 points.
This year I have much the same feeling. I don't read a lot into their game against the Western Bulldogs where, for much of the game, they were outplayed, and the three best players on the ground were from the opposition (Lake, Cross & Hargrave). They stumbled at that hurdle last year, and the stumble wasn't fatal.
Hawthorn were superb last week ... for a quarter. Over the other three quarters they were a 3 goal better side, even taking into account St Kilda's missed opportunities in the first quarter (Milne's two misses, Eddy's dropped mark and missed goal). If the play like they did in the 2nd quarter last week, they can win.
But they need to do it for four quarters, and against inferior opposition last week, they could only keep it up for 30 minutes. I know it's hard to play out finals when you know you have won, and Shane Crawford bravely admitted he was running away from where he thought the ball was going to go last week in order to ensure he would be able to play this week. However, Hawthorn needed to smash St Kilda to take the maximum momentum into the Grand Final. A nine goal victory needed to be a 15 goal victory.
The other thing that worries me about Hawthorn is a preoccupation with the man. This smells like 1989 with the roles reversed. Back then, Hawthorn had lost 7 games in 2 years, and had comfortably disposed of Essendon in the Second Semi, before Geelong and Gary Ablett annihilated the Bombers in the Prelim.
Geelong decided they needed to make a telling physical blow to Hawthorn early, and Dermott Brereton was the initial target, but the physical focus continued for the entirety of the first quarter. While the Hawks had sustained some injuries by the completion of the quarter, they were also 40 points in front. They hung on to win by a goal.
Nineteen years later, it is the Hawks who will be tempted to go the physical route. Much has been made of their reputation for playing "unsociable" football. Last week Hawthorn were much too physical for St Kilda, a side filled with ball-only players. The site of Chance Bateman's lingering extra-long tackles on Nick Dal Santo not only displayed a major flaw in Dal Santo's game, it provided an insight into how Hawthorn like to go about it.
On the other hand, nothing worries me about Geelong. Their delivery into their forward line is usually first rate, their defence is predicated on getting numbers to the contest or at the fall of the ball, their tall forwards are competent and their small forwards are quality.
So, I think it's going to be a long day for the Hawks. After much deliberation, I have decided to make the same bet I made last year, for almost the same payout. $10 on Geelong by +39.5 points, $5 on Steven Johnson for the Norm Smith. Johnson polled three Brownlow Votes versus Hawthorn in Round 17, so he has the form.
My prediction - Geelong by 50 points.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The 3rd Annual AFL Punter Awards
We've had the Brownlow, but that is just the warm up for everyone's favourite part of Grand Final week, the 3rd Annual AFL Punter Awards!
The Linda Tripp Award for Best Friend
To Alan Didak, who let poor old Heath Shaw sit in front of all those media people, with his captain confessing he'd probably wouldn't stick up for him at that moment, and look down the camera and lie when he said Didak wasn't in the car. I didn't see what Didak had to say on The Footy Show last week, but I wouldn't believe anything he said anyway. Fortunately for him, someone who does know some truth won't be getting out for at least 35 years.
The Nathan Bassett Memorial Award for Best Ability to ride your Teammates Coattails into the All Australian Team
Now a memorial award as "Fred" has retired, this year it goes to All-Australian Vice Captain Tom Harley. I challenge anyone to name anybody Harley has actually played on this year.
The Josh Kennedy Award for Best Header
To St Kilda debutant Ben McEvoy, who provided the falcon that all falcons will be measured by. The icing on the cake was his delayed "what the f*@k" reaction after the ball had landed 35 metres from where it hit him in the head.
The Horlicks Award for Most Effective Sleeping Aid
To Ross Lyon. I went to a St Kilda function this year when he spoke. It's not a shtick - he really is that boring.
The France Award for Best Surrender
To North Melbourne in Round 22 v Port Adelaide. One of those games where I doubt 10 tackles would have been laid in 4 quarters of football.
The Glen McGrath Award for Most Incredible Performance in Consistency
To Richmond for finishing 9th.
The Peter Taylor Award for Best Plucking from Obscurity
To Marlon Motlop, who went from playing SANFL Reserves one week, to AFL Seniors the next week.
The Osama Bin Laden Award for Most Thorough Search
To the Brisbane Lions. For anyone who sent their resume to the Lions regarding their coaching position, stop sitting by the phone.
The "Grumpy" Award for Angriest Dwarf
Good luck on Saturday, Clarko.
And finally ...
The Jason Akermanis Perpetual Trophy for Worst Ability to Keep Their Mouth Shut
To Robert Fratt ... I mean Richard Pratt, who will continue to build his Carlton team around Kevin Judd and Matthew "Freddy" Krueger. Maybe that "I can't recall" defence Bondy used so well could also be affective for Dicky.
The Linda Tripp Award for Best Friend
To Alan Didak, who let poor old Heath Shaw sit in front of all those media people, with his captain confessing he'd probably wouldn't stick up for him at that moment, and look down the camera and lie when he said Didak wasn't in the car. I didn't see what Didak had to say on The Footy Show last week, but I wouldn't believe anything he said anyway. Fortunately for him, someone who does know some truth won't be getting out for at least 35 years.
The Nathan Bassett Memorial Award for Best Ability to ride your Teammates Coattails into the All Australian Team
Now a memorial award as "Fred" has retired, this year it goes to All-Australian Vice Captain Tom Harley. I challenge anyone to name anybody Harley has actually played on this year.
The Josh Kennedy Award for Best Header
To St Kilda debutant Ben McEvoy, who provided the falcon that all falcons will be measured by. The icing on the cake was his delayed "what the f*@k" reaction after the ball had landed 35 metres from where it hit him in the head.
The Horlicks Award for Most Effective Sleeping Aid
To Ross Lyon. I went to a St Kilda function this year when he spoke. It's not a shtick - he really is that boring.
The France Award for Best Surrender
To North Melbourne in Round 22 v Port Adelaide. One of those games where I doubt 10 tackles would have been laid in 4 quarters of football.
The Glen McGrath Award for Most Incredible Performance in Consistency
To Richmond for finishing 9th.
The Peter Taylor Award for Best Plucking from Obscurity
To Marlon Motlop, who went from playing SANFL Reserves one week, to AFL Seniors the next week.
The Osama Bin Laden Award for Most Thorough Search
To the Brisbane Lions. For anyone who sent their resume to the Lions regarding their coaching position, stop sitting by the phone.
The "Grumpy" Award for Angriest Dwarf
Good luck on Saturday, Clarko.
And finally ...
The Jason Akermanis Perpetual Trophy for Worst Ability to Keep Their Mouth Shut
To Robert Fratt ... I mean Richard Pratt, who will continue to build his Carlton team around Kevin Judd and Matthew "Freddy" Krueger. Maybe that "I can't recall" defence Bondy used so well could also be affective for Dicky.
Friday, September 19, 2008
AFL Finals Week 3 - Tips
Geelong v Western Bulldogs
As happens every year, and even this year with Geelong v St Kilda, people will talk themselves into some game being a tight contest, despite the overwhelming evidence to suggest that it will be a massacre.
Last year (and this year for that matter) Collingwood matched up well with Geelong. They played out of their skin, were full of confidence, and pressured and tackled their way to within a goal of the Cats. Admittedly, Geelong players later confessed to feeling a nervousness before the Preliminary Final they didn't feel before the Grand Final.
There will be no such fairytale for the Doggies. They've won 3 of their past nine, two of those wins coming against Sydney, the other against Essendon. I wouldn't back the Doggies this week if they were playing Hawthorn, St Kilda, Adelaide, Collingwood, Richmond or Carlton.
Geelong by 62 points.
Hawthorn v St Kilda
St Kilda have beaten Hawthorn in 6 of their previous 7 meetings.
St Kilda beat Hawthorn earlier this year, overcoming a 32 point deficit to win by about that margin.
St Kilda have one very much in form tall forward, and another who has played a good month, while Hawthorn has named one genuine tall defender.
St Kilda kept Lance Franklin to his most modest statistics for the year. Only Geelong and Fremantle have had fewer goals kicked against them by Lance Franklin during his career.
Having said that, naturally the Saints are $3.30 for the win, with only two "experts" in the Herald-Sun tipping the Saints. Dermott Brereton has tipped the Hawks to win by 42 points, but he really thinks it'll be more like 72 points. On SEN earlier this week he said that the Hawks were a three goal better side PER QUARTER.
I really think this is a coin-flip game, and when in doubt ... ah, bugger it.
Saints by 12 points.
As happens every year, and even this year with Geelong v St Kilda, people will talk themselves into some game being a tight contest, despite the overwhelming evidence to suggest that it will be a massacre.
Last year (and this year for that matter) Collingwood matched up well with Geelong. They played out of their skin, were full of confidence, and pressured and tackled their way to within a goal of the Cats. Admittedly, Geelong players later confessed to feeling a nervousness before the Preliminary Final they didn't feel before the Grand Final.
There will be no such fairytale for the Doggies. They've won 3 of their past nine, two of those wins coming against Sydney, the other against Essendon. I wouldn't back the Doggies this week if they were playing Hawthorn, St Kilda, Adelaide, Collingwood, Richmond or Carlton.
Geelong by 62 points.
Hawthorn v St Kilda
St Kilda have beaten Hawthorn in 6 of their previous 7 meetings.
St Kilda beat Hawthorn earlier this year, overcoming a 32 point deficit to win by about that margin.
St Kilda have one very much in form tall forward, and another who has played a good month, while Hawthorn has named one genuine tall defender.
St Kilda kept Lance Franklin to his most modest statistics for the year. Only Geelong and Fremantle have had fewer goals kicked against them by Lance Franklin during his career.
Having said that, naturally the Saints are $3.30 for the win, with only two "experts" in the Herald-Sun tipping the Saints. Dermott Brereton has tipped the Hawks to win by 42 points, but he really thinks it'll be more like 72 points. On SEN earlier this week he said that the Hawks were a three goal better side PER QUARTER.
I really think this is a coin-flip game, and when in doubt ... ah, bugger it.
Saints by 12 points.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Geelong - and a problem for the AFL
Football socialism. It's what the lovers of the good old days might call it. Way back when, you recruited blokes to your team with references to your team's success, your team's culture, and maybe a few shillings and pence added in.
Polly Farmer went to Geelong because he wanted to, and because he wanted a club not playing in finals but close to playing in finals, he wanted an atmosphere like his home town of Perth, and because Geelong paid him like a CEO.
Many interstate players landed at Carlton because of their successes, and because of a predeliction for brown paper bags. However, things began to change in the 1980s, and by the mid-1990s, things were completely different.
The draft levelled the playing field, with the best players available to the worst teams. Young phenoms like Jeff White landed in Freo, and established superstars like Tony Lockett and Paul Roos landed in Sydney.
The proof was in the pudding in the 1990s, when only one club won back-to-back flags, and only two other clubs even made back-to-back Grand Finals. Essendon and Carlton in 1993, Geelong in 1994, Sydney in 1996, St Kilda in 1997, and Carlton again in 1999 all found themselves in Grand Finals the year after not even making the Grand Final.
But things changed once we clicked into the 2000s. Essendon went 24-1 in 2000, and then Brisbane made four straight Grand Finals, winning the first three. Sydney and West Coast went around twice, and now Geelong dominates. Beginning in Round 6 of 2007, they have lost two games from forty-three.It is a great achievement, and watching Geelong is a sight to behold. Their depth, their talent and their system make for an almost invincible side.
The reality is this is a failure of the AFL's system. While encouraging excellence, the AFL's system is not designed to encourage dominant dynasties. No, it is designed for every club to get a Grand Final about every eight years and a premiership every 16.
The first area of failure is the salary cap. The salary cap really doesn't do it's job if players are paid under market value. If everyone at Geelong is taking less to stay together, then the cap is compromised. Geelong's overabundance of talent is supposed to be redistributed to clubs on the lower end of the ladder. Effectively, Geelong have a $7 million list, and are only paying $6 million for that list.
Unfortunately, you cannot have a "talent cap", but this is not good for the AFL long-term. It appears that Geelong have the potential to dominate the AFL for at least another five years. Barring an unforeseen spate of injuries, that will probably mean something like 5-6 flags over a 7-8 year period. Meanwhile, teams like Melbourne will struggle to get a look in.
It will be interesting to see how the AFL react, especially if footy fans turn off the predictable sight of the Geelong juggernaut running over some poor minnow. Remember how much depth Geelong have - the Geelong side that beat St Kilda in a canter on Sunday did not include James Kelly, David Wojcinski, Shannon Byrnes or Tom Hawkins. They have two players over 30, in Darren Milburn and captain Tom Harley. One of the five best players is not even 20 yet.
Geelong have done extremely well, and nothing should be taken away from them. Their performance in last year's Grand Final is as close to football perfection as I have ever seen. But it is a competition, and that competition should not be for second place.
Polly Farmer went to Geelong because he wanted to, and because he wanted a club not playing in finals but close to playing in finals, he wanted an atmosphere like his home town of Perth, and because Geelong paid him like a CEO.
Many interstate players landed at Carlton because of their successes, and because of a predeliction for brown paper bags. However, things began to change in the 1980s, and by the mid-1990s, things were completely different.
The draft levelled the playing field, with the best players available to the worst teams. Young phenoms like Jeff White landed in Freo, and established superstars like Tony Lockett and Paul Roos landed in Sydney.
The proof was in the pudding in the 1990s, when only one club won back-to-back flags, and only two other clubs even made back-to-back Grand Finals. Essendon and Carlton in 1993, Geelong in 1994, Sydney in 1996, St Kilda in 1997, and Carlton again in 1999 all found themselves in Grand Finals the year after not even making the Grand Final.
But things changed once we clicked into the 2000s. Essendon went 24-1 in 2000, and then Brisbane made four straight Grand Finals, winning the first three. Sydney and West Coast went around twice, and now Geelong dominates. Beginning in Round 6 of 2007, they have lost two games from forty-three.It is a great achievement, and watching Geelong is a sight to behold. Their depth, their talent and their system make for an almost invincible side.
The reality is this is a failure of the AFL's system. While encouraging excellence, the AFL's system is not designed to encourage dominant dynasties. No, it is designed for every club to get a Grand Final about every eight years and a premiership every 16.
The first area of failure is the salary cap. The salary cap really doesn't do it's job if players are paid under market value. If everyone at Geelong is taking less to stay together, then the cap is compromised. Geelong's overabundance of talent is supposed to be redistributed to clubs on the lower end of the ladder. Effectively, Geelong have a $7 million list, and are only paying $6 million for that list.
Unfortunately, you cannot have a "talent cap", but this is not good for the AFL long-term. It appears that Geelong have the potential to dominate the AFL for at least another five years. Barring an unforeseen spate of injuries, that will probably mean something like 5-6 flags over a 7-8 year period. Meanwhile, teams like Melbourne will struggle to get a look in.
It will be interesting to see how the AFL react, especially if footy fans turn off the predictable sight of the Geelong juggernaut running over some poor minnow. Remember how much depth Geelong have - the Geelong side that beat St Kilda in a canter on Sunday did not include James Kelly, David Wojcinski, Shannon Byrnes or Tom Hawkins. They have two players over 30, in Darren Milburn and captain Tom Harley. One of the five best players is not even 20 yet.
Geelong have done extremely well, and nothing should be taken away from them. Their performance in last year's Grand Final is as close to football perfection as I have ever seen. But it is a competition, and that competition should not be for second place.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Footy Culture Wars
I am participating in some St Kilda related blogging on BigFooty. I plan to blog weekly, and here is my first effort.
Out there in the part of the world that doesn’t make sense (the part that isn’t related to footy), there is something called The Culture Wars. While originating in the good old US of A back in Reagan’s time, we have our own one in Australia, initiated by comments by an Australian, related to Australian issues.
On Four Corners way back in 1996, John Howard gave an interview. I forgive you all for missing it, you were probably still on the Waverley Park turf celebrating our Ansett Cup win. He said that by 2000, he wanted Australia and Australians to be comfortable and relaxed about our history. He had also previously criticised what he called a “black armband view of history”, which is basically looking at our past through a half-empty glass.
Anyway, what sprung up was a discussion about what our history was and what it meant. Were Aboriginal children removed from their families because they were Aboriginal, or because they were in danger? Why to we celebrate ANZAC Day on the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, when it was a fool’s errand? People like Andrew Bolt and Robert Manne have been having it our over these issues ever since.
What does this have to do with footy and St Kilda? Because we have our own little quasi-version of culture wars. This is the argument of talent over effort.
Some supporters of this club think our main deficiency is a lack of A-graders. We have Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Hayes, S Fisher & Goddard, and that’s about it. We look at Geelong and they have someone like David Wojcinski not getting a game when fit. Brent Prismall could walk into most sides, only that at the moment, he can’t walk anywhere. To summise, we’re never going to win a premiership with Clinton Jones, Jason Blake, Robert Eddy, Raphael Clarke, James Gwilt, Sean Demspter, Shane Birss, Charlie Gardiner & Sam Gilbert.
Others look at our talented players and lament the lack of effort, citing it as our biggest concern. Dal Santo could be as good as Bartel, but he doesn’t want it enough. Koschitzke and Milne don’t chase, Schneider can look lazy, Raphael Clarke looks like he’s running in slow motion. Why aren’t these guys going flat out? A hard working team like Geelong makes our efforts look third rate.
What is the problem? First of all, we are comparing ourselves with Geelong, primarily because we just played them. They are the best side of the last 20 years comfortably. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
I tend to come down on the side of effort before talent. Seeing the efforts that blokes like Jason Blake (except for that brain-fart versus Cameron Mooney in the third quarter on Sunday) and Clinton Jones put in is genuinely inspiring. I had Jones as our best on Sunday, while Garry Lyon identified him as a problem. Maybe Lyon would prefer talented underachievers like Travis Johnstone and Damien Cupido.
It’s really frustrating for me listening to some St Kilda supporters. The two “ladies” behind me on Sunday asked whether there was any point kicking to either of the Clarke boys. I refrained from informing them that a good reason to kick to them was they are in a St Kilda jumper, as I fear my breath would have been wasted. They were quiet when a really good Xavier Clarke effort gave us a goal, or when Raph took a great contested mark. Others get stuck into Milney for trying things, or playing to his unique skill set.
In short, I would prefer to see the effort coming from the players. Tony Shaw once said that effort was everything, because you can make it without much talent, but you cannot make it without any effort.
What I want to see against Shaw’s old club on Saturday night is effort. We dropped our heads a bit on Sunday, and some players got overawed by the occasion. A deep breath, and a more simple execution of our game plan should see us every chance to win.
Out there in the part of the world that doesn’t make sense (the part that isn’t related to footy), there is something called The Culture Wars. While originating in the good old US of A back in Reagan’s time, we have our own one in Australia, initiated by comments by an Australian, related to Australian issues.
On Four Corners way back in 1996, John Howard gave an interview. I forgive you all for missing it, you were probably still on the Waverley Park turf celebrating our Ansett Cup win. He said that by 2000, he wanted Australia and Australians to be comfortable and relaxed about our history. He had also previously criticised what he called a “black armband view of history”, which is basically looking at our past through a half-empty glass.
Anyway, what sprung up was a discussion about what our history was and what it meant. Were Aboriginal children removed from their families because they were Aboriginal, or because they were in danger? Why to we celebrate ANZAC Day on the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, when it was a fool’s errand? People like Andrew Bolt and Robert Manne have been having it our over these issues ever since.
What does this have to do with footy and St Kilda? Because we have our own little quasi-version of culture wars. This is the argument of talent over effort.
Some supporters of this club think our main deficiency is a lack of A-graders. We have Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Hayes, S Fisher & Goddard, and that’s about it. We look at Geelong and they have someone like David Wojcinski not getting a game when fit. Brent Prismall could walk into most sides, only that at the moment, he can’t walk anywhere. To summise, we’re never going to win a premiership with Clinton Jones, Jason Blake, Robert Eddy, Raphael Clarke, James Gwilt, Sean Demspter, Shane Birss, Charlie Gardiner & Sam Gilbert.
Others look at our talented players and lament the lack of effort, citing it as our biggest concern. Dal Santo could be as good as Bartel, but he doesn’t want it enough. Koschitzke and Milne don’t chase, Schneider can look lazy, Raphael Clarke looks like he’s running in slow motion. Why aren’t these guys going flat out? A hard working team like Geelong makes our efforts look third rate.
What is the problem? First of all, we are comparing ourselves with Geelong, primarily because we just played them. They are the best side of the last 20 years comfortably. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
I tend to come down on the side of effort before talent. Seeing the efforts that blokes like Jason Blake (except for that brain-fart versus Cameron Mooney in the third quarter on Sunday) and Clinton Jones put in is genuinely inspiring. I had Jones as our best on Sunday, while Garry Lyon identified him as a problem. Maybe Lyon would prefer talented underachievers like Travis Johnstone and Damien Cupido.
It’s really frustrating for me listening to some St Kilda supporters. The two “ladies” behind me on Sunday asked whether there was any point kicking to either of the Clarke boys. I refrained from informing them that a good reason to kick to them was they are in a St Kilda jumper, as I fear my breath would have been wasted. They were quiet when a really good Xavier Clarke effort gave us a goal, or when Raph took a great contested mark. Others get stuck into Milney for trying things, or playing to his unique skill set.
In short, I would prefer to see the effort coming from the players. Tony Shaw once said that effort was everything, because you can make it without much talent, but you cannot make it without any effort.
What I want to see against Shaw’s old club on Saturday night is effort. We dropped our heads a bit on Sunday, and some players got overawed by the occasion. A deep breath, and a more simple execution of our game plan should see us every chance to win.
Friday, September 5, 2008
AFL Finals Week 1 - Tips
Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs
The Doggies opened up at long odds, and who can blame the bookies. The Doggies have only beaten Sydney and Essendon since Round 15, with losses in that time to Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong & North Melbourne.
Look at the above list. Hawthorn destroyed Carlton and Brisbane recently, beat Adelaide the two times they played them this year, and ran the Cats to two goals.
Ok, the Doggies did dominate the Hawks in Round 10, but the form lines are going in different directions now.
Hawks by 30 points.
Adelaide v Collingwood
Something inside me says be very afraid of Collingwood.
But their wins this year have come against Adelaide in Melbourne, Essendon on ANZAC Day, Fremantle in Round 1, Geelong (and what a win), Melbourne on the Queens Birthday, Richmond in Round 4, West Coast in Melbourne, Port Adelaide three weeks ago, and twice v Sydney and St Kilda. Their losses were to Carlton, Hawthorn and North Melbourne twice, Essendon recently, Fremantle last week, the Doggies and Brisbane in Round 2.
Any trend? Anything close to some sort of tendency you can put your finger on? No.
The Crows have a 2-2 record in their last four home finals, losing to St Kilda and West Coast while beating Port Adelaide & Fremantle. They are missing their two best forwards, and haven't kicked a decent score in a while.
So, for because of the home ground advantage and the fact I don't want St Kilda to have to play Collingwood in the finals, I'm tipping Adelaide.
Crows by 4 points.
Sydney v North Melbourne
I saw North Melbourne in person last week, and they were pitiful. Sydney haven't had much form going into the finals, and the Kangas have lost their last two.
Again, I'm just going with the home team.
Sydney by 12 points.
Geelong v St Kilda
I could wax lyrical about St Kilda's form, about how we've transformed ourselves into a hard-running, risk-taking team, and so on and so forth, but I'll save it for another week. We are playing Geelong.
Cats by 36 points.
The Doggies opened up at long odds, and who can blame the bookies. The Doggies have only beaten Sydney and Essendon since Round 15, with losses in that time to Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong & North Melbourne.
Look at the above list. Hawthorn destroyed Carlton and Brisbane recently, beat Adelaide the two times they played them this year, and ran the Cats to two goals.
Ok, the Doggies did dominate the Hawks in Round 10, but the form lines are going in different directions now.
Hawks by 30 points.
Adelaide v Collingwood
Something inside me says be very afraid of Collingwood.
But their wins this year have come against Adelaide in Melbourne, Essendon on ANZAC Day, Fremantle in Round 1, Geelong (and what a win), Melbourne on the Queens Birthday, Richmond in Round 4, West Coast in Melbourne, Port Adelaide three weeks ago, and twice v Sydney and St Kilda. Their losses were to Carlton, Hawthorn and North Melbourne twice, Essendon recently, Fremantle last week, the Doggies and Brisbane in Round 2.
Any trend? Anything close to some sort of tendency you can put your finger on? No.
The Crows have a 2-2 record in their last four home finals, losing to St Kilda and West Coast while beating Port Adelaide & Fremantle. They are missing their two best forwards, and haven't kicked a decent score in a while.
So, for because of the home ground advantage and the fact I don't want St Kilda to have to play Collingwood in the finals, I'm tipping Adelaide.
Crows by 4 points.
Sydney v North Melbourne
I saw North Melbourne in person last week, and they were pitiful. Sydney haven't had much form going into the finals, and the Kangas have lost their last two.
Again, I'm just going with the home team.
Sydney by 12 points.
Geelong v St Kilda
I could wax lyrical about St Kilda's form, about how we've transformed ourselves into a hard-running, risk-taking team, and so on and so forth, but I'll save it for another week. We are playing Geelong.
Cats by 36 points.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The end of an era
I was actually at Robert Harvey's third and fourth VFL games. Sitting in the Wormald Corporate Box at VFL Park. Actually, it was more of a partition than a box; it would be completely unrecognisable compared to the opulence offered in today's corporate facilties. I was pleased to receive a Moro chocolate bar.
Unfortunately, the chocolate bar is about all I can remember from those games, other than St Kilda hero Trevor Barker blanketing gun Hawthorn Full-Forward Jason Dunstall for three quarters. Dunstall had kicked three goals in the opening quarter as Hawthorn opened up a 20 point lead. Hawthorn would eventually win by 45 points, but Dunstall only had one more goal for the match. A young Robert Harvey kicked the first two goals of his career, but I can't remember them.
I didn't get to see St Kilda much in person when I was a kid. Until 1993, I attended Amateur Football every Saturday, so unless the game was early or late in the season, or not on a Saturday, I didn't go. However, I was there in 1992 on the Queens' Birthday, when St Kilda beat Collingwood. We were 11 points down half way through the last quarter, and I wanted to go home. That was the last time I ever actually wanted to leave a game early.
Later that year we beat Collingwood again in a final. In an extremely even year, Collingwood had finished equal 1st but 3rd on percentage, so played a knock-out final against the Saints. Again, I wasn't there, cheering on my beloved Brunswick to a E Section Premiership on the same day. The game marked an arrival to many a football fan's psyche about the man Darrell Baldock insisted on calling "Rodney" for six months before finally learning his name. He had 34 touches and was best on ground. Peter McKenna called the game for Channel 7 - one of the first of the football pundits to hop on the Harvey bandwagon.
Harvey had had three 40+ possession games in 1992, and would win his first St Kilda Best and Fairest. However, up until 1996, in my estimation, he always suffered in comparison to his on-ball teammate Nathan Burke. Burke almost won a Brownlow in 1996, with Burke, Harvey and Stewart Loewe sharing 54 Brownlow votes between them.
It was in 1997 that he exploded. I saw a few more games in person in 1997 - 6 in fact - and Harvey was at his best. In two matches at Football Park he had 83 possessions. His first three games against Port Adelaide would reap 113 possessions and 9 Brownlow Votes.
In the Grand Final he would collect 36 possessions and a goal with suspected broken ribs. He had 106 possessions during the finals series in 1997, but the finals performer tag has never stuck.
My favourite memories of Harvey are varied. The Qualifying Final against Adelaide in 2005, which I call "The Harvey Game". His 250th, when a massively undermanned and inexperienced St Kilda side beat Richmond, who had been a win away from a Grand Final the year before, and Harvey was best on ground.
It has all been said about Harvey, so I won't go on. To say he is the greatest Saint is fairly accurate. You could certainly argue others. Only Baldock and Barker are held in the same regard by St Kilda supporters.
It was another memory from a Richmond game that I'll leave you with. Last year, Robert Harvey played his 350th game in Perth against West Coast. The Saints had a tremendous win, but most Saints supporters weren't at the game, and not many more saw the game as it was not on free-to-air television.
So we had the opportunity to pay tribute to the man the next week against Richmond, in his 351st game. Harvey would collect 28 possessions and a Brownlow vote, but towards the end of the game he sprinted across the length of the half-forward line to make a spoil right in front of where my mother and I have sat for eight years, on the flank, Spencer St side of Telstra Dome.
Now, with the current trend of rotations and interchanges, it was Harvey's turn to head for the bench, straight after the spoil, and Harvey knew it. After picking himself up from the ground he began to sprint to the bench on the other side of the ground.
I was the first person to realise he was going off, probably for the remainder of the game. So I stood up and began to applaud him as he ran towards the bench; his familiar hair bouncing in the artificial sunlight. Slowly, but surely, I was joined by everyone in our section, which we like to feel is a poor imitation of the Moorabbin's famous animal enclosure. After he had left the field and we re-took our seats, my mum confessed to having a lump in my throat. I did too.
I cried when Stewart Loewe retired. Nearly a year later when Nathan Burke called it a day I didn't cry, partly because we had won by 80 points, partly because I had been concussed playing football earlier in the day. But I know I will be crying when Harvey walks off the field for the last time. Probably after we are knocked out of the finals at some stage, but hopefully, after Harvey holds aloft the premiership cup after his 384th and final game. I can dream, can't I?
Unfortunately, the chocolate bar is about all I can remember from those games, other than St Kilda hero Trevor Barker blanketing gun Hawthorn Full-Forward Jason Dunstall for three quarters. Dunstall had kicked three goals in the opening quarter as Hawthorn opened up a 20 point lead. Hawthorn would eventually win by 45 points, but Dunstall only had one more goal for the match. A young Robert Harvey kicked the first two goals of his career, but I can't remember them.
I didn't get to see St Kilda much in person when I was a kid. Until 1993, I attended Amateur Football every Saturday, so unless the game was early or late in the season, or not on a Saturday, I didn't go. However, I was there in 1992 on the Queens' Birthday, when St Kilda beat Collingwood. We were 11 points down half way through the last quarter, and I wanted to go home. That was the last time I ever actually wanted to leave a game early.
Later that year we beat Collingwood again in a final. In an extremely even year, Collingwood had finished equal 1st but 3rd on percentage, so played a knock-out final against the Saints. Again, I wasn't there, cheering on my beloved Brunswick to a E Section Premiership on the same day. The game marked an arrival to many a football fan's psyche about the man Darrell Baldock insisted on calling "Rodney" for six months before finally learning his name. He had 34 touches and was best on ground. Peter McKenna called the game for Channel 7 - one of the first of the football pundits to hop on the Harvey bandwagon.
Harvey had had three 40+ possession games in 1992, and would win his first St Kilda Best and Fairest. However, up until 1996, in my estimation, he always suffered in comparison to his on-ball teammate Nathan Burke. Burke almost won a Brownlow in 1996, with Burke, Harvey and Stewart Loewe sharing 54 Brownlow votes between them.
It was in 1997 that he exploded. I saw a few more games in person in 1997 - 6 in fact - and Harvey was at his best. In two matches at Football Park he had 83 possessions. His first three games against Port Adelaide would reap 113 possessions and 9 Brownlow Votes.
In the Grand Final he would collect 36 possessions and a goal with suspected broken ribs. He had 106 possessions during the finals series in 1997, but the finals performer tag has never stuck.
My favourite memories of Harvey are varied. The Qualifying Final against Adelaide in 2005, which I call "The Harvey Game". His 250th, when a massively undermanned and inexperienced St Kilda side beat Richmond, who had been a win away from a Grand Final the year before, and Harvey was best on ground.
It has all been said about Harvey, so I won't go on. To say he is the greatest Saint is fairly accurate. You could certainly argue others. Only Baldock and Barker are held in the same regard by St Kilda supporters.
It was another memory from a Richmond game that I'll leave you with. Last year, Robert Harvey played his 350th game in Perth against West Coast. The Saints had a tremendous win, but most Saints supporters weren't at the game, and not many more saw the game as it was not on free-to-air television.
So we had the opportunity to pay tribute to the man the next week against Richmond, in his 351st game. Harvey would collect 28 possessions and a Brownlow vote, but towards the end of the game he sprinted across the length of the half-forward line to make a spoil right in front of where my mother and I have sat for eight years, on the flank, Spencer St side of Telstra Dome.
Now, with the current trend of rotations and interchanges, it was Harvey's turn to head for the bench, straight after the spoil, and Harvey knew it. After picking himself up from the ground he began to sprint to the bench on the other side of the ground.
I was the first person to realise he was going off, probably for the remainder of the game. So I stood up and began to applaud him as he ran towards the bench; his familiar hair bouncing in the artificial sunlight. Slowly, but surely, I was joined by everyone in our section, which we like to feel is a poor imitation of the Moorabbin's famous animal enclosure. After he had left the field and we re-took our seats, my mum confessed to having a lump in my throat. I did too.
I cried when Stewart Loewe retired. Nearly a year later when Nathan Burke called it a day I didn't cry, partly because we had won by 80 points, partly because I had been concussed playing football earlier in the day. But I know I will be crying when Harvey walks off the field for the last time. Probably after we are knocked out of the finals at some stage, but hopefully, after Harvey holds aloft the premiership cup after his 384th and final game. I can dream, can't I?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Opening post
Well, I never did get MySpace back on at work, so I've created my own blog. Hopefully this gives me a bit more cache in the wider community. Hopefully this will enable to help some people I know discover what "cache" means. And not in the I.T. sense.
So here it is. Favourite subjects will be AFL, politics, cricket, the culture wars, TV, movies, music, religion, and maybe some other stuff. I'm going to keep it professional, so don't expect any updates of what is going on in my life. I still get Facebook at home, and I'll use it for that.
Some random thoughts for a Tuesday morning:
So here it is. Favourite subjects will be AFL, politics, cricket, the culture wars, TV, movies, music, religion, and maybe some other stuff. I'm going to keep it professional, so don't expect any updates of what is going on in my life. I still get Facebook at home, and I'll use it for that.
Some random thoughts for a Tuesday morning:
- I'm not sure who comes into Collingwood's side for Alan Didak and Heath Shaw on the weekend. But I'll be happy if Didak doesn't play. GO SAINTS!
- Brendan Nelson will still be Opposition Leader when Parliament resumes.
- The Dark Knight is good, but not incredible.
- Can't miss TV shows right now? Top Gear, Media Watch, Two and a Half Men, Spicks and Specks, and nothing else.
- God I wished The Hollowmen was better. But maybe I'm too close to the reality.
- Final ladder prediction? Geelong, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Sydney, Kangaroos, Collingwood & Adelaide. Bottom Eight Richmond, Brisbane, Essendon, Carlton, Port Adelaide, Fremantle, West Coast & Melbourne.
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