by Pamela Sherpa Towards the end of last football season, my daughter, Tashi, feared that stress was adversely affecting me. She suggested that I should go on a relaxing holiday and get away from the frustration of sport. What a good idea ! We planned to meet in Cambodia in January after she had been [Read more]
Standin’ on the Outside Lookin’ in
February 6, 2012 by 5 Comments
Sorry for the lateness of my missive but a combo of bathroom demolition and junior golf pennants has taken much of the weekend and drained my spirit despite a gripping 3.5/2.5 victory by the Belco kids over the visitors from Goulburn. For the uninitiated junior pennants is a match play format like the President’s Cop. [Read more]
Bonding with Rafa
January 31, 2012 by 6 Comments
by Joey Agerholm Do yourself a favour and Google the following words…. “Federer as Religion Experience by David Foster Wallace” and then read the essay that shows up in the search results. It’s a much better read than this piece will be. He argues a good case, and I’m persuaded, but if watching Roger [Read more]
Hit Me Again: Djokovic vs. Nadal
January 31, 2012 by 21 Comments
Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the tennis served as an eminently companionable side show to my flannel-centric summers. I fondly remember Kooyong and White City grass courts. Newk, Muscles, Eddo, Phil Dent and, yes, even JA, were a welcome support cast filling in the gaps between test matches. The tennis was as [Read more]
Giant showdown
January 24, 2012 by 10 Comments
by Michael Parker One of the by products of currently only working part time is more time to indulge in sport on TV. And when One HD isn’t giving us old episodes of M.A.S.H or Cops, it occasionally still serves its original purpose of televising sporting contests. It has given me the chance to [Read more]
2012 Australian Open: Day 2
January 19, 2012 by 8 Comments
It’s that time again to get the racquet out of the wardrobe and dream about how good you were in your youth. The Australian Open is here again in all its glory, and after a previous week of winter weather a ferocious sun is out, ready to burn spectators and players to a crisp. I [Read more]
GIGSTUFF 66: Australian Open Special
January 16, 2012 by 11 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz A SPANIARD FOR EVERY RUSSIAN AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN Ever had the feeling that Russian women are just like Spanish men? Or vice versa? Well, actually, neither had I, at least not until the seedings for the 2012 Australian Open were published in last Tuesday’s Age. It was then that [Read more]
Standing on the outside lookin’ in
January 15, 2012 by 2 Comments
January is an odd month for sport in Melbourne. Post Boxing Day test, there are a sprinkling of fillers leading up to the Australia Open but nothing to really get the pulse racing. The Big Bash has continued to provide some fun to those with short attention spans and there seems have been an increased [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 9 (2011/12)
January 11, 2012 by 4 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League The festive period in the A-League has brought colossal changes across the league. The main one was clearly the sacking of former Melbourne Victory manager Mehmet Durakovic, and the subsequent appointment of North Irishman Jim Magilton. The sacking came after a string of poor results for the Melbourne-based [Read more]
A thousand miles from home
January 11, 2012 by 6 Comments
by Glenn Brownstein I spent my New Year’s Eve in Houston, Texas. A thousand miles and a thousand dollars from home. To see a college football game ignored by most folks. Doesn’t make sense. Or does it? What drives us to travel across a country or halfway around a globe to follow our favorite [Read more]
Standing on the outside lookin’ in.
January 7, 2012 by 3 Comments
A return to the coal face has not been conducive to what has been a big week in sport. This has been more difficult as the main action has been in Sydney and I’m trying to write from a Melbourne point of view. Still in a week, where undertaking a first aid course has provided [Read more]
The Bomb
January 6, 2012 by 13 Comments
Broken Creek in Numurkah, Northern Victoria, was where I learned to swim. Graduating from the fenced-in concrete-bottomed beginners pool, Dad took me into the deep where the bottom was unfathomable, for a five year old, and promised to look after me, but kept moving further away, forcing me to continue my stroke to just stay [Read more]
Who said white boys couldn’t fly?
January 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
by Peter Argent This shot is of a competitor doing a reverse lay-up during the “3-Ball basketball tournament”, which was a part of the Bay Sports Festival held from Boxing to Proclamation Day (December 26-28) in the Adelaide seaside suburb of Glenelg. This young man was up with the birds. Almanac Admin
Standing on the outside lookin’ in.
January 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
At this time of year it seems unavoidable that every columnist in the world is offering their 2012 predictions. As this diary is based around the Melbourne experience from an outsider’s perspective it would be remiss of me not to look into the crystal ball for the SCOTW. There is one common denominator that threads [Read more]
The Wizard of Oz
December 31, 2011 by 8 Comments
While the focus of attention has rightfully been on the MCG for the past four days another no less enthralling contest has been unfolding in the Northern Hemisphere. The World Darts Championship is now approaching the pointy end of the competition and never has the event been more exciting or unpredictable. After seemingly months of [Read more]
The Best at What They Do
December 15, 2011 by 4 Comments
I didn’t have a ticket for Rod Laver Arena so only caught a glimpse before security chased me out. Just a few moments, but they were enough. I saw McEnroe play and I’ve never forgotten it. McEnroe glided to his left. He was in position, two metres behind the baseline, in plenty of time. [Read more]
Kenyans sizzle as Track and Field christens its new home with a drenching
December 12, 2011 by 4 Comments
Track and Field in Victoria held its first significant meeting at its new home in Lakeside Stadium on Saturday night when it hosted the time-honoured Zatopek meeting. For me it was a bit like going to the housewarming party of a friend whose old digs you loved, despite them having seen better days (the digs, [Read more]
Haiku for Maggie
November 30, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Damien Little The morning sun beats Starting slowly unsteady Gripping handle bars Determination Can’t let go a father’s test Start over again Determination Possibilities awake Feel freedom flying Almanac Admin
The Presidents Men Come to Town
November 22, 2011 by 6 Comments
If, like me, you have played a lot of (bad) golf, but don’t follow the PGA tour that closely outside of the majors, then a local Presidents Cup is about as good an opportunity as you’ll get to put faces to some unfamiliar names. The team match play style of the event also exposes [Read more]
President’s Cup Blog
November 17, 2011 by 2 Comments
A selection of the world’s best golfers take to the Royal Melbourne fairways over the next four days. How do we see this event? Any of you going? We’d appreciate your thoughts and experiences. Almanac Admin
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