The Best of Van Halen has a quote on the liner notes: “what is understood need not be discussed”. I can’t remember the attribution, but it makes a certain amount of sense. In sport, there are a few things that are known. A week is a long time. The boys on the winning team really [Read more]
Regional Communities and Sport: A Comment
May 14, 2010 by 6 Comments
by Bill Walker One only has to only look via any of the plethora of mediums for sourcing, processing and transferring news to see that the basic values and foundations of sport today have been swept up and pummelled by fast and diversely evolving business tsunami. Either through design or chance the status quo has [Read more]
Urban Legends: Flynny’s out!
May 12, 2010 by 15 Comments
by Chris Riordan High-profile Almanacker, Peter Flynn, was humbled by “security” last Thursday night in Warrnambool and refused entry to fabled “Whalers” bar and nightspot. Under intense questioning, the uniformed bear (No.15) defied Peter’s logic with “I’ve already made my decision!” and made it clear that no further correspondence would be considered. It seems that [Read more]
WINTER
May 6, 2010 by 8 Comments
by Damian O’Donnell I hate winter. It’s cold and dark and depressing. Everyone goes a little bit pale and adults get a little bit fatter. To make things worse, the fat bits that accumulate around your midriff in winter look whiter than your summer skin so there is no doubt that its winter fat. Winter [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Real Storm surprise is that people are surprised
April 29, 2010 by 18 Comments
It has been a most tumultuous week in Australian sport. Well, in Australian professional sport. You have to be specific because I reckon professional sport and normal, everyday, garden-variety sport are actually quite different. One is about commerce, the other is about the game. The tumult comes from the exposure of the flagrant salary cap [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Question: The Storm over The Storm
April 24, 2010 by 15 Comments
What does the Almanac community think of the Melbourne Storm drama? Just deserts or overly harsh? Is this the end of NRL in Melbourne? If so, do we care? Are there any AFL implications? Fire away folks.
GRACE AND GRACELESSENESS UNDER PRESSURE
April 11, 2010 by 8 Comments
The past week in world sport has presented leading players, coaches and teams in a fascinating array of lights and reminds us of why we react to the sporting performances with such emotion and passion. Of particular interest has been the way a number of champions have handled the limelight, adversity and pressure and what [Read more]
Golf: Mastering Augusta
April 9, 2010 by 18 Comments
by Peter Flynn The second weekend of April is always a special (I’d even go as far as to say a delicious) time for golf fans. It’s US Masters time. It’s like Christmas when you were a kid. The challenging Augusta National layout in conjunction with the tournament’s mystique and quirky traditions present a thorough [Read more]
Stawell: The Gift that keeps on giving
April 7, 2010 by 11 Comments
by Damian O’Donnell A boy, perhaps sixteen years old, works the pedals of his bicycle as he struggles with the blustery wind that is blowing across his right shoulder. It threatens on several occasions to blow him off the bitumen. The undulating road carves its way through the tough dry country of north western Victoria. [Read more]
Stawell Gift: The Call of Stawell
April 6, 2010 by 5 Comments
by Rod Oaten As it turned out I was very happy I didn’t go to the Fish Bowl behind Spencer Street railway station for the Don’s game against a team called Fremantle. I even had a free ticket but no one in their right mind would want to see a game against a corporate team [Read more]
Extreme Sports: Common newspaper puzzle injuries
April 5, 2010 by 21 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz In recent weeks there have been some vicious rumours, spread mainly by some of our young whippersnapper Almanackers, that I once broke my nose whilst completing a Sudoku puzzle. I would like to use this forum to set the record straight about such unfounded, malicious allegations. These charges have been extremely hurtful [Read more]
Baseball: Fanatical Phillies fans to rejoice in 2010
April 5, 2010 by 2 Comments
by Tim Ivins 10am Monday morning, Eastern Standard Time, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will step out, not onto the turf of the SCG as was suggested by the Daily Telegraph to the shock and chagrin of American baseball fans everywhere but rather the history steeped Fenway Park. Over the coming 6 [Read more]
On the sidelines, in the outer
April 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Patrick O’Keeffe I am frustrated. The immediate source of my frustration is an injury that is preventing me from running. For me, running is like addiction. Let’s be frank, running is my life. I haven’t run for 6 days and I’m experiencing major withdrawals. Running keeps me balanced. I need to run. I am [Read more]
Two Kings
April 2, 2010 by 7 Comments
by Andrew Starkie Down the phone from his home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Jack Rennie has a softly scoured, Brando like voice. He is welcoming, patient and as he speaks, his memory opens and he joyously recounts one of our great sporting moments. ‘He was king of Australia at the time,’ recalls Jack, former trainer [Read more]
Speech: D.J. Carey and the ‘craic’
March 19, 2010 by 5 Comments
This is an edited version of a speech given by Paul Daffey to Melbourne’s Irish History Circle at the Celtic Club in February 2010. I stand before you in the GAA jersey of Kilkenny, one of the combined 32 counties of the Republic and the North, all of whom contest the annual All-Ireland Championship in [Read more]
Obituary: An untimely end to a Sporting Life
March 16, 2010 by 5 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz Visitors to these pages who are regular readers of the Age will be saddened to hear of the passing of the stalwart of that paper’s Sporting Life column, Geoff McClure. Geoff died yesterday, aged just 59, after a long struggle with cancer. For those of you out there looking to find someone [Read more]
Motor Racing: Getting in touch with one’s inner bogan
March 16, 2010 by 3 Comments
by Anne Fedorowytsch Once a year for three days I let my inner Bogan out to play. The occasion, you ask? It’s the Adelaide Clipsal 500. Hundreds of thousands of rev-heads pack into the eastern outskirts of the CBD to witness motor racing at its finest. The event offers the best from Australia’s racing scene [Read more]
Easter at Stawell
March 14, 2010 by 14 Comments
Some things just ARE. There is no preamble, no surge of anticipation. It’s a bit like sitting around the dinner table with your family. You just do it. You do it because that’s what happens at night when the day’s activities and tasks are mostly done. You sit, eat and talk. You also do it [Read more]
The House that Jack…Is Building
March 11, 2010 by 2 Comments
By Stephen George Whilst the incidence of Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees merchandise appears to increase each year, I often wonder how many of those stem from the generosity of relatives or friends that visit the north east of the United States in the northern summer leading up to our Christmas.
Major League Baseball – NL West Preview: Bring on Rocktober
March 9, 2010 by 1 Comment
by Tim Ivins With spring training underway it is time to turn our minds to the upcoming MLB season. Over the coming weeks I will preview each division for the coming season. We start with the division the National League West.
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