By Daniel O’Sullivan If the first five minutes of last Friday night’s game didn’t set the pulses racing it is clear evidence that you were either stone-cold dead or simply just stoned. And if it was the latter, you’ve probably spent the last week at IMAX 3-D screenings of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ so you can [Read more]
Search Results for: Ron Reed
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]
Horseracing: Barmy Oakbank and a wet Rosehill offer plenty
April 2, 2010 by 5 Comments
Turning my racing calendar to April has clarified the scheduling confusion caused by an “early Easter”. Monday, it seems, has been conceded to glorified midweekers at Moonee Valley and Canterbury and the AJC will get the subsequent three Saturdays for Randwick’s Autumn features. Easter Saturday is a racing bonanza, from the quirky Oakbank via some [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]
Tough pre-season continues for the Dees
March 14, 2010 by 6 Comments
NAB Challenge: Melbourne V West Coast I ventured out to Casey Fields alone on this glorious Saturday afternoon, to witness the Dees play their final practice game against the up and coming West Coast. When I heard my Mum and Dad (and two younger sisters) were going to visit my Granny, I thought they could [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]
NAB Cup Semi: Dogs fall into a Grand Final
March 6, 2010 by 584 Comments
by Josh Barnstable After catching a cold mid-week, I fought out the remaining days of the school week before conceding on Friday; seeing as it was cold and pouring down, I didn’t want to go out in that weather and risk getting even sicker, so I spent the day home from school, in the warmth [Read more]
NAB Challenge: Demons’ loss not as bad as it seems
March 1, 2010 by 106 Comments
By Steve Healy The NAB challenge. Far from the ultimate challenge in football, but it certainly pays off when you get to spend quality time at the footy at a ground like Princes Park (or Visy, or Optus). My younger brother Brendan finally agreed to come to the game with me, which is a first, [Read more]
World Footy: Expansion of footy gathers pace
February 17, 2010 by 1 Comment
By Brett Northey For some, Australian football’s hopes of international growth are misguided, whilst for others they are almost an obsession. Certainly throughout the 20th century the sport’s expansion had its peaks and troughs, its false dawns. But the past decade has seen steady progress and many good news stories. Even just focussing on the [Read more]
Footy: Year of the Tiger
January 13, 2010 by 110 Comments
By Domenic Favata According to the Chinese zodiac, Richmond should have a pretty good year. That has been promised for years, but will Richmond, under new coach Damien Hardwick, finally take the giant step all the fans have been waiting for? When I heard about one of former coach Terry Wallace’s theories of coaching — [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 1: Adelaide and Brisbane
January 2, 2010 by 270 Comments
by Josh Barnstable It’s that time, the time we all cherish as youngsters, I’m sure the fellow members of the Fab 5 will be feeling this feeling that I’m having as I type this. It’s a time of hope, anticipation and gratitude. No, not Christmas, no, not the start of the New Year. The magical [Read more]
Memoir: My Father, My Football
December 22, 2009 by 9 Comments
This piece was written in 2000, and has not been published before. By Terry Chapman My life’s first footy moment comes courtesy of a black-and-white image of me in Grandma’s backyard in Coburg. I’m about four. Mum would have been behind the old Kodak 126, freezing forever the opening entry on my life’s stats sheet. [Read more]
Eulogy: University don inspired footy history study
December 18, 2009 by 4 Comments
By Rod Gillett The ability to inspire performance is a quality that is most often attributed to sports coaches. It is also attributed to teachers of art, music and literature, even mathematics. Many of us have had a teacher profoundly influence our scholastic life and engender in us an enduring enthusiasm for a particular subject. [Read more]
Christmas Quiz: How did you go? Check your answers here
December 17, 2009 by 1 Comment
1. What the hell do the books The American Way of Death and Love In a Cold Climate have to do with the present-day politics of international Formula 1 car racing? Both were written by aunts (Jessica and Nancy Mitford) of Max Mosley, the recently deposed President of FIA, the F1 governing body (son of [Read more]
Cricket: What if they had a game and nobody came?
December 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment
If you’re asking the above question, there’s a fair chance that you’re at a Sheffield Shield match. Yours truly was moved to venture down to the Big Smoke to watch day one of the Victoria v South Australia Shield clash. This decision was mainly prompted by a desire to see Brad Hodge’s MCG Shield swansong. [Read more]
Soccer: A-League gets early pass mark
December 9, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Stephen George In 2003, Australian football was struggling to make an impact on the national sporting stage. In April, the Independent Soccer Review Committee chaired by Mr David Crawford concluded “that the current structure of soccer in Australia is ineffective, does not work and needs changing”. The output on the field was viewed by [Read more]
Boxing: It’s tough when you wait so long for something that’s over so quickly
December 4, 2009 by 658 Comments
With footy season over, I do my best to substitute footy with other sports. With the big Green v Jones fight tonight, I think it might be worth checking it out. I’ve never been a big boxing fan. My boxing knowledge spans only from Danny Green v Anthony Mundine to Rocky Balboa v Apollo Creed. [Read more]
Footy Talk: PT Barnum and Kevin Sheedy plan to put on a show
November 30, 2009 by 1 Comment
By John Butler Setting: PT Barnum: legendary showman and entrepreneur, founder of Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey’s Circus and famous for pulling hoaxes and working freak shows. Often attributed the quote “there’s a sucker born every minute.” It’s a surprise he hasn’t worked for the AFL before now. Kevin Sheedy: really needs no introduction. With [Read more]
Footy: Say it isn’t so Richo … or then again … maybe the time is right
November 13, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Sam Steele I don’t think a better verbal portrait of Richo can be painted than Waleed Aly’s piece that prefaced the 2008 Almanac. Nor can a better image be conceived that Jim Pavlidis’ wonderful cover picture. I won’t even attempt to compete with these. My contribution to what will doubtless be a host of [Read more]
Ireland Correspondent: Saints’ new Irishman likened to big Cat
November 6, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Peter Lenaghan The speculation chased Tommy Walsh for the best part of two years, across Ireland, all the way to Australia and back home to County Kerry. Each month a story would appear in the Irish press and headlines would declare that the imposing and gifted youngster was “considering a deal” or “on the [Read more]
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