Greeting one and all, Welcome to Round 10, This Friday night we have yet another blockbuster, but yet again the “Best Fit” policy has not come into play. The Saints have crossed the line in the sand and Tiger army is roaring but how many will not be able to see the game live due [Read more]
Perry Ultimatum
June 1, 2012 by 5 Comments
The very vocal ultimatum given to Ellyse Perry by her W-League club, Canberra United, will stir-up the lefties’ free-will fibres. Still, it’s a necessary decision for the respectability of Women’s sport. Ellyse Perry, Australian fast bowler. Photo: canberratimes.com.au Ellyse Perry has been a popular media phenom since she made the Australian sides for both soccer [Read more]
Suns, Demons Roos, we’re all the same
June 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Forgive me Almanackers for I have sinned, it has been 2 months since my last publication. It has been a hectic 2 months as well, but the results have been sadly lacking on the field across the board. From a combined 36 matches across the competitive grades and genders, there have been 3 wins across [Read more]
Hawthorn: the myth is solidified
June 1, 2012 by 1 Comment
This is the second in a multi-part series on the building of the current Hawthorn team. To see part one go to: http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=38530 As the 2002 season dawned there was a lot of optimism from Hawthorn fans, still bitter over the loss of Croad the fan base still reasoned, with some justification, that he was [Read more]
Melbourne: have you considered your supporters might be the problem?
May 31, 2012 by 5 Comments
A big thank you to the Demons supporters who sat right behind me at the ‘G on Sunday to see their team play the Blues. Had they not been there, resplendent in their cashmere coats and members’ medallions, I would not have been aware of the injustices inflicted on their team by the the umpires. [Read more]
Footy date today
May 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It’s a date! Australian Rules aficionados, trivia tragics and numeric numbskulls look forward with great anticipation to the first official day of winter on Friday written as a date, Australian style, namely 1/6/12. Enjoy it while you can because this is the last year until 2107 that the calendar provides us with just the one [Read more]
Going Scarlett with Rage
May 31, 2012 by 21 Comments
I can’t take it anymore. This has been bubbling inside me for a number of years. The tipping point almost came a few weeks back, and the breaking point has now been reached. I’ve heard one too many comments regarding one full back, and way too many of another. In differing ways On the first day [Read more]
Five minutes of Stevie J: an affirmation of the footy instinct?
May 31, 2012 by 9 Comments
Stay with me on this, because we’ll get to Stevie J. But in the meantime I need to establish my thesis. I remember chatting with Roger Merrett at the launch of Ross Fitzgerald’s footy book about the Brisbane Bears. I think that was just before the 1996 season got under way. We mainly talked [Read more]
Migrants and Footy Excerpts
May 31, 2012 by 4 Comments
Phil Dimitriadis The stories have started to come in for the upcoming book about migrants and footy. Today we feature passages from Peter Zitterschlager and Roy Hay. Peter’s background is a mix of German, Slovenian and Footscratian while Roy hails from Scotland and has ties with soccer royalty in the old country, while supporting Geelong [Read more]
Footy through the eyes of a father
May 31, 2012 by 7 Comments
Football as I know it changed during round 2 on April 7th as Jack William Dodson came into the world. As fish and chip shop owners were playing their grand final on Good Friday and I was pondering if Ross Lyon instilled structure and process into doing the dishes and lovemaking or if he was [Read more]
Crio’s racing: Royalty or roustabout, racing has something to pique your interest this weekend.
May 31, 2012 by 12 Comments
Wednesday evening and the chill is invading. Quite rightly. Winter is officially starting, the footy season is halfway gone and the Melbourne metro meeting is a jumps feature double on a Heavy track at Sandown. Off peak? Don’t believe it.
In the West, Channel 7’s approach beyond a joke
May 30, 2012 by 26 Comments
I’ve read a number of complaints in football magazines lately about Channel 7 and their decision to ‘conveniently’ only show the teams for the games which they are televising on their Thursday night news program. Well not only are they excluding the teams they don’t show on the news on Thursday night, they’re shunning these [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – From the Lang Park terrace: State of Origin 1985
May 30, 2012 by 1 Comment
I have strong memories of a State Of Origin at Lang Park in 1985. JP Strano rang me that morning and suggested we go. In those days, you could stroll at lunchtime to the ticket sellers in the City and procure tickets at an affordable price. As Jack and I walked out onto the street, it began to [Read more]
Writing Frank
May 30, 2012 by 3 Comments
By Nancy Sugarman The only sound on the phone was from Frank. A long whistling sigh, like someone expiring. I didn’t know what to say. He cried softly when he told me. Not sobbing, [Read more]
Feeling Hird, but looking Neeld
May 30, 2012 by 5 Comments
There’s a line Chris Cornell sings in a Soundgarden song that goes “I’m looking California, but feeling Minnesota.” Well, right now, I am trying to look James Hird but I’m feeling more Mark Neeld. My first year of junior football coaching has yielded an 0 and 9 start, and I fear the boys have forgotten [Read more]
What’s wrong with Willy?
May 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
V.A.F.A., DIVISION 1, Rd 6 Review After a sustained period of success, featuring back-to-back premierships in 2008 and 2009, the Williamstown CYMS Football Club has suddenly fallen on difficult times. Having last season missed the finals by percentage only, not even the most pessimistic of observers – inside or outside the club – would have [Read more]
Aussie Rules in the home of American Heroics
May 30, 2012 by 3 Comments
USAFL Philadelphia Tournament Women’s match: Boston/Montreal vs New York/Baltimore/Ontario Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park Saturday May 19 If the city of Philadelphia were an AFL team, I guess it would have to be Fremantle. Philly’s an easy place to like, an unpretentious hybrid of blue-collar and bohemian that spurns efforts to get too slick, prefering to [Read more]
1980 A Personal Footy Almanac – Round 10, Saturday 31 May, v North Melbourne, MCG
May 30, 2012 by 12 Comments
In 1980, Ron Barassi was still the biggest name in football. Looking back three decades, it’s easy to snigger at the temper tantrums and the wide lapels and see the caricature rather than the substance of the man. However, without doubt, Barassi had the single greatest influence in changing the way football was played during [Read more]
DA Puzzle of the round (10)
May 30, 2012 by 1 Comment
Discover the world of David Astle here. But first, can you solve this week’s puzzle? Amazingly, this reluctant handballer (and a clear student of the game) can have his first name scrambled to spell a diligent scholar – while his surname’s last three letters can be axed to reveal what this same scholar does on [Read more]
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