The AFL Record 2011 Short Story Competition

THE AFL RECORD IS CALLING ALL BUDDING WRITERS The AFL Record has teamed up with Virgin Australia, the official airline of the AFL, to encourage aspiring writers to try their hand at short story writing with an AFL theme.   The AFL Record 2011 Short Story Competition, which will run for eight weeks through the [Read more]

The Hawks looking for oxygen

I recently obtained a new oxygen machine which includes a backpack and two batteries that last for about five hours each*. This machine has brought a new independence to my life, so I decided I would be brave and attempt an evening at the footy to see my team play the Cats.  It was Round [Read more]

Crio’s Q: Football Schools

Phantom has provided me with this week’s crio’s Q?… “There have been three ex students from Marist College (Burnie) named in AFL sides this week. Tom Hislop (Richmond) Maverick Weller and Luke Russell (Suns) What do the Knackers think is the most from any school in Australia named to play senior footy on any one [Read more]

Simon Katich Unloads

Simon Katich was scathing  in his press conference responding to the news he had been omitted from Cricket Australia’s contracted players list for the coming year. There are many Almanackers who would feel he voiced what we’ve been saying throughout last summer. You can listen to what he had to say here: http://www.sportal.com.au/mediaplayer/audio/Cricket/simon-katich-has-selectors-in-his-sights-10584

The Slow Journey From Hope To Joy

    I’ve been writing about hope for several weeks.  My fellow writer and muse John Harms has suggested I read Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning and then the wonderful yarn by Brian Matthews:   A Fine and Private Place. Victor’s book is about a man’s search for understanding  the suffering at the hands [Read more]

The crumbs that fall from the AFL table

    So there we have it! $1.25 billon dollars are to be paid for the TV rights for AFL football: a record. Now the debate will be about how this amount is to be divided between clubs, players, administrators and the like. Who deserves this money: the poor clubs, champion players, or draftees and [Read more]

Stephanie Holt Discussion

Almanacker Stephanie Holt discusses women in footy, and how she got involved with The Footy Almanac, at the Overland webite. http://web.overland.org.au/2011/06/stephanie-holt-on-football-and-gender/

Crio’s Racing: Have a bet at Eagle Farm this Saturday

Have a bet at Eagle Farm this Saturday. It’s always the best Qld meeting of the year. Justify it, if you must, by dedicating your presumed winnings to escaping a frozen winter for next year’s Straddy Day! Focus your funding on the 3 feature Group Ones, the first of which is for the juveniles (T. [Read more]

Round 12 Blog

Halfway point of the season. Though many hope to continue beyond round 24. Two who’ve been recent September fixtures (Saints & Bulldogs) meet tonight, with the loser sliding inexorably into the realm of only being a ‘mathematical chance’ of playing finals. Cup of Constant Sorrow indeed. Adelaide host West Coast on Saturday afternoon with the Eagles looking [Read more]

Two types of wit

Australian crowds contain their fair share of wits: funny, insightful, ridiculous, subversive, and a bit naughty. They are often men. They are good-natured, but not always. A lot of amusing bile is launched in the outer, and from the members pavilion as well. I have heard many an amusing comment which has won for that [Read more]

Time ticking for the Port Melbourne scoreboard

Peter Vesty is not sentimental about  his home away from home for the past 30 years, the Port Melbourne scoreboard. “I’d like to blow it up or burn it down,” he says, in-between hanging up numbers for a reserves match between Port Melbourne and Werribee. Read more about Peter Vesty and about the 80 year [Read more]

The Discovery of Bob Pratt

While I never played football at the Highest Level, I think I can legitimately lay claim to being one of the game’s greatest archaeologists.  For it was me in 1995 along with my good friend Mike Lefebvre who rediscovered the man, the legend, that was Bob Pratt. During that year, Mike and I were researching [Read more]

Racist takes a bath

The recent spate of ugly racism from footy supporters  brings back a couple of memories from earlier days.    As a very young Essendon fan who regularly followed the Dons with his parents , I would hear racist remarks about one of our great footballers  Norm McDonald in the late forties and early fifties.  We would [Read more]

One Hundred Years Ago: Round 6, 3rd June, 1911

It will surprise many that Richmond, the club that wears “Captain Blood’ as a badge of honour, initially regarded itself as a bastion of the ‘right and proper’ way to play the game. Furthermore, the colour of their jumper wasn’t originally yellow and black. What will not surprise is that they have long possessed a [Read more]

Battle of the Boofheads

The ninth annual Battle of the Boofheads will be played this Saturday. A contest of the fit and the unfit. The old and the young. The good and the not so good. It is a social footy match built around a brotherly rivalry. As the years go on it steadily builds momentum––and becomes less about the [Read more]

Sat’dy arvo at the footy: June 11 2011

The major suburban matches highlighted in this column last week threw up interesting results, with the top sides losing in the EDFL, NFL and EFL. Maribyrnong Park’s stranglehold on the EDFL title is now under serious challenge after Damien Peverill inspired Aberfeldie to victory. Luke Livingstone, king of the Marby goal square in recent weeks, [Read more]

DA’s Clue of the Round (12)

by David Astle (Don’t forget to visit http://davidastle.com/) As winter nears, And the alpine horde disappears, What well-known brand Seen across Snow Land Comprises a racing star (Not on ski, not in car) Sitting side-by-side A footy great glorified By his Norm-Smith day? Though wait – he runs the other way. Solution to DA’s Clue of [Read more]

Nicknames

Crazyhorse is still the best nickname I’ve ever heard on a footy field. The Galloping Gasometer was a close second. What was it about North Melbourne in the 70s? They were the Kangeroos, and had a gun ruck-rover called Tiger. Richmond had Disco, The Ghost, The General, Whoosha, Hungry, The Flea, who was damn tough. [Read more]

So what’s the score?

There’s been a lot in the media recently about the ugly parent syndrome at junior football matches, where feral mums and dads disgrace themselves by behaving badly on the sidelines. But what about the technologically-challenged parent syndrome? The game is definitely changing. I’ve had a go at most things in following the footy career of [Read more]

flinging shadows

remnants of the sun — Goddard strikes the first blow         leaves tumble… tonight Cloke marking everything           floodlights flinging shadows — a hurried snap for goal         sharp cold — late goals before the long break bite the Saints         autumn [Read more]