You see him at the footy, or on the replay. At the MCG or on the Dome. He sits behind the goals, next to the bag of spare footies. It’s a prime position to watch your heroes on the big stage. What a gig! He probably even gets paid for it, too. I have been [Read more]
Myth and Reality in the Common Wealth
October 21, 2010 by 9 Comments
“… the Commonwealth Games are Australia’s gift to the weaker nations of the region…” Perry Crosswhite – Head of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association. It is tempting to write off a comment like this as just another entry to the Sir Les Patterson School of Australian diplomatic niceties, but it does seem pertinent to the [Read more]
Grand Final Replay: Nothing to Worry About
October 21, 2010 by 2 Comments
THERE IS NO WAY TO DESCRIBE THIS. My cousin Steve and I are consoling a guy who has slumped in his seat. His shoulders are down; he is weeping openly. A Saints cap sits on his head; a red, white and black scalf is draped around his sagging shoulders. Eventually Steve and I grab one [Read more]
Year 12 toughie
October 21, 2010 by 25 Comments
I’m the toughie of the group. I’m like the Luke Hodge or Jonathan Brown of my group. One of my closest friends who ive been to school with for thirteen years had never seen me cry until this night. I am human, of course I do show emotion (mostly when it involves my Collingwood boys) [Read more]
The Loneliest Footballers
October 20, 2010 by 26 Comments
By Phil Dimitriadis After chatting with Andrew Gigacz about football tragedies and the 2010 Footy Almanac cover, the 2008 Footy Almanac engaged my attention in a way it hadn’t done before. Jim Pavlidis’ perceptive painting captured the loneliness of Matthew Richardson the footballer. The crowd is a blur, there are no teammates or fanfare and [Read more]
Crio’s Q: Sports Siblings
October 18, 2010 by 132 Comments
It runs in the family! Though urban myth insists that Nellie Melba’s sister couldn’t whistle, evidence suggests there’s something in a gene pool. No sooner had another progeny of High Chaparral pocketed a Gr1 (Descarado, trained by Gai Waterhouse, daughter of legend T J Smith), than news reached me that Chris (brother of Brad) Scott was to be appointed [Read more]
International Rules: Moments We Won’t Likely Forget
October 18, 2010 by 8 Comments
This coming weekend the International Rules Series returns to the Emerald Isle for the first time in four years and the highly anticipated build-up serves as a timely reminder of how this ambitious experiment to bind two codes together has effectively paid off. Indeed, the International Rules concept has provided us with a variety of [Read more]
Melbourne Cup lunch at the Clyde
October 18, 2010 by 4 Comments
You are invited to the Loose Men Charities/Almanac Melbourne Cup Lunch: Monday, November 1 from 12.30pm at The Clyde Hotel, Carlton $40 drinks at bar prices RSVP essential – [email protected] Traditionally, and very noisily, at this lunch we raise some cash through a raffle (the prizes for which are world class). We invest the proceedings in [Read more]
In A League Of Its Own- Edition 13
October 17, 2010 by 5 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League After the break involving Australia defeating Paraguay and the inaugural Melbourne Derby, the A-League returned as the top footballing code in the nation. This is the time of the season where FFA should look to capitalize on their position in the sporting landscape. One thing that is important and [Read more]
Season Review: Adelaide Crows 2010
October 17, 2010 by 11 Comments
Highlights: Not a lot of highlights in a dark year for the Adelaide Crows, but the Round 11 game against the Fremantle Dockers sticks out as perhaps the moment of the decade for Adelaide. In Tyson Edwards 321st and last game, the Crows came up against an in-form Freo side at AAMI Stadium. It was [Read more]
Paul Chapman with Hair
October 17, 2010 by 6 Comments
Chappy as you’ve never seen him before (well, not recently anyway). http://paulchapmanwithhair.tumblr.com/page/1
Season Review: Port Adelaide 2010
October 17, 2010 by 5 Comments
Highlights: Port Adelaide started the season in a bright manner, winning the first two games against North Melbourne at home and West Coast at Subiaco Oval. The match against the Eagles was full of fight and courage, with Jason Davenport scoring four goals in the final quarter to lift his side to a narrow three [Read more]
Leigh Harding Tribute
October 16, 2010 by 2 Comments
As a North Melbourne supporter, I’m disgusted at the weight of publicity regarding Max Rooke’s retirement. No disrespect to Rooke intended, but on the same day, another player called it a day. And nothing has been made of it. Nothing at all. Once again, the journalists and news reporters around Australia think that reporting on [Read more]
Book Review: This Sporting Life
October 16, 2010 by 10 Comments
By Phil Dimitriadis One of the early fictional accounts of a footballer’s life was This Sporting Life by David Storey. This work examines the contradictions and paradoxes that affect a footballer’s career directly and vicariously through the actions and attitudes of those involved with the main character, named Arthur Machin. Machin works at the factory [Read more]
Almanac Racing: CAULFIELD CUP DAY 2010
October 15, 2010 by 31 Comments
The key question for punters, of course, is what sort of track will be dished up at Caulfield for Cup Day this Saturday? Swoopers were doomed last week and then the track chopped to Heavy at the irrelevant midweeker (which must go). We’ve had perfect drying weather today (Thursday) but the forecast is dire! It [Read more]
Mr B- Gentleman Rhymer
October 15, 2010 by 2 Comments
Mr B layin’ down some grooves for y’all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSflRlHPay4
Exotic Fauna II
October 14, 2010 by 17 Comments
Time to call Neighbourhood Watch? Or just a reminder that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? It seems “keeping a lid on it” hasn’t really taken root down in Tassy. Picture courtesy of Bill Walker.
Horse Names
October 14, 2010 by 37 Comments
It’s not always easy to name a horse. Some owners “cop out”, using an unimaginative combo of the sire and dam. Others try a clumsy mix of owners’ names – think Makybe Diva. Some “luck in” – legend has it that, after 99 rejections, Century was submitted and he became a track and stud star with a brilliant name [Read more]
TAB time
October 14, 2010 by 2 Comments
The spindly gait of Les, skinny, leathery Les, takes him down Pakington St to his local TAB. Les has coat-hanger shoulders, dark Brylcreemed hair, and teeth stained from 50 years of tobacco. “G’d morning’ Ron,” he says, greeting the manager. Les looks up to the boards, checking the columns of numbers and names. Dad staples [Read more]
Incidents That Stick
October 14, 2010 by 25 Comments
What could Helen D’Amico, Trevor Chappell and John Kerr possibly have in common? Maybe that the mention of their name is likely to have anyone under the age of about thirty-five scratching their head. But for those of us ever-so-slightly older, these names will bring an incident immediately to mind; an incident that is intrinsically [Read more]
Recent Comments