By Domenic Favata This is the first part of eight of my 2010 FIFA World Cup preview. The biggest sporting event on the planet which kicks off on the 12th of June. Last time it was Italy who took the chocolates and held the title of champions. This time it could be anyone; the field [Read more]
Thommo not the only one left with a headache
May 27, 2010 by 2 Comments
North Melbourne versus Western Bulldogs 2.10pm, Saturday, May 22 Etihad Stadium I shouldn’t be here. I’m crook; lethargic and headachy. I should be home, resting, listening to the radio. But I can’t help myself. Missing a North game is like piking on a family gathering. I’m sitting alone in the top tier, southern end. My [Read more]
Round 9: Essendon v Richmond – Four quarters of football still too much to ask
May 27, 2010 by 3 Comments
Last week, the Richmond faithful saw something they hadn’t seen all year. Their team played four good quarters of football. No, Richmond didn”t get the win but we could see potential for the future. Going to this game that’s all we were hoping for. It’s not guaranteed but it is expected. The bar was set [Read more]
Geoff Sinclair’s Home and Away Games- Rd 8
May 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
ROUND EIGHT St. Kilda versus Essendon Sunday, May 16th., Etihad Stadium The Contest Scheduled to take place during the Twilight Hours It’s Sunday, Mother’s Day, bleak at seven o’clock in the morning. Not cold, but not exactly motherly warm either, and overcast as only Melbourne can be overcast. It’s a lounging-about, coffee and Sunday papers [Read more]
Dees triumph in NT thriller
May 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
I love my footy. Always have; always will. That’s probably the main instigation in my relocation to Elcho Island, a remote aboriginal community located 500km east of Darwin. And even though my role as a Development Manager for AFL NT involves running footy programs 24/7, I couldn’t help but be excited as I travelled to [Read more]
Camels on the beach, at sunset, in Broome.
May 27, 2010 by 5 Comments
Tis’ an iconic Australian visual image that has me proclaiming every off-season: “yep, Subi trip this year, via the Cape, make a week of it”. It never eventuates. And yes I’m pretty sure Broome is not located on or ever referred to as “the Cape”, but still, it sounds an attractive description for such an [Read more]
How the Pies keep bookies in European cars
May 27, 2010 by 12 Comments
Friday night on a crisp Canberra evening. Greeting-card sunset. Chill in the air. The High Court and the National Library looking US-grand behind the autumn reds and yellows of the trees across the Burley-Griffin’s lake. In Melbourne, people bustle. A sense of happy urgency prevails. They are invoking their footy plans (which I’ve been cc-ed [Read more]
Local Footy: Goulburn Valley emerge from haze to win Victorian country crown
May 26, 2010 by 7 Comments
If Freo is known as the Purple Haze, the Goulburn Valley Football League should be known as the Purple Haze and a Half. On Saturday the GV combined team, which wears purple guernseys with a yellow monogram, went into its match against the Ovens and Murray to decide the best country competition in Victoria with [Read more]
The ‘Sore Head Loss’
May 26, 2010 by 3 Comments
Collingwood went into the Friday night blockbuster against Geelong brimming with all the confidence of Bindi Irwin. This was to be a marquee night for Mick’s maturing Pies, this was their big dance. Alas, they copped a lesson. And not just any run-of-the-mill primary school period between recess and lunch when everyone sits cross-legged in [Read more]
Killing the goose that laid the golden egg?
May 26, 2010 by 17 Comments
In light of the future expansion of sporting teams in Melbourne I was wondering if the “sports capital of the world” may be starting to spread itself a little thinly and start to test the capital’s reputation for turning up to anything including the opening of an envelope. Mondays night’s attendance of 55,000 to what [Read more]
Cats bring cheer to a hoarse throat
May 26, 2010 by 11 Comments
By Susie Giese This game will probably never be used in a promotional package for the AFL. There were no standout performers, no exceptional displays of skill. What this game was, though, was something quintessential to the game we all love. It was a contest. Tackle after tackle, pressure to match a game being played [Read more]
LINK: Mascot Hall of Shame
May 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Alamanac editors once knew of a St Kilda Ruckle who got into a fully fledged punch-on while still in uniform (although the head fell off during proceedings). But this pales when compared to some mascot misadventures overseas. The Independent has compiled a photo gallery of the Mascot’s Hall of Shame. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/the-best-and-worst-sporting-mascots-1977011.html?action=Popup&ino=1
LINK: The True Cost of Sporting Festivals
May 26, 2010 by 1 Comment
As governments around the world clamour to host the world’s great sporting events, do we ever stop to consider who really wins from these deals? The Guardian Sportblog takes a disturbing look at the social dislocation resulting from New Delhi’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/may/25/commonwealth-games-delhi
Geoff Sinclair’s Home and Away Games- Rd 7
May 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
ROUND SEVEN Essendon versus Port Adelaide Etihad Stadium, Saturday, May 8th. Labrini stretches voluptuously, Greek-style, which includes a playful slap on my stomach and some tugging of the thatch on my chest. She’s combative, I have to admit, but in a loving kind of way. “Peter, that was wonderful.” “Good. It was wonderful for me, [Read more]
KEN PIESSE’S FAVORITES… from the BENDIGO LEAGUE
May 26, 2010 by 3 Comments
I love hearing stories about Laurie Nash, the champion’s champion of the ‘30s and ‘40s. He’d take a mark 50 out and ask the bloke on the mark which foot he’d like him to kick it with… his left or his right? Invariably they’d soar through. Post-high. Laurie was a hero even for the great [Read more]
Pay Up
May 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
On Thursday, 24th January 2002 , Derek Guille broadcast this story on his afternoon program on ABC radio. In March 1999 a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in NSW, Australia ), Received a bill for his as yet unused gas line stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. In [Read more]
Haiku Bob: Round 9- the cat’s purr
May 25, 2010 by 4 Comments
after the sky bleeds cats from every nook and cranny no moon Beams the light inside the arc the dark rises – I wait for the moon and Leon one star – the pack releases Ablett ravaged trees – the flimsiest of hopes on Caff’s boot the cold begins its creep shots drift wide footprints [Read more]
WAITING FOR GODDARD
May 25, 2010 by 2 Comments
“Waiting For Godot” is a legendary play where nothing happens. “Waiting For Goddard” is a sublime pastime whereby every time Goddard gets the ball something happens and it’s panic time for the opposition. Those wealthy West Aussies at the WACA forgot all about the new mining tax and started really crapping in their bulldozers every [Read more]
LINK: Possession Possession Possession
May 25, 2010 by 1 Comment
Possession. As possession footy becomes an increasing talking point in AFL circles, soccer has generally looked at the issue differently. Inter Milan’s recent Champions League victory over Barcelona has brought this question into focus once again. Almanacker Rick Kane brought this Guardian piece to our attention. It is a fascinating dissection of the topic . [Read more]
The Albatross Rules, Chapter 12- Round 5, Gunundurra–Heathvale Roosters (home): Shut the Gate
May 25, 2010 by 2 Comments
There was the distinct whiff of scandal in the area after Tex’s ten mile streak. Apart from the Albatross’s injured small man another of the neighbourhood blokes had been on a spree and the guardians of local virtue were up in arms. In fact this second incident had a lot to do with Tex’s exploits. [Read more]
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