by Chris Riordan The trend, it must be said, is alarming. 9,000 at Blue Diamond Day. 15,000 at MCG for an ODI. 18,000 at major A-League semi at Etihad.
NAB Cup, Round 1: Go you Roo boys!
February 23, 2010 by 777 Comments
by Josh Barnstable What a great way to start the NAB Cup for North Melbourne with a first round match against Geelong, just terrific, thanks a lot AFL. Despite the fact that I knew we would get absolutely flogged, Dad and I planned to go to the game, and soon enough we had all planned [Read more]
Is Bullfighting Sport?
February 23, 2010 by 4 Comments
by Damian O’Donnell Barcelona 1987. It’s August and still very hot. What a city. I love this place. It’s vibrant and colourful and bursting with a subdued (but not too subdued) excitement. It’s as if something is always bubbling just under the surface. The combination of the fascinating “old city” and the noisy, modern “new [Read more]
A Family Day affair of the heart
February 22, 2010 by 536 Comments
by Danielle Eid Who knew that such a moment would leave my heart beating so hard and fast that it felt as though it would rip out of my body? That I would smile so much I could feel my body fill with happiness. This was the effect meeting Jack Anthony had on me.
NAB Cup, Round 1: We need more opportunity to dream
February 22, 2010 by 1 Comment
By Dan O’Sullivan For supporters of the competition’s strugglers, the lead-up to the NAB Cup is like the brief few seconds when you wake from a heavy night but your brain has yet to kick into gear. All you have is the warm static of a good night’s sleep to cloud your memory, so for [Read more]
NAB Cup, Round 1: A few observations on the early Pies
February 22, 2010 by 6 Comments
By Steve Fahey Pre-season so no match report, but a few observations : – Middle of Feb, 32 degrees at game start, all other observations need to be considered with that in mind. – Middle of Feb, 32 degrees at game start, very thoughtful of Etihad Stadium management to have us think that we were [Read more]
Gaelic football: Farewell to a legend of the game
February 22, 2010 by 1 Comment
Sixteen championship seasons, six All-Ireland medals, four National League titles and three All-Star selections. No wonder the Irish sporting public is in mourning. Gaelic football has lost one of its greats. Darragh Ó Sé (pronounced O’Shea) made the announcement this week on the national Irish language radio station, Raidió na Gaeltachta, during an interview with [Read more]
Poetry: Oh Tim
February 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
I’d missed the news yet caught a rumour Barely through the summer slept. Now autumn blows a heavy humour Scandal has its promise kept.
NAB Cup, Round 1: New generation of Swans stands tall
February 21, 2010 by 2 Comments
Ever since reading the NAB Cup fixture in the library at school, one game stood out in the second week of the first round. Sydney and Carlton from Blacktown Olympic Park. Time has flown, and finally the day has come. After a bad loss at tennis, I look forward to resting up my muscles before [Read more]
Life: What’s in a name?
February 21, 2010 by 8 Comments
After reading my copy of The Footy Almanac 2009, I was inspired and thought this could be my perfect opportunity to follow my dream to become a sports journalist. So I decided to sign up to this wonderful website and try and contribute something to this awesome collection. My dream of being a sports journalist [Read more]
NAB Cup, Round 1: Saints and Pies worth the wait
February 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
After getting my first dose of football for 2010, I eagerly await my next fix. It seems to be the longest week of my life from the final siren of Western Bulldogs v Brisbane from last Sunday to the opening bounce of this match, yet it was a very quick and enjoyable week. The week [Read more]
NAB Cup, Round 1: It’s hard to imagine a better pre-season game
February 21, 2010 by 17 Comments
Could a NAB Cup game get any better? Two premiership contenders in battle, with Luke Ball playing against his former side. I am eager to see some other players, namely Simon Buckley (ex-Demon) and Darren Jolly for their new sides. The surface of Etihad Stadium is the talking point during the week, after being pulverised [Read more]
Soccer: The night I watched Man U beat Milan in a Swedish green room
February 21, 2010 by 15 Comments
I pick up the phone and do something I’ve never done before. Call a television studio and ask to speak to one of the most popular TV sports presenters in the country. I’m in Stockholm. The TV presenter is a former professional footballer who represented Sweden in the ’90s. And he’s my brother-in-law (if that’s [Read more]
Local Footy: Former AFL stars make impression in Bendigo league
February 20, 2010 by 1 Comment
By Richard Jones THERE’S plenty of stories about former Bendigo and central Victorian footballers who’ve made the transition from local comps to the AFL. For example the four Selwoods, Nick Dal Santo, Greg ‘Diesel’ Williams, Geoff Southby, Rod Ashman, Jimmy Buckley, Peter McConville and Trevor Keogh all made the trip down the highway to the [Read more]
NAB Cup, Round 1: Saints somehow win a corker. Good night!
February 20, 2010 by 6 Comments
It’s all about presentation, isn’t it? Ignoring the deplorable state of the actual turf at Etihard Stadium, Channel 7 (Sydney) tonight gave a very good argument for their not being awarded the broadcasting rights for the AFL at the next round of bidding. Their commentary team is great: Bruce McAvaney, the fantastic Dennis Cometti, Leigh [Read more]
Racing: Crio to channel Shane Dye to get to Diamond Day at the Heath
February 19, 2010 by 17 Comments
By Chris Riordan The Caulfield meeting, with seven Group races, is a strong response to media naysayers who have focused on the unfortunate injuries and withdrawals of many Autumn drawcards. It’s a tough day on the punt and in these situations it’s always a sound strategy to turn to the last, where recovery or glory [Read more]
Book Review: All praise to exploration of Ablett enigma
February 19, 2010 by 6 Comments
Book: Playing God: The Rise and Fall of Gary Ablett Writer: Garry Linnell Publication: HarperCollins, 2003 Reviewer: Phillip Dimitriadis Some may consider Garry Linnell’s book, Playing God: The Rise and Fall of Gary Ablett to be a work of fact-based, journalistic non-fiction. It is an unauthorised biography that at times has an unnerving mix of [Read more]
Film: Australian rules? Not at the flicks, it doesn’t
February 19, 2010 by 14 Comments
By John Butler The recent experience of watching Springboks and All Blacks do battle in a Hollywood film has prompted some general reflections on how differing cinematic cultures approach sport. More particularly, it has given me cause to consider how sport has (or hasn’t) been treated in Australian cinema. Hollywood has long been the world’s [Read more]
NAB Cup, Round 1: Bulldogs see off brave Lions in Canberra slush
February 19, 2010 by 3 Comments
By Steve Healy Ah, Sunday afternoon footy on the radio… can it get any better than this? Fev’s first game for the Lions, Buchanan’s and Staker’s as well. The dark sky is looming outside my bedroom window, whereas the Canberra sky is even darker and Manuka oval has been three inches under water all day [Read more]
Film: Valentine’s Day and the Bear obsessities
February 18, 2010 by 14 Comments
By Tony Taylor Now this is how you do feel-good. Aunty’s had a couple of stabs at it this year but with Valentine’s Day we finally arrive: gorgeous family drama that’s funny, whimsical, warm-hearted and feels absolutely real. Rhys Muldoon is fab as Ben Valentine, the drifter manoeuvred into coaching a small town’s footy team, [Read more]
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