by Tim Ivins World Cup Football provides me with some of the strongest emotions I’ve experienced as a sports fan. It’s almost like the golden path in the Wizard of Oz, countries play-off for the right to play in the greatest show of all. The show which causes me to shift my body clock to [Read more]
Is poor player management the reason why players get a premature exit?
November 17, 2009 by 7 Comments
by Clint Youlden I met this AFL footballer (let’s call him Player X) through a friend of mine, Tavis Perry. Tavis has long been involved with me, and my training innovations, for the past 5 years and encouraged this player to seek out my expertise in speed and coordination training. Tav floated the idea to [Read more]
Stone the Crows (or at least their recruiting policy)
November 17, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Lynda Morphett These are my ideas on how the Adelaide Footy Club could improve their recruiting (it probably applies to other clubs as well): Recruiting criteria: Our recruiting criteria perhaps needs revising. (Without seeing it – can’t say for sure!) More focus on skilfulness and decision making ability, and less focus on beep tests, [Read more]
The table
November 16, 2009 by 3 Comments
by Damian “Dips” O’Donnell Our dinners at home were always noisy, cluttered affairs. The eight of us would sit around the delightful (though tiny) old mahogany table, which seemed to have a talent for expanding whenever Mum found there were additional mouths to feed. It could have been someone’s mate, a cousin, the local parish [Read more]
Footy Talk: Ziggy Stardust & Chris Judd discuss the Messiah burden (and other matters)
November 15, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by John Butler Setting: Fleeing the rock ‘n’ roll craziness of the 70’s, Ziggy Stardust ended up running an underground backpacker’s in Coober Pedy (a long story). He finds that he blends in with the local wildlife surprisingly well. His hair now tends more grey than fluorescent red, and a middle age paunch hangs over [Read more]
Sandown Classic: Freeman and Flynn’s final spring fling
November 15, 2009 by 5 Comments
by Mark “Makybe” Freeman True to form, Sandown Classic Day proved a benefit for punters, with very gettable trifectas and first fours in the Guineas and Classic, a very gettable quaddie (even I managed 4 per cent of it!) and even a very gettable Big 6 that paid more than three large.
Footy: Denning’s death ends links to Roys’ last flag
November 13, 2009 by 4 Comments
By Adam Muyt The 1944 Fitzroy premiership player Clen Denning died on 10 November. He was 98. One of Clen’s teammates in the Gorillas’ premiership, Laurie Bickerton, died just three months earlier, marking 2009 as the year the two final living links to Fitzroy’s eight VFL flags ended. Denning was, by all accounts, a very [Read more]
Footy: Say it isn’t so Richo … or then again … maybe the time is right
November 13, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Sam Steele I don’t think a better verbal portrait of Richo can be painted than Waleed Aly’s piece that prefaced the 2008 Almanac. Nor can a better image be conceived that Jim Pavlidis’ wonderful cover picture. I won’t even attempt to compete with these. My contribution to what will doubtless be a host of [Read more]
Racing: Let’s turn those few rusty shekels into an even bigger stash with a collective effort
November 13, 2009 by 7 Comments
By Mark “Makybe” Freeman Ahhh, Sandown Classic Day. I think it’s held as a benefit for the year-long punters. It’s almost as if all participants – jocks, trainers, books, horses even – conspire to share with the workaday punters what the once-a-year mugs drop in over the carnival. “You’ve had to suffer the goons,” they [Read more]
Crio’s Question: Richo’s out. Who else will be miss when they’re gone?
November 13, 2009 by 2 Comments
So Richo’s gone. Like all footy fans, I’ve shaken my head and clapped my hands at his soap opera of a career. What I knew all along, though, was that we’d miss him when he’s gone. Far too often we scold players and then, a few years later, lament the lack of characters in the [Read more]
Music: Recollections of an old fart at Meredith
November 11, 2009 by 7 Comments
By Andrew Fithall In 2008 I attended my first Meredith. Some people think that is a little bit weird for a then 49-year -old. And some people might be a little bit right. But I have come late to this music festival scene. In fact, live music generally has not taken up a lot of [Read more]
Footy: Superdogs find plenty to yap about on trip south
November 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Nick Kossatch The Riverland Superdogs ventured to the south east of South Australia over the weekend and by all reports, that region was painted red. Bordertown was the overnight stop on Friday night. The Bordertown Roosters Footy Club were the hosts and provided many beverages and plenty of food for the hungry and thirsty [Read more]
Footy: What’s in a number? Plenty, if you ask me
November 11, 2009 by 1,020 Comments
By Josh Barnstable My love for Football began in 2002. Not knowing anything about the sport back then, I decided to take up Dad’s offer and start collecting the footy stickers that came out each day in the Herald Sun (greatest paper of all time). As my collection of stickers grew, so did my passion. [Read more]
Crio’s Question: Who or what has tested your loyalty during the spring carnival
November 11, 2009 by 15 Comments
By Chris Riordan I’m confident that a picture of All Silent is hanging on Makybe’s loungeroom wall and a pic of Alan Eskander is near triple 20 on the dartboard! Makybe will have Hissing Sid tucked in a drawer and a screwed-up All American resting next to the bin. Spring is tough on our loyalties.
Life: Vale Uncle Ado, butcher, battler, family man, Australian
November 10, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Andrew Starkie My dad, Joe, is like the You Yangs: back from the road, strong, always there. He looked like Tom Jones before Tom had the work done. Joe turned 67 on Thursday, the day we buried his elder brother, Adrian. Uncle Ado was a few years older, but had been an old man [Read more]
Tennis: Federer says it’s good to be back home
November 9, 2009 by 230 Comments
Tennis god Roger Federer has made it to the final of the tournament on his home turf in Basel, Switzerland. The world No. 1 (and my personal favourite) was bound to get this far on a home court advantage. With 15 Grand Slam titles and gold Olympic medal (2008), the brown windswept haired beauty has [Read more]
Racing: All aboard for top day at the track
November 8, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Mark “Makybe” Freeman It was ‘All’ brilliant at Flemington yesterday, punters. The star of the show, All Silent, was breathtaking in the Patinack, bless his superstar heart, and All American, who we’ve stumped up for previously in these pages, finally showed what he can do with the right drag into the race in the [Read more]
General Sport: Supporter lobby group starts up
November 8, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Adam Muyt Roy Masters has written a piece in today’s SMH (7 November) on a newly formed lobby group, Sports Supporters Australia. Masters likens it to an RACV or NRMA for sports lovers and a quick squiz through its website heightens the comparison. This group is definitely ‘serious’, structured around a membership base and board, and complete with (obligatory?) commercial [Read more]
Racing: Spartan Oaks operation suits me fine
November 7, 2009 by 4 Comments
I hadn’t been to the Oaks for a few years. 2009 seemed like a good year to reacquaint myself. My wife Helen many years ago introduced me to racing. Her father Bill Holmes had been a President of the Ballarat Turf Club. Helen still regrets that when Bill offered to nominate me for the VRC [Read more]
Racing: All Silent for me, but pace needs to be on
November 7, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Mark “Makybe” Freeman Lovely days racing ahead of us, punters, and plenty to get excited about on the punt. For my little stable of horses to follow, the Patinack is a cracker. I’ve got All Silent, Mic Mac, Nicconi and the Cat in that order among my top 10, so I’ll be all over [Read more]
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