Father’s Day! To all the Almanac’s fathers: Happy Father’s Dday! I dedicate this entry to my Daddy, who I love so much that I cannot express just how much! As much as I love my Mum there’s always a part of me that loves Dad just that little bit more. I searched the net for [Read more]
Crio’s Question: What can you do to help your team in September?
September 6, 2009 by 5 Comments
I’m converted to the fatalist view, but all around me at the MCG are Doggies fans taking the blame for our latest puncture. Katrina bought her new Bulldogs fleecy top before the West Coast game and hasn’t been to a match since. What’s more, she’s never seen the Doggies beat the Cats. When Cat’s Whisker’s [Read more]
AFL Finals–Week 1: Carlton capitulation leaves me stunned
September 6, 2009 by 10 Comments
We have finally reached the month of September and of course in AFL circles this signifies the finals series. September brings out the best and worst in all involved with the football world as the Top 8 teams strive for that elusive premiership cup. Two of those sides, the Brisbane Lions and Carlton, are to [Read more]
AFL Finals — Week 1: Cats steady to keep Dogs at bay
September 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment
I woke up on Saturday morning, eagerly awaiting the game between the Cats and the Dogs, for the second time in two weeks. At one o’clock I turned it on the VFL, Casey Scorpions v Collingwood. The Scorpions came out and got thumped; they were down 0-21 when I turned it off to watch a [Read more]
Local Footy: Late Paringa goal extends Bulldogs’ premiership drought
September 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Nick Kossatch Paringa won a nail-biting Independent Football League grand final against gallant Wunkar by six points at Moorook Oval on Saturday when forward Anthony Lippis drilled truly after the final siren.
AFL Finals — Week 1: Cats’ victory completes family circle
September 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Roy Hay It was never a problem hitching one’s wagon to a Geelong star in 1977. Having supported provincial losers all my life, specifically Ayr United whose trophy drought in Association Football in Scotland exceeded that of Geelong in the AFL until 2007, I was always a gimme. For years I sat in the [Read more]
Racing: Reviews of Flemington, Randwick and Warracknabeal on 5 September
September 6, 2009 by 2 Comments
Mark “Makybe” Freeman writes: Ten thousand and one, ten thousand and two… gidday Daff, we’ve nailed the quaddie!!!! Pipe-dreaming on those amounts, punters, but we pushed firmly into the black with some wins today. One of the Little Lonhs saluted in the Chelsmsford, O’lonhro, and gave us a collect of $145 for our pineapple on [Read more]
AFL Finals — Week 1: Top End memories take edge off a Bomber fan’s pain
September 5, 2009 by 1 Comment
I made a great discovery some 12 weeks ago: the best way to meet your indigenous brothers in the Top End is to wear an Essendon cap. I reckon I had at least 4 conversations a day in Darwin and its surrounds by people calling out, “GO BOMBERS!”. I really enjoyed the chance to chat [Read more]
AFL Finals — Week 1: Crows crush Bombers and I pocket small sum
September 5, 2009 by 2 Comments
Yes! The finals have arrived. After a long week at school (that old cliché) I am jumping around my house in celebration. The finals, for me, means momentarily forgetting about your team and concentrating on the best eight teams of the comp.
AFL Round 22: Everyone’s a winner when Saints squeeze past Dees
September 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Margaret Duncan It is the last match for Melbourne in the 2009 season, a team with the dubious honour of being on the bottom of the league ladder. St Kilda are on top. But after two losses in the previous two weeks, and after 19 straight wins before that, they are a bit rattled. [Read more]
Sports Science: Why most speed training drills are a waste of time
September 4, 2009 by 9 Comments
By Clint Youlden So what do all these ‘innovative’ sprint-training drills do for a footballer? I emphasise innovative there because the most common form of sprint drills is mostly a series of exercises I can only label as ‘time wasters’, by ‘experts’ who’ve read a few textbooks in the acquisition of speed. A good example [Read more]
Poetry: From the Bounce by Michael Viljoen
September 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
From that first cherry plucked when Adam was small To when suburban clan rivalries divided us all Words mêlée and fight as our poets recite The deeds and the lore of football Though others assume this most sacred name As rugby, and gridiron, even soccer may claim Of feats gazed upon in sport’s pantheon From [Read more]
The Pre-Wrap: Finals — Week 1
September 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
THE PRE WRAP – WEEK 1 OF SEPTEMBER For the Philosophical Marngrook Follower What a week it’s been in Footy Eddie. Out at Whinging Hill, The Bombers stood up in the tackle. Taking sound advice from the Senior Associate at Downright Lie & Procrastinate, Sir Frank Downright, they swallowed their medicine and pleaded guilty as [Read more]
Racing: Preview for Flemington, Randwick, Morphettville and Warracknabeal on 5 September
September 3, 2009 by 19 Comments
Mark “Makybe” Freeman writes: The march to the big races in spring continues apace, punters, and it’s a big, fascinating and punting-wise tough card at Headquarters tomorrow. It’s always been a real spring set-up day, Craiglee Stakes day, and there’s quality beasts across the program. I’ll be keeping a watch on Nicastro and Shamoline Warrior [Read more]
AFL Finals — Week 1: If you think Cats are under more pressure than Dogs, you’re kidding yourself
September 3, 2009 by 13 Comments
I was sitting at a family dinner on Sunday night, enjoying the lamb shanks but wondering who the Cats would play next week. I had no preference between the Pies and the Bulldogs – if you’re going to go all the way then you have to beat whoever fronts up – and the last update [Read more]
General Footy Writing: All’s fair in love and footy
September 3, 2009 by 10 Comments
Ursula, Audrey and Herb were born nine weeks ahead of schedule in May 1997. For quite a few years we didn’t let on to the children the actual order of birth. We thought it might avoid the “I’m older than you” hierarchical claims. After all, that is how Mark Waugh got the nickname “Junior”. However, [Read more]
General Footy Writing: A Father’s Day reflection
September 2, 2009 by 10 Comments
By Steve Fahey One of the many things I am grateful to my parents for is my passion for the black and white. Dad’s passion for the Pies was life-long – he was raised in Langridge Street, Collingwood, upstairs from the fruit shop that my grandparents ran. Collingwood in the early 1930s was a struggling, [Read more]
Footy lunch: Roll up, roll up for Lighthouse Foundation function at the MCG
September 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Poetry: A Barry Crocker of a Year
September 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Rick Trewavas Screw the game, it’s not the same If your mob’s not out there. It’s the final stanza for all but five, Too late to sell a game alive to the NT, bugger it – it was worth plenty. But at least our B&F Tink is rid of umpies’ mistakes, Ducks and drakes, [Read more]
In the Sheds: Peckett skates through busy life as father and footballer
September 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
WHEN this column yesterday rang former St Kilda defender Justin “Frankie” Peckett, he was skateboarding through the streets of Brighton. Peckett, 36, often gets about on his skateboard, especially if he has to commute from the North Melbourne office of Leading Teams, where he works, for an appointment with a corporate big shot in the [Read more]
Recent Comments