Congratulations Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps the best batsman I have ever seen and rated by Don Bradman as also the best batsman he has ever seen yesterday became the highest scorer of runs in Test cricket and also is the first player to pass the 12,000 run mark.



Whilst I am a one eyed Australian, I think it is also pertinent to point out that Tendulkar is not only a great batsman and now has the statistics to say that he is the very best ever since Bradman, but he also is an exemplary person and promoter of the game and its values.

He is a great player and a great person and I will long remember the day I spent at the SCG just last summer watching Tendulkar hit a chance less 150 odd and seemed to do it so effortlessly.

Congratulations.

Go The Dragons

Went out to the football last night... BOO YAH! Saints big winners... Parra are gone *gloat*gloat*

Greg Bird

OK, this post won't mean much to foreign readers (and that includes people from Victoria) but there has been an unsavoury incident in which Australian League player Greg Bird 'allegedly' glassed his American girlfriend in the face causing her to have a cut eye and a fractured eye socket.

Then Bird told police it was his flatmate and apparent life long best mate that did the damage and not him... (he's a nice guy huh!)

Now he has appeared before the courts and will be on trial in October after the Grand Final. His Cronulla club has stood him down and I am sure they will sack him if proven guilty.

My point of this post though is that not only because of this incident, Greg Bird would have to be one of the biggest grubs in rugby league... or even in society. He is under investigation for punching a woman in a nightclub in the off season and he also was suspended for 10 weeks in 2006 for kicking a rival player in the head. Not a tap... a full on kick.

Looking at Bird, he was a skinny kid who played in the halves but looking at him now he has bulked up tremendously and alongside his equally grubby team mate Paul Gallen, they have the nickname as "the Bruise Brothers". These two guys have gone from skinny nobodies to big angry men in a very short space of time and I am now questioning as to whether they're on the steroids.

Both have anger management issues, both have been in off and on field incidents that are unsavoury and both have bulked up markedly in the past couple of seasons.

And then it dawns on me that we havent heard a peep from the NRL on drug testing players for steroids for ages... there used to be alot of stories about the drug testers trying to catch drug cheats but that all seems to have stopped hitting the press.

Has the NRL got a steroid problem?

Holidaying? South Ossettia looks nice...

Channel 9 news is awash with Golden Glory (sounds suss right?) and we're all basking in the glow of the nations obsession with swimming (there are other sports right?) and then we have some ads and then some minor local news with Morris Iemma in the doldrums once again about some failed High Speed Rail Link consortium... poor old Morris can't take a trick. If the project is underfunded by the bidder by $2.5Bn (yes BILLION) you cancel it... but thats a bad thing for Morris isnt it... the poor plebites from Penrith will have to catch trains that take an hour to the city.

Until we invent Public Transport that bends the space / time continuim then we're a bit stuck aren't we... Until Dr Who becomes Minister for Transport, I guess we'll have to make do with people in Penrith taking an hour to get to the city.

Anyways, I digress...

Just before the sport, there was this little story about a place called Ossettia and the southern bit being attacked from the north by Russians.

Apparently that means North Ossettia is Russian? I am only assuming...

And George W Bush supports the American Dream Team AND Georgia... its nice that he is so complimentary to Georgia, but I wonder if he realises that the bit he supports doesn't have Atlanta in it?

So, anyway, some Ossettians were keen to head North but the South wouldnt let them go, and the Georgians (remember, no Olympics have been held in Georgia, except for Atlanta 96) were really keen for them to stay and big bad Vlad Putin told them to piss off and sent in the troops across the border (from Tennessee or North Carolina?).

No wonder George W Bush is confused, I guess he'll have to spank... um... ask the girls in the US Womens Beach Volleyball team what part of Georgia they're from!

State of Origin Wrap

What a game!  Had an excellent night last night with my cricket team mates as we watched NSW beat QLD 18-10.  I am sure the sporting media provides more insightful analysis than I do, but my main concern was that whilst we won, our front rowers didn’t seem to have a major impact… Brett White & Ben Cross?  From where we were sitting (40 rows back behind the goal posts!) it seemed that our props were ineffective and that Fitzgibbon was doing better than White off the start.  Mason also seemed to have a quiet game as well.

The backs though for NSW were excellent and Gasnier really is a class act… He left his opposite number for dead a number of times and I just hope that he remains in the NRL.  The new half back Wallace played well and I think he’s a player for the long haul.  Gidley too me is too small and erratic, Finch is too slow and Pearce is potentially good, but Wallace got his shot and took it with both hands and now has “incumbent” rights.  Well played!

As for us, we had a great night… met at the Royal Oak at Lidcombe from 5pm.  Drank way too many beers too quickly, bought up pizzas at the bistro which went very quickly and took the Olympic Sprint in to the stadium.  Odd thing was though that beer could only be served at the stadium at a maximum of 2 per customer… so the 4 man shout rotation took a battering and we didn’t drink as much during the game itself.

On the way home, it was planes, trains and automobiles as we trained it to Lidcombe on the Sprint, a train to Blacktown (which terminated) then another train to Penrith (which also terminated), then a cab to Emu Plains then my mate Stuey who lives at Faulconbridge gave me a lift to Glenbrook…. Long trip home!

Origin Night! Go NSW!

Tonight I am off to the State of Origin game at Homebush (I refuse to call it ANZ Stadium, which was the home of the Brisbane Broncos when I was a kid in, of all places, Brisbane…) and I am looking forward to it. This is the “end of season” reward for my cricket team in which all year we scrapped cash together from ducks, dropped catches and the like and despite winning the comp, we secure enough cash to buy 14 tickets!!. Says a lot about the standard of our comp hey! But anyway, I’ll be at the game with the cricket boys and will be having a great night.

But the point of this post is the whingeing that is once again in the press about how Homebush cannot be sold out for an Origin game. Can I point out one thing. That stadium holds 85,000 people. That's alot of people for a game that will be on again in a few weeks when Sydney hosts Game 3. The stadium was purpose built for one event - the Sydney 2000 Olympics. At that time it held 110,000 people and was stripped back to its 85,000 capacity.

Also, because it was built for the Olympics, it was built with a running track and hence the grandstands are a fair distance from the sideline. It is not a rugby league (or any football code) stadium. The seats slope back gradually, the surface is too large and in general, the atmosphere, when full is not as good as a packed Sydney Football Stadium.

Add to the usual gripes about mid-week, cold weather, price of food and beer and generally people would prefer to watch the game on TV.

Then there is the counter argument from Brisbane that they should host more games and other important games like Test Matches and god forbid the Grand Final because they will always sell out SunCorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Yes, of course they will sell it out because it holds 65,000 instead of 85,000 (the predicted crowd tonight is expected to be 60,000) but the key thing is that SunCorp is perhaps the best "football" ground in Australia. It pains me to say it, but after being at a full SunCorp for a Rugby World Cup, the ground is fantastic for spectators.

So, whilst the QLDers can boast this, it should not detract from NSW people's efforts in which they have to front up twice instead of once, in a bad stadium and they will still get as many as SunCorp holds tonight. NSW patrons deserve better and/or understanding that they have been dudded by building a state of the art athletics stadium for what was effectively 2 weeks of competition in 2000 and are now trying to pass it off as a state of the art venue for League in 2008.

I'm sorry, but bring the Origin back to the SFS!

NSW by 8.

Super Bowl

As an Australian, I am very much in the minority when it comes to following the NFL or American Football.  For some reason, the game has appealed to me from the perspective of its tactical variables and the use of players for specialist roles as opposed to a free flowing game like all other codes of football.  I am not saying one code is better than the other, but I do not understand how some people seem to have such a narrow view of the game.  Case in point yesterday when discussing the Super Bowl yesterday with a work colleague… “its just a game when one guy throws the ball down the field and they hope to catch it”… this degenerated into a ‘discussion’ on tactics vs free range instinctive play.  She is an Aussie Rules fan and that for a start gets my goat up… damning “point for missing” crowd!

Then last night when watching the end of the game on repeat on Fox Sports, I tell Niki that there is 2 minutes to go and the Giants were driving to win.  Of course 2 minutes of game time is not 2 minutes of real time, so Niki proceeded to say things like “come on! Hurry up!”…. all while the teams, particularly the Giants were trying to make the right play call.

Gridiron is a game of nuances and calculated risk.  Its pretty much a human game of chess.  It has moments of athletic brilliance – such as the classic 3^rd & 5 play yesterday when the receiver took the catch on his helmet, but it is the mental side of the game that is to me what makes it a good spectacle.  To see the “God Like” Tom Brady falter in the last 30 seconds when I thought the most likely option would be to go for comparatively short yardage for the field goal and to see Eli Manning, younger brother of the respected Peyton Manning beat his older brothers rival is a classic reason why the NFL is a game within a game.

Well done to the Giants as well… beating the previously 17-0 Patriots and causing a great upset… was a good thing to see.  Whilst I am a Redskin fan and hence the Giants are a rival team, it was good to see the NFC come out on top.

To add to the sporting spectacular this week, Australia plays a World Cup Qualifier against Qatar tomorrow night! Cant wait for that one either!

Repeat Post - Melbourne Cup Blows

This is what I said on this day last year.

 

My views have not changed.  However, to add to my bitter relationship to the Melb Cup, it appears that I wasnt added to some sort of email distribution list for North Sydney staff when I joined my new job 3 months ago and I was not aware today was a) Mufti Day b) that the Office Sweeps were drawn YESTERDAY and c) that there is a function on at 2pm that I had to RSVP to.

 

So my day is even shittier... 

Martina Hingis Drug Test

Martina Hingis tests positive for Cocaine... and then says she's innocent, but then retires instead of defending herself.  Very odd behaviour of an innocent person... she is effectively pleading guilty via her actions.

 

And guess what.  She is guilty.  Listen to this world:

 

"Rich people who have more money than they know what to do with, take drugs!"

 

Is that so hard to understand?  What does a person do with millions of dollars?  They do the things that if they were poor they couldnt do and presumably that includes sticking cocaine up your nose.

 

Whilst I always enjoyed Hingis as a player when compared to the muscle bound behemoths that are the Williams sisters and Moresmo (sp?) she was a breath of fresh air... but you know what, she's only a rich girl with a drug habit in the end.  Sad, but true.

Marion Jones - World Class Loser

OK, enough of the gratuitous self posts from London...

 

Marion Jones... busted drug cheat... giving her "pieces of silver" back to the IOC.  Crys tears of apology...

 

Suck it up... maybe they should consider jail time for drug cheats.  Get caught using steroids at an Olympic event - 5 years of hard time in the jails of your home nation.

 

It makes me sick that this woman (and I use that term loosely - have you seen the size of her!) got lauded over at Sydney 2000 when it was clear she was on the juice.  Her husband got busted for roids (he was that massive shot putter) and she had muscles a man would be proud of and when she won all those races by the proverbial mile, we all gushed over her.

 

Well I said it then and I am justified - a dead set cheat.

 

And what is her punishment - she hands back the pieces of metal that made her rich beyone her wildest dreams... oh what a shame.

Got The Blues

The 2007 State of Origin series has been won and lost... Queensland were by far the better team and defeated NSW to claim the series 2-0.

Not much I can say or blame about that, despite the QLD winning try coming from a forward pass and a dubious penalty, but ultimately the better team won the game and the series.

So it becomes a bit of a naval gazing exercise as to how the cause of NSW can be improved.  Clearly the NSW team needs a clean out and players in good form should be picked as opposed to reputation.  I believe we will probably lose the 2008 series as a result as well, but thats what happens when you allow some players to hang around on reputation.

Definite players never to play again include:  Jamie Lyon, Braith Anasta, Steve Simpson, Brent Kite, Danny Buderus.

Players who should only be picked on form if it warrants it next year:  Matt King, Matt Cooper, Brett Kimmorley, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan (and only one of Hindmarsh and Ryan should be picked - not both), Luke Bailey, Anthony Minichello.

Of the current team, I would persevere with Jarrod Hayne, Brett Mullen, Greg Bird, Brett Stewart and Willie Mason.  The rest are up for grabs...

I would be looking at for immediate inclusion Robbie Farrah at hooker, Mullen into 5/8 and retain Kimmorley for Game 3, persist with Stewart over Minichello, give King a chance (but only one) at centre and look to an exciting winger not a centre to play wing... Nathan Merritt? In the pack, persist with Hoffman, but look to a young tyro on the bench as opposed to Steve Simpson - someone with a bit of passion... Steve Southern at the Cowboys springs to mind... maybe Watmough from Manly...  Front Row?  Where is Mark O'Meley?  Slot him in, but I just dont think Brett White is the guy for NSW.  O'Meley brings that nutty aggression...

I dont want to sound like a repeat of the papers this morning, but the time has come for the big broom....

State of Origin Game 1 Wrap

Sitting here dumbfounded about how NSW blew a 12 pt halftime lead to get absolutely lapped in the 2nd half.  Here are my comments player by player for NSW:

Minichello:  Stand out performer for NSW.  HAd a great game in a beaten side. 8/10
Hayne:  Solid debut that will be marred by the giveaway try to Lockyer.  Brilliant individual play to score his try in the last seconds of first half.  Deserves retaining.  6/10.
Lyon:  Did he play?  Says he kicked some goals, but did he play??  Living on his reputation before he went to the UK and ate all the pies.  Get rid of him.  1/10
Cooper:  Given he was the "defensive" centre of the two centres, he did more attacking.  Solid play without any mistakes and the odd great trysaving tackle.  Retains spot.  7/10
King:  Attention selectors - IS NOT A WINGER!  Great player, but out of position sooo many times.  5/10
Anasta:  Great first half... went missing in the vital 3rd quarter. But so did his teammates.  6/10
Mullen:  Rookie who had a shocking kicking game (its OK to make the ball bounce mate!) but is a talent and should not be made a scape goat.  6/10.
Kite:   A solid bench prop who started instead and didnt do much.  4/10
Buderus:  Crafty game, but is he ageing?  Is Robbie Farah deserving?  6/10
White:  Badly broken nose in first tackle of game.  Did nothing other than keep the trainers busy.  No game impact.  3/10
Mason:  Actually played a pretty mature game as a leader for the team.  No great damaging runs though... quiet by his standards.  7/10
Hindmarsh:  Thought he played great, but got weirdly substituted.... thats a coach thing though.  7/10
Ryan:  Very good toiler in the back ground and played mistake free.  Possible captain should Buderus go...  7/10
Bailey:  Should have started, didnt get a rhythm, but did the work of 3 men.  7/10
Simpson:  Did alot of tackling, but I questioned his selection at the start... he's a Mason clone who is less effective... 5/10
Tupou:  Shouldnt have been picked and did sweet FA.  Send him back to the Roosters bench please!  1/10
Gidley:  Hampered by the fact that he didnt get on until the 60th minute... why?  Played OK, but I don't see why he was there... 3/10.

My Team For Game 2:

1. Minichello, 2. Hayne, 3. King, 4. Cooper, 5 El Masri, 6 Anasta, 7 Mullen, 8. Bailey, 9. Buderus 10. Ryles 11. Mason 12. Hindmarsh 13 Ryan.  BENCH:  Hoffman, O'Meley, Creagh Farah.

Feel free to disagree :-)

Been a while...

Been a) very busy at work and b) with no home internet access and hence the blog has been a little out of the priority list this past week or so…  The home PC “should” be right today pending no depressing news from the friendly local computer shop.  Also today may not be as busy today as I have a rare “empty” calendar day… no meetings!  A day of sitting at my desk typing away… boring, but sometimes very cathartic.

The rain continues to pour down today and I realised this morning that I still haven’t gotten around to buying a new umbrella since I lost my last 2.  Left one in a coffee shop and the other I am guessing I left on a train… so at the moment I am without shelter so to speak and with the rain being such a rare event these days, its never really front of mind when you’re at the shops.  I might see if the marketing department has a spare one with the company logo on it :-)

The weekend was good… we won our cricket match by an innings and 20 odd runs and spent the day in the field and took 17 opposition wickets.  My sole contribution was one catch at slip… At least we did better than the Aussie cricket team that lost the final series 2-0 to England!  England!! The rabble that couldn’t get past 150 runs and struggled in all facets of the game finally gelled at the same time we tired / got complacent and we got spanked.  I am not worried about it, the World Cup is the main focus and we are playing like it.  With the game barely over, the Aussies will be on the plane to NZ for another mickey mouse 3 game series against New Zealand and then its on to the World Cup.  On the local front, I guess we can look forward to the football season – but I must admit, the A League soccer is going gangbusters and yesterdays final (which I watched in amongst the rain delays at the cricket) was a great game.  Pity penalties had to be used, but a Grand Final berth AND a place in the Asian Champions League were on the line and the intensity in the game was huge.  Great stuff and despite the Grand Final being Melbourne vs Adelaide, I will probably watch it.

Also, and I am sure I will write about this later, but Kevin Rudd is now ahead of John Howard in the polls.  “Most popular Labor leader in 35 years” is the press quote.  C’mon Australia, don’t give the Liberals another term of screwing over the common person with the USA arse kissing.

Ashes: England Chokes On Their Ineptitude.

What an ending… unbelievable!  But really, whilst Australia bowled very well yesterday the match was actually lost by England as opposed to being won by Australia.  The English bats simple froze and choked.  Really, the match was petering out to a draw and they threw it away.  They went ultra-defensive and were scoring at less than 1 run per over and allowed Australia to attack.  Very poor tactics and very poor execution.  Yes, Warne was turning it but it was the way the Poms played Brett Lee that was embarrassing.  That tool Geraint Jones played the worst looking shot I have seen and to think he’s in the team as a “batting wicket keeper” is a parody in itself.

And when it came to the run chase, it was hilarious to watch the English spread out and concede 3 singles an over.  Michael Clarke scored a 7 as well with a run 3 and 4 over throws (again the keepers fault) and Australia effectively cruised in as England pinned their forlorn hopes on nude-baller Ashley Giles.

England need to get rid of Giles, Jones, Anderson and possibly look at a new batsman as well - the England openers are not setting the world on fire.  I watched their series against Pakistan on FOX during our winter and Panesar and Mahmood looked pretty decent players.  They actually look like Superstars when compared to Ashley Giles.

To Australia, we do have our own problems and I hope the selectors don’t get caught up with the get out of jail win we just had.  Damien Martyn needs to make way for a new batsman.  I know that they will want to play Watson, so that should make room for Stuart MacGill.  The fact that England were like startled rabbits against Warne further highlights that they cannot play leg spin and MacGill comes in.  Who to drop in the bowling department?  Well I hate to say this, but has McGrath had his day?  Injury concerns, not that many wickets… Stuart Clark on fire with the ball… I think it may be time for McGrath to be put aside.  The fact that during yesterdays England collapse McGrath only got the ball after Lee and Clark had had spells is a tell tale sign that McGrath is not the bowler he once was.

So for Perth, my Aussie team would be Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Hussey, M Clarke, Watson, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, S Clark, MacGill.  England:  Strauss, Cook (Vaughn??), Bell, Collingwood, Pieterson, Flintoff, Read, Mahmood, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar.  That’s a long tail for England, but they need the bowlers… the crop they have now are shite.

 

Hobbits Go Back To Work

The weekend is over already and it feels like it hardly started… Monday’s come around very quickly!

The weekend though was very full and busy.  Friday night we all went to the soccer and saw Sydney FC play Queensland.  Niki had never been before but it was a great night and the girls were into it with their flags and face painting.  I think because soccer is an easy game to comprehend rules wise (don’t use your hands, kick it into the goal) the girls could understand it.  They were also into the sing-along chants of the Sydney FC fans in The Cove and we had a great time.

Saturday saw me wanting to head out in the morning and do a lot of errands so I took the girls out with me and got my suits dry cleaned, the car washed, a few nick-nacks at the shops and went hunting for my work Christmas Party costume.  The theme is “The Land of Make Believe” and I pretty early on decided to go as something out of Lord of the Rings.  After little debate, I have decided to go as a Hobbit.  I have ¾ shorts, I bought a cheap white cotton button down shirt, hired a cloak, belt, sword and vest for the night (only $22) and bought for $4 a set of Elf ears from the costume hire place.  All set and done… and the best thing is I get to go bare feet!  Will fluff up the hair a bit on the night and I am debating how to tackle the “hairy feet” issue… my feet aren’t hairy so I am debating to either do nothing or glue some hideous merkin like thing onto my feet… probably go with the do nothing option, but any ideas welcome.

Sunday morning went to Niki’s parents to help set up their new plasma TV… I am hopeless with home electronics and have no idea what all the cables mean, but we got all the TV channels locked in and learnt how to switch from Digital to Analogue.  Could only pick up the Nine and Seven channels on the DTV (I thought ABC had a digital station?) and 10, SBS and the community channels are on the analogue.  Confusing as all hell this stuff (for me anyway) but its working now.  Lunch time was spent at a BBQ with all my old uni friends and was very relaxing… so relaxing that when we got home Niki suggested I take it easy and watch the cricket and the next thing I was being woken up after 2+ hrs of a nap… very hobbit like!

The Ashes Commence

Well, back in the office today, but I drove in as we’re off to the A-League tonight to see Sydney vs Queensland. Got some free tickets via work and Niki and the girls are coming in…

Today though is a sporty theme as I want to comment on the start of the Ashes…

Top marks to Australia. They showed how prepared they were mentally and they were brilliant. But what about England?! That Steve Harmison would have to be the biggest choker going around. How many times in his career has he started jittery? I have seen him bowl 11 ball overs in the past and yesterdays opening ball really did set the tone. England were very stodgy and if they’re relying on Flintoff with the ball, then they’re in for a long summer. Yes, I am probably regurgitating the mainstream press today as there isn’t much to write about when the home team racks up 3/346 but I hope Australia bat until tea today and that Ponting is there at the close.

Go the Punter!

I'm not mentioning it...

But Ian Thorpe retired today….

Just in case you didn’t know….

How long now until he is "outed"...

(Not that there's anything wrong with that)