NEVER. SAY. NEVER.

Can we just fire Ron Smith now?

2007-09-23T07:58:00.001+08:00

Nice video from the Gloryboys.net forums. As of this morning, Perth sits bottom of the A-League ladder (that could change today but since they're playing the first placed Marriners I doubt it), and really, the lack of game-day ability and crazy squad selection by Coach Ron Smith is starting to show. Defensive tactics, signing injured players, and recruiting no real strike force has really done if. He needs to get the boot now.

Michigan Fab 5 - If you don't know, now you know

2007-09-23T07:52:00.000+08:00

If you weren't an Aussie kid in the early 90's who went absolutely nuts for basketball and all things associated (Spalding replica jerseys, basketball cards, etc) then you probably don't know too much about the Michigan Fab 5, the college basketball team who made the NCAA tournament final with a starting 5 of freshmen. That had never happened before, and three of them went on to have pretty good NBA careers (Chris Webber, Jalen Role and Juwan Howard). They absolutely fantastic and were a big part of the revolution integrating hip-hop into basketball. They had the long shorts and wore black socks with black shoes. That doesn't sound to crazy now but back in the early 90's it was a big deal. Their legacy has been somewhat tainted by the usual "donations" to players and their records have been removed. Anyhow, this video will explain everything.

Darko's view on referees

2007-09-09T19:43:00.001+08:00

Warning, extreme language here.

Downplaying drugs

2007-09-02T11:07:00.000+08:00

Is it just me, or does it feel as though the whole Andrew Johns drug-admission being down played a fair bit? He's admitted to some gruesome details and he was tested 17 times during his career and wasn't picked up. That's pretty huge. There seems, however, to be a fair bit of sympathy for him, and I don't think he is getting the grilling that Ben Cousins got. Cousins, after all, plays for West Coast, the AFL representation of evil, so naturally he copped a hiding from the media and public. As he should have, but that same type of scruitiny should be applied to Johns, and should be applied to the other AFL and League players who are rumoured to have breached various drugs policies. It won't happen though.

Most of these players can keep playing while their testing records remain private. They will go unnoticed and will noticed and will not be the subject of public scruitiny. Unfortunately however, others have not been so lucky. Looking at those who are accused of taking performance enhancing drugs or masking agents in recent times, such as Stan Lazauridis, Ian Thorpe and Michael Braun, they've copped even more crap, and there will always be doubts about them. Stan was the only one who copped a ban, even though he applied for and told the FFA that he was going to be taking the hair-loss medication he had taken in England. In their published decision, they said he wasn't a cheat, but they had to suspend him for the technical breach. Meanwhile, illicit drug users go under the radar.

Tarka is done for the season

2007-08-29T11:46:00.000+08:00

I got the sudden urge to post (first time in a very long time) with 10 mins to go at lunch.

Anyway, David Tarka is gone for the season with a major hamstring injury. Perth Glory, after one match is already looking thin. Defence was supposed to be our strong point but with Hayden Foxe out (already, why sign him?) and Toppor-Stanley set to miss a big part of the season on Olympic qualifying duties, the Glory probably need to sign some replacements. Jamie Harnwell, again, will be the saviour. Ante Kovacevic is probably somewhere around Perth too. They should sign him if they can get him away from Hungy Jacks in Subiaco.

Andrew Bogut on the Nation part 2

2007-07-21T08:18:00.001+08:00

Here's the vid of Andrew Bogut on the Nation the other week. What a terrible interview. Mick Malloy and his fellow interviewer are just so disinterested. They had no idea what questions to ask to really get him to promote himself and basketball (which is usually the whole point of a tv interview on a show such as this).

On another point, Bogut repeated some comments in this interview that he made to the SMH a few weeks before that. Etan Thomas (Washington Wizards) has hit back at Bogut's claims regarding the lifestyle of NBA players (when it Thomas not hitting back at something, whether it be the injustices in the world or a teammate?) Anyway, it's on Slamonline, here's the link. I hope Bogut breaks out this season and justifies all this - afterall, he was just saying what Aussies wanted to hear, that we are more humble than Americans. I think Etan doesn't understand that this is just a way for Bogut to promote the game here.

Sagey gets the right kind of support

2007-07-08T08:01:00.000+08:00

Nice little story on the Glory website. Glory's new number 1 fan is Miss Universe Australi 2007, Kimberley Busteed. How'd Sage get the hook-up? He organised the event in Perth earlier on in the year. Here's what he had to say about it:

We’ve officially made Kimberley our ‘Glorious Ambassador’ for the coming season and we’ll get her to as many games as we can, whether that’s in Perth or interstate, to cheer on the team.

As I said, he's getting the right kind of support. The new strip looks good too.

Meanwhile, it looks as if they're about to sign a cripple (Hayden Foxe) and an A-League reject (James Robinson), and Mate Dragecevic is stuck in Croatia with visa problems.

5 losses in last 8

2007-07-08T07:47:00.000+08:00

The Eagles have now lost 5 of their last 8 and have dropped their second in a row at home, this time to Brisbane (after losing to St Kilda 2 weeks ago).

So much for Heritage Round being a celebration of West Australian football. Perhaps having a club wear the WA jumper and therefore allowing non-West Australians to wear it, may have been a bad idea.

You know what? Nah. Their record suggests otherwise. They are going through a rough patch, and last night's game was terrible. Low scoring (they only scored 64) and the skills were poor. Being overrun in the 3rd by the Lions who had been on a 7 game losing tear goes to show the problems run deeper. I actually attended the Lions vs Port game last week and my conclusion from that game was that both teams were shit. Where does this put the Eagles at the moment?

They obviously have the talent to turn it around. Cousins will be back (although who knows what effect that will have). They look like a championship team who is in hangover mode (no pun intended there), albeit mid-season rather than at the start.

Anyway, at least the jumpers were cool.

How to be a prick when asking questions

2007-07-07T17:08:00.001+08:00

Text book stuff here from a few years ago when Schumacher passed Senna's race win total. Schumi got a bit emotional, but the journo kept hammering him for answers to his questions. Even Schumi's rival Mika Hakkinen felt he had to step in to tell the guy off. That was the funny part.

Blindfolded dunking leads to great rewards... like a rap career

2007-07-05T19:52:00.000+08:00

Cedric Ceballos can rap. "It ain't no thing but a chicken wing" is one of the classic one-liners from this track. What a surprise. I was just looking for Warren G videos and this came up. Just plain stupid. It looks like this happened during his Laker days? If anyone can fill me in that'd be great.

Andrew Bogut on the Nation

2007-07-03T20:15:00.001+08:00

Shit. Bogut shaved his head, except for one braided tail at the bag. Bogan!

Bogut made a quick reference to the article that appeared in the papers the other week about the "bling culture". He mentioned there was a bit of noise about it. He wanted to be a bit careful about what he said. Very safe comments here.

Looks as if he's not playing for the Boomers in the Olympic qualifiers.

Not much else said. Terrible interview from Mick Molloy who is off his game tonight. Not exactly the best way to promote basketball in Australia. Both interviewers showed how little they know about basketball and didn't looks as if they really cared.

Is Yi Jianlian gonna sit?

2007-07-03T20:10:00.000+08:00

Interesting post today on Truehoop regarding last week's NBA Draft. Yi Jianlian, a Chinese player, was picked up at number 6 by Milwaukee even though he said that he wouldn't play for the Bucks. They picked him anyway, trying to call he bluff. His camp is still saying that he won't play there. Milwaukee could see themselves missing out on a player completely if they don't something, and consequently looking entirely stupid. The thing is, under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, there is a way for him to sit the year and play only for China and then enter the draft again next year. Big risk for the Bucks.

Drugs and wrestling

2007-07-03T20:00:00.000+08:00

The whole Chris Benoit tragedy really threatenes to blow apart a whole industry. By now we've all heard of the double murder-suicide of former WWE Champ Chris Benoit and his family. He was still going strong and was, by all accounts, about to take the ECW Championship when this amazing event happened.

I've read a heap of info about it (maybe I shouldn't have). Some of the detail made me actually feel sick to the stomach, and that stuff I don't want to comment on. The drugs-side of this tragedy is was is leaking out at present and really that is the big story overall here. As the WWE has removed almost all references to Benoit from its website and is quickly erasing history as it relates to him, they have a bigger issue here. They've got a major health issue arising from its wrestlers use of drugs (performance enhancing or recreational), they've got some major marketing to do and are likely facing dire business consequences. No doubt for the well-being of the wrestlers, drug use needs to be stamped out and policed, pensions, annual leave and other benefits need to be given to them. Wrestling needs to be run like a proper sporting league, otherwise it has no chance of getting out of the whole that its in. I think that that is the only way that they are going to turn this into a positive business move also. I don't see how a business and marketing strategy that covers up all of the problems that have been building for decades is going to work in the long term. I don't think the business community and the public will buy it.

Against the establishment: How the Eagles got up in 1986

2007-06-24T10:03:00.000+08:00

I came across this yesterday which I found incredibly interesting: the story of how the West Coast Eagles came into being. It appears that it was a real struggle for them to get up playing in the new 'national' competition, but once they did they didn't look back. The main issue or theme running through was basically the big fight against tradition and long-term interests that some parties would do anything to protect. Both the VFL and WAFL clubs were trying to maintain the status quo against the backdrop of financial difficulties. The interests of the national competition had to prevail for all parties concerned but the result would be the death of 100 plus years of independent state competition. So be it. The game has only moved from strength to strength since.

Part 2 here.

Part 3 here.

Time for a new post

2007-06-24T09:48:00.000+08:00

It's time. I've been M.I.A. for a while, and I don't have any real reason. I woke up this morning and had the urge to post (it's been building the last couple of days, plus mates have been asking what's up). So here we are.

I last posted something in late April! Shit. Since that time the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Championship, beating Cleveland of all teams; Juventus, Napoli and Genoa have all been promoted from Serie B to Serie A; AC Milan won the Champions League; Chelsea won the FA Cup; Collingwood had their way with the Swans (last night); TNA dropped the NWA title belts and adopted their own, with Kurt Angle becoming the first TNA Champion; Mr McMahon blew himself up in a limo and is 'presumed dead', causing some to think he was really dead and the WWE stock being affected; Edge is the WWE World Heavyweight Champ and has moved accross to Smackdown, plus a big draft happened shifting the mid card around a bit accross the brands; Geelong are first on the AFL ladder, God knows how; Chris Tarrant is still a tool who can't stay out of trouble; Lewis Hamilton is the next big thing in F1, after winning 2 races he leads teammate and reigning champion Fernando Alonso by 10 points in the standards and he is a very young rookie! He could be the next "greatest"; Casey Stoner leads the Moto GP standings on his powerful Ducati, which is awesome for me particularly, an Aussie on an Italian bike, but Rossi is in second and the season is only half way done son...

Heaps more stuff but I can't remember anymore. What I will do now though is go through the things we are looking forward to over the next few weeks:

The Atlanta Hawks drop their new uniforms tomorrow (but here they are). Kind of unimaginative. They've gone from red/yellow to red/blue and now they look like Team USA.
Asian Cup - the Socceroos are about to embark on this one, and they are a real chance to win the whole damn show (which will probably prompt a vote kicking us out of the Asian Confederation).
Ben Cousins is gonna come back - can't wait to see the conditions of his new contract when they are made public.
Greg Oden vs Kevin Durrant. Who goes number 1 in the NBA draft next week? The Blazers won the lottery and Seattle picks second. Logic says Oden but Portland are dropping hints about Durrant to try and muddy the waters a bit.
Can Geelong stay in the top 2 or will they slide like usual? Can the Dockers climb, or will Chris Connoly finally get the sack (that one's for you Jase).
British Moto GP on tonight with Stoner only qualifying in 5th.

There you go - a new post. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Divorce can be costly

2007-04-25T08:38:00.000+08:00

Looks like Michael Jordan's divorce will be the most expensive ever in the entertainment industry. He might just be shedding some US$150 million pretty soon.

75 metre goal

2007-04-24T19:57:00.000+08:00

Dustin Fletcher's goal from 75 metres at the weekend (Essendon vs St Kilda). Plus the Bombers were rocking red shorts.

Stoner gets a second win

2007-04-23T17:57:00.000+08:00

Casey Stoner has taken his second win of the Moto GP season, this time at the Turkish Grand Prix. He leads the series now with a 10 point gap. Could we have another Australian world champ? Maybe. Let's see what Valentino Rossi does to counter this. It's just the battle we want to see!

Campione: Inter finally have a legitimate championship

2007-04-23T17:47:00.000+08:00

Internazionale stitched up the Serie A Scudetto (title) last night after beating Siena. Roma lost away to Atalanta which mathematically placed them too far behind Inter in the title race. They are now 16 points addrift.

What does this mean for Inter though? Everything. Sure, they won the title last year only after it was stripped from Juventus. Even without Juventus in Serie A this year and sanctions placed on AC Milan, Inter have earned the title by flogging everyone (they only dropped 1 match and that was to Roma this past Wednesday). The last win they had came in 1989. In the 1990s, despite having teams filled with high paid international stars such as Christian Vieri and Ronaldo, they just couldn't do it. Winning the Copa Italia a few times was no real consolation. Coach Mancini is vindicated in that they'll stop talking about sacking him (in fact he's signed and extension) and the Matrix Marco Materazzi has added the Scudetto to the World Cup.

Internationally, it means that the team that didn't cheat actually won the title, which is good PR for the whole of the Lega Calcio. As Inter's president Moratti pointed out: "This is the second Scudetto we have won without stealing". And that's how it should be.

The Channel 7 Chop

2007-04-23T17:32:00.000+08:00

Back in the 1990s, it was a common theme amongst soccer supporters in Australian to say: "Nobody screws soccer like 7", which of course was a play on Channel 7's slogan at the time: "Nobody knows news like 7".

We are all better off that the A-League is flourishing with Fox Sports coverage. Yesterday the V8 Supercars series felt the cruel chop from the Channel 7 programing department. The main race of the round was cut short due to 7's coverage of the AFL (Fremantle vs Melbourne). Garth Tander had this to say today:

We knew that we had to get past Paul [the driver in front] to claim the (round) win outright but we weren't aware that it was going to be a one lap dash at the end there.

Basically, we thought that it was going to be eight laps so we thought it was plenty of time.

To my surprise, when we crossed the line the checkered flag was waving.

In other words, the drivers were told the race would end at a certain time due to the AFL, but they were told the wrong time. This is Channel 7 at its best. AFL is priority and has always been with them. I like to watch the footy, but Channel 7 has in the past and will continue to buy up other sports and hold the public to ransom, not giving them a chance to watch anything else. They burried soccer in the 90s and now they are effectively doing the job of race officials in the V8's.

The V8's have had a pretty long association with Channel 10 (about a decade of so) and 10 really did become the home of motorsport in Australia, covering the local scene and Formula 1, Moto GP, World Rally etc. Channel 7's outbidding of 10 was something the V8's couldn't pass up, but really, at what cost? They will be begging to get out of the 7 deal towards the back end of it.

The tat that started it all

2007-04-23T17:26:00.000+08:00

I just thought it was quite interesting that Des Headland's tattoo has become national news. The Dockers finally won a game this season when they topped the Melbourne yesterday. Headland scored 3 goals and celebrated by cheering and pointing to the tattoo of his daughter located on his shoulder. Pavlich scored 6. The Dockers are going to be a damn high scoring team this year.

Didn't see that coming

2007-04-23T17:19:00.000+08:00

First round of the NBA Playoffs has been interesting so far. Toronto are 1 down on the Nets, the Bulls are 1 up on the Heat.

Golden State topped the Mavs today, which I thought would happen, especially given the recent commentary regarding their match up. The Mavs, despite winning 67 games this season haven't yet managed to beat the Warriors. For the Warriors, what a great win. First time they've made the playoffs in 14 years and they got a win first up. They've got the scoring power but probably not the defensive presence to win any more games. I expect the Mavs to win the next 4.

I didn't see Denver topping the Spurs though, especially in San Antonio. I thought the Nuggets might lose 4-0 but Melo got 30 and AI got 31. I hope they can keep it up and make it a series.

Lionel Messi

2007-04-21T15:53:00.000+08:00

Lionel Messi goal for Barcelona. As simple as walking into a petrol station, holding up the cashier and taking the money (and cigi's if you are a bogan, which you most probably are).

I lost my NBA playoff preview...

2007-04-21T14:34:00.000+08:00

I lost my NBA playoff preview - and am very pissed off about it (damn internet explorer!).

Rather than go through it all again, here are my predictions for the first round in point form:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas (1) vs Golden State (8) - Dallas in 5
Phoenix (2) vs LA Lakers (7) - Phoenix in 7
San Antonio (3) vs Denver (6) - San Antonio in 4
Houston (4) vs Utah (5) - Utah in 6

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Detroit (1) vs Orlando (8) - Detroit in 4
Cleveland (2) vs Washington (7) - Cleveland in 5
Toronto (3) vs New Jersey (6) - New Jersey in 6
Miami (4) vs Chicago (5) - Miami in 7

That's it.

Selwood is not guilty

2007-04-18T18:06:00.000+08:00

So, with the decision in the Selwood vs Headland hearing just literally being handed down now, it has been found that Adam Selwood said nothing damaging to Des Headland.

Now, this throws a whole bunch of crap in the air. Des Headland is still going to have to get 6 weeks on the sidelines following the two striking charges. Selwood's name has been dragged through the mud by a whole bunch of people (and so have the Eagles). Des Headland's dad (on 6PR) and Robert Walls had a big dig. We can speculate that legal action is an option for Des Headland, but what about Selwood? Maybe he should consider action against those people. This is certainly not a resolved issue.

Fully Sick? Political junior club sponsorship

2007-04-18T17:50:00.000+08:00

I know I'm probably inviting negative comment here but I cannot believe the Tuart Hill Soccer Club has accepted an $8,800 shirt sponsorship from Unions WA.

Basic story: the Tuart Hill Soccer Club is located in Tuart Hill (duh) in Perth. I have lived in Tuart Hill, I played basketball for the corresponding club, my brother played for that soccer club and many people I went to school with played for that club. I guess I have a vested interest. However, for children to play each week with "Your Rights at Work" branded accross their chest is sick and I completely agree with the Federal Sports Minister George Brandis. I'm not advocating any particular side of the political spectrum (people who know me know where I stand), but keep politics out of the sport, and certainly keep it out of childrens sport.

One might argue that the Union is not a political party, and it's not, but it is so closely alligned with the Labor Party that it is not worth arguing that this isn't political sponsorship. This is propaganda coming on before the Federal Election and will be influential in the Tuart Hill area where it's a good mix of middle and working class people and business owners.

One might also argue that corporate sponsorship could be worse. For example, why have a fast food sponsor? Aren't the corporates political donators anyway? Yes they are, but none are so closely alligned with any particular political party; they usually donate to the big two.

The club president said he didn't consult the club members or parents. Some parents have said they are fine with it. I hope some parents will speak out against it. I even wonder whether such sponsorship would be in keeping with FIFA's rules. Football West and the FFA might have to investigate here.

I don't want to be seen to be advocating closing down an avenue for revenue for Tuart Hill because all junior clubs accross all sports struggle, but this is crossing the line. Unions WA should never ever have proposed such sponsorship.

This is how you do it (when only a toilet is available)

2007-04-16T20:00:00.000+08:00

Now, I don't follow Rugby League, but when news like this hits I gotta say something.

Filming a sexual romp is the in thing these days, and mobile phone voyeurs are usually at the ready. Bulldogs star Sonny Bill Williams is no different. He's been caught with his pants down in the public toilets of a Sydney pub with ironwoman and model Candice Falzon.

Now, in the case of Williams and the consequences, the News Corp media likes to state the obvious:

His relationship with his girlfriend, fellow Kiwi Jena Shaw, was said to be in serious trouble - to the point where a source said he had spent all Wednesday morning buying up copies of newspapers in his area in a futile attempt to stop her learning of it.

In the case of Williams himself, he was either still drunk or just stupid, because buying up the local circulation of newspapers generally doesn't prevent a person from hearing big news, particularly when it involves a loved one and toilet sex. (I hear they have new technologies such as television and internet now where you can see and hear things such as the news.)

As for Falzon, she is an ironwoman, which in some ways lessons her appeal (only slightly), but she has been linked to Matt Henjak (official former girlfriend) (Western Force) and David Carney (Sydney FC) and tennis player Marcus Baghdatis. It looks as if other controversies have followed her too. I guess she has a goal to sample all sports. Who's next, AFL, NBL (doubt that one), V8's? We should take bets.

Let's have an f'n good year!

2007-04-16T18:06:00.000+08:00

"All the best to all the boys, and ah, let's have an f'n good year!"

Those are the words that saw Michael Braun fined ($5k) following his win of the Ross Glendenning Medal for best on ground at the Western Derby. Personally, I don't mind the f-bomb, but no doubt its not appropriate. Still, how classic were the comments and the players (each smiling and smirking). To be honest, I don't think the crowd minded too much.

Anyway, the Eagles took the win, Adam Selwood and Des Hedland got into it a bit (supposedly caused by Selwood's vilification of Hedland's daughter, which is an obvious no-no if true), and the Eagles did what they did best, just doing enough to get over the line. The Dockers meanwhile are now 0-3 on the season and the pressure is mounting on Chris Connolly... again.

Should the Eagles get cap relief?

2007-04-13T18:32:00.000+08:00

At the moment there is no doubt that all AFL news flows out of the West Coast camp. The Ben Cousins/drugs issue has dragged on for a few weeks. This week we have learnt that the Eagles have sought salary cap relief from the AFL in respect of payments made by the Eagles towards Cousins' rehabilitation treatment.

We all know that players are paid wages, which counts against each team's allowed salary. The more you spend, the more likely you are to breach the cap. I find it odd that payments made towards a player's well-being, which includes all sorts of things, such as payments for surgery, count against the cap in addition to wages. The Eagles, having to make this extraordinary payment now (whether you agree they should have done so or not), know that they might be about $60k over. A breach of course could lead to the Carlton scenario with forfeited draft pics and major fines.

The rest of the clubs are pissed about it. A unnamed AFL official made the following comments the other day:

There are so many cases like where a player is treated for depression and has counselling and that’s never been included.

There’s players who have gone across the country for surgery, which is a huge cost to the football club, and that’s never been included.

I can see their point, however, I think I'll side with the Eagles here. The shouldn't have paid for the treatment, but they did and now they should get some relief because they are at least trying to repair all of the problems of the past. If it were to happen again they would certainly be pushing it. I really do find it odd that there is no general consession for these types of payments. Other leagues, such as the NBA have many exceptions to the rule, especially for an injured player who has to miss a season due to injury. Perhaps the AFL should investigate whether such a system would work, and whether they will include payments for drug treatment in future.

Anyway, the proposal will be put to the AFL Commission and all sources tend to think they will grant the consession.

Kevin Durant will join the L next season

2007-04-11T19:02:00.000+08:00

Kevin Durant, the Texas freshman has just declared for the 2007 NBA Draft. Now, we wait for news on Greg Oden.

The reason why this is so interesting is because its like 1984 all over again. Then, the Rockets used their number 1 pick on Hakeen Olajuwan because he was 7 foot tall and was the no brainer pick. The Rockets went on to win 2 titles with him, but the Bulls got Jordan and of course he became the greatest player to ever live.

We're kind of getting that vibe at the moment with Durant and Oden. Oden is the 7 foot lock for number 1. He is just phenominal, especially when you consider he played this his first College season with a broken right hand. Durant on the other hand is awesome too, already winning some of the major NCAA College awards this year. He has the potential to be better than Lebron and Kobe (I'm not saying he's the next Jordan; no-one should live with that pressure). There might even be a handfull of teams who will learn from the 1984 Draft and taken Durant number 1 if the chance arises. Milwaukee is one who I think would because they will be able to rely on Andrew Bogut for the next decade at centre, rather than needing to go with Oden. A lineup of Redd, Durant, and Bogut looks pretty damn good. Others however like Memphis or the Celtics would likely take Oden.

I can't wait to see how it pans out.

The NWWL: taking pro wrestling to heights

2007-04-11T18:50:00.000+08:00

Naked Womens Wrestling League. It's a "Naked Revolution!" Carmen Electra and Jimmy Hart (he's the Mouth of the South you know) are involved. Check out their website; they have a full roster of talent, sponsors, the works.

(Thanks to With Leather for the hook up on this story).

There's no place like home

2007-04-11T18:12:00.000+08:00

Roma's coach Luciano Spalletti said it best; if he could have done anything better he "would’ve stayed at home!”

Roma were spanked 7-1 by Manchester United last night in the Champions League Quarter Final. Oh my that is depressing, especially because I am a closet Roma supporter. They went out 8-3 on aggregate. They missed a few big names (Perrotta, Tonetto and Taddei) and Totti played but wasn't really fit, but Man U were missing Paul Scholes. United couldn't miss and Spalletti blamed the inexperienced Roma defence.

Here are the goals.

Anyway, it just goes to show how important home crowd can be. Last week in Rome, Roma got a late goal and took the match 2-1, plus they got their cops to beat some Man U fans. This week with the game in Manchester the results were drastically reversed. There was some violence before the game too with Roma fans this time, but not inside the stadium. I guess Roma needs to be spurred on by stadium violence.

The result also shows that Manchester United are the best team left in this competition, and perhaps the best in Europe (Inter is already out but they might be the best). Roma, as fun as they are to watch, aren't at the top yet. They were certainly the underdog, but they were pretenders too. I hope they can get up next year and do some damage.

Now, just to make the pain go away I'm going to watch this over and over:

Ahh. (Note: Never Say Never does not condone fan violence under any circumstance, wait, what am I saying...)

Luc Longley's basketball legacy

2007-04-09T09:57:00.000+08:00

Luc Longley's house burning down the other day got me thinking about his legacy in Australian basketball. What sums him up best was this classic line he delivered in an interview with the West following his house fire:

“One disaster was averted in that I did manage to get a pair of shorts on as we left so the public was spared having to face a 7ft naked ginger".

Absolutely classic. Overall, I think he will always be remembered as the first Aussie in the NBA; the laid back big guy who managed to get himself on Michael Jordan's Championship teams. He's probably not the best player Australia has produced (I think many will vote for Andrew Gaze), but he's up there, and if anything, he's underutilised as a promotion tool for the game (perhaps by choice).

Still, Longley did what no other Aussie had done before him: have a long and sustained career in the NBA. He went to the Uni of New Mexico, was drafted 7th in the 1991 NBA Draft by Minesotta, and managed to get himself traded to the Chicago Bulls a few years later. At the time Michael Jordan was in retirement, but still it was a great move. When Jordan came back Longley found himself in the best possition possible; being the starting centre for one of the greatest basketball teams in history. Being 7'2, Longley has been fortunate because at the time he was drafted it was pretty difficult for any international player, let alone an Australian to crack the L. He was the pioneer, but I don't think the Australian media promoted him enough. No-one heard much about it when during the Bulls last Championship campaign he had a season that was, in the opinion of many, close to being an All-Star season. You didn't hear it when he signed a massive contract with the Phoenix Suns (unless you bought One On One Magazine), and you didn't hear it when he was traded to the Knicks (who took on his massive, unworkable contract, which is still the norm for them).

Part of the lack of promotion was probably due to distance. We heard about him only when the Bulls won the Championship at season's end. His non-attendance for the 1996 Olympics also hurt. At the time he was lining up a new contract and wasn't prepared to risk anything (which, is sometimes understandable depending on the situation). At the time I thought, shit, you don't skip the Olympics, especially when you are that big and play in the NBA. His reputation with Australia took a hit at the 2000 Olympics too because he wasn't terrific. Hanging around the top of the keyway with that awful shuffle play, he was too old and slow at that stage for the Boomers, and Barry Barnes didn't help with his coaching (he should have benched Heal and Longley and let Grace and Anstey tear it up).

The manner of Longley's retirement is probably another knock against him. He couldn't fulfil that massive contract due to injury and retured. He got the insurance payout and came back to Perth. Playing for the Wildcats would have helped but the conditions of his payout prevented him from doing so. I think he would have been too big and slow for the NBL game anyway. He bought into the Wildcats, but he even admitted not really knowing the extent of the tast of running a sports club, especially in Australia. I wonder whether he had any idea that most clubs in Australia outside the AFL lose money. He later sold out of the Wildcats for pretty much nothing (good move though gifting it to Andrew Vlahov).

I think at the moment he is quietly building a new reputation. He gives interviews when sought, but he is not always in the spotlight. Andrew Gaze is often in the spotlight and is a natural promoter, which is good for Australian basketball, but Longley has a different personality, and can be forgiven for that. Longley is now assistant coaching with the Wildcats.

Where does this leave him then? He sits at the top of the basketball tree, but not quite on top, and I'm sure he's fine with that, which really sums his legacy up best.

The Chaser's West Coke Eagle

2007-04-08T12:06:00.001+08:00

From the Chaser this week. The West Coke Eagle pretty much speaks for itself.

AFL Live Blog: Eagles vs Magpies - 3rd Quarter

2007-04-07T19:11:00.000+08:00

3rd Quarter

- Judd opens the scoring in the 2nd half. Eagles back in front.

- As Stenglien scores, I'm realising that the tireness is setting in and I probaly won't make it through the match while blogging. I'll wrap it up here, but I might get a chance to do a full game in future.

I'm out.

Luc Longley's house burnt down overnight

2007-04-07T18:54:00.000+08:00

Luc Longley's $2 million home in Freo burnt down last night. I saw the media bites on the news tonight about it, Luc was openly crying. Probably more about shock and being happy to get his family out. He said he heard a bang and that was it.

The sad thing, at lease from an Australian basketball fan's perspective, is that much of his memorabilia is gone. Luc spent time in the US at college level and of course with those Championship Chicago Bulls team. It's not something that happens to an Australian all that often, so to lose that stuff has to be tough.

AFL Live Blog: Eagles vs Magpies - For your half time viewing pleasure

2007-04-07T18:50:00.001+08:00

The NAB Auskick "Gimme that thing" commercial. Go nuts.

AFL Live Blog: Eagles vs Magpies - 2nd Quarter

2007-04-07T18:10:00.000+08:00

2nd Quarter

- At Quater Time, Michael Voss is the "NAB Analyser". OK, whatever. This shit is too technical for me. I can only handle seeing white writing over footage when the Channel 9 cricket blokes are doing it.

- Lynch gets a mark close to goal. The Glove is gone. He's got it. Eagles just down by 1.

- Mick Malthouse has 2 Macca's logos on his colar. MM. Something wierd is going on there.

- Leon Davis shimmy's a scores. No Antoine Walker (Miami Heat's shimmy-fest star) didn't teach him that.

- Davis scores another after a simple mark. Eagles are nowhere right now.

- Random thought. It's been 4 weeks and I still can't get any good orange juice in Brisbane.

- Lynch teams up with Brawn, kind of a role reversal. Eagles score.

- At 15 mins Rocca kicks from 75 meters. A "floater", it goes in. Collingwood can't miss at the moment. Commentators play up the match up between the teams and the 'master' coaches.

- Wirrpunda drills Leon Davis into the ground. Free kick in front of goal. 51-38.

- Rocca flattens Graham. Rough conduct. On report. On replay there doesn't look to much in it.

- Another random thought. There is a Master Choc ad in the background on the fence. How I miss thee.

- Looks like Ben Johnson kicked the ground. Left ankle looks to be one and done son.

- Live blogging. This is what the Pro Wrestling Torch guys must feel like. It's odd watching sport with a laptop computer in front of you.

- Finally a goal. Wirrpunda has his 3rd. 16 minutes since the last goal. My eyes were starting to droop.

- Replay of Mick Malthouse going nuts. He kind of looks like... Tom Selec.

- Half time. 52-48 Collingwood.

AFL Live Blog: Eagles vs Magpies - 1st Quarter

2007-04-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

1st Quarter

- Channel 10's on-screen scoring graphics have changed. They've gone from Blue/Red to Black/Red, I think. Even in High Def its hard to tell.

- In the first few minutes the crowd is dead quiet as Collingwood has the ball in the Eagle's 50. Crowd is still starting up, even as the Eagles (Wirrpunda) scored the first goal of the match.

- Medhurst touches the ball and gets huge boos. Robert Walls: "Once a Docker, always a Docker, in the crowd's estimation".

- What a goal by Wirrpunda, falling out of bounds (after being pushed) on a tough angle. His second.

- Josh Fraser is on the sidelines after the Channel 10 blokes hyped him up before the match.

- That National Australia Bank ad with the "gimme that thing" hook is on. It's been on all week and has been driving me nuts.

- Collingwood can't get out of their 50. The Eagles are applying a heap of pressure. Still 19-2 the scoreline.

- Rocca kicks a long bomb which bounces in. Collingwood then scored another. They're only 5 behind now.

- 3 in a row. Tied game 20-20. Everything has been pretty lax up to now.

- Magpies take the lead with 0.01 with a goal, 27-20. Overall, boring quarter. Eagles dominated the first half, and Collingwood had the second half of it.

AFL Live Blog: Eagles vs Magpies

2007-04-07T17:33:00.000+08:00

I've never done this, and God knows why I've chosen the AFL to do it, but I will attempt the good old live blog for West Coast vs Collingwood, at least until I get bored.

Pre-Game

- Dean Cox is injured. Nuts for my AFL Dream Team as he's my lead ruck. He looks lanky in that suit.

- Eagles first homegame following last year's Premiership. They're rocking the new home uniform too.

- Channel 10 actually being in Perth for a game is rare. No Foxtel team this week.

- I missed Eagles vs Swans last week - it wasn't on FTA in Brisbane.

- Judd lead the team out (because he's captain, duh). He's really starting to look like Mark Bresciano with his bald head.

The Cricket World Cup just got interesting

2007-04-07T14:06:00.000+08:00

This is one way to get people interested in the Cricket World Cup. AusItalia.com has linked to the following video which was aparently appeared on the front page of Italy's Gazzetta Dello Sport website. Australian Bikini Cricket is definately the best method of getting Italians interested in cricket. This is just the begining - if it works we could see an Italian squad at the next World Cup.

Australian Bikini Cricket

VIDEOVAT.COM > GET AWESOME MYSPACE VIDEOS FREE!!

Shawn Kemp's top 10

2007-04-07T14:03:00.000+08:00

I got this link from Truehoop (which has now slid under the ESPN.com banner). Shawn Kemp's top 10 dunks, all of which are from his Seattle days. The players involved and the uniforms bring back heaps of memories for me because that mid 90's period is when the NBA really hit its straps here.

UPDATE: Here's the video.

Michael Ruffin is an idiot

2007-04-07T14:00:00.000+08:00

This happened last week. It was even the play of the day on Sports Tonight last Saturday. Anyway, have a look at the end of game celebration by Michael Ruffin of the Wizards after intercepting a long pass, which quickly turned into a Mo Pete shot that tied the game at the buzzer. The Raptors went on to beat the Wizards in OT. Its probably the stupidest play I have ever seen.

Gold Coast Blaze: colours and logo

2007-04-06T20:49:00.000+08:00

The NBL is not even a quarter of the way through its offseason. Brisbane won the Championship a couple of weeks ago. But its the silly season.

The Gold Coast Blaze, the newboys of the NBL, have unveiled their logo and colours. Its not bad, and is kind of in keeping with the colours of the NRL's Titans. I guess the blue is a Gold Coast colour? I'm not sure. They're lucky though because Scott McGregor is their first signing! Jokes aside, I don't know where they are going to get the players from because with the addition of this team the NBL is stretching the talent pool a little thin.

In other news, we all heard that current West Sydney player James Harvey was named on the Daniel Kerr police drug tapes. I haven't heard anything from the NBL or his club as to whether any investigations will take place as to his role. It kind of justifies the Wildcats letting him go a few years ago because they surely knew things weren't right. I applaud them for taking a hard line with behiour within the club (David Bailey, Steve Leven), even if they are not necessarily popular in the public eye for doing so. Meanwhile, West Sydney has gotten some new financial backers and they won't fold, which means that Cal Bruton has no business coaching them as he is only allowed to coach teams that do (Hobart and Canberra, Perth was an abberation).

In the big offseason shuffle, Mark Bradtke has retired, and David Barlow as left the Kings and signed with the Tigers, which is absolutely massive. If he gets back onto that form he was in prior to doing his ACL it's going to be hard not to have the Tigers as favourites to win the Championship, especially after Perth lost Tony Ronaldson to New Zealand and Stephen Black has left the Bullets.

Agent Zero is done

2007-04-06T20:17:00.000+08:00

It looks as if Gilbert Arenas is done for the season. He did his knee (lateral meniscus tear) against the Bobcats yesterday and the 2-3 months of healing time means that the Wizards will miss his services for the playoffs. Not good, particularly because the Wizards lost Caron Butler to a broken hand last week. That means they have Antawn Jameson and bits and pieces left. They certainly would have caused some noise, and Arenas, as I've documented here before, is just fun to follow.

Gilbert has blogged about his injury on NBA.com, which you should read. Best quote is his recount of his thinking immediately following the fall causing the injury: "Man, this hurts!" Already the net is mourning his loss from the playoffs. The NBA is worse of for it.

Fee Fi Fo Fum. I smell the blood of an Englishman.

2007-04-06T20:05:00.000+08:00

Midweek, Roma topped Manchester United 2-1 in their Champions League clash in Rome. As it was the first leg of their tie, Man U's away goal could come in handy for them. They seem to be one of the most in form teams in all of Europe this year, and are cetainly the most in form English team, but Roma probably aren't getting their due, thanks in park to Inter's stunning run. As I've said before, Roma are so much fund to watch. Totti is brilliant, but his bouts of volatile behaviour are a highlight in themselves. Mancini puts on the tricks. Plus they've got talent all over with Perrotta, Taddei and Vucinic (who scored the winner in that match). I think they are a real chance to win the Champions League. Why not? If Liverpool and Porto can there is no reason why Roma can't.

Anyway, if you saw the highlights, you might have also seen footage of the usual brawl between police and English hooligans. At least we didn't get a fight between the Ultras and the Hooligans, because that could have been bad (the authorities in Rome actually had the sense to separate them by a fence). The cause appeared to be provocational chanting and bottle throwing by the Ultras directed at the Poms, to wit the Poms decided to react. The Cops didn't hesitate the lay it in. Instead of this, maybe someone should organise a massive brawl between the Ultras and Hooligans and market it as the battle for the universe or something. Then they can turn it into a movie and have sequels.

Random update and moving forward

2007-04-02T19:54:00.000+08:00

After much soul-searching, I'm back from my "suspension", clean and free from drugs and alcohol

Just to bring everyone up to speed, I've moved from Perth to Brisbane for work, and have been sorting that out. I've got the net back and I should be ready to go for some regular updates in future (Metamucil style). I'm still representing WA interest, and here in Brisbane, you can bet I'll cause a riot at a Queensland Roar match by wearing a Glory shirt. But enough about me. Here are the things that I really and disappointed I didn't get to make comment on as they happened:

AFL

The AFL season hadn't yet begun when the Ben Cousins story rocked not only the Eagles, but the AFL aswell. Many in the West suspected for a long time that Ben Cousins had a drug problem, and rumours and him and other club members have been flying around for years. Rumors have also been flying, particularly by email, as to how the story broke. While I can't repeat anything, let me tell you, its an entertaining piece.

A few years ago when a Sydney Swans player (whose name now escapes me) said that he believed that a large percentage of players in the AFL had drug issues I tended to believe him because of the rumors, the law of averages and because it has been backed up through comment on other sports, such as Charles Oakley, who said of the NBA that 60% of the players regularly used some kind of drugs. AFL players have money and access to drugs and clearly aren't immune from drug problems. However, they should face tougher scruitiny because above all, AFL players and clubs owe everything to the fans. Why shouldn't players face criminal charges when caught with drugs in the system?

Another interesting note out of this is the speculation as to the performance enhancing nature of coccain and ice. I do believe there is some merit to drug use as a stimulant for alertness and energy. A rumour a few years ago had half of the Formula 1 paddock on coccain because of is alertness qualities.

Swimming

Ian Thorpe has been accused of taking drugs. That I didn't see coming. I don't have much else to say on this point at the moment, but I think there's probably some reasonable explanation if this is true. It also came from a French newspaper, and they generally love to hit on the athletes who dominate the world in their sport but who aren't French. So, credibility is an issue for them here.

Grant Hackett meanwhile lost his 1500m World Championship title. The question is is whether he can regain it, because from what I hear he's had a tough run with general sickness and health.

NCAA Tournament (Basketball)

Yep. I've missed almost the whole thing, the 65, the Sweet 16, the Elite 8 and the Final 4. The Grand Final is between reigning champions Florida who have returnees Joakim Noah and Aaron Afflalo, up against the youth of Ohio State, who have Greg Oden, the man-child likely to go number 1 in this year's NBA draft. It's shaping up to be an intriguing battle because Florida are dominating college basketball and football. Ohio State on the other hand have the Oden factor, as he's 7'0 and a defensive beast. He's played the season with a broken right hand and has played so well with his left.

NBA teams are taking at the moment to get a chance at the deep draft. Oden will likely go number 1, but Naismith Award winner Kevin Durant from Texas, who is a freshman, might end up being ab absolute superstar as well.

NBA

Speaking of the NBA. Dallas vs Phoenix from a couple of weeks ago was priceless. I saw a score at lunch in the 3rd where Dallas was up by about 17. Then I came back and saw with about a minute or so to go, the Suns had pegged the Mavs back. I thought to myself, should I stick around? I didn't have the time unfortunately. The Suns though took the win in overtime. People have been saying it was the best game of the season.

Meanwhile, not one to get shunted from the spotlight, Kobe has been on a scoring tear. He's had numerous 50+ point games recently, including a 60+ effort. The main reason being is that the Lakers need to win and Kobe's help has been ailing with injury. Jordan Farmar, the Lakers rookie, today made history by playing for the LA Defenders in the D-League and then playing for the Lakers that same night.

In the East, Lebron is back on, the Pistons are the best, Dwayne Wade is starting to practice agains after shoulder surgery and Jermaine O'Neal is crying as the Pacers have lost 17 of their last 19 and are looking at the lottery. Oh yeah, and Boston still suck.

World Cup Cricket

Who killed Woolmer? Strangulation. Did it have something to do with organised crime and gambling? Hmmm.

Meanwhile, Australia are tearing it up, and so is Shane Watson, as he's torn some kind of body part again.

Soccer

The Perth Glory have been making some major changes off-field. They've signed Delong, a Chinese Company as a major sponsor, the sponsorship itself being one of the more lucrative in the A-League. It looks as if Tony Sage knows what he's doing. From going into the shit-hole last year, if Glory can sign 4 big stars they might be a chance of making the finals and then who knows? The optimism is back.

Meanwhile, New Zealand is now the Wellington Phoenix. Crappy name, crappy logo.

Conclusion

Since I'm tired I'll sum up. I'm back, and there is more to come.

"Anyone missing a finger?"

2007-04-02T19:40:00.000+08:00

"Anyone missing a finger?" That sounds like something you'd say after a barfight. It's like losing a few teeth. It's like Moe looking around in the lost and found box and pulling out a glass eye.

It turns out that Troy Bayliss, Australia's top World Superbike representative, lost part of the bone in his right pinky finger following surgery. He came off his bike at the latest Superbike round in Britain; his hand became stuck under the bike.

Being the competitor he is, he was trying to get back for the second race of the weekend, but after surgery, it was clear his race weekend was over. It's a shame because he is the World Superbike Championship at the moment, and there is daylight between him and the rest. He should be ready in 2 weeks for the next round, ready to keep defending his world title.

Announcement: out of commission

2007-03-20T12:39:00.000+09:00

It looks like this blog will be out of commission for a couple of weeks. The content will stay up - but I need some time to get a new net connection etc. I should be back soon enough.

"Demoxinil!" cried Stan... now he's banned

2007-03-14T16:09:00.000+09:00

Could we actually see a football (*cough*) star banned for taking drugs which only have cosmetic effect?

Quite possibly. News broke this morning that Perth Glory's marquee player Stan Lazaridis has a drug ban hanging over him due to a positive drug test. He claims he had the condition alopecia which basically causes him aggressive baldness and skin discomfort. He notified the FFA before taking the drugs and sought their authorisation, but he didn't have such authorisation when his positive test came through - that only came through recently.

The main reason for the drug being banned is that it can act as a masking agent for other performance enhancing drugs. He could receive a 2 year ban, and if so, he would most certainly retire, given he's at 34 years old. No doubt Perth Glory would love to see the back of him after last season's crap in which he was consistently injured. He never lived anywhere near up to his $300,000 per season price tag.

The FFA will go into bat for him anyway, hoping he won't be suspended. It's not a way in which anyone should bow out of a sport, but still, getting rid of him would be great for the Glory.

Things I've missed since...

2007-03-11T18:51:00.000+09:00

Since I've gone missing for the last couple of days, and probably won't be completely operational for another week, here are a couple of things that I would have otherwise taken note of:

The Brisbane Bullets beat the Melbourne Tigers in game 4 of the NBL Finals series, thereby wrapping up the Championship 3-1.
Casey Stoner won his first Moto GP race last night at the season's openner in Qatar. I managed to watch it, and he was impressive in holding out Valentino Rossi. His Ducati just had so much power on the straight. Amazingly he managed to stay on his bike (unlike last year). He is the next Australian potential champion.
Sydney FC beat Shanghai Shenhua in the Asian Champions League 2-1. They actually might be a chance to get into the next round.
Roma's Mancini scored a brilliant goal for Roma in the Champions League against Lyon. Now Roma has been drawn against Manchester United for the quarter finals.

These are some of the big things happening in Melbourne this week:

The first round of the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne is on this coming weekend.
The World Swimming Championships are on at the same time as the Grand Prix. Amazingly the organisers have fit a 50 metre swimming pool inside Rod Laver Arena. You can check out live action from the pool on Pool Cam.
Carlton Blues vs Brisbane Lions in the NAB Cup Final.

That's all for now.

You wanna fight? Inter spanked Valencia

2007-03-08T17:18:00.000+09:00

Inter spanked Valencia in the UEFA Champions League mid-week, 5-1. Not bad. I love a brawl though, and the post-match fracas has everything.

UPDATE: Well, I got that wrong. Valencia actually got through to the next round of the Champions League (quarter finals).

2007 Moto GP Season Preview

2007-03-03T13:32:00.000+09:00

Well, the 2007 Moto GP season starts next weekend at Qatar. We're down to 800cc's, cigarette advertising has gone and Nicky Hayden is the World Champ, but there have been few driver moves across the paddock.

Last season's championship calamity saw Hayden take the title from Valentino Rossi at the last race after being taken out by his own teammate Pedrosa in the penultimate race. Rossi had a terrible start to the season, and really only came into contention towards the back end of the championship, so it was surprising to see him in the lead going into the final round. Hayden had lead for pretty much the entire season. An amazing set of circumstances though saw Rossi fall from outright favourite going into that last race to being the runner-up.

So, with a change in champion, we have a situation this season where Rossi is the chaser, and he will no doubt want to get back to the top of the tree. Rossi's team, the Yamaha Factory Team, have had to drop the Camel from their livery, and have changed to blue back from yellow. Hayden and Pedrosa still rep the Repsol Honda team, and Pedrosa is going to have a big year. He should be a bit stronger this year, which will help him handle the power of the Moto GP bike (plus the drop to 880cc will no doubt help him). Loris Capirossi will contend again with Ducatti, and Aussie Casey Stoner will join him in the red team. Stoner still has the Australian flag painted inside his number 27 on the front of his bike, and I hope that he can actually stay on track this year. There are other Australians in the field too, with Chris Vermeulen staying at Rizla Suzuki and expected to have a big year (especially after his fast pre-season testing), and newcomer Andrew Pitt at new boys Ilmor GP. Marco Melandri and Tony Elias will be strong too for Honda Gresini. Sete Gibenau is no where to be seen, and Troy Bayliss has gone back to Superbikes after his great outing in the last race last season.

It shoud be a big season. I encourage anyone to get out to the pubs or flick the channel on Foxtel to watch some races because it is incredibly exiting, much more so than F1, because of the frequent overtaking and positional changes. It is real racing. Starting in 16th spot on the grid doesn't mean you are out of the race.

Brisbane takes game 1 against Melbourne

2007-03-02T21:13:00.000+09:00

The Bullets came from behind to win game 1 of the NBL Finals Series earlier tonight, 98-95. With 5 minutes to go the Melbourne Tigers were about 5 or 6 in front, and I thought they would probably take it out. Brisbane were clutch though. They took the lead and kept it, while Melbourne had to rely on the old fouling strategy in the dying minutes to stay in the match. The officials had heaps of trouble towards the end of the match too with the clock.

The best part of the match was in the first quarter when Dusty Rychart took a charge from Daryl McDonald and cracked his head hard on the paint - it looked painful. He was hit in the chest and fell back, with his head snapping as it hit the paint. It's like the egg shell skull cases that come up from time to time, except that he was lucky he hit a soft wooden floor instead of concrete. I also noticed Rashad Tucker was rocking the new Jordan 22's. He's always got the latest.

The ramifications of that win for Brisbane was that 86% of NBL teams who win game 1 win the series. Although, that figure is applied accross a heap of 3-game series held by the NBL and only 1 5-game series (last year's grand final series was the first 5-game series ever). Melbourne is certainly capable of turning that figure on its head. Game 2 is on Sunday in Melbourne.

Matrix deserves an apology

2007-03-02T18:33:00.000+09:00

The Matrix Marco Materazzi is becoming quite the cult hero in Italy. He might pull out some crazy moves on field sometimes, like long own goals from back passes or tackles from behind, but he helped Italy win the World Cup. He's also said and done some crazy stuff off-field, like publishing a book entitled 'What I Really Said To Zidane' where he lists phrases which may or may not have been used by him during the World Cup final. You gotta love it. He deserves that Gilbert Arenas-Hibachi-blog love.

Following up on his World Cup exploits, he's just finished an interview with GQ magazine. Of course, the headbut was one of the main topics. The Matrix is still seeking an apology from Zidane over his actions:

I said sorry when I had to, but there is still someone who hasn’t done the same.

It's time for Zidane to apologise. He looked an absolute tool when he did it. I'm not really sure whether the Matrix cares whether Zidane apologises or not. Materazzi is playing it smart because Zidane is sulking. Materazzi looks like someone who is trying to mend bridges. If no apology is forthcoming at least Materazzi knows he can torment the bloke well into his retirement.

How'd you like a boot to the skull

2007-03-01T11:45:00.000+09:00

Injuries seems to be the theme recently. Here's the John Terry head kick from the Carling Cup final over the weekend. Just watching the moment when the boot comes into contact with his face is sickening. The worst part for him and for Chelsea was that was his first game back from a major injury.

This is what a dislocated knee-cap looks like

2007-02-27T21:05:00.000+09:00

The Clippers' Shawn Livingston is pretty injury-prone, and has been since his rookie year a couple of seasons-ago. Today was no different, when against the Charlotte Bobcats he missed a lay-up and came down hard on his foot. The result was a dislocated knee-cap. Apparently there was no damage done, but shit - that looked like it hurt bad.

UPDATE: This was the headline on Real GM this morning: "Livingston Suffered Tears To ACL, PCL, MCL And Lateral Meniscus". Doesn't sound like fun. He's out for the season, and there is speculation it could be career-ending.

Uniform Watch: AFL 2007

2007-02-25T14:55:00.000+09:00

With a new season comes a slew of new uniforms, minor tweaks, new uniform regulations and manufacturer changes. The changes in the AFL are usually interesting.

One thing I have noticed which has been applied to all teams, is that the AFL logo appears on the bottom of each player number, much like it does in soccer. On a soccer strip it looks dignified, but on an AFL jumper it's bit weird. I'll guess I'll get used to it.

This year it looks like a whole bunch of teams have changed manufacturer, with Richmond, Port Adelaide and the Kangaroos jumping to RBK. Brisbane has switched to Puma.

The Eagles have changed their home jumper by simplifying it. It looks much more dignified than in the past because the faded bird is now gone and replaced by the eagle's head that appears on the West Coast logo. They've gotten the idea, which a lot of sporting teams in Australia don't understand, that simple is better (most NBL teams and rugby league teams should take note).

Port Adelaide and Brisbane however have created some shocking away jumpers, and the fade is prevelant on each. Just plain ugly. They would each be better off with solid stripes.

Richmond and Geelong need to learn how to drop the big graphics too. That is something that a heap of NBA teams had in the 90s (remember the first Toronto Raptors uniform?) It's time however to let it go.

There was also one other odd observation. Calton's shorts have strayed from the norm and have a large blue triangle shape down either side. It looks very strange. I guess it is meant to look like an extension of the playing top.

Apart from being a supporter of each team having a true clash jumper, I am more of a traditionalist in terms of uniform design, and really, teams like Collingwood, Essendon, West Coast, Adelaide and even Fremantle have it pretty much right.

UPDATE: Saints clash jumper. Yuk. Take the logo out and replace it with a large black cross and they might be onto something.

Hit up a taxi

2007-02-25T11:54:00.000+09:00

All the cool kids are doing it. See Daniel Kerr lead the way. At least he has the aerial from the taxi as a souvenir. Maybe he's left a footprint on the top of the boot, which might be forever emortalised in the car scrap yard of time.

All-Star tragedy: Dwight Howard again

2007-02-25T11:46:00.000+09:00

I just saw video of the dunks that Dwight Howard had planned to do in the final of the dunk comp at the NBA All-Star weekend. We all know he was screwed by the judges because he's a big man, and big men can't be creative dunkers apparently. He had planned to kiss the ring, and he would have wowed everyone. Anyway, here's the video, including training, warm-up and dunk comp. Enjoy.

A sign of good times? We'll see

2007-02-23T16:02:00.000+09:00

Now, let's push for the top 4.

Brisbane to hit up the NBL finals for the first time since 1990

2007-02-23T11:10:00.000+09:00

The Brisbane Bullets have swept the Sydney Kings and booked their place in the 2006/2007 NBL Grand Final. About time, huh? They haven't seen the final stage since we (I mean the Perth Wildcats) destroyed them over there in 1990. I remember that game well. Ricky, James and Mike vs Derek, Andre and Leroy. Sidetracked.

Anyway, the Bullets have spent big the last couple of years (salary cap *cough*, points cap *cough*) without much of a result. Their owner is Eddy Groves who owns the ABC Childcare Centes and he should be commended for spending the time and money to make the team work. Their current roster is star-studded: Sam Mackinnon, J Bruton, Ebi Ere, Dusty Rychart, Stephen Black, Mark Bradtke and Dillon Boucher.

Why am I writing about these bastards, because I really do hate them, especially after last season's MacKinnon-double-bird incident at Challenge Stadium? Well, mainly because the Wildcats have gone fishing and I am looking forward to a Brisbane-Melbourne final (I don't give Cairns a chance, so a 2-0 series win by Melbourne is likely). The Tigers dominated last year and are still probably the best team in the comp, despite finishing second. Anstey, Thomas, Tucker, McDonald. Each player can take over a game, as can MacKinnon, CJ and Ere. The match-ups will be incredible and it should actually be a highly competitive series. The Bullets have a lot to prove and a lot to lose if they can't win that bloody massive trophy. Plus, they hate each other too, which is always good. It should be a great one for the league. That is one 5-game grand final series I don't want to miss.

Glory gets new owners today!

2007-02-23T11:01:00.000+09:00

Yay! And Finally! With the Perth Glory in limbo for the last year and a bit, the Tony Sage group will take over today, and the club can celebrate late into tonight at the MGP Ball (Most Glorious Player, duh!) Hopefully this means we get some funding and enthusiasm injected into the club. Heopfully we also get the signatures of the good young players around the league (rumors have Topor-Stanley, Sarkies and Djite signing). Now if we could just get rid of Lazauridis... We want big crowds next season. Let get back to the 12k average we used to have. The best part about it is that there will be a leader at the top who can made decisions, right or wrong, without having to refer to the FFA every 5 seconds for guidance. Strong leadership is what the club has been missing.

The backlash against Lebron James continues

2007-02-22T08:54:00.000+09:00

Following up on my last post where I made a small comment about the backlash that appears to be happening in respect of Lebron James.

Over the last couple of months we've heard that he's been slack in his play. He's been coasting. I've seen the highlights, the games, the stats. He doesn't look as if he is progressing as a player. Plus we've heard stories about how he has his buddies managing him after he sacked his agent. I came accross this, which explains everything. It's only the begining. I say, give it a read because it sums up everything pretty nicely.

What it does show is that when you are on top you have to be perfect. Otherwise the knives will be out for you. Your mistakes and your weaknesses will be exposed because you are in the eye of the public.

Lebron's MSN website

2007-02-21T09:02:00.000+09:00

This has been linked to elsewhere, and of course ridiculed and made fun of. It seems backlash against Lebron has been growing recently because he's probably overexposed (I don't disagree). In any event, I had to link to Lebron James' new MSN website because the whole concept of it is just impressive. It's a flash flip/pop-up book, just like that book on bears (cartoon bears I might ad) and dinosaurs I had when I was a kid.

All-Star '07: Sticker Dunk by Dwight Howard

2007-02-19T10:27:00.000+09:00

From the dunk contest yesterday at the NBA All-Star Weekend. Dwight Howard is tall and was overlooked by the judges for the finals (ie Michael Jordan and Dr J didn't think this was too impressive), but this dunk is absolutely impressive. The League knocked back his request to dunk on a 12 foot ring, so he had to come up with something creative.

For the record, the Celtic's Gerald Green took the crown. He got into the final by jumping over last year's champ Nate Robinson and immitating Dee Brown's 1990-winning dunk. Nate was supposed to jump over Playboy Bunnies but that idea was nixed too.

John Kosmina likes the bone...

2007-02-18T22:15:00.000+09:00

John Kosmina likes the bone... and the Melbourne Victory like to give it to him. On Grand Final day. In front of 55k people at Telstra Dome. In front of the Prime Minister even. Can they spare the public shame?

A 6-0 score-line in this year's final was amazing and totally unexpected. Adelaide never really bothered to show. Archie Thomson scored 5 goals for Victory and Ross Aloisi was sent off in the first half for Adelaide. I fell a sleep at halftime because at 3-0 it was over (Adelaide aren't the A-League's Wollongong Wolves apparently). At least we got to see the Victory players mucking around with John Howard on the podium. One lucky player was able to kiss his head, and Johnny was a good sport about it.

So as Kevin Muscat and coach Ernie Merrick accepted the giant metal hemorrhoid donut that is the A-League champions trophy, one can only summise that John Kosmina's antics, while great PR, probably didn't do his team any good. Melbourne had the last laugh. Now, would someone please hack Kevin Muscat down next season in a rough challenge? Is that too much to ask?

And we're done... now what?

2007-02-17T20:20:00.000+09:00

The Wildcats have just dropped their elimination final to Cairns this evening. At home nonetheless. Our season is over. What the result shows is twofold:

The NBL's playoff system is inherently flawed. With teams 1 and 2 going straight into the semi-finals, teams 3 and 4 have to play off in a one-game knockout against the winners of 5 vs 8 and 6 vs 7. Last year the Wildcats took advantage after finishing 7th when they beat Cairns in Cairns and Wollongong in Wollongong. We got into the semis against the Tigers and played very well, even though we were swept 2-0. I didn't think that Wollongong had suffered a harsh fate last year after losing to us, but now I know how their supporters must have felt. In this system there is no incentive to finish 3rd or 4th because there is no second chance. Plus, the difference between 2nd and 3rd is negligible, as I have pointed out previously. The Wildcats and Tigers were pretty even all season. Now Cairns goes into the semis to play them.

Secondly, but most importantly, the Wildcats don't have a real go-to guy when the game is on the line. Shawn Redhage is a stat-accumulator, but I haven't seen him single-handedly take over a match. Darren Brooks is the same. We need at least 1 of our import players to be able to take a game by the scruff of the neck and bring the team home. The Cats played hard tonight but lacked the scoring touch required. We needed someone who could score 30 and win the game for us. I always thought Paul Rogers could do that, but tonight he missed a critical layup in the last 4 minutes that really sealed the fate of the match. Damien Ryan has shown he can do that this year, but tonight he just wasn't there. Hopefully we can overcome these issues next year.

John Kosmina can out-coach you from the bus stop

2007-02-16T16:30:00.000+09:00

Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory are gearing up for the A-League Grand Final this weekend. The 2.0 grand final. It's sold out, bitch. Telstra Dome will be full.

John Kosmina though will have to get a ticket to get in, because he won't be on Adelaide's bench. He's been done 5 games by the FFA for yelling at the referee after the pre-lim final. That was likely provoked by the ref Matthew Breeze's poor performance in the game, in which Adelaide's Matthew Kemp was sent off for a perfectly good tackle. The suspension had to come since he had already been suspended this season after going for Kevin' Muscat's throat (which I cheered on I might add).

So now, he's coaching from the stands. He may be stupid but he's pretty funny. His response to the logisital problems in communicating with assistant Aurerlio Vidmar was just right: "We've got a long piece of string and two jam tins". He has now ensured that he is probably bigger than the A-League grand final and the teams and players involved. Nice PR work.

Maybe the FFA will ban the tin and strings? I don't know. What I do know is that the dude could out coach you, even if he did it from a coffee shop, as he suggested he could do earlier in the week. He is that convinced that his team is so well drilled that they could coach themselves. I'm no so sure about that. Since both Melbourne and Adelaide have been shaky in the last 7 or 8 games, I really have no clue who will win. I might throw some D's on Adelaide (ie I'm picking them because crazier shit has happened).

Obligatory Tim Hardaway Post

2007-02-16T16:24:00.000+09:00

Last week, John Ameachi became the first NBA player or former player to come out of the closet, and since that time we've seen a number of responses from reporters, current players, coaches etc. I'm not going to say much, because the story is here, but check out the video of Tim Hardawy's response when asked of his opinion. The short summary is this, he said "I hate gay people", and now he is in damage control.

Legends: well, they're fat at least

2007-02-13T10:41:00.000+09:00

The pre-requisite to legendary status within a sport, a league, a club is to retire and become, well... fat. After seeing highlights of the Perth Wildcats Legends/25th anniversary match at the weekend I think I have some evidence supporting that notion. Look at Andrew Vlahov, Ricky Grace, Cal Bruton, Pete Hansen - all legends and all fat. The only exception is Scott Fisher, who is a legend despite his aversion to gaining weight around the stomach area. Eat more donuts Fish! I guess there is always an exception or outlier. Checkout the highlights.

Mile Ellis rocked up too, which was awesome given they way he and the club parted following his year coaching the team. There were a few players who obviously weren't legends playing too, like Carmie Olowoyo (who I'm pretty sure gave a stock/share price update on 6PR the other week). In any event, it seemed like a fun game, as all legends games are. The uniforms the teams rocked were sweet too. You can also check out the press conference below, and for nostalgias-sake, the Wildcats Rap.

Russell Crowe hates cans

2007-02-09T11:48:00.000+09:00

Russell Crowe is of the apparent belief that cheerleaders and rugby matches makes the male fans uncomfortable. Sure, that's exactly what male fans think when they watch the routines of 20-something females prance around in tights. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he is crazy? It looks though as if this might be an initiative of the missus, as his wife is in full support.

So basically, the South Sydney rugby team have canned the cans for the matches, so to speak. What's worse is that they are replacing them with male and female drummers. The cheerleaders themselves are upset at the sacking:

How would we make people feel uncomfortable? The aim is for us
just to enjoy ourselves and entertain the fans with the sport.

Agreed. It's just sport. It makes sport. It's the norm. It's like getting rid of the Mexican Wave, the standing room, the flares and militant fans (ok, not really, but if this were Serie A...) I guess we are all correct in this day and age.

Damn!

2007-02-09T10:00:00.000+09:00

From Raw just before the Royal Rumble. Cryme Tyme hustling with Super Crazy, Eugene and Ron Simmons. Damn (you gotta wait for the end of it, classic).

Again? Deaths, riots, tear gas

2007-02-03T11:09:00.000+09:00

Remind me, if I ever have a chance to visit Italy that I avoid attending a Serie A match. It's just too dangerous. Again we have riots, tear gas, and this time, the death of a police officer. The Sicilian Derby between Palermo and Catania has turned out to be an absolute joke. All the rest of the Serie A and B matches have been called off this weekend. We are lucky no fans actually died.

This all started with the Derby, which over the years has been heated (just as bad as the Rome Derby). The game was going OK. Bresciano set up Carraciolo for a goal. Palermo fans were trying to get into Catania's stadium but couldn't. They started fighting with the cops outside. Tear gas was used which drifted into the statium. The ref suspended play as the tear gas was affecting the players. ESPN had images of the players using water bottles to clean out their eyes. A homemade bomb brought into the stadium blew up and killed a cop! They decided to resume the match. Catania equalised. Then Palermo took the win with a goal by Di Michele, which rolled off his hand onto his leg and into the net. Talk about insult to injury. I like Palermo for obvious reasons, but I feel bad for Catania in this case.

This is a real joke. An embarrassment. With all the talent the league possesses, it keeps shooting itself in the foot. Serie A has match-fixing, referee scandals, riots, extreme fans, bad stadiums, lopsided and unfair TV rights, complaining and self-interested Presidents, and corruption. The list goes on and it is outweighing the good at the moment. The potential the league has to get back to it's powerfuly stage looks like never being reached. Just embarrassing.

Anyway, more coverage here (message from Italy's PM); here (from the President of the League); here (from Palermo); and here (Catania's President wants to call it quits). The Player's Association wants to suspend all play for the rest of the season. All talk but no action.

Treat Jamie Harnwell

2007-02-01T19:49:00.000+09:00

Is this how a club should treat its captain? By now you've probably heard that Ron Smith wouldn't mind if Jamie Harnwell found work elsewhere, and has told him that he will have a reduced roll at the club next season if it stays on and sees out the last year of his contract. What would you say if you were Harnwell?

It was a massive shock. I just sat there and was a bit stunned for a while.

Right. He's been the captain for the last 2 season, played in a Glory shirt since 1998 and has given his all. Sure, he was involved in the 'incident' with Adrian Webster, but really, who is Adrian Webster to come at the captain with a closed fist? Harwell was also almost shafted in the captaincy stakes earlier this year when the FFA wanted to Stan Lazaridis in charge. That would have been an absolute disaster, because Stan is injury prone, visably fat, slow, crap, and done. You can't have a captain play 11 games unless he has a legitimate injury, let alone a captain who doesn't really look like he belongs at the club or player, or one that looks disinterested.

Harnwell embodied the spirit of the club, the spirit of the last 10 years, the Glory (good pun) and all that was built under Nick Tana's tenure. You can't just waive goodbye, especially since he scored 7 goals last season! The excuses given by Ron Smith don't add up. 'He's too slow for the back'. That is crap, he was the one player holding the back together. The Glory flooded in goals at the end of the season when Harnwell went forward. Maybe there's something behind the scenes going on? I don't think it is a simple matter of not being part of a coach's plans. The best quote came from Ron Smith himself:

There's always the potential for contracted players to move on.

Yeah, well maybe they should move Jeremy Christie on instead. In case you didn't get it from this post, I think the Glory should keep Harnwell on and let him play because he gives his all, and he's good enough.

Can anyone really tell the difference between the Wildcats and Tigers?

2007-02-01T08:26:00.000+09:00

I caught the second half of the Perth Wildcats vs Melbourne Tigers NBL match last night. This was probably the biggest and most significant game of the season. The match was close all the way through, and really, I think that the only difference between the 2 teams is a home crowd and the final minute of a match. That's it.

Last night's match was the last of the series of 3 games for this season. The first match was held in Perth and went to OT - the Wildcats won. The second and third games were held in Melbourne and the Tigers won both. Each game was close. Each team had star performers. Each team can play defence and scrap for absolutely everything.

Last night, Damien Ryan hit 7 3-pointers for the Cats. He was an excellent mid-season signing. The Tigers were terrible offensively in the half-court as the Wildcats packed the paint. The Tigers mainly scored off of fast break points and open 3's. The Wildcats could score really whenever they wanted, but didn't have too many fast break opportunities. The Tigers play high with their D and force turnovers, whereas the Wildcats clog the middle and force bad shots. The game pattern was a changing lead either way. In the end, the Wildcats were just behind, and despite some big 3's just couldn't get in front. They lost 95-90.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats had to play 2 games away from home. Had the 3rd match been scheduled in Perth we could have been talking about a Wildcats win. The result gave Melbourne the head-to-head split on us so that in the event both teams finish even 2nd on the ladder, the Wildcats will get bumped to 3rd. The tragedy is that 2nd place goes straight into the semi-finals whereas the 3rd place has a sudden-death knock out match against the winner of one of the lower-placed knockout matches. Huge consequences for the loss.

Brisbane is still at the top of the ladder, but I really believe the Wildcats are a chance to beat either Brisbane or Melbourne in the finals. The problem is now though that we've likely dropped home court advantage to both of them. I'm hoping that Melbourne can lose a match or 2 in the last couple of rounds.

Still, can we really tell the Wildcats and Tigers appart?

TV Pranks: Lopsided Trade

2007-01-25T13:58:00.000+09:00

Those live TV shows with public call-ins are pretty rare in Australia. Last year I saw a little bit of the call-in show on Fox Footy, but not enough to see any classic moments. NBA TV has the same deal, a call-in show. One particular caller proposed a pretty lopsided trade. Rasheed Wallace for ... a baby penis. Classic. And the presenter dealt with it quite well - he didn't lose it like the radio guys do. He just said he'd keep Wallace. Goes to show though how much his stock has fallen.

Testing out NBA.com: Andrew Bogut Widget

2007-01-22T16:23:00.001+09:00

I just thought I'd test out some of the new features on NBA.com, this time with a widget of info about Andrew Bogut. Not bad hey? It shouldn't be too long before the AFL knocks this innovation off of another American sports league.

This is how you get Ronaldinho to play for your team

2007-01-22T13:13:00.000+09:00

If you want Ronaldinho to play for your team in the near future, click here. The Napoli fans will tell you how they plan to do it. It's pretty simple actually, but it involves inside knowledge and putting a $2m bet on Napoli as the team he is most likely to be transferred to. It's just what Napoli needs for its promotion push to Serie A.

Random Ish: Links

2007-01-22T08:56:00.000+09:00

I haven't done this in a while, just randomly linking to stuff, regardless of category. So, here I go:

$30,000 will get you a prime time TV slot and a leaked interview. Damien Martin's story on his retirement.
The NBA is now trying to ban players from certain nightclubs. They'll compile a list and get teams to enforce the rules with security. The reasoning is its become dangerous, especially of late, with some sports stars actually being shot and/or dying. How will they do this though?
Women's basketball can be brutal.
The Chicago Bears are going to the Superbowl, downing the fairytale team the New Orleans Saints.
Video of the Kevin Garnett/Antonio McDyess almost-fight. At least he threw the ball.
Glory sucked so bad against the Knights that I don't want to comment. They checked out after the Bobby retirement match last week.
Former WWE star Bam Bam Bigelow died late last week.

Goal Celebrations: Christiano Lucarelli

2007-01-22T08:43:00.000+09:00

I was browsing through the Offside and came accross a video of Livorno star Christiano Lucarelli in a passionate exchange of a goal celebration, the target of affections being his shirt.

I actually think this one's a classic. I'm waiting for one of these in the A-League. That will get the crowd going.

Wildcats do the double

2007-01-21T10:45:00.000+09:00

How significant is it for the Perth Wildcats that they did the double on the NBL's Sunshine Swing last night?

Incredibly significant.

The Wildcats became the only team this season to have to travel to play the Cairns and Townsville double twice, and this time around they pulled it off, winning both games. Nobody wins the 2 games against these teams. Especially not how the Cats did it, with a come from behind win against Cairns on Friday night and last night's last second 3-pointer from Damien Ryan to sink the Crocs (what a brilliant mid-season pick-up he was). Coach Scott Fisher had this to say:

Yeah that was something.

That is the beauty of this game and that's why you play any sport to see a little bit of magic.

That was exactly what the Wildcats needed too because they are neck and neck with the Melbourne Tigers in the standings for equal second. Both have a 20-7 record. The Wildcats have really impressed me this year with their resilience. They have had a tough travel schedule, have played poorly in parts, but managed to find something within themselves and to come back and win games. With the finals approaching, this can only be a good thing. They are a real chance to challenge for the NBL Championship this year.

Just as an aside, the travel schedule that the Wildcats and all NBL teams have endured this season has rarely been mentioned amongst the mainstream media. We always hear about the complaints the Eagles and Dockers have of their travel schedule. Sure, their claims are legitimate, but they don't have to do back-to-backs. They don't fly from Perth to Cairns to Townsville, and be back for a home game on Thursday. NBL teams are the toughest travellers in Australian sport, period.

Launch Season

2007-01-16T12:36:00.000+09:00

It's launch time for the 2007 Formula 1 season, which means this past week and for the next few weeks each team will hold a big press conference to unveil the drivers and the 2007 cars. So far we've had Toyota, Ferrari and McLaren go. I like the launches because we get to see the new livery (paint and design) on the cars. Ferrari have made minor changes to their livery this year so I won't go into it. What I do want to post is the livery of the McLaren team. They've changed their sponsorship from West to Johnny Walker to Vodafone, so this year in addition to their chrome paint they have red Vodafone sidepods (notice the Bridgestone tyres too). Of course, the champ Fernando Alonso has shifted accross to them too.

We're still waiting for the other teams to launch. Renault, like McClaren have a new sponsor in ING and they might just switch from the yellow/light blue of Mild 7 to blue/orange. We might get a few surprises with the other teams too.

Ethnic tennis fights - it's not just about football

2007-01-15T14:24:00.000+09:00

As bad as the National Soccer League (NSL) days were, I still love the NSL. How could I not because Glory were one of its front-runners?

We were always told that ethnicity in the game would kill it, and that was certainly true. It was time to ditch clubs with ethnic names based around different European groups because they only had a limited supporter base, and there were often crowd violence problems stemming from each group's dislike of each other. I'm Italian, and that I can agree with. The problem was that because they were the supporters of the NSL clubs, fan violence would occur quite frequently. It wasn't the fault of the NSL per se. I think the riots in Melbourne between Croatian and Serbian supporters outside the Australian Open show exactly why the NSL wasn't the problem. The problem was with the supporter groups who just happened to follow football. Some groups just dislike each other (sometimes rightfully so), but they will fight no matter the time nor place. The Australian Open just happens to be that other time and place at the moment. It's not appropriate that they fight anytime, but the point I'm making is just that - some supporters will fight at anytime, whether it is soccer, tennis, basketball, or whatever (probably not surfing).

Well... she can read

2007-01-15T10:01:00.000+09:00

I just thought I'd link to the Cork in the Ocean (WC Eagles blog) post re Rebecca Twigley's weather-reading debut on Channel 7. She can read a teleprompter - whoo hoo. Funny shit (although I'd rather look at her than Jeff Newman).

Last home game: Perth Glory vs Necastle Jets

2007-01-15T08:39:00.000+09:00

Last home game of the season for Glory yesterday and shit, it was hot again. At 6pm at MES there was just not enough shade and the crowd stuck to the westside of the ground. What that meant twas that both Perth and Newcastle would get a drinks break halfway through each half (even though this is not cricket). A point from the match would ensure that Glory would not finish last on the A-League table. Of course, I should mention this was the Bobby Despotivski retirement match.

The game plan for the Glory always seems to be to leave the goalkeeper Tomich without any help early, let the opposing team score, then try to get back into the game with longballs up high aimed at Harnwell's head or passing wide because players are too affraid to shoot in front of goal. Same deal this week. Nick Carle scored off a rebound early and gave the Jets a 1-0 lead. From then on in Newcastle were dead. Ante Covic caught so many of the long balls too. Glory came back and got a penalty before half time (Jade North handball) and Colosimo just beat Covic from the spot.

The second half was much the same although Bobby came on as a sub (and played quite well after his long injury lay-off). Newcastle didn't do anything special and we just kept at it. We had corner after corner. Eventually Harnwell headed a ball home, and soon after Magdic scored in what was actually a pretty impressive play for the Glory. With a 3-1 lead could we think that we would soon be home?

Not so. Something was just not right about the game. The Shed were disjointed in their singing and there was heaps of tension in the ground. The players looked jumpy following the last goal (they were just scampering around). The crowd simulated whistles. Of course, Joel Griffiths popped up for 2 goals in the last 3 minutes, earning them a point. A 3-3 result was just terrible. You can't afford to choke like that if you want to be a player in this league. The whistle blew and the crowd booed because they thought the whistle should have blown before Griffiths scored his second (I agree with that notion). It put a dampener on the Bobby retirement because a cheer at the end would have been great. Cheers started though when Foxtel interviewed him and at the post-game presentation for him. At least next week's clash against New Zealand in New Zealand won't be for the wooden spoon. When we left the game we were just stunned and disgusted at the result.

Kevin Pietersen has an ouchie

2007-01-13T10:50:00.000+09:00

While I was busy on the annual tomato drive last night after work (don't ask why), Australia was busy bashing the crap through England in the opening match of this summer's one day cricket series at the MCG (I did catch the end of the match and the Foxsports News highlights though). Apparently England looked decent as they started with the bat, but Glen McGrath delivered a ball into the ribs of Kevin Pietersen, which in turn decided to fracture them. The delivery looked absolutely painful. He's gone for the series which makes things look all the more worse for England given their pretty pathetic display in the field. The Aussies keep it going. We can't really lose this series can we?

I'm lazy, so here's Andrea Bargnani

2007-01-12T14:10:00.000+09:00

Lack of posting. Eh.

Here's a vid of Andrea Bargnani's amazing pass to Chris Bosh for the Raptors, via the Fanhouse. (I know this is a couple of days old).

Sam Cassell looks like an alien

2007-01-09T13:36:00.000+09:00

Click the link to the Alien Sam Cassell game. Ahhhr, there are too many Yao's and Keith Van Horn is green.

Warne on Parkinson

2007-01-09T13:32:00.000+09:00

Did anyone catch the Shane Warne interview by Michael Parkinson on UKTV last night? They've been hyping it for a while and I tuned into about 2/3 of it. He was pretty frank, honest and open about some of the more controversial issues such as the betting scandal, the drug ban and his marriage. Plus, there were some great accounts of his career including all the magical bowling moments, how 'spinning' works and sledging.

If you missed it, UKTV will probably repeat it. Here are some of the highlights:

Triple H tears quad, internet geeks rejoice*

2007-01-08T19:28:00.000+09:00

So, it looks as if Triple H has torn a quad muscle and should be out of action for a long time. I know someone who is probably crying right now. All of this happened at New Years Revolution today (I haven't had a chance to watch it yet) during his match with Shawn Michaels against Edge and Randy Orton.

What does the future of the son-in-law H hold now? He sure won't be headlining Wrestlemania anymore, so we won't see him tapping out to John Cena again (see the header to this blog). What about DX? This stale gimmick is going to have to shut down permanently or at least take a back seat. What does this mean for Shawn Michaels? Not sure, but Marty Jannetty is probably looking for a tag-team partner. Edge and Orton are going to have to find someone else to terrorise now too. What about those idiots on TNA the Voodoo Kin Mafia? They've based a whole storyline on insulting DX and rediculously trying to entice them into a cross-promotion match up that will never, ever, ever, ever happen. I guess there are some long term effects here.

No one likes to see anyone get injured. I'm sure Triple H will get huge cheer when he returns, hopefully though as the Game, the King of Kings, rather than as one half of DX.

* And to those internet geeks who shit on him because of what he his, get over it. He's made the most of his opportunities which is what we all should do in life. He's not the reason why you keep complaining about the state of the business.

If you want to headline Sportscenter...

2007-01-08T14:23:00.000+09:00

I got a call yesterday from a mate who was very impressed with the Tony Romo fumble leading to the Dallas Cowboys losing their wildcard match for entry into the playoffs to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. I barely watch NFL, but it's hard not to avoid the hype, especially since I watch Sportscenter on ESPN for the basketball highlights, but Sportscenter is plastered with the NFL playoffs. (Man, it's hard not to spell 'Sportscenter' as 'Sportscentre').

Gridiron is a wierd game though, and I basically know shit-all about it. What I did manage to pick up over the last couple of months is that Tony Romo is a Pro-Bowl quarterback (basically an All-Star) this season after being an unknown back-up, but he's been fumbling a bit recently. That's what happened against Seattle. Romo couldn't place the kick for the kicker. The Cowboys should have won but instead they lost 21-02. Here's the messed up play:

Apparently he was crying after the game in the locker room (as stated by teammate T.O. If you don't know about Terrell Owens you need to read up because the dude is crazy). I saw Romo's post-game press conference and he was dishevelled. It was pretty embarrassing and he blamed himself 100% for the loss. He'll get over it - it's not like it was the Superbowl.

Glory vs Victory: clash of the intangible team names

2007-01-08T08:59:00.000+09:00

Another week another draw (and/or loss). Can the Perth Glory ever win a game? New Zealand is hitting some form, so maybe Glory's last game of the season against, which happens to be against them will be for the wooden spoon. There is a real risk we will finish last. I sat on the hill again and couldn't see shit again, but at least I was in the shade, because even at 6 pm the heat was on.

That said, yesterday's game against Premiers Melbourne Victory was drawn 2-2, when in fact, we should have won, despite our usual crappy play. They rested all their big names. Webster was back in (probably so the club could show a united front amongst the players following his propensity to puch teammates). Colosimo was disinterested. Naum and Laz were ruled out for the season (yay!). Bertos and Coyne were still the same - crap. Mark Lee can't cross the ball but has good ball control.

Ron Smith used the match as an opportunity to play a few youngsters, but Micevski got screwed again and was left out. A 19 year old Ukranian named Nikita Rukavytsya got some burn from the start up forward next to Harnwell. He got the ball all alone and hat a shot - but I reckon he couldn't believe his luck at being alone with it and probably didn't know what to do. Magdic and Glavas got some time in the second as subs.

Harnwell scored the opener in the first half from a header. He plays hard, which the reason he is captain and should remain so. Word is that the players dislike his style and his criticism of teammates, but in my opinion it is his job to be critical and to lead by example, which is he doing quite well. He is the only person who looks like scoring too and he's a defender! We'll see whether he is stripped of the captaincy next season.

Mark Byrnes headed in an own goal to give us a 2-0 lead at the break. In the second half he was sent off. Victory scored a goal either side of the send-off through rumoured Glory target Kristian Sarkies, but I coulnd't see either very well becasue they were scored on the south end of the ground. I haven't seen the TV footage yet either. What I did notice though was that at that end some fans had a massive 'Ultras' sign up. If you recall from a previous post, I mentioned the 'ultra' are the extreme fan groups in Italy, of which the Glory shed is really just a more moderate version of. Quite strange we should see an ultra sign in Australia.

Anyway, 1 game at home to go, that is next week vs Newcastle. Bobby Despotovski's last game. We'll probably lose but I'll be in for some more punishment anyway.

Lebron James likes cans

2007-01-05T11:12:00.000+09:00

Lebron James likes cans. Who doesn't?

Anyway, from the AOL Sports blog and Truehoop, photos have come in of Lebron James, a pool party, his toddler son and some toppless women (or women with big cans, if you like). Now, while it appears his son was there, there are no photos containing both his son and the cans (thankfully). Still, it's some pretty funny shit. The best photo is this one, where Lebron does the double-take.

You can check the full rance of photos here (safe) or here (not safe). I'm not encouraging either as the best choice.

England bashed in an alleyway, left for dead

2007-01-04T23:23:00.000+09:00

England are surely gone. A 5-0 result to Australia in the Ashes series is almost assured. What a flogging huh? And to top it off, Brett Lee struck Andrew Strauss on the helmet today with a killer ball. His lying there, lifeless, reminded me of one of those tense scenes in a movie where the actor gets mugged by streat thugs. That's what happened here. Australia has bashed the English cricket team and left them for dead. Then later on England's girlfriend or parents will figure it has been missing for some time, and after a search will find it in some dark alleyway (and during the search in the alleyway, may be accosted by someone either looking for drugs or 'a good time'). Ahh, life in the gutter.

Quotes from the 5th Test

2007-01-03T12:19:00.000+09:00

Bill Lawry on Matthew Hayden's choice of shots:

He's a great hooker, he doesn't come a lot.

Great work Bill.

You liar! I'm gonna get my big brother on you

2007-01-03T11:11:00.000+09:00

The Wollongong Hawks are liars, apparently. No doubt, Brendan Joyce was going to respond to his sacking last week. His argument is that he complied with the notice of default within the specified time period and promised to curb his 'unsatisfactory behaviour and offensive language'. So, there we have the requirement of the notice of default, that part of it that states what the breach of the coaching contract was. We are just assuming by what Joyce has said that this breach could be remedied by a promise. This is where the legal argument will start - whether or not Brendan Joyce communicated his promise within the time period, and whether the breach can be remedied by a promise to behave or whether something else was required, perhaps a written promise or agreement. But for the moment, and at least in the media, this is the argument coming from Joyce:

They've said I didn't get back to them in the 14 days, through the media, and that's not true.

This will continue for some time, but Joyce is wasting no time mitigating his loss - he's sniffing around the Gold Coast job.

Justin Langer's thoughts on retirement

2007-01-02T21:44:00.000+09:00

A retirement from an entity, a corporation, a job, a position, whatever, is much like a relationship break-up - we know it's over, but we all want to have one last ride (impressive metaphor), and we should all so be entitled (try telling that to my ex-girlfriend). Anyway, Justin Langer's last test match at the SCG his is last ride in the international cricket world, and sure enough, he's gonna ride that last test good.

Look what I found in the mail... they're after me. Aaaarrrhhhh!

2006-12-31T11:25:00.000+09:00

What a way to celebrate Christmas. Palermo GM Rino Foschi received a package through the mail and put it under the Christmas tree. His wife then opened it on Christmas. What was unsual about the package though is that it contained a severred goat's head, covered in blood. Foschi had this to say:

"It was a sour Christmas, especially for my family... My wife was shocked when she opened the package, but I think it was a joke and I'm sleeping peacefully. Let's not make a film out of this."

Now, who was responsible? Who knows, but Foschi has ruled out mafia involvement. It was probably some of the crazy ultra fans because the Rosanero have been on a slim run of late, even though they are still 3rd in the Serie A (their best result ever).

"I really don't have any explanation. I don't have any suspects to signal. Maybe some idiot wanted to make an ugly Christmas joke ... Maybe I'm disliked for some soccer market moves."

This is a pretty serious attack. Those who know me know that I have a natural affinity towards this team given its my namesake (although I've got no blood links there). I can't help but somehow think this is a conspiracy and someone is out to get me though, indiectly, by getting at sporting teams I support. I'm gonna be checking my mail pretty thoroughly from now on.

Anyway, some more coverage here, here and here.

P.S. Sorry for the poor photoshop.

My favourite moments of 2006

2006-12-29T16:49:00.000+09:00

The end of the 2006 year is upon us. I'm getting ready for some tunes and bbq to ring in the new year and soon I'll be gearing up for a new work year which is looking to be even busier than the last. Before I do, however, I have to reflect on this past year and some of its best and most memorable sporting moments. These are the ones that grabbed my attention, in no particular order (that is, as I remember them):

1. World Cup Winners: Italy and the headbutt

My favourite moment without a doubt. Italy last won the World Cup just before I was born in 1982, so I had been waiting all my life for that win. Just the joy I felt when Fabio Grosso knocked in that last penalty against France was just amazing. Marco Materazzi's brilliance and Zidane's insanity added to the match. We also can't forget Fabio Cannavaro's effort which won him European and World player of the year. It was just unfortunate that they knocked out Australia along the way.

2. World Cup Participation: Australia

When Aloisi scored that famous penalty for Australia in 2005 to send Australia to the World Cup, I felt as good - if not better - than Italy's World Cup Win. That is probably the best Australian sporting moment in the last 50 years. The Cup itself was brilliant. Cahill's goals against Japan, we should have beat Brazil and the wobbles against Croatia. All the tension. Willing my own country to victory in a sport that I love. When they faced Italy, I was happy either way.

3. Commonwealth Games: Basketball gold medal for Australia

This doesn't seem to be such a great achievement in the general course of things, but to me the gold medal win against New Zealand was special. This is the sport I've primary been involved in since I was 10, and I was so proud to see the Australians win, even though they were an NBL squad in a second-tier international competition.

4. Basketball World Championships: Women's gold medal for Australia

The Opals beat Russia and took out the World Title. Damn. The only shame in that is that it was Russia who knocked out the US. Again, another proud moment for me given its my sport.

5. NBA Finals for 2005/2006 season - just brilliant

The West: Steve Nash won his second MVP. Dallas and Phoenix had a brilliant rivalry and then Dallas finally managed to get over San Antonio in the West Finals.

The East: The Heat started shakily against the Bulls who played brilliantly, but go through and knocked the Pistons.

The Finals: Dallas was up with a sizeable lead and the Heat came back and took the Championship. The real indicator of how good the whole NBA playoffs and finals were is in how much material I wrote about it at the time.

6. Edge: the Rated R Superstar wins the WWE Championship at New Years Revolution

Edge missed out on the Elimination Chamber match where 6 superstars, including champion John Cena fought for the title. After a brutal match, Cena retained, but Edge cashed in his 'money in the bank' title shot he won at the 2005 Wrestlemania. He beat Cena in a minute and a half and became champion. The Rated R Superstar was born. What's more, is that he looked genuinely happy to win that title. It was the best moment in wrestling in '06.

7. NBA gets blue balls

Not a great moment, but memorable. So, the NBA and David Stern changed the official game ball from leather to synthetic without really canvassing the players for their input. The controversy it caused over the last couple of months. Anyway, the NBA goes back to leather on New Years Day.

8. 50,333 at an A-League match

Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC. 50,333 for an Australian club football match. I never thought that would ever happen.

9. Ashes flogging for Australia

I was on the couch the other day, bagging Andrew Symonds (like I always do) and also making statements along the line of Matthew Hayden needs to retire. They both got 150+. Hussey, Ponting and Gilchrist were all memorable with the bat. Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath are retiring. England are still crap. Flintoff will get the sack as captain. With all the drama, we're up 4-0 and have retained the Ashes. Cricket has never been more exiting.

10. Kurt Angle switches to TNA

This was a bit of a shock. We all knew Kurt Angle had serious neck problems, and we thought he was resting. Then all of a sudden we hear he has been released by WWE. Speculation, speculation, speculation. TNA has signed Kurt Angle. What an impressive signing for them. He went on to have a first class match with Samoa Joe at Turning Point a few weeks ago.

11. Perth Glory turns 10

This is sentimental to me because I've supported them since the start in 1996. They've got 2 NSL championships, have had big crowds, and most of the best domestic players have cycled through in the last 10 years. Despotovski, the last foundation player, is about to retire now. We're in a lean period, but hopefully things will improve in future.

12. Michael Schumacher retires

What can you say about the man. 7 Championships and every Formula 1 record broken in a brilliant career. He almost took the 2006 title too, but was just beaten out by Fernando Alonso. A great F1 season too in my opinion.

13. Eagles win the AFL Premiership

I can't escape this one given I'm from WA. The resiliance shown by the Eagles this year after last year's heart breaking grand final loss is what really stands out.

14. Rossi vs Hayden for the Moto GP title

Moto GP is bloody exiting to watch and is underrated in terms of its media coverage. Valentino Rossi started the season poorly and his bike wasn't up to standard. Meanwhile, Nicky Hayden couldn't put his Honda in first, but he was consistent enough to finish in the points in almost all the races. During the second half of the season Rossi gained some momentum, got some wins together. The title race was close and the unthinkable happened - Hayden's own teammate Pedrosa took him out in the penultimate race. Rossi looked to be the Champion at that point, but in the last race Rossi crashed and Hayden took the title.

15. Calciopoli scandal

This was an embarassment. We all knew Juventus were crooked and here was the proof. Influencing referee appointments doesn't seem like much, but it really could have affected the outcomes of Serie A matches. The result of the sports tribunal trials and appeals were that Juve was sent to Serie B and the other teams, Fiorentina, Lazio, AC Milan and Reggina were given point penalties. Juve now sits on top of Serie B and will get back to the A next season. Milan is struggling. The appeal process whereby each team's penalties were reduced really hit the credibility of the whole system to take care of business.

16. Mundine smacks Green

I've never been into boxing, but the Man vs the Machine was the one ppv I had to watch. I had been told by people in the know that Mundine would kill Green. I had an incling that that would be the case but I couldn't help but support the hometown boy. Anyway, Green got smacked. There's your end to the most anticipated Australian fight ever, and I'll give props to Mundine because he can walk the walk.

17. AI and Ron Artest traded (eventually)

AI was finally traded last week for snacks and treat (ie draft picks, Andre Miller and Joe Smith). What seemed dragged out, really only lasted 2 weeks. I salute Allen Iverson because he is one bad mo fo, but now my Sixers jersey is out of date. I'll have to get that Nuggets powder blue.

Earlier on in the year, Ron Artest went nuts and asked to be traded from Indiana. He was placed on the inactive list and the trade negotiations took a little longer to nut out. He ended up in Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic. Now word is Ron Ron wants out of Sacramento and the Clippers might bite with Corey Maggette.

18. Silvio's affections

Silvio Burlusconi owns AC Milan. He was also the Italian PM. I can never forget this footage. Mark Cuban ain't got nothing on him.

19. Gilbert Arenas becomes top NBA star

To NBA bloggers, Gilbert Arenas is a superhero. Whether you know him as Agent Zero, Captain Quirk or the World's Greatest Arenas, the dude is just straight up funny. Who could forget about his infamous Esquire magazine interview where he told us that he took a shower at half time and played a whole second half soaking wet, plus he is the Hibatchi. The Wizards are on a roll now too. Arenas is puting up huge numbers and it looks like Kobe wants some too.

20. I start a blog

OK, maybe this isn't really a highlight, but its a highlight for me. As we close out the year, I really got to thinking that I've enjoyed posting and writing about sports from my point of view, and hopefully giving Aussies a bit of something that they don't usually see. We can all turn on the news and hear about AFL/Rugby (depending on your state), cricket and swimming, but you won't always hear NBL news. You will probably hear about the A-League, but you won't ever get anything on the NBA. I hope I've brought you some of these highlights to your attention. There's a big sporting world out there that even I can't fully grasp.

There you have it. If you have bothered to read this whole thing maybe you would like to post your thoughts (agree, disagree, etc), or maybe even give your list.