Category Archives: Written

06.28.13
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Hold the tears Jobe

Essendon produced a great come from behind victory last night. I admire the grit of any team that can do that in the west, Jobe Watson’s tears however aren’t so welcome.

Jobe Watson in happier times

Jobe Watson in happier times

Social Media went nuts last night after West Coast fans booed Watson every time he touched the ball. Some fans were outraged they could boo a player after the culture problems they’ve had at their own club, while some didn’t care because booing the opposition is part of the game.

Drugs in sport are horrible. Recreational drugs can often carry more health risks, while performance enhancers do just that, and for that reason I think the two are very different animals.

If a player makes the choice to take recreational drugs then they are putting their own health at risk while potentially putting those around them in danger. That can’t be applauded because it shows an obvious flaw in human nature.

If you take performance enhancing drugs, as Watson has admitted to then you are not only giving yourself an unfair advantage in your field, but you are tarnishing the name of your employers and the league to the point where the damage may be irreparable.

If you’re Jobe Watson, then you’d think being on roughly $800,000 to $1M a year, you would be able to independently check whether what you are taking is on the banned list.

In a past athletic life the first thing I did every time a doctor suggested I took something was check if it was on the banned list.

Now tell me, if I can be doing that from the age of 14 when I am earning absolutely nothing, what’s the harm in Jobe Moneybags (pun fully intended) placing a phone call or getting a second opinion?

I honestly don’t believe athletes can trust anybody who isn’t an official member of ASADA or WADA when it comes to what they are taking.

Sure, you can say that he was under the care of his employer so he should trust them, but look at the history of Dank and tell me if you’d trust him with anything.

Club captains are meant to be role models and set examples for not only the rest of the team, but everyone who in any way associates themselves with the team and I believe that while we should congratulate Watson for having the guts to come out and admit his actions, he has firmly failed as a role model as a result.

It can be argued that admitted his took a banned substance sends a great message to the community, and I agree on that point, but it doesn’t undo the wrong he has done through his own irresponsibility.

Should he lose his Brownlow? I don’t see an alternative.

 

 

 

06.17.13
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Deebacle :: 2013 release

A few weeks ago I wrote a wonderful post how despite the fact that Melbourne were absolutely terrible, the belief that I had wouldn’t drop. What a long time a few weeks is in sport.

Remember Robbie Flower? He actually cared

Remember Robbie Flower? He actually cared

“Neeld gone, In comes Neil Craig” read the text I received just after nine this morning. My prompt response was filled with choice words that won’t be repeated here and the proclamation that we will not win again this season.

Not only do I wish that were a lie, but I wish I cared enough to care.

The sporting landscape is packed for the casual fan, so when you compulsively need a team to support, there are always five or six different leagues on the run.

I’m lucky that I live less than 15 kilometres from the MCG and can jaunt across whenever the mood strikes to view one of the longest standing passions of my life.

The mood has not and will not strike in 2013, in fact the last time the mood struck was for the simple fact I got to have a kick on the G’ after the game, before that? I have no idea.

The product is insipid, the management is questionable if it exists, the results are predictable, and even our social media channels are deluded, going as far as to call a 100 point loss a “tough afternoon”.

Let’s call it what it is – A business playing in a world where they don’t belong.

Does this mean I’m going to be taking my love elsewhere? Nope, simply put I’ll watch on the idiot box if I can and keep one eye on my phone if I can’t watch, in hope of a miracle.

I mentioned above that I live close to the home of football, yet there is a team who play their home games 16,935 kilometres who I’d much rather invest my time in.

I use the Boston Red Sox as little more than an example. Sure I can’t get to Fenway Park as often as I’d like to, but you know what I do get out of them? Respect.

Melbourne are in year 49 of a very boring premiership drought, where they are yet to flirt with winning on the last Saturday in September. Yes there have been two chances to buck the trend in my life, but when you lose those games by an average of 78 points, I don’t think that counts as giving it a good crack.

I look forward to seeing who we bring in next year, because I’m sure they’ve got some good ideas to take us forward, but given half of the current squad don’t want to be there, I see them suffering the same fate as Neeld.

As long as there is a Melbourne, I am Melbourne.

When I made the move south in 2011 I was overjoyed at the prospect of making the trip into the city every week and watching us make the move north in the standings, because let’s face it, that’s what I’ve waited my whole life to see.

Looking back I can see that hope really does spring eternal.

This may also seem very rash, but I’ve known we’ve been rubbish for a long time, and I have no regret in venting the frustrations at our current plight.

The only real regret I have is buying my Niece and Nephew Melbourne gear when they were born, because they have no choice but to follow the mediocre path I have traveled for 25 years.Maybe if the club wasn’t so accepting of the low bar they have set themselves then they might get somewhere.Cheers to another 25 years of misery if we make it that far!

 

 

 

05.19.13
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Every heart beats true

I long for the day Mark Neeld does this

I long for the day Mark Neeld does this

For as long as I can remember a big part of my sporting obsession has been the Melbourne Football Club. Reports in the media this week comparing us to the 1996 and just prior Fitzroy sides has put enough doubt in my head as to how long this can stay the case.

Dear Melbourne FC,

First and foremost I would like to say that I can see what you’re trying to do and I like it. Where most would be writing you letters to complain and show their discontent with our current situation I’m happy to do the opposite. My sister made me support Melbourne, and while I didn’t understand the importance of this decision or lack-thereof at the time, I’d like to thank the club for shaping some aspects of my personality, mainly how things going wrong can help build character, because if there was ever an expert, you’re it.

Growing up my favourite player was none other than Jim Stynes, if only for the reason that he shares my birthday. Jimmy represented what I saw in the club through my young eyes, always having a crack and never giving up.

If I were your typical miserable fan, I’d make a sarcastic remark of “oh how that’s changed now I have perspective”, but you’ve shown me that it hasn’t.

Sure there have been some performances that have been lacking in substance this season, but that happens for every club, just ask Nathan Buckley.

My dad and I often joke we are in to year forty something of Barassi’s five-year plan, so I beg you to please stop putting time frames on things.

Yes, things are rough now, but the loyal fans will always be there, even if they aren’t at the game. My Niece and Nephew were both the recipients of Melbourne gear before they walk, and twice this season I’ve had to tell them they have no choice in who they support because somebody made that decision for them and a football team is forever. At least my Nephew can recognise this and say “I’d never support the Bombers, Nobody likes them and they’re bad guys”,  seriously that’s priceless from a four-year old.

The 2000 Grand Final should be the highlight of my life in Red and Blue, but it was anything but. A day that exposed me to the emotions of the game and saw me in tears five minutes into the second quarter.

It was false hope and nothing more, a hope which lead me to believe that at worst we’d win it all by 2004.

That didn’t really work out did it?

Is it the players that we recruit? That depends what you want to believe. My sister and I used to joke that you could put any player in a Melbourne jumper and they’d be heading down the career slope.

Then we signed Mitch Clark.

Don’t get me wrong, Mitch is one of the most exciting players I have ever seen don the Red and Blue, but his two injuries against GWS have taken the humor out of that joke, so perhaps rest him against them from now until eternity?

I know how tough the job is that the club faces, and I’m not talking on field. The guys and girls in the front office who have to turn up and slog it out every day, putting on a brave face, promoting the club, manning the social media channels, I’ve been there for a losing team and as the saying goes there are only so many ways you can skin a cat.

This weekend may have seen us lose again, but we’re not at the bottom of the ladder and the signs were impressive. They key is to find the confidence within. All of the players on our list got to the AFL level because they knew that they were good enough to succeed.

Is success all that matters? Obviously not, otherwise I and I assume thousands of others wouldn’t be hanging around to see how things turn out for the oldest club in the land.

I love it when we win, I can’t help but feel a stab of pain when we lose, but I’ll head in to next week knowing that is the only game that matters, because that is what sport, and you, have taught me.

While there is a Melbourne I will be a Melbourne fan.

I’m looking forward to whatever next week brings us.

Yours Faithfully,

X.T.G Player.

 

05.10.13
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Broad-Casting

Over the last month there has been extensive discussion within Australian media circles on the potential results of American style broadcasting in a country where the concept of commentators for teams seems so foreign. Here’s why it’s the only way forward for Australia.

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When Richmond took on Collingwood in Round Four of the AFL premiership season earlier this year, viewers had the option to “Press red for Ed”.

No, pressing the red button would not bring up a picture of the Collingwood presidents reaction to their blown lead in the 2010 Grand Final, but give viewers the opportunity to hear a Collingwood based commentary team.

I only heard a small amount of the commentary and despite the fact I’m a long way from a Collingwood fan it was one of the best things I’ve heard in Australian sport.

It wasn’t the best in terms of commentary, but it was the best because I had a commentary team who had a much deeper understanding of the Collingwood Football Club then the average commentator.

Earlier this week the Herald Sun revealed that the AFL are hoping to broadcast their own games by the end of the 2016, which again throws open the window for team based commentary.

Imagine this, the Western Bulldogs are playing in Brisbane on a Saturday night and rather than listening to the likes of Brian Taylor and Richo, I have the chance to listen to Marcus Ashcroft and Bernie Quinlan.

If I’m a Brisbane fan (which I’m not, but I have a soft spot for them), then that’s going to be my preference any day of the week because I’m going to hear more positives about my team from people who had the history that I know inside and out.

This isn’t to say there is no room for journalists in the broadcast box, with Vin Scully from the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball being the perfect example.

Scully never played Big League ball, working as a journalist and beginning his career with the Dodgers in 1950.

Wouldn’t that longevity be something to see in Australia?

This is a technique which has already been explored in the lower tier sports in Australian, with the ABL, AIHL and NBL all having team specific broadcasters.

Through these broadcasts we can also see an increase in revenue for media organisations, with companies such as Hewitt Sports reaping the rewards. HSN have had broadcast rights for AIHL games while the Brisbane Bandits have two innings per game called by HSN Beat Writer John Grey, in what has become known as the “Hewitt Sports Hangout”.

Sport has turned from a game into a business over the last three decades, and the best way for this transition to be complete will be for leagues and teams to break away from the current broadcast mould and display the independence fans should be so desperately craving.

Do you have a favourite franchise based broadcast team? Do you have suggestions on who the best team could be in your favourite sport? Let me know below.

 

02.18.13
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Who cares how fast you can run?

Where to from here? Oscar Pistorius being led into court.

Where to from here? Oscar Pistorius being led into court.

I was astounded to see an Australian journalist pose the question of what Oscar Pistorius’ alleged crime meant for the future of disabled sport, and it has me thinking about the way athletes get treated.

I’m happy to admit that when I heard of the incident on Thursday night, I like many others thought how tragic it was.

Within 24 hours all I could think was “He’s going to be spending a lot of time in prison if things don’t work out as he planned.”

I’m all for the presumption of innocence until otherwise proven, (so for the benefit of this post it was an accident [despite an obvious bias below]).

If found guilty, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment (minimum 25 years), as the prosecutors have deemed his acts were premeditated.

If it’s true he has a history of violence, then I think it can be shown that he had planned the act.

I’m not trying to be a criminal expert, just somebody who has an interest in both areas and thinks one cannot excuse the other.

How often in society have we seen somebody say “oh, they didn’t know better” or “oh, they’re famous, so the fact they were drink driving isn’t as bad.”

I fear Pistorius will attempt to use the same defence, citing all of those Paralympic words.

Paralympic words include – Hero, inspiring, amazing, feat of humanity… You know, the ones the able-bodied commentators and journalists roll out because they’ve got an embarrassingly small amount of experience dealing with people with a disability (Steph Brantz saying “So, does Cerebral Palsy affect your everyday life?” not only takes the cake, but the whole bakery).

I hope nobody falls into the trap of continuing to believe the hype around Pistorius.

He can now be seen as little more than a criminal who had managed to find his way into the public eye before potentially committing what is an all too common atrocity.

Don’t defend him, don’t talk about how fast he can run, don’t talk about him being one of the most respected people in the world and for your own sake and the sanity of people with a disability worldwide please don’t focus on the fact he has a disability.

Disabled or not, athlete or lawyer, Pistorius faces something which has the power to ruin his life and that’s the only thing he should be judged on from now until the saga concludes.

02.13.13
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Reporting for duty

Michael Collins with the Claxton Shield

Michael Collins with the Claxton Shield

Less than a week ago I was pacing my bedroom, anxiously begging for the Canberra Cavalry to make the last out of game two of the ABLCS to clinch the first ever Claxton Shield for the Australian Capital Territory.

Cue a knocked down ball by closer Sean Toler and an underhand toss (looking at you Mr.Foulke [2004 Red Sox]) toss to Aaron Sloan and it was all over.

Now it’s a warm Wednesday night and I’m absorbed by the fact that Spring Training has kicked off in the States.

As a Red Sox fan, I’m devastated by the news John Lackey is healthy, so right now I’m focused on the Australian connection.

The main player in said connection right now is the man of the moment, Michael “Tubby” Collins.

When I spoke with Collins shortly after his appointment last year, he said the one of the most exciting prospects of the job was the Canberra fan base, who he rewarded in spades on Saturday night.

“Playing in front of our fans was about as much fun as I’ve had playing,  so now that I’m a manager this is a great opportunity to continue being with these fans. ”

Not only is Collins receiving well deserved accolades from the Australian baseball public after his efforts as a first-year manager, but he is also making waves within the San Diego Padres organisation.

After managing the Dominican Summer League team in the Padres organisation, Collins has in the last fortnight helped ABL Triple Crown winner Adam Buschini ink a deal, while Brodie Downs will head to Peoria, Arizona to link up with the Padres organisation as they head into camp.

While neither Buschini or Downs will get near Petco Park this year (fortunate circumstances aside), the work Collins has done to get them back into, or with a real at joining an affiliated organisation.

One question I’ve heard a lot in the last few days is “what can be done to get this on tv every week?”

Honestly, not a lot more than what is being done now.

Pick a team, get to a game, buy merchandise, grow the addiction and then feed it more.

With pitchers and catchers reporting within 48 hours of the end of the ABL season and the ABL opening little more than a week after the end of the World Series, it truly is a game that never ends.

I live for this.

02.03.13
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A family affair

Monday morning will see the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49er’s go at it for the ultimate prize in American sports, and while it is set to be a cracker game, I don’t feel the excitement that I have in the previous years.

If it wasn’t for the John and Jim Harbaugh factor, I don’t think I could be remotely excited about this game, and for me this is the biggest storyline there is.

Forget Ray Lewis playing in his last ever game, forget the fact the Niners have never lost on the biggest stage.

Why ?

Because Ray Lewis would probably be serving 25 to life if he wasn’t a footballer and the Niners are a team who I have grown up with a dislike of (never mind what Colin Kaepernick did to Boise St. while he was at Nevada).

Rather than looking from the perspective of teams, I’m seeing the best attack vs the best defence in the league and a game which will be won by the team that can assert themselves early.

The Ravens have looked good in coming from behind the last two weeks, and while the Niners did the same against the Falcons in Atlanta, I was less impressed as I watched Matt Ryan continue to be one of the worst performing playoff QB’s in recent memory (Ryan is 1-4 in five playoff appearances).

It’s all about two brothers. Every kid does it in the backyard, coaching or playing against your sibling to win a title and Monday morning will see the fantasy come to life.

Jim and John know the other inside out, know what makes the other tick and  the situations they are likely to take risks in.

I feel the risk factor is bigger than any other, because there will be a point in the game where one side is going to need to risk it and I am almost certain the opposition sideline will have the perfect counter planned.

This could be the best Superbowl of the last decade, because who knows you better than family ?

01.31.13
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Calling in the Cavalry

The Canberra Cavalry will host the 2012-13 ABLCS in eight days time

In eight days time something will happen which I am a long way from used to.

An Australian based sporting franchise I support will attempt to win a championship, which if successful will be the first time I have tasted championship glory in my own country.

While I don’t know who the Canberra Cavalry will be taking on for the Claxton Shield, one thing is for certain – the images that unfold will stick with me forever.

The most common question I get asked is “Why Canberra?”

Simple really, when the ABL was re-formed in 2009 I had no geographical ties as I wasn’t living in an ABL market.

I waited until the sides were announced and examined logos and colour schemes and potential home grounds to come up with a winner, and my heart landed (and stuck) in the capital.

By the time the first game of the new ABL rolled around I was less than 48 hours from completing my undergraduate degree at James Cook University in Townsville.

Rather than studying for my last ever exam (Ethics in Journalism, I believe) I sat listening to the HHH coverage of the Cavalry and Blue Sox from Blacktown as the Cavs went down in an agonising 1-0 game.

The inaugural season didn’t get any better and by the time the clashes against Brisbane were flooded out in Mid-January we were 12-24, in dead last place and the laughing stock of the league after being on the wrong end of too many blowouts.

Flash forward twelve months and the Melbourne Aces eliminate the Cavalry on the last day of the season at the showgrounds.

This would have been tough enough to watch had I not been an Aces employee at the time, a process which served as a massive learning curve of what loyalty is all about.

When I look at how far we’ve come I realise the result doesn’t matter, because we have shown that we belong.

Would a championship be nice ? Yes of course it would, because it is a feeling that I have rarely felt in my life.

Do I fancy our chances better if we beat Sydney or Perth ? No. We are going to have to play hopefully two and possibly three great games of ball to be the first team outside of Perth to win the revamped league while claiming a spot in the 2013 Asia series.

What do I think will happen at The Fort ? I think there are going to be a few thousand people just like me, proud of the fact they’ve stuck something through, when it might have been easier to give up, who are hoping for the best but have seen enough to know better.

Whatever happens my blood is orange and there is always next year.

11.28.12
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The Irish are coming

 

Notre Dame will have my support in Miami.

OK, coming might not be the right word to use after Notre Dame worked their way to a perfect season and place in the National Title game by rolling USC last weekend.

What the Fighting Irish have managed to do though, is finally prove that they were able to get through a regular season without choking.

I wish I could be a little more delicate, but for as long as I’ve watched Notre Dame, they have done nothing but underachieve.

This is a big part of the reason that when they head to Miami, they’ll have me in their corner.

Not convinced yet that you should do the same ? Well let me help you.

  • They aren’t an SEC team :: Stay tuned for an actual anti-SEC rant, but why would you go for a school from a conference that has had representation in the last 7 deciders ?
  • Independence Day :: Unless you think Army, Navy or BYU are good enough to make the BCS title game, then this is the only independent / mid major school (at this point in time) that you are likely to see play for the whole package, who doesn’t like the underdog (even though they’ll go in ranked #1) ?
  • Manti Te’o :: If this guy doesn’t pick up the Heisman then I hate to tell you but we’ve all been conned. The former High School player of the year is obviously the best player in the country and a big part of the reason ND have a chance to win their first title since 1988 (3 years before Te’o was born). Oh, the guy is also going top pick in the draft in April, feel free to quote me on that.
  • This could kill the BCS :: Sure, ND going undefeated isn’t as good as every team losing a game, but imagine the uproar if a team who don’t even have a conference to call home can topple the might that is the SEC. It might just cause a few people to open their eyes.

There were many times that it didn’t seem the Irish were good enough, but now they’ve got their chance and I can’t wait to see what they can do.

 

 

11.20.12
by

BC$ Bu$ting

Kansas State had National Title hopes before last weekends loss to Baylor.

Enough’s enough.

I absolutely hate the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in College Football.

I’ve no problem with a system that rewards teams who deserves to be in the position to play for a National Title, but as far as i’m aware it’s not the SEC VS Best of the rest, but more on my dislike of the SEC down the track.

I’m a Boise State Bronco at heart, wound up like that after my sister went to College in Idaho and I had a Euphoric feeling when they beat OU in the 2007 Feista Bowl.

Since then i’ve had people tell me my school plays weak teams, we don’t deserve our shot, we don’t have the talent that big schools have, or and my personal favourite “You guys run nothing but trick plays”.

Sure, this year is the worst year for me to make a case about BSU and the BCS from a personal standpoint, Joe Southwick is detached from normality and it has hurt us bad, among many other continual problems.

But let’s look at some of the teams BSU have beaten in years since we “fooled” our way on to the map::

2008 :: Boise State 37  #12 Oregon 32 ( Away)

2009 :: #14 Boise State 19 #16 Oregon 8 (Home)

2009 :: #4 BSU 17 #6 TCU 10 (Bowl game)

2010 :: #5  BSU 33 #6 Virginia Tech 30 (Away)

2011 ::  #7 BSU 35 #22 Georgia 21 (Away)

 

Not bad for a school who doesn’t play anyone. Fun fact, The 14 points the Ducks scored last weekend against Stanford marks the fewest points scored since the 2009 game against BSU.

Anyway back to the BCS.

All well and good if you’re in an AQ Conference that isn’t the Big East (although given defections to the B1G i’m not sure what the Big East actually represents now, it’s not big and a lot of it’s teams aren’t based in the east.

Notre Dame have the Championship game on a plate, beat USC this weekend, who are without Matt Barkley, and the majority of the college football world (myself included) will be taking the side of the Irish when they head to Miami.

There are some who think that a Notre Dame loss to USC is the best thing that could happen for the BCS, because there cannot be a zero loss team in the title game, to this I say, all well and good but I have a feeling that the BCS powers don’t want an independent school in there any more than they want a school from a mid-major conference.

I will say this, while a four team playoff will be great when it comes in, all it is going to do is benefit those same big schools (USC, Texas, Bama, OU, LSU, Florida, et al.), because they know they can make the playoffs with a loss, so they are yet again protected to the end of the earth.

The South-Eastern Conference is a wonderful place, if you you reside there, that is.

Not since USC and Texas took on one another in the Rose Bowl have we seen a NT game without representation from the self-anointed gods of the gridiron.

If they want to do a playoff the right way, you need to have all conference champions (regardless of status of conference) to get your 11/12 playoff teams plus the next best 4, based off the coaches poll.

Seed them 1-16 based off their coaches poll rankings, throw them in a bracket and there you go.

If it took me 5 minutes to think of this why are there people spending millions who can’t figure it out ? Oh they want to protect their Alma Mata… Of course.

All the common sense in the world can’t save those who are in charge of saving one of the greatest spectacles in the world, so hang on for the ride because it’s going to be interesting.