Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Reality of things
This will be an ongoing subject I suggest, and just to warm ourselves up a bit I couldn't resist a link to this little snippet of wisdom. Something that is easily forgotten, and for me being away from Southern and Western States for 10 years, is that Rugby League does not even register on the radar of sports fans down there. Aussie Rules, while not the no.1, is on the radar in NSW and Qld. We will discuss this at length I suggest.........
Friday, July 4, 2008
Lull Before the Storm
This week I'm sick. Crook as a dog. S@#tting through the eye of a needle. Energy down for meaningful posts. When searching for what caused it, I look no further than Wednesday night 7:30pm. Absolute crap and its not totally passed yet..............
Be back when I'm right again. The cats are on tonight so that should see me through.............
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
'BEST'
Why the hell do you need to pick four or five 'Best' players at the end of every match? In following on from my previous post, in which I drew attention to the excess size of the AFL field, I would like to put forward the following notion:
The reason why the AFL - apart from in the Grand Final - cannot pick one 'Best' player is simply because the ground is too large. As the evidence begins to mount, it would surely be only the most stubborn ping pong supporter who would deny this.
Come on, really, if you can't pick just one player for best on ground because you couldn't see the other half of the field... What point is there of continuing this debacle.
Commentator 1: "Boys who do we think was best out there tonight for the Lions?"
Commentator 2: "Well I could only see 35% of the field from where I was sitting, and even then I could only make out the runners (waterboys for league supporters) as they were wearing fluoro shirts. I guess I'd have to give it to Power, and maybe Black, oh and Bradshaw he was good as well, headed up the clangers and he grabbed a few hard balls, and oh, his 'passing' (for the uninitiated, in AFL, a pass can be a kick as well....) was great out there today. Oh yeah, I forgot, the ruckman, whats his name, I forget, you know the one who only ever goes up for the tipoff, like in basketball, except in basketball they actually do something after the tipoff? He was good too"
Commentator 1: "So should I draw a line through a couple and let's just say, the whole team was best? "
Commentator 2: "Well yeah, that's how we normally do it don't we?"
So, just to rehash;
1. Crowd all listen to radios so they can keep up with happenings in the other, not visible, part of the field.
2. Best on Ground is given to multitudes of players. Seriously, they can't ALL be best.
3. Substitutions - unlimited. Did I hear somewhere that 92 interchanges/subs/whatever you call them was the record? 92??? If that isn't an indicator that the field is too large then I don't know what is.
So in conclusion; If the halfwits that run the AFL can't even get the field size right, what possible hope is there for the game.....?
The reason why the AFL - apart from in the Grand Final - cannot pick one 'Best' player is simply because the ground is too large. As the evidence begins to mount, it would surely be only the most stubborn ping pong supporter who would deny this.
Come on, really, if you can't pick just one player for best on ground because you couldn't see the other half of the field... What point is there of continuing this debacle.
Commentator 1: "Boys who do we think was best out there tonight for the Lions?"
Commentator 2: "Well I could only see 35% of the field from where I was sitting, and even then I could only make out the runners (waterboys for league supporters) as they were wearing fluoro shirts. I guess I'd have to give it to Power, and maybe Black, oh and Bradshaw he was good as well, headed up the clangers and he grabbed a few hard balls, and oh, his 'passing' (for the uninitiated, in AFL, a pass can be a kick as well....) was great out there today. Oh yeah, I forgot, the ruckman, whats his name, I forget, you know the one who only ever goes up for the tipoff, like in basketball, except in basketball they actually do something after the tipoff? He was good too"
Commentator 1: "So should I draw a line through a couple and let's just say, the whole team was best? "
Commentator 2: "Well yeah, that's how we normally do it don't we?"
So, just to rehash;
1. Crowd all listen to radios so they can keep up with happenings in the other, not visible, part of the field.
2. Best on Ground is given to multitudes of players. Seriously, they can't ALL be best.
3. Substitutions - unlimited. Did I hear somewhere that 92 interchanges/subs/whatever you call them was the record? 92??? If that isn't an indicator that the field is too large then I don't know what is.
So in conclusion; If the halfwits that run the AFL can't even get the field size right, what possible hope is there for the game.....?
Friday, June 27, 2008
Necks on the chopping block......?
Goodness gracious me. Bless your cotton socks young fella.
I once saw an interview on that teeny bopper 'Channel V' with Bernard Fanning. For those of you that don't know, he is the lead singer of powderfinger. Anyway, the interview happened just after the classic album 'Vulture Street' was released and went something like this:
Interviewer - "So Bernard, I have heard your album and it sounds really rock and roll really heavy, almost violent compared to your previous albums"
Bernard - "Thanks man, we really had a great time making the album"
Interviewer - "How can you make such a heavy, issue-laden record when you have done nothing but kick back and bask happily in the glow and commercial success of your previous albums?"
Bernard - "Well actually it hasn't been all basking and happiness dude, my brother died last year, so I went through the deepest, darkest period of my life in the making of this album.."
Interviewer - "Ohh....Right. I am.. umm...sorry to hear...umm...about that..."
Might I suggest ye AFL fans take note of this story. Do your research before you put your necks on the chopping block.
I respectfully beg to differ fine sir on your points about league fans (9/10 no less) caring more about State of Origin then their club team. Oh, yes, I can see how people who only tune in for State of Origin three times a year could be counted in these 'figures', however, are these really fans of rugby league? Your answer: NO. These are fans of State of Origin. They are fans of the spectacle. Fans of the hype. Fans of an excuse for a pissup. They may even just be people who exhibit an extreme disliking of anyone South or North of their respective border. These are not true rugby league fans in the same way that once a year Melbourne Cup punters are not true equine junkies. Let's add a little cross code perspective here. I wonder whether fans who only came out to watch Victoria v South Australia in the old days of Aussie Rules State of Origin would be called true fans by our esteemed colleagues? I would doubt this very much.
No, the real rugby league fan would never swap a State of Origin victory for a grand final appearance. There is something special about a team that plays together for 30 weeks to get to that final day in September. Something inherently primal. It's an investment in your teams very existence.
And as to your experience at the rugby league game, I would love to bet that the crowd was a whole lot louder than that miserable rabble you call an AFL 'crowd'. I mean seriously, how passionate can you be with a radio stuck in your ear the whole game. I have witnessed this phenomenon first hand (at a Cats game no less) and it was the most boring, dreary crowd atmosphere I have ever seen at a sports game. I mean, really if you wanted to sit down the whole game and listen to the radio so you didn't 'miss anything' (and there's a clue for you, if the ground is so large that you can't catch everything that is happening, maybe the AFL should consider shortening the field so you can actually see something) then surely you could get the same atmosphere sitting in your lounge room with your TV dinner. I remember getting to my feet to shout support for a J Brown special and I got a polite, "please sit down sir, you are blocking my view..". Where was I, at the cinema watching Bridget Jones' diary, or at the FOOTY....?
So next time Mr. Scooter, I would spend less time focussing on body parts (seems to be a recurring theme of your posts) and more time talking with real Australians. Yes, we of the no neck variety. Rugby League Fans.
I once saw an interview on that teeny bopper 'Channel V' with Bernard Fanning. For those of you that don't know, he is the lead singer of powderfinger. Anyway, the interview happened just after the classic album 'Vulture Street' was released and went something like this:
Interviewer - "So Bernard, I have heard your album and it sounds really rock and roll really heavy, almost violent compared to your previous albums"
Bernard - "Thanks man, we really had a great time making the album"
Interviewer - "How can you make such a heavy, issue-laden record when you have done nothing but kick back and bask happily in the glow and commercial success of your previous albums?"
Bernard - "Well actually it hasn't been all basking and happiness dude, my brother died last year, so I went through the deepest, darkest period of my life in the making of this album.."
Interviewer - "Ohh....Right. I am.. umm...sorry to hear...umm...about that..."
Might I suggest ye AFL fans take note of this story. Do your research before you put your necks on the chopping block.
I respectfully beg to differ fine sir on your points about league fans (9/10 no less) caring more about State of Origin then their club team. Oh, yes, I can see how people who only tune in for State of Origin three times a year could be counted in these 'figures', however, are these really fans of rugby league? Your answer: NO. These are fans of State of Origin. They are fans of the spectacle. Fans of the hype. Fans of an excuse for a pissup. They may even just be people who exhibit an extreme disliking of anyone South or North of their respective border. These are not true rugby league fans in the same way that once a year Melbourne Cup punters are not true equine junkies. Let's add a little cross code perspective here. I wonder whether fans who only came out to watch Victoria v South Australia in the old days of Aussie Rules State of Origin would be called true fans by our esteemed colleagues? I would doubt this very much.
No, the real rugby league fan would never swap a State of Origin victory for a grand final appearance. There is something special about a team that plays together for 30 weeks to get to that final day in September. Something inherently primal. It's an investment in your teams very existence.
And as to your experience at the rugby league game, I would love to bet that the crowd was a whole lot louder than that miserable rabble you call an AFL 'crowd'. I mean seriously, how passionate can you be with a radio stuck in your ear the whole game. I have witnessed this phenomenon first hand (at a Cats game no less) and it was the most boring, dreary crowd atmosphere I have ever seen at a sports game. I mean, really if you wanted to sit down the whole game and listen to the radio so you didn't 'miss anything' (and there's a clue for you, if the ground is so large that you can't catch everything that is happening, maybe the AFL should consider shortening the field so you can actually see something) then surely you could get the same atmosphere sitting in your lounge room with your TV dinner. I remember getting to my feet to shout support for a J Brown special and I got a polite, "please sit down sir, you are blocking my view..". Where was I, at the cinema watching Bridget Jones' diary, or at the FOOTY....?
So next time Mr. Scooter, I would spend less time focussing on body parts (seems to be a recurring theme of your posts) and more time talking with real Australians. Yes, we of the no neck variety. Rugby League Fans.
Passion
The very mention of this will get the hairs standing up on the back of all rugby league fans necks. Actually, that is an oxymoron because we all know rugby players have no necks so by reason then rubgy league fans probably have no necks. Well, it gets the hair standing up on the back of their hands then. Passion. It is the reason that this blog was started. It is the reason we bother to turn on the tele on the weekends hoping to catch a bit of footy between the Antique Roadshow and Funniest Home Idiots. Its the sort of thing that drives non-footy people mad, but is the reason that the AFL can consider a night grand final and be secure in the knowledge that 100k people will still turn up and every sane man and his kids will tune in. Utter passion and football in the same breath and people north east of Canberra will tell you State of Origin. They live for it. They breathe it. Every spare section of the Courier Mail year round is full of it. Between balls in the first over of the first test in Brisbane the bloke on the radio brings it up. Will Lockyer be fit? Will they pick Matty Bowen? How lame are NSW supporters? Little do they realise how futile all this is. They just don't see that they are actually playing the ultimate villain to the few amongst them that understand passion. That understand football. You see, ask a rugby league fan what they treasure most, State of Origin or grand final victories and 9/10 will respond "State of Origin mate, its all that matters eh". The other 1/10 are NSW supporters and who knows what they think! I'll tell you what passion is. Passion is when you are born and bred to live and breathe the colours and song and names of the team that your parents and grandparents and great grandparents barracked for and loved. That every person that you knew as a child followed either your team or a rival and every morning of every day of your life growing up you spoke football and argued as to why yours was better than the others. Every new person you meet you greet with the question, "Who do you barrack for?", and you and they know if the answer is Collingwood you either love them or hate them. Passion is beating Collingwood and packing a dead magpie in a box and posting it to a Pies fan that you know. (OK that might be madness). Passion is getting wheeled out in your coffin to the sounds of your club song with the badges of your favourite players pinned to your chest. (Both these last two incidents were perpetrated by my Grandma and I now concede she may have been mad). ( But passionate.) Passion is standing 10 deep in the outer on a milk crate to see over the head of the drunk Collingwood fan throwing empty VB cans over his head and swearing at Peter Featherby. Passion is every weekend of the footy season for every Aussie Rules fan, not just AFL fan (I'll save this point of nomenclature for a later argument), who hangs on every news item to see the score of ANY game that is on at the time. It all impacts on the prospects of their team, the reports, the injuries the scores the maybes and not quites. I could go on........
I took my wife and daughter to a game of rugby league last year, just cos we could. I could not remember being in an environment with less passion and meaning and involvement from the fans since last time I watched Uzbekistan play the Eskimos in a game of scrabble. It was dead. Their idea of passion was about the equivalent of what I demonstrated when I realised you could buy Bundy instead of Fourex. Enough.
Passion is every day for an aussie rules fan. Rugby league fans are seasonal. Clubs come second. It does not compare.
Bring on the retort..........
I took my wife and daughter to a game of rugby league last year, just cos we could. I could not remember being in an environment with less passion and meaning and involvement from the fans since last time I watched Uzbekistan play the Eskimos in a game of scrabble. It was dead. Their idea of passion was about the equivalent of what I demonstrated when I realised you could buy Bundy instead of Fourex. Enough.
Passion is every day for an aussie rules fan. Rugby league fans are seasonal. Clubs come second. It does not compare.
Bring on the retort..........
Sunday, June 22, 2008
So...by that logic?
Well well well. Seems like we have a politician in our midst. What a great way to spin that angle on toughness. I would, however, like to point out the obvious fatal flaw in the AFL argument by asking a few questions:
Q: Were Muhammad Ali, Jeff Fenech, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson (I'm not touching Choc Mundine..) and Roy Jones Jr considered tough?
Q: Aussie diggers from WW1.... tough?
Q: Did these men know what was coming to them each time they stepped into the ring, or onto the battlefield?
I will explain in simple terms for you Port Adelaide supporters:
Just Because you know what is coming to you, doesn't make you less tough. In fact I would think it is obvious that the tougher person is the person who knows he is going to get bashed senseless or may be fatally injured, but goes out and does it anyway.
And cutting an appendage off for your sport. That's just plain silly.
Q: Were Muhammad Ali, Jeff Fenech, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson (I'm not touching Choc Mundine..) and Roy Jones Jr considered tough?
Q: Aussie diggers from WW1.... tough?
Q: Did these men know what was coming to them each time they stepped into the ring, or onto the battlefield?
I will explain in simple terms for you Port Adelaide supporters:
Just Because you know what is coming to you, doesn't make you less tough. In fact I would think it is obvious that the tougher person is the person who knows he is going to get bashed senseless or may be fatally injured, but goes out and does it anyway.
And cutting an appendage off for your sport. That's just plain silly.
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