titan_uranus

Drew Brees' record of consecutive games with a TD pass is over! He was terrible yesterday v Atlanta, threw for 5 interceptions (there was a 6th but it came back via a penalty) and his only TD pass also died off due to a penalty. On the one hand, Green Bay was about as effective against the Giants last Sunday night as Melbourne generally is at Kardinia Park. So maybe they're in a bit of a form slump. On the other hand, maybe that loss will spark them to get moving towards the playoffs again, especially since they've lost the number 2 seed to Chicago as it stands.

Good call from Ponting. Let's hope he can crack one final ton and help us win the Test. With Siddle and Hilfenhaus both out, hopefully it's Hazlewood over Hastings (I like Hastings, but I don't see a long term future in Hastings and I don't think his bowling is threatening enough to take wickets against South Africa). Lyon needs to play.

I don't think 31 'means nothing'. I just disagree entirely with the notion that an existing player should change numbers mid-career solely because of Barrassi. It's ludicrous. Putting a new player in 31, or any other number with a famous past wearer, and talking about Barrassi is OK (I don't like they way we sometimes hype it up, but I don't mind giving a player a number and talking about its heritage). But taking an existing player and giving him 31 because of who used to wear it, on the logic that 31 is important to Melbourne and as such we have to put an important current player in it, is stupid. If we're all so wrapped up in the importance of numbers and who wears them, wouldn't we want Grimes to make 16 the next 31? Player X comes to club. X is given a number. X plays his career in that number. X retires. That is how it should be done, with literally no exceptions.

Really? I liked it. The pitch simply wasn't a threat at all; the bounce was consistent and easy to read and there were no cracks or holes or dints or anything, it was flat. I thought he did his best.

Crazy Test. No doubt we have 'lost' this draw and they 'won' it, no one would have given them a chance when Amla and Smith fell before tea on Day 4 and they were 4 down at stumps. But you can't blame the bowlers, they genuinely gave it their best. The pitch didn't deteriorate at all (was probably at its worst yesterday; there was no up/down like when Steyn got Clarke lbw), du Plessis played the innings of his life, de Villiers and Kallis were in the zone, and with Pattinson down, we not only lacked a strike bowler, but it meant we had to run Siddle into the ground. Siddle was a legend, coming back late to take more wickets despite clearly having no energy left at all. Lyon got great spin and bounce where Tahir was completely ineffectual. Hilfenhaus was merely average and didn't threaten like he should have, but wasn't terrible. In the end, though it's harsh to say, Wade may have dropped the Test when he dropped du Plessis off the second last ball before Tea. A terribly tough chance, of course, but had he held that, we probably could have done it. He was the difference.

Yep, almost choked on my toast reading that in the paper this morning.

Indeed. Very reminiscent of McGain in 2009. Tahir tries to take a wicket with every delivery; he's very impatient and doesn't build pressure. Like any bad leggie, he overuses the googly and he can't get through an over without either a full toss or long hop. Lyon, on the other hand, reduces the bad balls (they're not completely gone, though) and is able to build pressure and bowl to a plan.

Fantastic declaration from Clarke. 430 should be enough, and we gave ourselves an hour before tea, duly getting rid of Smith and Amla, their two best batsmen who aren't injured. Hugely important wickets, and Lyon was a millimetre from getting Rudolph for 2. I'm such a big Lyon fan, so glad to see him get Amla. He can spin it and bounce it, whilst retaining control (unlike Tahir), and he works batsmen over. Should get a few more on this deck too. Pattinson apparently is out for the summer, which is disastrous. Horrendously, Mitchell Johnson's name is being bandied around the traps for Perth, apparently because he's taken wickets there before. Surely we've moved on from Mitch. Give Starc or Bird or Hazlewood a go.

Exactly. We should have been hoping for people to view 16 as they seem to view 31.

Clarke gone for 38, which hurts, but Hussey looks solid and our lead is already almost 350, which is good. With the time left in the game, though, we'd want at least 400, if not 450.

It's rather ironic that the speed of us scoring our runs actually opened the door to a possible loss. Whatever target we set, there's going to be plenty of time for South Africa to chase it down.

I hate Hughes and don't want to see him back in the side, but there are two spots available I think: Quiney's and Ponting's. Ponting's not making runs, and his technique is completely shot.

Quiney and Ponting have to be close to gone. We're now 5/103, in huge trouble. Need the Hussey-Clarke partnership to net us about 100 runs. Game is on right now.

Sanchez running into his teammate was hilarious, it was like he had his eyes closed! The AFC is so weak, the Pats should at least make the Championship game. Ravens and Texans are the other threats but I don't know how I feel about the Texans right now, they've struggled to put away Detroit and Jacksonville the last two weeks. Yeh that rule is weird. I mean, I understand the general rule that you can't benefit from illegal conduct, but I'm not sure why throwing a flag after a TD is 'illegal'. I mean, in the heat of the moment, you want to get something checked, so you throw the flag. I don't see how that leads to a situation where you've waived your right to a challenge: you wanted it, it was going to come anyway, but now they're taking it away. Doesn't really make sense.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000099428/Patriots-vs-Jets-highlights Three TDs in 53 seconds. The Jets actually look like a rabble.

As an interesting comparison, Cotchin at Richmond has decided he doesn't want to wear Dwyer's 17, as has been the common practice at Richmond for captains to do. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/cotchin-the-new-tigers-captain-20121123-29yee.html

Kaepernick is apparently going to start for us this week vs New Orleans. Smith is no longer injured, he's been dropped. Amazing move from Harbaugh, will be interesting to see whether Kaepernick keeps up the form he showed vs Chicago. I feel bad for Smith, he's had a tough go at the position in his career and if we can put it together and take a run at the title this year, I'd like to see him get reward. Having said that, I want us to win more than anything, so if Kaepernick is better, so be it. In other news, I just saw Jim Schwartz give Houston a touchdown after trying to challenge a scoring play, which is illegal in the rules, meaning then that the NFL wouldn't review the decision of a touchdown as he'd acted illegally. A bit of a weird rule, but them's the rules, and if he'd not thrown the flag, they'd have overturned the touchdown. Redskins over Cowboys too...Dallas is so unpredictable.

MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB LIST 1 VACANT 2 Jones, Nathan 3 VACANT 4 Watts, Jack 5 VACANT 6 Dawes, Chris (new) 7 VACANT 8 Frawley, James 9 Trengove, Jack 10 Byrnes, Shannon (new) 11 Clark, Mitchell 12 Sylvia, Colin 13 McKenzie, Jordie 14 Dunn, Lynden 15 Rodan, David (new) 16 VACANT 17 Blease, Sam 18 VACANT 19 Strauss, James 20 Garland, Colin 21 Pederson, Cameron (new) 22 VACANT 23 VACANT 24 VACANT 25 McDonald, Tom 26 Nicholson, Daniel 27 Gillies, Tom (new) 28 Macdonald, Joel 29 VACANT 30 Sellar, James 31 Grimes, Jack 32 Evans, Michael 33 VACANT 34 VACANT 35 Tapscott, Luke 36 Davey, Aaron 37 Gawn, Max 38 Howe, Jeremy 39 Jetta, Neville 40 Jamar, Mark 41 Davis, Troy 42 Spencer, Jake 43 Taggert, Rory 44 Bail, Rohan 45 VACANT 46 Tynan, Josh 47 Couch, Thomas ® 48 Fitzpatrick, Jack 49 Magner, James ® 50 VACANT 51 VACANT

Lost 5/22 to slump to a situation where we aren't going to get to 550 now, I doubt. Pattinson and Lyon can both bat, and this is a good pitch, but I don't think we'll hold on. Disappointing, Hussey getting out late yesterday was important to them, as I think if he'd been back today, we might still be 4 down. Wade was so disappointed to get out for 6, missed out on a big chance. Amazing that we've had the three centurions, but next best is Pattinson on 11. Looking forward to seeing us bowl on this deck, and more importantly, seeing how Lyon goes. Edit: Pattison is batting really nicely for a number 9. Just benefited from a drop (simple chance but du Plessis was looking into the sun). 539 now, which means 550 is now not impossible, which is nice. Edit: Took 3 minutes, but there you go. 550. And as I write, it's over. So there you go.

Definitely not alone. I hate this decision. I hate number changes, I hate this ridiculous notion that numbers are more than just numbers and that certain numbers 'mean more' than others. Rubbish. It is just a number. Pure and simple. Barrassi isn't the only MFC star. His number isn't, and shouldn't be, put on a greater pedestal than any others'. Grimes came to the club and was given 16. If he's the gun we think he is (and surely that's why the club gave him 31), then I want to see him make 16 his own number and make 16 the next 31.

He's scored 1265 so far this year. I was wondering if he was a chance to take the record for most runs in a calendar year (since we have 3 more Tests after this one). The record is 1788 by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006. 3 Tests, potentially 7 more innings...it's not unfathomable, but still highly unlikely.

So it's over now. People who know stuff: any surprises? Anyone overlooked, or slid a long way?

From Box Hill in the VFL, 25 years old. That's all I know.

So much awesomeness right now.

Menzel at 11 and Grundie at 18 are bargains, IMO. But I don't care. Toumpas + Viney = KOTD