maximum bob

I attended the finals of the yo-yo championships at the Palais theatre in Melbourne many years ago. Pretty sure it was sponsored by Coca-Cola. Sensational show. "Rocking the Baby" was a stand-out.

Thanks for your sage advice two rounds in. Noted.

Very unlikely to see Stretch on the G again. Great heart, great trainer, not so great on the skills & footy brain required to compete and win at the next level unfortunately. Wish him all the best.

As it's Welcome Day tomorrow at Fed square & the G I'm more than happy to donate most of my scarves to those new to the Demons at the MCG on a Saturday. But I'd like to retain at least one or two of my fairly extensive collection. (Some are still wrapped). I'm leaning towards 2007 before the plastic decals got stuck on. Nice knit and an aggressive looking Demon as the motif. What should I divest, what should I keep? (Always wanted a collection to decorate the house should we ever climb that mountain again).

What have we here? A grammar Nazi, (with apologies to Seinfeld). Wrong on more than one count unfortunately Dee-Vina. People in glass houses etc. Firstly, 'crimes against English' might be understood as the UK having to front at the war crimes tribunal. I'm sure you meant to write' the English language'. Benefit of the doubt. "Completely unnecessary' ...'completely' is redundant. Look it up in your Funk and Wagnells. Your punctuation is an absolute mess. A question mark indicates the end of any sentence and requires a capital letter to follow. And a full stop is the customary way to finish any sentence or post. Next time you apply for a job I'll be happy to review your resume.

Quite irrelevant to the topic Roger...I'll see your monicker and raise it to Jeremy Futcher, his dad's a butcher. One issue, featuring your good self, (Aus/NZ no 6), also featured 'The return of Terry F***witt, Buster Gonad, and of course Johnny Fartpants. One of the leads was "Is your neighbour a Vicar...how to spot the tell-tale signs". Not to mention "I was the third Kray twin". Classic British humour.

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the performances in a praccie match played in Shepp in 38 plus degrees heat. Regardless, you underrate Spargo. What is he? 19/20? This year is his second year in the big league. A very smart footy brain and mature beyond his years. ANB I have no issue with. Garlett is very secondary backup if he, at his mature age (for a footballer), ever gets his body right again. That's the ruthless way it is if we are serious about winning the flag...and about time.

Barring injuries from our preferred team, I'd be surprised to see Jeff Garlett out on the G again.

If I ever see another post opening, or finishing, with "discuss" you can read it as dead in the water.

I wasn't sure initially which of the Riewoldts opinion this was. The dumb one or the slightly less dumb one. As if it matters.

Thanks for such a clear and informed explanation Dr. I get it now.

Not sure where to start here Tappy. Okay, deep breath. Yes, Spargo's small. You can't seriously propose that there's no room for smalls in a current AFL team. It's not height, it's heart. One of the beauties of our game is the variety of builds that compose a successful team. For a first year payer in 2018, with a team under the pump for a finals berth, I'm not sure what else you could have expected from him. Not fast? He's quick and sharp at the fall of the ball and knows where his best positioned teammate is and delivers more often than not. Review some replays if you doubt this. Can't kick? Now you're really going out on a limb. Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember him slotting one, under some pressure, from just outside 50 from the members half-forward flank. And his teammates got around him. Not to mention he was nominated for one of the top 5 MFC goals of the year. Not strong? You're having a laugh. He's strong like Boomer Harvey was. You play to your best with the hand and height you're dealt. Not in the top 25. We'll see.

Find it difficult to fathom why some have Charlie Spargo out of the side altogether. Emergency? Hardly. If he maintains his pre-season training form and based on what he showed in his debut season last year I'd say he's a certainty for Round 1. He may be overtaken by one of the newbies down the track but not as it stands right now. He'll be fitter, stronger and hungrier with just the right dose of mongrel at the fall of the ball.

Thanks for replying Hampton but the query was NAME, not pic. Not quite sure you got it first time.

Maximum Bob here. My display name is taken from one of America's finest crime writers - Elmore Leonard. His 1991 novel features Judge Bob Gibbs aka Maximum Bob, so named because his sentences were so harsh. Many Demonlanders have display names that are pretty obvious in origin but I've often wondered how some of the more esoteric originated or what they refer to. Feel free.

Well, it must be the off-season because some of what I've just recently read here is way out of kilter with what I saw this year. Petracca's form of course fluctuated but what a few gems he produced (especially kicking to advantage within range and baulking/handballing again to advantage in close contests. And when he did the crowd exploded and his teammates got around him big time and everyone lifted. Not every player will play a robotic game and "play a role" consistently. He adds an X factor that most teams envy. There's not a lot to worry about Petracca come 2019 given a full preseason. PS ...I noted a number of posters had Charlie Spargo as emergency in their best team. This kid is in my best 22.

That thug Leigh Mathews totally taking out Peter Giles blind-sided on the half forward flank at the G as he was going for the ball. Utter contempt for that "hero of of our game." (Don't forget his police charge for on-field aggression). Quite a legacy.

AFL Match Centre at half-time still has us $1.60 & Saints $2.34. I also expect a big second half and a win running over them. Wouldn't expect anything less given who's on the park. Anything else then yes, we have longer term issues including selection & match-day coaching strategies that Goodwin seems hesitant to address.

I may be a moderator, so expect a lively and diverse discussion. Given what's transpired so far this year with umpire contact verdicts and challenges, video reviews, the impeding the mark memo from the AFL, plus all the other issues to date like the fairness of the draw, I suggest this could be an interesting afternoon's entertainment.

Dear AFLFA member, We write to extend an invitation to attend a Fan Forum run by the AFL Fans Association at Richmond Football Club's Maurice Rioli Room in the Swinburne Centre at Punt Road Oval on Sunday, 24 June. All fans are welcome (including non-AFLFA members). Those attending will voice their views on a range of topics, such as their experience of football, their concerns and ideas as to continued improvements to the game, now and into the future. We want to hear about how fans feel about the game, both good and bad. Entry is free however fans are asked to register their attendance at bit.ly/AFLFA-Forum. Format Attendees will be seated at tables of ten people. Discussion at each table will be facilitated by a moderator who will feedback on broad questions which are aimed to stimulate discussion. A scribe will capture all discussion points. What will we do with the feedback? Fan feedback will be collated and provided to the AFL, media and help shape AFLFA policy. Want to help? We are looking for attendees who would be comfortable with being table moderators and/or scribes at the Fan Forum. If you can help, please let us know! Everyone at the AFLFA is a volunteer. You can indicate your interest in helping at the Fan Forum by responding to this email with the subject heading “Happy to Help” and we'll be in touch. Can't come but interested in participating? At this stage the AFLFA does not have the resources (money and personnel) to run a Fan Forum in every state, so to ensure that everyone can participate who wishes to, we will send out the questions to all interested members. You will then have 24 hours to email us back your answers. You can indicate your interest by responding to this email with the subject heading “Participate By Email”. Thanks Thanks to Richmond FC which has donated the venue and the Victorian Women's Trust which has helped to organise the event. We hope to see you there or hear your thoughts via email. Regards Debbie Hall Secretary, AFL Fans' Association

Thanks to the Australian Football League Fans Association for this. Apart from the fact there is no fan club president or cheer squad leader on the panel, even as a token, I'm a little surprised at a couple of the inclusions.

AFL'S SUPER PANEL. The make up of the AFL's new 12-person "super panel" - now renamed as the "Competition Committee" - has been released. No fan rep though... The panel reps are: Club presidents Colin Carter (Geelong), Eddie McGuire (Collingwood) and Peggy O'Neal (Richmond). CEOs Andrew Fagan (Adelaide), Justin Reeves (Hawthorn) and Andrew Ireland (Sydney). ... Coaches Chris Fagan (Brisbane) and Brad Scott (North Melbourne). Football managers Chris Davies (Port Adelaide) and Craig Vozzo (West Coast). Players Patrick Dangerfield (Cats) and Steven May (Gold Coast). Steve Hocking: "The AFL sought to balance representation across all parts of the competition, as well as the many different senior roles within our game – players, coaches, administrators, senior volunteer officials," Hocking said. He forgot about fans though..... The AFLFA contacted the AFL about having an AFLFA fan representative on the panel once its existence became public knowledge. The AFL initially wrote back and said the AFLFA would be in consideration however we did not hear from the AFL again after this. Steve Hocking will chair the panel while the League will be represented by Jason Ball, Kylie Rogers and Nicole Livingstone. Head of competitions and player movement Josh Vanderloo, and game analysis manager Patrick Clifton, will take part in meetings when necessary.

So, let me get this right. Lions lifted and we continued with Bob Dylan's freewheeling approach which clearly didn't work. We didn't employ any other strategy? Back to the coaches box for me. Too slow to react & unimaginative.

On any match day, who sits in the box with Goodwin? (His name simply underlines irony every time I read it). Is Craig Jennings there? I was led to believe he had considerable footy smarts. How much input do the underlings actually have on game day? The senior coach looking gobsmacked when there's a run against us is a real concern.

Yay! We got a new sponsor a week away from Round One. Better late than never. I assumed the "Big Announcement" was that loyal, paid-up & p'eed off supporters were launching a class action, (through one of or favourite legal firms in Melbourne that love this stuff), against all our boards that continually over-rated our list and potential year after year. And yeah, I've heard all the tripe first-hand. We have eyes, we saw what happened. Big Announcement will actually be us cracking the top four this year. And if you give a fig, I'm backing them. We finally have a settled board and exciting team.