sue

My apologies if this has already been discussed here or elsewhere, but why was the centre of the MCG an old fashioned mud patch? Perhaps this was stage 1 of the AFL's plans to bring back footy of by-gone eras...

Changes seem OK if someone is injured in warmup

I very much doubt any footy club would do that. One brain fade should not in itself end a career.

True - it's all about negotiation. Only 2 other possible statements - silence or please take him away. Roos is hardly likely to say we don't want him, will take steak knives in exchange. All his statement does is confirm other team(s) are chasing him.

I logged on to Bomberblitz earlier and it was full of the usual desperate hope mixed up with conspiracies against EFC. Really quite sad. One bloke posted something saying if WADA had this evidence 2 years ago it would be all over and they would have just had 3 week bans. I couldn't help myself and posted that if perhaps Hird hadn't fought it on technicalities that would be true. And asked why EFC supporters put up with him. Just tried to logon to see if there were any response and lo and behold those guardians of free speech on Bomberblitz have cancelled my account. Doesn't take much to be considered a troll over there.

The Essendon apologists certainly scratch around. That bloke on Radio National AM was at it again. I admit I wasn't listening carefully, but I think he was saying the fact that only 2 players had a 'bad' result indicated it was innocent because all of players would have had the same result. But I thought this was a result of a random test which surely would not be done to an entire team at once?

Evidence mounts, maybe the end is nigh. But this better not finish too soon or I will have blown my dosh on a contract for 3 years supply of popcorn.

Seems obvious to me that a bloke going for marks and breaking packs is less likely to have the opportunity to lay a tackle than a mid-fielder. From the figures people have quoted combined with our low number of inside 50's, I wouldn't worry about Hogan's tackling.

Yes, I fear the time may well come when we'll feel the need to tone down our posts about the man or we may end up with a guilty conscience. In the meantime, pass the popcorn.

Where does Hird get all this stupid legal advice from? oh.....

I'm hard-pressed to know which of the things you list is socialist, but I'm now assuming you think socialism is just the collective noun for things you don't like. Carry on.

Funnily enough I reckon Eddie is a better commentator than most of the idiots on TV (when he is not doing the red-ed nonsense). Not being an ex-player he just describes what is happening rather than having folksy chats recalling old playing days, clubs we have known and bleeding obvious tactics like the others do.

Obviously footy is hard to telecast because of the size of the ground, but there is no need for them to be so zoomed-in that when a ball is hand-passed it goes off the screen and you have to guess to whom it is going. Particularly nerve racking for a Demons supporter because it is likely to be going to someone about to be pummelled. Or we just see a player running with a ball on green grass with no idea what he faces in front or behind. I do not need to know if the player shaved that morning.

Socialist? You have got to be kidding. A sport governed by the $ is socialist? They don't come close to a decent equalization policy if that is what you are referring to. And since people seem more grumpy about the umpiring these days than they were years ago, I don't see how they are doing what the fans want.

I noticed Lumumba was booed a lot early on. I don't recall that happening when we last played them. Anyone remember?

Great to see the coloured arm-bands and Jones' reaction when he kicked that goal. Was Varcoe the only C'wood player with one?

yeah, sack the coaches and save all that money.

hmm, after that perhaps the serious question should be - will you stay around the club beyond 2016?

The umpiring was pathetic in both directions. Although I hate Hawthorn I don't like Richmond either and wasn't too fussed who would win, so I don't think I had the usual problem supporters have with thinking their team was hard done by the umpires. If anything I think Richmond got the better of it. I reckon Gunston(?) got that free for holding the ball near the end for no other reason than a clear free to Hawthorn was missed just before. Deliberate out of bounds was a joke. But the worst was paying in the back when a player was tackled properly but in the end the tackler was over his back. No push involved. You can toss a coin as what is going to be paid most of the time. I'd hate to have to explain the rules to a foreigner. No wonder it is so hard to expand the game in NSW.

so far they are doing a pretty good job for Richmond however.

You've nailed it C&B.

Just to take a break from the Goodes issue, imagine if the AFL went in for this: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/07/for-the-first-time-sensors-and-a-computer-play-umpire-in-a-pro-baseball-game/ I bet the AFL would be fiddling with the software every week to change the interpretation.

While a lot of what you wrote is true, I don't think it adds up. I think you are missing the essential point Redleg. (Yes, Goodes' could have made mistakes - for example I think his war dance was a bad mistake, though I can understand why he did it). I'd love to see you reaction to the point I raised earlier: I bet he wouldn't even get booed if he was an advocate of euthanasia for anyone over the age of 65 and had told a few old people in the crowd to shuffle off. There is more to this than his personal behaviour.

What boggles my mind is people saying he is only constantly booed because he is a sook/diver/cheat and it has nothing to do with his race. But when it is pointed out that lots of players are sooks/divers/cheats yet don't get such treatment, they say it is because of his actions related to his race. So I am still waiting for someone who thinks this has nothing to do with his race but just with Goodes' actions to tell me that he would have been subject to constant booing if he was an outspoken advocate of some controversial social issue other than race relations. I bet he wouldn't even get booed if he was an advocate of euthanasia for anyone over the age of 65 and had told a few old people in the crowd to shuffle off. (Ageing Demon supporters beware.....)

After years of listening to these sorts of debates, one thing is starkly clear to me. Those who are in the mainstream of society just do not understand the feelings of people who are members of a minority group which has been subject to discrimination and worse in previous generations, let alone in current times. I am in such a minority group though it's not obvious to the casual observer. I personally have not had many problems but it takes very little to be said for me to feel extremely uncomfortable and think of past horrors. Sadly it seems you have to live it to know it. Good people rattling on about free speech and that there is too much PC are of no comfort to me because I know who hides behind them. Free speech is fine, but so is the free speech to tell racists where to get off. I wonder if there would be all this booing if Goodes was an outspoken champion of people with disabilities or abused kids, both issues where our society hasn't exactly earned a gold stamp in the past.