Jack Jack

It will certainly be an interesting stage tonight. I suspect we'll see a few of the GC teams try and apply some pressure to Sky. Last year Sky seemed to restrain the field with their relentless pace making, this year however they just don't seem to have the cattle to get it done. The vultures are starting to circle. I'm expecting to see another move by Contador and Saxo if the opportunity presents. Mollema and Belkin will be another to watch out for, they seem to be going under the radar somewhat in the race so far. I'm also interested to see what will come of Quintana (what a debut) and Movistar. Now that Valverde is out of GC contention, Quintana is their next best placed. He's been in a few breakaways, so I hope that his youthful exuberance hasn't compromised what remains of the tour. Particularly now that he's got a rider like Valverde as support, what a luxury to have. Cadel and BMC have been a little disappointing so far. Maybe my expectations were set too high (he is getting on a bit). The question is, is he far enough back in GC that he'll be allowed to get away in a break?

A couple from Black Might Orchestra. Jack Jack's Jazz 4.3

Nice work Macca. Last night was an incredible stage. The crosswinds causing havoc in what seemingly looked like a pretty tame day. Valverde the big loser of the day, after puncturing a tyre he lost time on the peleton, got back to within 10-20 seconds, but eventually lost nearly 10 minutes. The Sky team blowing up and Contador making up some time certainly makes the race more interesting. Froome doesn't look so invincible.

His position has to be voted on at the AGM or EGM before it is ratified. With a minimum of 6 board members, according to the constitution, we will more than likely nominate a few more casuals if any if any more board members resign.

I've managed to get my hands on the latest season of Arrested Development. I must say I'm a little disappointed so far after watching the first few episodes. Maybe my expectations where too high? In any case I did watch the start of one of the later episodes which opened with Tobias. I only saw about a minute, but it had me laughing all day, so there's hope yet. As part of the new season they've started a website for Tobias' acting resume insertmeanywhere.biz Definitely worth a look, the first video on the page is hilarious.

He's not the only player letting the team down in that regard. I remember Davey, after passing the ball from the half back line, just jogged and provided no further leads. In contrast Pederson, who cops a bit on here, also passed from the half back line, but continued to run, provided an option and got the ball back. The passage of play that highlights Watts inadequacies was when Rodan was running into the forward 50, Watts was close by with an opponent. He had the option of shepherding, which would have given Rodan the ability to run an extra 15-20m into the forward 50, or he could have worked harder to get the handball receive. He, predictably, chose the latter but made no extra effort to be a viable option. Effort is one thing, but Watts plays a little selfishly (Maybe that's a product of getting cheap possessions as a loose man in defense). Dawes seems to be a team player and would certainly be a positive influence on Watts

I was listening to Grandstand radio's wrap up last night. Someone brought up the question of whether Neeld had recently been told where the board/admin believe his failings where and the areas he had to improve. They mentioned this had happened to Mark Thompson during his reign at Geelong and that he was given a chance to rectify the problems. They went on to say that if this hasn't been done, if he hasn't been given a chance to rectify any problems, then sacking him would be an unjust action. As much as I dislike the situation we are currently in, and the performances we've had to endure under Neeld, I have to agree with that premise. By the way Neeld speaks, he doesn't seem to have been given any new directives (I'm just speculating I know). So would part of the board meeting include any PJ reports on the matter? Will the board/CEO give Neeld some new performance benchmarks?

Yep, too much is being left to Lebron. Even in game 5 it took something special from him to get them over the line. Getting the Birdman back for game 7 should make a bit of a difference. But Wade and Bosh really need to fire for them.

Some Nu Jazz from Duran Y Garcia Jack Jack's Jazz 4.2

Hercules Returns has made youtube. One of my all time favourite comedies and an Aussie classic. Starts off a bit slow, but well worth a watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF49Xqpm-0o

A funky song from N*E*R*D Jack Jack's Jazz 4.1

Any wonder the players give up so easily when the coach has adopted such a pathetic defeatist attitude. Neeld is giving us excuses before that match is even played.

I'm expecting a complete over reaction, tackling anyone and everyone and completely forgetting about the footy, and giving away umpteen gazillion free kicks for tackling without the ball. At least for the first 5 minutes anyway, until we give up.

GSW certainly have the ability to get through, Bogut getting into foul trouble early in the game certainly didn't help their cause. Here's a recent Kevin Durant awkward moment.

One of the highlights of the game for me was Dawes kick to Gawn in the 2nd quarter. He put it over the defender to Gawn's advantage, close to perfect delivery. It was a sight for sore eyes. I think Dawes will be good for us long term, I just wish we had more quality in the midfield to give our forward line better delivery more often.

Fair enough. Maybe it's just the difference between optimism and pessimism.

We just lost to the Suns by 10 goals. I don't understand how you can think we'll do better against a better side?

Whilst I've been a little disappointed with Bogut's offense, he's definitely making a significant impact. Bogut grabbed 18 rebounds, becoming the first Warriors player in 40 seasons to reach that total twice in the same postseason.

Initially, after the game, I thought that a new board and a clean slate was the way forward. But upon reflection it's probably too drastic and reactionary. From what I've seen so far of PJ, and yes it's early days, it is evident what a sound appointment can (potentially) do for the club. I believe that Schwab and the current board's shortcoming was not properly funding and structuring the recruiting and development for a club seeking to turn around it's fortunes in the draft. I understand that we've progressively invested more money into these areas, but it may be a case of quantity over quality (maybe that goes someway to explain Schwab's penchant for micromanagement). So in order to lift ourselves from this mire we've found ourselves in, it may be that we are only a few key appointments and some structural changes away from righting the ship. We don't need to clear the decks, what we truly need is a clear direction and some strong leadership. Clearly we have in place an interim CEO, but I believe it would be remiss of us as a club to not attempt to retain PJ on a long term basis. I'm not entirely confident with our current president and coach, and I admit to knowing very little about our head of the football department, but by getting some quality people and leaders in these areas I think would go a long to to putting us back on track. Which leads me to the question, What is Neil Craig's role and are we utilising him to our full advantage?

I would have though it was obvious. Micromanagement is quite time consuming.

Neeld postmatch press conference

Huh? Did the Clippers lose? What the...... Must have missed them on the schedule. I was just reading that they won the last 7 games of the regular season, the first 2 of the playoffs and then proceeded to lose their last 4. A few people over at the Clippers must be nervous with CP3 entering free agency and the coach out of contract. And it didn't take long before the rumours have started with the Celtics. A lot of people certain that Pierce will be traded and that Garnett will retire.

The last Nets/Bulls game was pretty close. It doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence the reports that the flu was doing the rounds in the Chicago team. At least the Nets are playing at home. I hope it makes a difference.

Sure I understand that, it just seemed curious that the midfield was being used as an excuse when we have so heavily invested in the forward line. The 2 forwards we traded in are ready made, experienced forwards. I would have thought that one experienced forward and an experienced midfielder would have been a better fit, but maybe the opportunities to do that just weren't there.

This is from one of my favourite albums of the 90's. A brilliant debut album, although I don't think much came of the band after this. Jack Jack 5.5