La Dee-vina Comedia

With that name I immediately think of someone aged 91 with short back and sides and loads of California Poppy.

I don't understand. How does it help the big clubs in particular? Doesn't it help everyone equally?

6 min 22 sec for 2 km is almost exactly equivalent to a 5 minute mile. Which gives us some idea how fast Roger Bannister, John Landy, etc used to motor to complete a 4 minute mile, let alone Hichaem El Guerrouj who holds the record for that distance with 3.43.13.

I assume Sydney FC knows it won't happen. So, why are they promoting the idea? I can think of two reasons: As a diversion to distract from some other issue. I think this is unlikely. Because they actually want something else and this is just the ambit claim to get the ball rolling. So what is it they might want? I'll take a punt and say that all the interstate teams are going to (a) want a guarantee of more of their games in the home and away season played on the MCG or (b) to have more home games than away games during the home and away season to reduce the amount of times they have to travel and increase it for Melbourne-based clubs, or (c) both.

I must have caught a different strain of MFCSS. I'm the eternal optimist (otherwsie known as the glass half full sort of guy) who goes to games in a positive frame of mind irrespective of when logic suggests otherwise. And even as an optimist, I still assume we'll find a way to stuff it up next year.

For the kiddies out there (meaning probably anyone under about 50) these were wonderful must-have household items. It was made of a stiff piece of paper (like a birthday card) with team names each having a small cut out section which slotted into the ladder. Every Saturday night (because all games were played Saturday afternoon) you could shift the teams around to ensure you had the most up-to-date ladder.

Mitch Clark is back and still having his name mis-spelled on Demonland?

I said he was a victim who inflicted it upon himself. I didn't say anyone had to feel sorry for him.

Bugg is a victim in the same way Gaff is. Self-inflicted, but nevertheless impacted by his own foolish action.

You are quite right. My post can only make sense if some umpires didn't notice him who now may be more likely to because their peers already have.

They can both be victims. Brayshaw is a victim of the physical impact while Gaff may be a psychological victim from feeling guilty. The fact that Gaff made the violent contact does not stop him from being a victim albeit one that was self-imposed.

I don't think it worried us when we were interested in Jake Lever. I have no problem at all with clubs talking to players during the season. It's a professional competition and the players and the clubs are both striving to make the best deals they can. Nevertheless, I don't like the NRL system where players announce during the season that they will be playing with a different team the following year, but I suspect it will inevitably happen in the AFL and we'll all just get used to it.

The biggest surprise in these odds is that Angus Brayshaw is 25/1 for the Brownlow. I only say that because as an "unknown" last year he still managed to come third. I would expect he will now be noticed even more by the umpires in 2019 and benefit from that. Of course, he will also now be subjected to more scrutiny from the opposition, but no more than the names ahead of him on the list.

Wow. I'm starting to think that you're not really Ernest Hemingway. The real Hemingway would have condensed all that down to the second last line and gone off to the bar for a drink.

Change jobs.

I noticed during the week that the AFL Store was selling large pictures of three Melbourne players (Gawn was one, can't remember the other two) and Hogan in his Melbourne gear which was marked down by 50%. I suspect they will still sell zero. Even if given away at no charge I can't see who would want one.

He had sleeves even wearing a standard jumper.

I agree about the saturation issue. I'm no fan of Thursday night football (unless it's a special occasion, such as the night before Good Friday or ANZAC Eve) as it has the effect of diluting the weekend. I'm also not psychologically ready for it. It's the same with cricket. Why we're playing international cricket in Australia in November makes no sense to me. Clearly the Australian public isn't ready for that, either.

I still think it's clunky. But that might just be me. I'm not generally interested in the video clips (particularly coaches' media conferences, whether post-game or at any other time) and the site seems to be hell-bent on being video-clip driven.

I have an alternate view. Instead of being satisfied if he "can take a few games by the scruff of the neck" my preference is for him to become a consistent, solid option. Someone who gets picked every week, takes contested marks and kicks goals regularly without necessarily dominating individual games.

I've said this before, but the role of a Captain is not just about what happens on the field. I have no idea whether Hutchins is a good captain or not, but making a judgment as to the suitability of being a captain on the basis of what happened on the field, particularly in one game, is a fraught exercise.

Nup. He was just a kid being influenced by his Manager and his Dad. Let it go.

Personally, I think booing should be reserved for umpires and anyone associated with Collingwood.

I'll put in a starting bid of Adem Yze and let the rest bid up from there.

Mind you, Robert Flower made any jumper he was wearing look better than it probably was.