La Dee-vina Comedia

Stop the presses! It took a Melbourne supporter to find Jimmy Hoffa. And there was a clue in his disappearance all along: "Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975, from the parking lot of Red Fox restaurant."

I'm not sure I can agree with this statement. Generally I think Goodwin has given players at least two weeks to prove themselves. There have been exceptions (White last year and Petty this year come to mind, but both looked well off the pace in their single game).

Heart in mouth when he played on yesterday and kicked with his left when he didn't have to which resulted in a goal. I suspect that means he is brimming with confidence (which I didn't share at the time).

So, which club now has the longest streak of not playing in finals? I'd just like to know who I can look down on.

We should keep this thread going until the positive thread has more posts than this one. It will remind us of the dark days and what we've had to survive to enjoy going to the footy again.

It's time we replaced this thread with a positive one: "Records: Oldies but Goodies Being Superseded". I know that actually seems like a headline from when iTunes first came on the market but I love hearing about how this modern team is making its own positive statement. For example, yesterday's first quarter score was our highest Q1 since ??? (I can't remember. Was it 1972?); When was the last time, if ever, we beat opponents by more than 90 points three times in a single season? etc

Mark Knight is surely Australia's greatest cartoonist. The poignancy of this work is amazing - look closely and you can see Lyle's wife and kids.

The article is, like his coaching, a bit incomplete. It says that Neeld "admitted that in hindsight he should have trusted his own judgment more when implementing the Demons' plan to rebuild once again" but doesn't explain if it wasn't his, whose judgment he did rely on. I suspect there's a fair bit of dissembling going on. I hope he can find a proper future. He's never going to be a senior coach again and he probably should never have been one, but I don't for one moment think that he wasn't trying to do his best when he was with us.

I just read this post as "take down the tranny that is the AFL!" Very disturbing imagery.

I don't mean this flippantly, but traditionally strongly supported by Irish catholic families in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Hence, lots of children leading to a large population to draw from. Similar for Collingwood, too.

Nicely said.

I'd go one step further...if their feelings are hurt that much that it affects their performance, then they are probably not CEO material in the first place. I'm not for one moment saying that any of them feel that way. Hopefully, each has seen the opportunity to be considered to have been an honour in itself.

We don't know about that. My suspicion has always been that giving up the pokies was the price to be paid for getting State and/or Federal government support (cash and perhaps expedited planning approval) for our new admin and training base, wherever that might be. And if we can make money out of the new site as well, all the better.

We made a mistake a few weeks ago when we stated we were getting out of pokies. What we should have done was consolidate that announcement with this one by stating that we were intending to move the pokies from Oakleigh to a new social club to be built over the Jolimont railyards next to our new training oval. After an expected outcry from East Melbourne residents and Ellen Sandell we would then "back down" by withdrawing the pokies component. The East Melbourne residents and Ellen Sandell would have had a victory and may then have accepted the rest of the proposal. I'm only half-joking.

I rather like the idea posted earlier of replanting trees which have to be removed on the site of the Punt Road Oval which is the real eyesore in the precinct.

Do you mean Ellen Sandell was asking what concerns locals about the MFC proposal specifically or was it a more general question not linked to yesterday's announcement? If it's the former, she's been quick out of the blocks and suggests to me that she's already decided to object to it and wants to get the community to support her.

I reckon you can read whatever you want - harmony or disharmony - into that story. That the three internal candidates attended (harmony), Mahony took a later flight to Adelaide (harmony), "concerns key staff have harboured for the past week" (disharmony); the role Jackson did or did not play (disharmony). All in all, it's really just a puff piece presumably put out by the club to at least suggest harmony, whether it's true or not.

I think access for supporters is possibly the least important consideration for this venue. The primary aim would appear to be to consolidate admin and the footy department, including the gym and all the other stuff needed for indoor training, within one site and to have it near a training oval of similar dimensions to the MCG. The next consideration is to have it as near as possible to our home, the MCG. The third aim would likely be revenue generating possibilities. I don't know whether a social club and a "Demons store" are revenue positive or not, but I suspect both are likely to be less revenue positive than other options such as leased office space, a commercial car park or even a non-Demon branded coffee shop. My preference for that third aim would be to maximise revenue and if that means no social club or even a Demon shop, I could live with that.

I don't know how much the taxpayers contribute. (As an MCC member, it feels like I'm personally helping pay off the redevelopment of the stands built in the early 2000s every time I renew my membership). However, I'm sure it is significant. I agree with the points you make about transparency and equity.

Out of context I don't know what to make of this. Did he mean: (1) he's in favour of it but because the ALP is scared of the Greens, and the Greens hold the seats where this is to be situated, the Premier won't support the proposal so it won't happen; or (2) he's against it. The most likely scenario, though, is that he hasn't made up his mind because he hasn't had a chance to see what the opinion polls tell him. NB: Forget the Rod Grinter Riot Squad reference. I was going to make a comment on his earlier post but have changed my mind but been unable to delete the original reference.

Old dee, could you please confirm whether I am meant to interpret this post optimistically or pessimistically.

Travelling from Melbourne to Alice Springs is approx 1,888 km whereas Melbourne to Perth is about 2,700 km. Since we won our last flag, West Coast has won three while travelling to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane far more than we ever have to travel. The excuse that we are 'flat' because we have to travel to Alice Springs doesn't wash with me. (Darwin, on the other hand, is problematic, not because of the distance but because of the conditions.)

The little bit of East Melbourne which is right next to the proposed site (ie, that bit south of Wellington Road and west of Hoddle Street) includes Berry St. Is there still the old "Berry Street Babies Home" there? And if so, does the MFC still support it? If the Home is still there, now would be a very good time for the club to make sure that it does support it and if it has been all along, to get maximum kudos for it (in a way which doesn't seem superficial or self-serving.)

You might also want to distance Demonland from anyone being fined while using a device in a car.

We shouldn't have to worry about Yarra Council as Yarra Park is not within their boundary; it's within the City of Melbourne.