La Dee-vina Comedia

I first heard this term used to describe Fitzroy's Mick Conlan. I don't recall him ever being accused of anything improper or having excess stress on his body. Must have had better quality condoms in the 80s.

Does this mean Rohan Connolly might also be in trouble? On a more serious note, I would expect Hutchy will be trying to steal Caroline Wilson from 3AW. He already has a working relationship with her and for all his "blokiness" I suspect he recognises that attracting more female listeners would be a good strategy to grow ratings for SEN. Having some female presenters would enhance those prospects. And it has been reported elsewhere that SEN is expected to announce some more on-air signings in the next few weeks.

I've only half-read one article, but it seemed to me the house in question may not be one that Bomber lives in. The article seemed to very carefully refer to the place as being owned but not necessarily lived in by Thompson, yet written in a way that might allow someone to infer that Bomber is the target without actually saying that was the case. If that's right, the raid may have nothing to do with him but rather with the tenant.

Just to tie up a loose end, Pacific Star Network (owner of SEN and some other media assets) has today confirmed it will merge with Craig Hutchison's Crocmedia (I suspect subject to shareholder approval and maybe some form of regulatory approval). Craig Hutchison will be the new CEO and on the Board of Directors of the company. What it means to SEN programming is not known, although it has been reported elsewhere that the recruitment of Gerard Whately was Hutchison's doing.

We should be able to spend the next three days and about 100 more posts questioning the meaning of a lack of "2018" on the scarf. Does this mean it will be the last scarf handed out free with memberships for the next few years? Or a decade? Or forever? Is it deliberate or is it just a design error? Or a manufacturing error? Has Jack Watts tampered with the knitting machinery? Or does it mean Hogan's off to Fremantle?

Just to bring the topic back to SEN, I note that its owner, Pacific Star Network, has asked that its shares be suspended on the stock exchange pending an announcement about a merger. I have no inside info, but I suspect it's with Crocmedia. Pacific Star Network had announced a few weeks (months?) ago that it was in negotiations with Crocmedia.

I see it the other way around...for an average club, it has quite powerful membership.

Canberra also has a high proportion of former Victorians, and to a lesser extent people ex-WA, SA and Tassie upon which GWS can build. I realise most will bring their loyalties with them, but any children they might raise in Canberra might prefer to follow a team which actually plays there on occasions.

Our former President would have been 91 today... (Included in this thread because his passing was also discussed here.) December 30, 1926: Former Opposition Leader and Speaker Billy Snedden was born. He lost the 1974 federal election to Gough Whitlam and died of a heart attack at a Sydney hotel in 1987.

I guess there's also a possibility that their members are split between Sydney and Canberra with those members not travelling between the cities. Mind you, I'm more inclined to believe the figures are fudged.

I wonder whether 'Old Dog' and 'Old Tiger' said something similar in 2016 and 2017 respectively. While you may well be right, why risk it? 2018 may well be our year.

Price, while important, is a consideration. But as good as AFL is on TV (and in my view it is one of the best sports for TV viewing), it's still not as good as being at the ground. Emotional investment increases when actually at the game and you can also see much more tactically than the limitations of TV can allow.

Snap...

That's good to know. Do they like you?

Those of us who remember the Truth newspaper know that it was a shocker. But it's hardly surprising when you read this entry in Wikipedia about its proprietor, John Norton. And we think the politicians of today leave something to be desired! (It will take 5-10 minutes to read the entry...but it's worth it. Particularly the reference to his "performance" in the NSW Parliament.)

And has the added advantage of being directly relevant to the Melbourne Football Club thereby bringing this thread back on track.

You weren't working in this place, were you? Greatest headline ever. Bar none.

Not quite. The owners of SEN (and some other media assets) is the ASX listed Pacific Star Network. A couple of weeks ago Pacific Star Network announced that it had formed some sort of agreement with Croc Media (a joint venture maybe?) and that Craig Hutcheson would be the new CEO. I'm not sure if that deal has closed or whether Hutcheson has taken up the CEO role yet. The end of the Schwarz and Marco show may or may not be unrelated to the changes. However, as annoying as some people find him on air, Hutcheson clearly has an eye for sports media and appears to have been very successful growing Croc Media over the last 10 years.

So are nephews

Can you expand on this? Why does Watts' departure lead, in your view, to an expectation that the midfield will be more attacking? I don't understand where you're coming from.

Why? What's that got to do with how he plays football? If you were saying that about a player who is homesick, I'd understand it, but now that he's home and that potentially depressive scenario has been removed, why is it now a concern?

Keep them away from Richmond supporters. That should help.

Conspiracy theory question...have there ever been questions about prospective draftees missing the Combine with supposed injuries so as to avoid close scrutiny? I stress that this question is not at all about Spargo. But it seems to me if a prospective draftee wishes to get to a specific club and that club wants that same player, couldn't they concoct an "injury" to reduce other clubs' interest in said player?

Having cruelled the careers of Bate, Georgiou and Spencer by choosing monikers linked to their names*, DeeSpencer will again re-name himself and have the rest of Demonland arguing over the career expectations of the new borderline player he is named after. My prediction (unless he now deliberately chooses to avoid it) is that Dean Kent might find his name or character somehow incorporated into DeeSpencer's new name. *For those who don't know, DeeSpencer was previously known as The Master and Georgiou R R Martin (and possibly others before I joined Demonland).

Wow, someone believes our recruiters have only been watching these players for just one year. Three to four years is more likely.