La Dee-vina Comedia

We don't have to be saints. We're Demons, after all.

Or perhaps the entrepreneurial suburban hoteliers swapped music for pokies because of the better returns. That still doesn't prevent the other 950 from taking over the live music business. My point is that I suspect poor hotel management (lack of entrepreneurship) in the 950 killed live music in pubs. They were gifted the opportunity to take it up when the ones that previously offered it turned to pokies. There is another alternative, of course. Maybe people who used to attend live music no longer like the style or quality of music being offered.

Pretty simple economics I would have thought. Revenue earned needs to be more than the cost of the ad. If the ad cost nothing (contra deal with the sponsor), how can it be in any way a bad idea? On the other hand, If we paid for the ad, I'd like to think we'd get a sponsorship from it that covers the cost of the ad and then some. Could be worse. We could be Cronulla heading into a season without a key sponsor and possibly 14 players.

I'm not sure that pokies necessarily killed off live music in pubs - though it seems to be the standard excuse offered. There are 1,200 licensed pubs in Victoria and only about 250 have pokies. So what are the other 950 doing?

I'm not sure what you meant by "unbridled promotion", but it's probably worth pointing out that advertising of poker machines in Victoria is banned.

Please tell me you mean Russell Robertson and not Mark Robinson.

Under this scheme who decides when a team is no longer in contention for finals? And how? Mind you, while I see some merit in considering the scheme, I think removal of the priority pick is the best method. As has been said before, it's the extra pick that was the problem, not the ability to jump up a place or two in the order.

I'm always worried when I see a player with a knee reconstruction has a hamstring injury. My admittedly rudimentary understanding is that the graft to replace the cruciate ligament is (sometimes? always?) taken from the tendon at the top of the hamstring muscle. If I recall correctly, the hamstring tendon in such cases can sometimes become problematic. Let's hope that Gawn's hamstring problem is nothing more than the standard strain. (Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can confirm or debunk, as necessary.) And a shortened injury list may not just be due to good luck but to good management by David Misson and his team. i think it's generally accepted that players with better base fitness levels are less inclined to soft tissue injuries. But fitter players also get to the right position more often and kick the ball to position more regularly. Too often players get injured because they move in an un-natural direction to reach a ball which should have landed on their chest without them having to deviate.

The Australian cricket team helps even more. Mind you, the collapse of interest in cricket has focused more attention on pre-season AFL than ever before which has provided non-stories and negative stories with more oxygen than they usually get. So perhaps I should re-visit my opening comment and say the the Australian cricket team hasn't at all been helpful.

Thought he was the slowest player I had ever seen last year. Runs like he's wading through wet concrete. But also thought he was one of the hardest triers in the side. I didn't think he was particularly skilled and I didn't believe he had enough leap to be a back-up ruckman. However, that was all last year and I have no idea how he might have improved since then. Is he faster this year, perhaps? does he have a bigger leap? I hope he has been able to add some skills to complement his willingness to work hard.

As we know the AFL has strict rules regarding "third party deals" and outside employment arrangements for players as part of its management and control of total player payments. But I assume there is no such restriction on non-footballers. So is it possible for Connolly to be employed for a year by a "friend" of the club? For example, could Opel engage him in a marketing role for 12 months (should they want to, of course)? While this thread continues to look backwards at the rights and wrongs of the various parties, I'm more interested in looking forward. In short, I hope Connolly is being looked after, even if he's not officially on the MFC payroll. How many of us could cope (financially and emotionally) with a twelve month suspension?

I disagree. I think all players are inherently courageous. Some are just more courageous than others and some to the extent of foolhardiness (eg, Jonathan Brown). I think it takes serious courage that most people don't have to play this high impact, body contact game. And that's just the physical side. I think they also need an element of courage to put up with the criticism which the media and we as supporters also heap on them. Having said that, I like your five points.

Maybe we could convince Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Richmond and West Coast to each kick in $100,000 to pay our fine in return for none of them being investigated. They wear a small amount each of financial pain rather than the possibility of something more substantial while we wear the ignominy of being called "tankers". (Note, I'm not re-opening the question of whether we tanked or not. I'm just stating that that is what we will be called).

I've just re-read the statement attributed to the VCGLR. It's not published on the VCGLR website, so there may be more than what has been published. The Herald Sun quotes the statement as, "The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation is currently undertaking its own inquiries into the tanking allegations raised against Melbourne Football Club and will be taking into account the findings handed down today by the AFL. The VCGLR will release a statement at the conclusion of its investigation." There is an alternative interpretation which is that the VCGLR is not looking into the suitability of the MFC but into the ongoing suitability of the AFL to be approved as a 'sports controlling body'. The importance to the AFL of being approved as a 'sports controlling body' is that once approved all betting operators are required to have agreements with the AFL before they can take bets on AFL product. Those agreements would likely include some sort of financial payments. For the AFL to be classified as a 'sports controlling body' it needs to satisfy the VCGLR that it has appropriate integrity procedures in place. So, is the VCGLR looking at the AFL's integrity procedures rather than the suitability of the MFC to hold poker machine licences? Or both? There's more information about sports controlling bodies on the VCGLR website here Reason for edit: added website link

Mind you, no statement on the VCGLR's website. Timms didn't just make this up - or perhaps pinched old 'intel' from Demonland, did he?

I didn't think much of Bailey as a coach and I felt his comments at his media conference when sacked were unhelpful (but for which I don't blame him - he'd just been sacked, after all). But, you know what? Today I feel more supportive of Bailey than I ever did when he coached us. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because he, like Connolly, may have fallen on his sword and made life easier for the MFC.

I'd rather you'd written "...not guilty and no draft picks lost"

Good point...and if that were the case, it's even more depressing.

The most troubling matter out of all this as far as I'm concerned is that the AFL leaks like a sieve to Caroline Wilson. She wasn't 100% correct, but she had enough correct information to satisfy me that she wasn't just guessing.

Really? Marijuana is proven to lead to depression and as entry point to other more harmful drugs. Alcohol is proven to lead to violence when consumed in excessive quantities. But I'm not sure there is conclusive proof to say that marijuana is "vastly less harmful" than alcohol. For what it's worth, as much as we would like it to be the case, zero tolerance rarely works in any regulated environment. I'm not sure whether the three strikes policy is good or not - but I'm confident zero tolerance would result in a bigger number than expected being forced out of the game.

Thanks for the clarification rpfc. And I think I just did what I complain about others doing - inventing a conspiracy theory when the better option is to assume that nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

So, just looking at your avatar, did you feel at home?

Reminds me of a story, possibly just urban myth, of two Aussies at Los Angeles airport discussing the footy. One asked the other who he supported and he said' "I'm a mad Bomber" which was overheard and promptly got the aforesaid Essendon supporter arrested. (If anyone can confirm the above, or not, please feel free to do so.)

It's called the "downhill skier gameplan". You could have been writing about Bailey's coaching, too (apart from the reference to playing in a Final).

I recall some comments at draft time questioning why M Jones was recruited in the main draft and not as a rookie. I wonder whether he nominated for the national draft only and not the rookie drat (can you do that?) on the basis that at his stage of life he can't afford to take the less certain and lower paid route. If so, good strategy.