La Dee-vina Comedia

I'm using IE and it's the SOE where I work, so I can't change it. And what's been happening for a week or so is that some Demonland threads (including this one) keep automatically attempting to refresh and eventually close and reload, then attempt to refresh, close and reload, etc. Annoying.

When I read "Stauss (sic) is looking like another Chris Johnson" I got excited. Then I realised you meant Melbourne's, not Brisbane's. How deflating.

I think there might be another job for Martin. I keep reading on this site about who might be the second ruckman playing forward for us because of the substitute rule. But where is the commentary about who will play on the opposition's second ruckman if he plays forward? If it's Mumford or Pyke, Martin is the only one I can see with the height to play on that player. So, I reckon Martin might play defender whenever Sydney rests a ruckman forward. If they don't, I suspect Martin will go forward to stretch Sydney's defence. That doesn't answer the question about who plays on Goodes, but perhaps takes Martin out of the equation. (And it won't be Bartram, Jones or Bail who plays on Goodes. They're all too short. And I can't see it being Dunn, either. He's the right size but has successfully been turned into a defensive forward. My guess - and it's only an uneducated punt - is Garland. He has been successful on at least one other tall, fast forward in Franklin.)

Glass half empty: Fev stops development of KPF for Melbourne; Glass half full: Fev becomes target for developing midfielders so they learn how to pass to a KPF. As long as Fev doesn't actually drink from the glass, maybe there's as much upside as down.

And the Rabbitohs are now sponsored by Star City casino. Announced 28 January 2011

It's not quite what it seems. Firstly, under legislation the maximum number of poker machines any club can have control over in Victoria is 420. Collingwood currently has the most of any AFL club (292) while North Melbourne have zero. Carlton has 60 but is expected to get machines at other venues plus the 30 from the North Melbourne Giants. However, the 30 from the Giants has to get council approval plus permission from the gambling regulator. There is no certainty that will happen. And before we get too sanctimonious, the MFC has 92 poker machines at Leighoak and a proposal to take control of 80 at The Bentleigh Club.

I've seen the documentary. It's a beauty. I recall Dipper commenting that he thought the story of the Peace Team would be covered by Oprah (in her Chicago show, not her recent Aussie visit) and that he might be asked on the show. Did that ever happen? And while we grumble, or not, about flood levies, Ricky Nixon, carbon taxes, Greater Western Sydney "poaching" players and the like, let's keep in mind that for the Israeli and Palestinian players, they've returned to a very dangerous world.

Has anyone worked out what the second table was measuring? It wasn't labelled and it had Western Bulldogs on top with $36 milliion, but nowhere in the article did any of the dollar values match up with that un-named table. By deduction, it can't be assets (Western Bulldogs wouldn't be on top). Any ideas?

The Casey Scorpions already have approval for a pokies venue at Casey Fields. Getting a new pokies venue approved anywhere is difficult and can be expensive. Just ask the Western Bulldogs - after a long battle to get Club Edgewater approved, they are still yet to turn the first sod. I suspect that if the MFC takes obver the Bentleigh Club it will be to keep it going where it is. Any other option would be too expensive. Whether it's a good idea or not, it's impossible to tell without seeing and understanding the due diligence information which the MFC presumably has undertaken.

Some questions are still of interest: Given articles by C Wilson and M Sheahan recently, have both journos got a particular axe to grind against Nixon? And why was the Herald Sun paying for her room?