Macca

The team had an off-day. If these sort of days are inevitable (as they often are for the best teams) then the team just has to make sure that we bring our best against the best sides (especially in the finals) We haven't lost a game to a top 8 team as yet but if that starts happening, we are in trouble. We're in uncharted territory as supporters as the expectation can be that we bring our best and win all the time. I don't believe that is possible with our current list. We are very good but we're not a superstar team Collingwood played very well too ... their lesser lights collectively did well, they tackled us with intent all day and we didn't have much time when we had the ball But nearly all our players were below par ... as previously stated, we had an off-day and those sorts of days will happen unless the team is full of stars

The BBC are covering all the games ... the audio feed can be found mostly through their 5live service Just go to www.bbc.co.uk then click on the 'more' dropdown tab then click on 'sounds' ... then scroll across to 5live and there you have it

The Euro's got it's first must-watch-replay last night with the Netherlands-Ukraine game last night ... and the big guns are already starting to rack up the wins

Make that Friday the 18/6 for the New Zealand/India World Test Championship And the Kiwi's wrapped up the test & series against England about an hour before lunch

New Zealand are all over England in the 2nd test at Edgbaston ... they should wrap things up before lunch tonight and take the series win. England lead by a mere 37 runs with only 1 wicket in hand in their 2nd innings. A nice warm up for the World Test Championship where the Kiwi's will take on India. Begins on Thursday (18/6) ... being played at Southampton (4000 spectators per day will be allowed to attend)

And the G1 replays from the last few weeks (including the Stradbroke)

Replay catch up

On a brighter note England play Croatia at the fan friendly time of 11pm tonight ... if you haven't got access to the matches a quick google search will take you to a few streaming sites. TalkSport & the BBC are probably covering the games from an audio point of view. I subscribe to tunein radio and the BBC have recently joined up with tunein

The latest news has Christian Eriksen in a stable condition and the players have spoken to him. You have to wonder what brought things on to have his pulse stop and then needing to be revived Could have been worse as what happened might not have happened in a public place

Well I believe we're a bit of an eclectic group here HT so alternative rock/modern rock/progressive rock/classic rock or whatever other type of rock fits the bill. But I reckon European rock misses out a bit in terms of recognition. As well as other parts of the world apart from the U.S, the U.K and here in Oz Even back to were it all started - the 50's and beyond, speaking of which ... I stumbled across www.digitaldreamdoor.com whilst doing a google music search and that site has lists of music from all sorts. As well as movies, books etc. Good site if one needs a short cut or 2

How 'bout some Italian rock! (these guys are good)

Couple from last year ...

Euro's kicked off last night with Italy/Turkey opener ... and the Azzurri absolutely dominated Here are the highlights (not sure how long the video upload stays up for - maybe a couple of days?) ... I'll try and post up some other highlights when they are available (time permitting)

Yeah it's a tough game at the best of times Gorg. Still, you've got to be in it to win it Speaking of which, for the horse racing enthusiasts out there, Royal Ascot kicks off with 5 days of G1, G2 & Stakes racing starting on Tuesday night (all 5 days to be shown on the racing channel from about 10.30pm) www.racingpost.com has all the form, odds & tips. Haven't perused yet but there is sure to be some sort of Aussie representation

I had Brooklyn Hustle as a saver ... the horse seems to have arrived as a proper horse after disappointing for a stretch

Loaded up with bonus bets on Converge so a happy lad here. Got the early odds as well Just need Sweet Deal to salute to get the double ... fingers crossed And I included The Harrovian ... Niccanova a big show as well

Will keep an eye out Gorg Got a couple/few that you like in the Stradbroke? I've had a small wager using bonus bets on Apache Chase (carrying 49.5kgs) but Vega One & Wild Planet aren't carrying much weight either Exotics could pay really well and I might box a Trifecta in the race

Apparently we've had a quarantine leak (breach) every 11 days on average since November The trouble is that when we get an outbreak it's discovered days later ... sometimes over a week later And in that time a number of people from different areas have contracted the disease and have travelled all over Melbourne with the disease Hot spots number in the 100's in a short period of time. So the 5km radius lockdown is only workable if the outbreak is isolated The quarantining of people has been stricter here than the rest of the world but if we're aiming at elimination, the whole practice has been shoddy As stated at the top of this post, for all the trouble we've gone to, it's still led to multiple lockdowns 28 days of quarantine would help (instead of 14 days) but the real issue is that we keep importing the disease (on a daily basis)

Good player ... kicked 3 this quarter Their 3 forwards are a handful if their midfield fires Been a good game

Best Bet Saturday Eagle Farm R7 No.2 Converge $4.00 (Win)

'Resident Alien' is good for a few laughs ... surprisingly so in fact Seems like an old idea but they've done it well. Alan Tudyk is very good in the lead role ... the show can be viewed on 9Now

Just an opinion, not a lecture. Life long experiences as a base Like it or lump it Say No To Racism

Similar things have happened a stack of times in European soccer Starts off with a banana being thrown or an online racist attack ... player reacts and next thing the racist chants start up (another time) Which leads to those teams playing in front of empty stadiums. And that type of action works. Should have happened here ... sends a strong message So if Goodes turns a blind eye none of what transpired afterwards happens. But he was right to call out what was said And the public should have had more sense than to blame Goodes himself ... unless there was a strong element of racism involved of course. Gave the narrow-minded bigots an out in my opinion You and I are never going to agree on this matter so lets leave it there

There are a number of factors associated with racism that also need to be noted (and again, no survey is needed) That racism is mostly hidden (deliberately) ... a large majority aren't going to admit that they are racist. It's subtle but in the Goodes example, not hidden because the mob was at work (strength in numbers) Even the racism thrown at Goodes is denied by those who simply don't want to admit that it was a racist attack Ultimately, the extreme racists put hoods on their heads to disguise themselves. Why wear the hood otherwise? If we don't know by now what the actualities are we'll never know. Your own circle of friends, acquaintances & family will provide the answers for you In other words, we already know what the answers are. A survey isn't going to enlighten us. Besides which, do people answer the questions honestly? And what about those who steer clear? And do the non racists have a want for another survey so as they can say ... "See, I told you so, it says it in the survey" Say No To Racism

The racism has quietened down a lot when compared to the 70's & 80's but it still exists from time to time ... I'm an AFL member and prefer standing room and when it's crowded in there, that's where you can sometimes still hear it (muffled not loud and not identifiable) Things have improved a lot with greater education and better policing but the Adam Goodes booing was deplorable. Shameful in fact. And it wasn't that long ago. The mob at work. So instead of the odd jibe from the odd person it was 10,000 in unison We've come a long way but my view is that even though we've already got the info in front of us, we still get blinkered views such as 'One white parent' when describing an indigenous prospect (that was by a well known recruiter) King Kong & chimp references etc etc. I still see people making references to the indigenous players at their clubs somehow needing other indigenous players at the club as support or as mates ... why?