Macca

For those without cable it seems that Viceland HD (Ch031) are covering a 'live' game of the NBA every day around lunchtime (including the Heat @ Nets on right now) Live coverage of the NBL is quite frequent as well ... Brisbane vs Sydney 3pm today

Rodgers is peeved but I reckon once things settle down he'll remain a Packer LaFleur is the one that will be feeling the heat even though he gets a bit of grace considering it's his 2nd year as head ciach He made some amateurish calls under pressure but I reckon he stays on (for now) The underlying issue is structural & player personnel ... defence against the run & pass defence remains average and our running game can't be relied on. Jones should be the no.2 not the main man Fournette was the difference between the 2 sides yesterday. Each of his runs impacted We ask too much of Rodgers so it stands to reason that Aaron expects to be the main man all the time Drafting a QB (Jordan Love) in the first round of the draft last year should be looked upon as a smart insurance move by all & sundry (including Rodgers himself) And you can keep Goff! haha

Forget to mention that Coolth won that race Gorg ... $7 or $8 was available from memory A horse on the way up and knows how to get into the finish. Record 7:3-0-2 with a 4th & 5th Worth following up on ... ADATR Blackbooker

Nice card at Caulfield tomorrow with the 2 Blue Diamond Previews along with a couple of listed Stakes races on later in the day Full Fields, Odds & Form - Caulfield (Tuesday)

I'll post up the highlights from the NFL later but in the meantime this NFL Primetime upload should be available for a few hours ... nice to see Boomer front & centre again

Leaderboard - Tipping Comp 22 - Dee Zephyr 21 - Go the Biff 15 - Macca 13 - Gorgoroth, JV7 11 - Clintosaurus 6 - DeeSpencer* 3 - DemonDave* *Denotes started late in the comp Just a reminder that we play for 10 points in the SB (5 for the win & 5 for the right margin) As for the 2 out in front, who blinks first! haha In actual fact, 5 participants can still win outright with 6 combos available (Tampa 13+ anyone?)

Watched the first episode of Vienna Blood the other day - looks the goods already. Period Crime Drama set in Vienna in the late 19th Century 3 episodes (90 mins each) out with another 3 to come soon ... on SBS & SBS Demand

Live Leaderboard - Tipping Comp 19 - Dee Zephyr 18 - Go the Biff 13 - Gorgoroth, JV7 12 - Macca 11 - Clintosaurus 6 - DeeSpencer

Well done to Tampa ... they go to the SB in their home town after winning 3 games on the road in the playoffs 13 years in the wilderness. Brady comes to town and they're at the big dance

The coach calling has been below par by the Packers. But Tampa have been too good anyway despite Brady being intercepted 3 times Thus, the Packers have had their chances on offence ... but the last 3 drives yielded just 3 points. No decisive running game being the biggest issue and the defence is average

Take the 3 points and give the ball back to Brady with 2 minutes left? Don't poke the bear On that last drive GB's lack of a running game shown up again. The opposition know we had to throw it and plan accordingly Too one dimensional

GB running game not a factor ... we've reverted to kind. Jones is too small, gets hit hard, out of the game. We needed a running game on the last 2 drives 8 point game now (should be 7) 31-23 So the Packers need a TD & a 2 point conversion just to tie things up. 4:33 left in the game

And GB can't make the most of it ... twice

Brady's receivers have now dropped a few catches ... or through the hands Agreed ... tactically it was a poor percentage play going for 2

28 - 23 now but Brady & Tampa will probably get at least 2 chances to score points. And Rodgers maybe only the 1 time if Tampa eat up the clock Unless there is an error/turnover from either team that leads to a score

7 from 10 now which is a poor ratio on defence. Brady should have been intercepted (the corner didn't commit) on that last TD drive before half time after that Rodgers throw was intercepted. 2 errors within minutes 2nd fumble by Jones costly as well. They have targeted him because of his lack of size ... the ball pops out accordingly. Points conceded as a consequence. Brady knows how to take advantage like no other. 28 - 17 now but we need to curtail Brady (somehow)

Apprehensively confident* we'll get over the line Gorg but I'm always aware that in this sport 2 errors can lead to 14 points That's the beauty of the NFL ... no game is parcelled up until it's done. Steelers found that out the hard way with their errors against the Browns So if GB have zero turnovers and Rodgers is at his best we should be good enough to win. But Tampa could have a day where everything goes right for them on offence ... if that happens they probably win But for the neutrals the QB match-up is something to look forward to. 40% chance of snow with a crowd of 6500 allowed into Lambeau *Is there such a thing as apprehensively confident? haha

Here's an intricate and eye-opening article by Greg Chappell about the state of cricket in India and how we fare as a comparison 'Only Surprise is that Anyone can Compete with India at all' Footnote: The good news (!) is that we don't play India again in a Test series until October 2022 (4 Test series in India) Personally I'd rather be playing India earlier than that but we've got nearly 2 years to prepare at least

Another fine win to Streets of Avalon in the G2 Australia Stakes. Seems to improve every season Next up is the Futurity Stakes (which the horse won last year)

Tampa Bay 21 @ Green Bay 30 Buffalo 23 @ Kansas City 31

Agreed Not sure the South African tour will go ahead though with the stronger strain of the virus emanating from that country Could be played elsewhere (even in Oz)

You've made a number of good points AM but our top 7 includes only 2 absolute mainstays The 2 debutants need lots of time, Warner may not be the same batsman he once was (and he struggles overseas) and the 5 spot is not occupied by an A Grade Elite player either Paine is a good keeper but not great and his batting is reasonably good without being outstanding. As a captain* he's there by default and he's done about as well as he could have done My ideal top 7 means that every spot is filled with an A Grade Elite player. Nothing less *I wouldn't be going back to Smith as captain but that might happen

You're right about rotating the quicks NoSoup ... another selection issue Pattinson could have played in at least 2 or 3 of the Tests and we wouldn't have been worse off. Patto is a Test standard quick after all A bit of foresight knowing that India were always going to take it up to us was all that was required Most people I spoke to prior to the series were expecting India to be formidable opposition so what were the selectors thinking? And as for the leadership, we are paying a price (still) from sandpaper-gate. Paine was just about the only choice and to blame him for our batting woes is quite ridiculous The Green & Pukovski selections are a step in the right direction but picking 2 debutants in such an important series tells us where we sit with the batting doesn't it? Wade, Harris, Head & Burns have done very little. Warner has averaged 16 only & Smith by his own standards has been below par Labuschagne made 426 runs at 53 whilst Paine averaged 40. Green averaged 33 We just did not make enough runs especially when considering that their top 7 bowlers were missing for a lot of the time. Yet their 2nd & 3rd stringers continued to trouble our batting I wouldn't be going back to Smith as captain though. And if they are going to play Wade (the keeper) as a batsman why not Alex Carey? That young fella has got some real talent

Our batting is the issue and we've had major problems building an A Grade Elite batting order since the early 2000's At times over the last 2 decades we've been very good, other times average and poor on many other occasions ( e.g. the last time we visited Sri Lanka we lost 3-0) Batsmen are supposed to set up wins and our batsmen (as a collective) don't deliver For instance, we should have made 450+ in the first innings in this test match ... but 4 or 5 batsmen threw their wickets away Our bowlers were out on ground too much this whole series and that doesn't happen if the batting occupies more of the match time Placing the blame on Paine's shoulders is classic scapegoating. His own players let him down (primarily the batsmen) Selection is the root-cause of our batting woes though. We pick too many teams for the right-now without having a real eye on the future Since Michael Clarke we've only produced one long term A Grade Elite batsman - Smith. Labuschagne could get there but he is not there yet Warner is good on home decks but struggles overseas. Is there anyone else AM?

There were some telling moments in the Saints/Bucs game including of course Tampa having 4 takeaways with their defence But at 3 & 11 late in the game deep in the backfield that spectacular Tyler Johnson catch was also a game changer (or a game saver) Kept the drive alive which led to a field goal and a 23-20 lead instead of punting the ball away And Tom Brady is heading to his 14th Conference Championship game. That number is just phenomenal. Managed the game exceptionally well today (again) To me it's a no contest Brady is the Greatest Of All Time Here's that catch