Macca

Each to their own Cards There is no legislation on what anyone can like or dislike (sports, politics, religion, whatever) Vics 15 points in front - go Victoria!

Footy fans engaging in a Mexican wave ... says it all really, doesn't it. They haven't got a dog in the fight but you've got to wonder why the 'wavers' bothered to go to the game. It's simple Cards, if you don't like it, don't watch. It's what I do. All sports are the same, the higher the skills, the less perceived intensity. Soccer can be like that and many League State of Origin games can look a bit tame because of the skills. And what about the high scoring NFL encounters?

I'm not wrong ... this is the type of footy that I prefer to watch. Fast, highly skilled, open football and not congested. As the sport once was. Clean ball movement with very few unforced errors. What's not to like? I'm also a big fan of Ice Hockey, Soccer, NFL, Rugby League, Union, Baseball, NBA and nearly every Olympic sport. Each to their own hey?

Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying tonight's game and if others prefer to watch 'scramble-ball', go right ahead. Ha ha!

They look fair dinkum to me ... the sport is basically keepings-off these days so what on earth do you expect if the most highly skilled players are all involved. A much much better version of keepings-off. Stands to reason You put 2 low skilled teams against each other and you're going to see an ugly mess. Looks more intense but it's a ruse.

There's plenty of intensity ... the skill level means less congestion and more open footy And State footy has always been like that. Lower skills = congestion, packs etc.

It's a fantastic standard and a great showcase tonight. Here's how you sell the sport to new eyes. I really envy what they do up North with the State of Origin Rugby League. It might work in the pre-season (demand-wise) if the game was for a worthy cause. And there's plenty of worthy causes so that part of the equation is do-able at least. But Aussie Rules fans are way too rusted on to their teams only. Worthy cause, players being always available, as part of the pre-season and then embraced by the fans ongoing - big ask but I'd love to see it. We could at least play these high standard games every now and again (every 3 or 4 years)

Best Bet Randwick Race 6 No.1 Flit (Win) $3.80

It is boring monoccular ... the advanced scapegoat (Oscar) cops it by default. Ingerson, Hughes, Campbell, Shanahan would all cop it at various times. Blame the last thing visible? Meanwhile, a dysfunctional forward line* is often the real cause of a team being broken down by the opposition (albeit recognised later on) And the forward line only ever seems to get the blame as a group. It's what we do. *70's & early to mid 80's - Demons dysfunctional forward line (main issue)

Yes, good point Wyl ... but for me it's nothing personal. Without looking back on what was last season, sometimes you just just have to re-jig and get going again with a new way of addressing things. As others have mentioned about a new start for various players, that rule can apply to any player on the list. e.g. the aging warrior in Jones, the young fella in Hunt still trying to find a way and the much-maligned Oscar down back are 3 prime examples. If all 3 of the aforementioned players shine this year (albeit a long shot) we'll be playing finals again. Of course, I'm assuming that the improvement or continued 'par excellence' elsewhere with various other players (Gawn, Oliver, Brayshaw, Salem, Harmes, Viney et al) should or would happen at the same time for the desired outcome (finals) to come to fruition. Again, it's a very big departure to go with just a captain & vc but nonetheless, it's a ballsy move by the club. No risk, no reward.

Here's a few interesting articles that are worth a look ... New favourite worth the weight in Sydney Cup Fierce Impact heads emergency queue for All-Star Mile Happy Clapper, Avilius share Doncaster Mile topweight What Blue Diamond were the bookies watching? (Richard Callader's Column) And the replays of the feature events from Saturday ...

Congratulations to big Max on being appointed captain ... another notch on the belt and well deserved. In fact, his appointment is also a reward for the hard-yards that the bloke has put into the club. Apparently we don't have an 'official' leadership group to complement Gawn & Viney but I suppose we've decided to go old school. I've always felt that leadership groups are overrated anyway but to dispense with the concept is really quite surprising. I'm also surprised that many here who are all-in on leadership groups are not forthcoming with their former strong views on the subject. It's a big swing to go the other way. An add-on deputy vice captain would have been my preferred option but we should get by if both Gawn & Viney can play the large majority of the games.

I'll multi it up with 1 or 2 others to get some value. Maybe even a treble with 2 others. Race 10 No.1 Monica (Moreira) looks a show as well as Race 5 No.4 Good Beauty (Purton) Rather than win bets I often pick out 3 that I fancy and then have 3 doubles & a treble. If 2 of the 3 get up I make a profit. If all 3 salute it's happy days Wadda! Anyway, the Demons win and Petracca dominates! Makes you wonder why we haven't played him in the middle previously.

Sha Tin Race 7 No.3 More Than This ($2.70) ... Purton on board. Drawn wide but gets back anyway and then rattles home ... 'Golden Sixty' the danger but they'll probably quinella the race.

Had an fairly ordinary day myself Wadda ... 1st & 3rd all day (with exacta's) and Gator & JJ tipped 1 winner between them (so they were no hope!) But the 3 feature races on Blue Diamond day at Caulfield are nearly always very tricky. I usually do quite well up in Sydney and at Morphettville on this raceday but not today. I didn't even look at Tagaloa & Pippie but both were just too good. Got a reasonable late collect though and I'll live to fight another day ... Moreira & Purton tomorrow might come to the rescue!

'Streets of Avalon' wins the Futurity ... ridden a treat by Ben Melham. The horse is such an honest performer. 33-1 could be had back a few days ago and it started at 9-1. The money came late and now Streets of Avalon gets a run in the All-Star Mile. Alas, I wasn't on it today as I though the 3 heavily favoured horses would fight out the finish. Tough horse and a well deserved win.

You really love your multi's don't ya Wadda! I'm forever struggling at a 2pic! I've got nearly all of your above picks but in exacta's and a couple of 2pics (and the 2pics are sure to fail! ... very small outlay though) My tip today Pandemic looked the winner half way down the straight but died on its run ... on that performance I struggle to see it becoming a group horse (after failing against that type of field) I thought it would go straight past them ... disappointing. Having said all that the inside running looks the go today ... Hanseatic will need to bring its A game to win the Blue Diamond.

Best Bet (Saturday) Caulfield Race 3 No.2 Pandemic (Win) $2.30

I didn't see the race live Wadda but there's not much I do miss live when it comes to the Olympics. So the impact (whilst very big) can't replace seeing it live. On RSN today they were talking about the great horse racing rivalries and there's been more than a few (Sunline/Northerly, Fastnet Rock/Alinghi, Redoute's Choice/Testa Rossa etc etc) Previously we've seen Better Loosen Up & Let's Elope in a match-race whilst Big Philou & Rain Lover were matched up in similar fashion going way back ... youtube has both match races available to view. And now we have Alligator Blood/Catalyst/Super Seth and maybe even Chenier as middle distance rivals. The rivalries are great for racing ... even better than stand-alone great thoroughbreds such as Winx & Black Caviar (IMO)

Both Santa Ana Lane & Gytrash are sired by 'Lope De Vega' and both horses on the Dam side are sired by Fastnet Rock. And like Santa Ana Lane, there is a somewhat unfashionable view of the horse (Gytrash) so the odds could remain attractive. Having said all that, the horse has just come into 4-1 favourite for the Newmarket Hcp!

Yep ... it never gets old Wadda Incredible really ... all 4 hit the deck where as 1, 2 or maybe 3 going down could have been expected in a frantic finish. But all 4? I'm still happy for the bloke (Bradbury) all these years later. What many don't know is that previously Steven was rated high to win Gold in prior Olympics but bad luck befell him to deny him victory. He certainly got the last laugh. A Hollywood ending and apparently there is a film to be made about the famous win entitled 'Last Man Standing' (could there be a more apt title?)

Yes it was a great finish Wadda ... the big surprise was 'Gytrash' in the Lightning Stakes ... as was the run of 'Nature Strip'. Another reminder to never take odds that skinny - too much outlay to win a decent amount and thus, high risk) Alizee, Flit & Vegadaze all won in fine fashion at Randwick as well. I had Nature Strip in a couple of multi's although but I backed the other legs to win outright or in exacta's as well (Fabric, God of Thunder, Seemingly Discreet & Dark Alley) And thanks to JJ I ended up in front for the day (he tipped value runners Rivski & Rigalo Di Gaetano) But Gytrash is the story looking ahead ... it's a much imoroved SA galloper although it's Morphettville form previously was very good (running excellent times & winning) It's almost certainly a Group horse now and I'll be following it, that's for sure. JJ tipped 4 winners all up yesterday at Morphettville whilst no one seemed to fair well at Flemington. Even Gator went against his namesake (Alligator Blood) Again, a barnstorming finish between the 2 star 3yo's. Catalyst didn't lose any friends either, just beaten by a slightly better horse on the day. The current crop of 3yo's is quite something too ... Alabama Express, Castelvecchio, Bivouac, Exceedence, Libertini, Super Seth, Darlasan, Flit, Anaheed, Microphone, Lyre, Loving Gaby, Shadow Hero, Warning, Miami Bound, Funstar, Standout, King of Hastings, Tassort as well as Alligator Blood & Catalyst.

Ah yes I do like the place card - seems to often work better with 4 pics but I'll add ... Best Bet Flemington Race 9 No.12 Star Missile (Place) $2.15

Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2019 JV7 Go the Biff, Gorgoroth, Macca Dee Zephyr, Clintosaurus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 DeeSpencer Clintosaurus, Gorgoroth, Dappa Dan Dee Zephyr, Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Clintosaurus Go the Biff Dappa Dan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus, DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell, Macca JV7, DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 cowboy_from_hell pantaloons Gorgoroth Strafford Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2019 DemonDave, Go the Biff, Macca Dee Zephyr, Gorgoroth JV7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 Gorgoroth Go the Biff DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Macca Clintosaurus Go the Biff, JV7, Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth, JV7 Clintosaurus Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7, cowboy_from_hell Gorgoroth, Macca DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7, pantaloons Gorgoroth, Go the Biff Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell, Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze JV7 4 2 1 Gorgoroth 4 1 6 Macca 3 2 5 ---------------------------------------------------- Go the Biff 1 4 1 cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 DeeSpencer 1 2 3 Clintosaurus 1 2 3 Dappa Dan 1 1 1 DemonDave 1 1 0 Dee Zephyr 1 0 2  Strafford 1 0 0 titan_uranus 1 0 0 pantaloons 0 2 0

I see things in a similar way too old dee ... but I don't watch the Mens version of AFL as a general rule as I no longer find the sport 'entertaining'. Much prefer League, Union, Soccer & the NFL these days. To be honest, I'd often rather watch a decent movie than any form of sport. I will watch the Womens & Mens occasionally for other reasons (the winning, the contest, social interactivity etc etc) Both versions would be much better viewing for 'my eyes' if there were far less players on the ground and the players played in their positions. Restricted rotarions as well. But that's just me. Of course I attend or go to our games but all that is based on fanatacism and the want to win. I couldn't even tell you whether the games are entertaining or not with the mens side of things (all that really matters is the winning) The womens version might see those same levels of fanatacism down the track but not yet (from a personal point of view) But I'm all for participation for both genders so therefore heavy subsidisation should be high on the agenda from the AFL At all age groups. An example of that is the Sheffield Shield in cricket ... very low crowds and very little interest outside of those who are really keen on their cricket. And the Shield would cost about $10Million or more to run ... the Shield brings in only a fraction of that outlay in revenue so is heavily subsidised. And that is a necessary thing for CA to do. Their income streams from Media, Tests, BBL & India easily covers the cost of the Shield. As for entertainment, there are any number of forms of entertainment and as you said, it simply comes down to personal choices. And there are more than 2 arguments going on here ... there's the entertaiment aspect, the growing of the sport aspect, the increase in participation aspect etc etc. And the 'Winning' for the club which is also high on the agenda.