Macca

His best form is sorely missed but he doesn't reach those heights anywhere near enough. Doesn't get to enough contests. I barely noticed him in the first 4 or 5 games of the year and he hasn't played since round 8. But he is not on his own ... there are another dozen players who are well below their best. So it is not Jake's fault alone ... he is just one part of the problem. Injured now so the spotlight goes elsewhere.

We choke in front of goal, pure and simple. Can be fixed too ... with a much more reliable 'taught' technique and a ton of practice. Reality check says we are not getting any better and in fact, the problem is getting worse That is how choking works. It gets worse unless remedied. And the opposition would know it too ... for instance, passing the ball off in an unnecessary way sends a clear message to the opposition and can have the effect of giving the other mob undue confidence. And then the sledging amps up which just exacerbates the problem. And you never give a sucker an even break.

The coaches have made by far the greatest changes to the sport but the AFL have stood idly by and let them do it. 36 players on the ball together with hundreds of rotations per game to name just 2 such instances. Flooding and the forward press are both coaching initiatives (for want of a better word) And then years later the AFL employs a band-aid approach to counteract. True custodians would have been ahead of the game but it's the money and future money that the AFL looks at primarily. The game should be bullet proof and can be if the people in charge knew what they were doing.

Does anyone know why we don't have full time umpires? Surely it wouldn't be a cost factor? Clubs now have enormous staff levels and a myriad of assistants yet the umpires are still part time. Considering the sport is by far the hardest sport to officiate, you'd reckon it would be a no-brainer. $2.518Billion from the last media rights yet we still have part time umpires? But that is the AFL for you. Incompetent custodians. If there isn't a dollar in it, they're barely interested. I have come around to the point where I believe full time umpires would make a significant difference. As an aside, the game yesterday didn't have a lot of congestion which made the game a lot easier to umpire. The game day thread here is often laced with any number of people baffled by the officiating but there was barely a word said about the umpiring. Which confirms my belief that if the game was opened up a lot more, there would be a lot less angst towards the umpires. Fix the sport and make the umpires full time and then go from there.

I'd throw Oliver forward for the rest of the season and probably Jones and/or Viney as well. Petracca to play out of the middle along with Brayshaw, Gawn & one of Harmes, Jones or Viney. As for our current tall forwards, who knows? Both T-Mac & Weideman are more suited as part-time 3rd forwards behind a decent 1 & 2. But we haven't got a 1 or a 2. Tommy looked like he could be a 2 but he has lost form completely. Neither he nor Weideman relish the front position and that in itself is a real issue. At 3 & 9 we've got nothing to lose with some well thought out experimentation.

And how about the 70's and most of the 80's? In the 70's we had Alves, Wells, Flower and Hardeman (from CHB) continually pumping it forward to a dysfuntional forward line (or lack of talent - take your pick) In the 80's it was the same story although our midfield was just a bigger issue apart from Willo, Sugar and 1 or 2 others. Year after year after year we'd get it forward only for the ball to often come straight back out. So we've been there and done that. We need to recruit some natural forwards but in the meantime our current midfielders need to start hitting the scoreboard.

In other sports around the world (notably the NFL & NBA) clubs often do a cleanout of the assistants whilst at the same time keeping the head coach. Some responsibilities might be taken from the head coach as a matter of course too. And you don't want to necessarily wait until the proverbial hits the fan before making those changes. Rebuilding of the list to varying degrees are often needed too. We have to do something and only a thorough review will reveal what we need to do. Those doing the review need to be detached or semi-detached from those who they are reviewing.

Once the mark from behind has grey area attached (which is what the AFL did with the undue interference ruling) then we're going to get inconsistent outcomes. I blame the AFL not the umpires. Why do we keep making it harder for the umpires? Baffling really. Leave the ruling as it was and it's a mark every day of the week. Apart from all that we have been atrocious anyway. With zero excuses.

Numerous unforced errors ... shades of the prelim final last year.

The sport would survive quite easily if the umpire abuse was at a minimum. But the sport needs to be fixed so as to make it a lot easier to umpire. I have outlined previously what I'd do to fix the sport so I won't go there again (for the time being) The game is harder to umpire than it ever was thus causing even greater frustration. The AFL is at fault but they won't be putting their hands up in a hurry In the meantime, nothing much will change. It would be like trying to quell booing. I am not advocating the outlawing of umpire abuse (although I'd rather not have to witness it) I'd rather try and convince people to calm down and see the big picture. And ultimately, our club has much bigger fish to fry in order to achieve ultimate success. We are miles off right now.

I see the humour dl but the noise at the footy would still be quite high without the constant umpire abuse. Just like any other sport where the umpire/referee abuse is at a minimum. And those who don't abuse umpires don't stand around like statues ... I am quite vocal at the footy yet I never blame umpires or abuse them. And screaming out 'ball' does not constitute umpire abuse. Or other such verbals. Abusing the umpires has always crossed a line in my opinion. There is no need. The umpires are not out to get us nor are they plotting our downfall. If we're measuring the whole thing by flags won in the last 5+ decades, the umpires are the least of our concerns. It's best not to get sidetracked. Take today for instance - only a win is acceptable in my eyes. We're 3 & 8 and we should be doubly determined to get back on the board. And if we cop a few doubtful decisions we should be good enough to overcome that.

Being a sports fan and having an interest in numerous sports allows one to view our attitude towards umpires in all those sports. With regard to abuse towards umpires/referees, here's how I evaluate that general attitude. And the degree of difficulty with regards to the umpiring/refereeing of the sports listed below would be similar too. AFL 85/100 NRL 15/100 Rugby 10/100 Cricket 10/100 NFL 25/100 Soccer 25/100 NBA 15/100 MLB 20/100 NHL 10/100 Tennis 3/100 Golf 3/100 In the AFL the abuse is constant ... all throughout the games. It never stops. It is what we do but that doesn't make it right. It all stems back to degree of difficulty with regards to the adjudication of the sport. Educate at the source/root cause and it's problem solved. The other part to remember is that abusing the umpires is part of the sport for many. Again, a habit of a lifetime. Many don't want to change and that is their right. Me, I have never seen the point of the abuse. Never done it, never will.

Cause & effect DJ If the footy public can be convinced that the umpires haven't got it in for their respective teams, the abuse would die down dramatically. But the habits of a lifetime are hard to change so good luck trying to change the thinking at the root cause. So what we're left with are the symptoms or the aftermath. But how is that changed without fixing things at the root cause? Again, we blame the A-end of a problem. The oldies should know better and it's they who can change the thinking ... but lets face it, at a young age it is drummed into us (by the oldies) that the umpires are to blame. We're taught to hate the umpires and see them as the enemy. By the time we reach adulthood that thinking is entrenched. Obviously not for everyone but for many. So I don't really have a solution other than expressing my views in forums such as these. And I am firmly convinced that we would have easily been able to overcome the odd poor umpiring decision in the last 5 decades if the club had been a stronger club (across the board) Teams that win flags aren't favoured by the umpires. Unless one believes otherwise and then one would have to question the flags we won under Smith etc.

So calling anyone a maggot, d head, idiot or suchlike is not personal abuse? More 'Conditioned' thinking is almost certainly the real answer with regards to the what is or what isn't regarded as personal abuse. Just because the umpires don't return fire doesn't mean they aren't offended by the insults. And it is quite difficult for the umpires to return fire anyway ... tens of thousands of rabid fans hurling abuse on a constant basis in any given game would be impossible to deal with. Many have never given the matter any real thought. They've just joined in with the rest as a form of 'Rites of passage'. Passed on through the generations. The mob mentality and group-think rules. The sport is impossible to umpire correctly ... therefore numerous errors & mistakes are going to be made with the adjudication of the sport. It's nothing personal but many 'Jump the shark' and believe it is personal.

The umpires are never the reason for a team performing poorly. And the umpires have never even gone close to costing us a flag. Certainly not in any of the last 55 years. More so inept management, rubbish players, poor coaching and poor culture and a losing mentality. Face it, we've never been good enough post the Smith era. And that is on us. No one else. Control what can be controlled.

Weekend Special Philadelphia Phillies vs Cincinnati Reds Monday 03.05am Philadelphia -1.5 $2.45 Managed to snag a baseball 3pick overnight where 3 good performing teams won at home whilst holding a decent pitching advantage. The 'Normal' happened. So if the form continues to hold up we should be alive going into the QB clash!

Silvagni's strike rate at GWS went according to how the draft generally works. There are an amazing number of very talented under 18 players who, for whatever reason, just can't cut it at the top level. And if we knew the reason as to why that happens, they wouldn't get picked until much later in their respective drafts. But the prized picks aren't given up on easily and that is where Silvagni has erred with the recycled picks at Carlton. Top end picks often get a number of years to prove themselves. We've done it at Melbourne a stack of times. And those same top end picks often get other chances at other clubs - and it rarely ends well.

Widgee has come into 10.00 (3.20 the place) ... once again the ADATR crew have started another plunge!

Dare I say it ... very confident with those 3 Wadda. A good dividend too at 22-1 Widgee winning offers 90-1 all-up. Worth a one coffee outlay ?

Best Bet Randwick Race 7 No.9 Deprive $2.15 A bit short but should win My other big watch is 'Kolding' in the QLD Guineas at Eagle Farm (Race 5) ... set a track record 2 weeks ago at Randwick but it is also on the short side ($2.60) As for the Stradbroke ... I'm having a First4 on the race and I will definitely be including 'Widgee Turf' ($15 the win & $3.80 the place) on top with a few others ... has run some excellent times at the 1400m and has a 12: 4-5-2 record over the journey as well. Needs a good run from the 16 gate but can storm home.

Weekend Special MLB Monday 4.10am $2.35 Chicago White Sox (-1.5) vs Cleveland Indians.

Weekend Special MLB Monday 4.10am $1.80 Minnesota Win (-1.5) vs Chicago White Sox Good luck lads and for those others that are playing.

Some good racing coming up at Eagle Farm on Saturday with James McDonald on some very fancied rumners ... Lord Arthur (R3) Accession (R6) Military Zone (R9) James is also on RingerDingDing in the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup ... 12-1 can be had. 3 Group 1's at The Curragh (Ireland) over the weekend as well ... 2 x Guineas races and the WFA Gold Cup Racenet.com RacingPost.com (UK)

"The more you explain it, the more I don't understand" Mark Twain

Twain actually came to Australia on a talking tour in the 1890's ... he'd hit a financial crisis and needed the dosh. Visited Horsham, Bendigo, Ballarat, Wagga, Tassie and all sorts. Went to the Melbourne Cup etc etc. Didn't get as far as Freo but who could blame him. The book (Following the Equator) is out in the public domain so you and others can listen to the book here ... 'Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World' The Australian Stuff is from Chapter 9 onwards but I recommend listening in from the start.