Macca

Think I'm right in saying that we first switched to playing a lot on Sunday's was when Diamond Joe was Pres. And didn't North initiate the whole Friday night footy thing? ... no representation at all for them this time around except for Good Friday. Maybe the smaller Victorian clubs could band together and put some proposals to the AFL? I'm not sure any of us would mind playing the Saints, Bulldogs and/or North on a Friday or Saturday night (with free-to-air coverage) PJ needs to find more ways of getting a decent deal ... in saying that he has landed the ANZAC eve fixture and the home game in round 1 against the Cats are terrific steps in the right direction. And the 800k per game negotiated with the NT Government is another great deal (from a financial viewpoint)

Someone here once said that they liked the Sunday games because at least their whole weekend wasn't ruined by a loss on the Friday or Saturday. Made perfect sense at the time too. We've got 7 Sunday free-to-air games next season so we may as well embrace it and make the best of it. Like others, I don't mind the time slot. These days, any game on a Saturday afternoon is never on free-to-air

I agree on the financial side of things. PJ has added the Richmond ANZAC eve fixture as a staple and we should be doing the same with the round 1 Geelong clash. Future deals can also be done with the Hawks, Dons & Blues. But right now, things are a long way off being ideal. As for on field, identifying, developing & keeping talent is something we've been poor at previously but we've improved markedly of late. The aim should always be to have a super-list of players and if we ever get to the stage where we have an excess of good players who we can't all keep or satisfy, we can therefore become (in theory) a dominant player during the trade period. Good players generally don't come cheap nor are they sold off cheaply. It's possible to get to the top and stay at the top but you have to be extremely clued up to do so. We've seen it in more recent times with the Lions, Cats, Swans & Hawks. The Lions eventually fell away and in the end, lost their way. The other 3 are still thereabouts.

Well, from my point of view I don't see any super-teams out there so we only have to be a fair bit above average to have a shot at the top 4 - 6. Winning the flag is a whole new step altogether but getting into contention isn't all that difficult. In the current climate, a team just needs 10 or 12 good players and a buy-in from the rest (to a winning game plan such as what we witnessed with the Tigers & Bulldogs) And I don't see any team becoming a super-team in a hurry either ... the draft, salary cap and the 2 new teams have seen to that. So, if I'm right, where do we sit? Do we have 10-12 good players? 3 or 4 years ago I would have struggled to come up with 3 or 4 names. I'll speculate again - 12 good players ... Jones, Oliver, Gawn, Viney, Lewis, T-Mac, Jetta, Hibberd, Lever. Petracca, Hunt & Tyson. Some would argue on a few of the choices and that's fair enough too. Each to their own. Then we've got Salem, Garlett, Vince, Frost, Brayshaw, ANB, Oscar and a few others who can (or might) step up. Plus, the 4 new draftees. Surely there is one diamond in the rough. All the games are winnable but we need to win at least 14 of them. And that is possible. Not probable but you never know. There isn't a team out there that we should fear. We need a good run with injuries too ... this past season was a disaster in terms of continuity. My philosophy has always been that X amount of good players often equates to X amount of wins (as long as the coaching is top notch as well)

Well, what do we say then? Nothing? It's a bit of speculation based on what we think might happen. You do it yourself when it suits.

Absolute, not certain. That's the word I'd use. We should never be included in the argument. And by us I mean the supporters & members. But unfortunately, we will bear the brunt of the blame. It's bs but that's the way people think. It's all part of the whole bragging rights stuff that goes on in sport. From the top down so you're right about the AFL & the TV stations. As previously stated, the club will need a sustained period of success before we start getting any favours. And that's out of our hands. Whatever will be, will be. As for us members & supporters, we'll always be there.

Well, we're the ones who take the whack but to my way of thinking, we've always played our part and will always continue to do so. Blaming of supporters is just childish & a puerile way of thinking. And that's right across the board in any sport. We're mere onlookers who effect very little. It's a minor miracle that we have in excess of 42.000 members. We are nothing but resilient.

The 3.20 start on a Sunday in Melbourne is something that we're going to have to get used to ... Channel 7 are calling the shots on that one and the footy leads into their news service. As for prime-time free-to-air games, we're going to have to get so good that they can't ignore us. And we'd then have to maintain that status. That's got to be the goal if we're to become one of the big clubs. Still, we fell so far behind that we've only got ourselves to blame (and that predicament had nothing to do with our members & supporters)

Any game is winnable ... especially round 1 against the Cats. The Tigers will fall away too - they'll come right back to the field unless they get an extremely good run with injuries again. Hangovers happen too. I just ran across our first dozen games to a mate (a non Demon) and he has our toughest game being Essendon in round 6 followed by the Crows in round 10. Then the Tigers and then the Cats. A better way to look at it is nominating an absolutely certain loss in that fixture. Our fixture is not a tough one ... unless we regress. .

Jeff Saturday made mention of the vulnerability of Wentz in terms of protection and what the Eagles are asking him to do. I haven't watched the Eagles like you do but is there any substance to what Saturday is saying? I bang on about the Rodgers situation with McCarthy but is it a similar situation with Wentz & Pederson?

Here are our games again (previously posted up on page 6 by Andy) I've highlighted the free-to-air games ... 2018 Melbourne fixture Round 1, Sunday, March 25, Geelong Cats, MCG, Home, 3:20pm, Seven Round 2, Saturday, March 31, Brisbane Lions, The Gabba, Away, 6:25pm, Foxtel Round 3, Saturday, April 7, North Melbourne, MCG, Home, 2:10pm, Foxtel Round 4, Sunday, April 15, Hawthorn, MCG, Away, 3:20pm, Seven Round 5, Tuesday, April 24, Richmond, MCG, Home, 7:25pm, Seven Round 6, Sunday, April 29, Essendon, Etihad Stadium, Away, 1:10pm, Foxtel Round 7, Sunday, May 6, St Kilda, Etihad Stadium, Away, 3:20pm, Seven Round 8, Saturday, May 12, Gold Coast Suns, The Gabba, Away, 4:35pm, Foxtel Round 9, Sunday, May 20, Carlton, MCG, Away, 1:10pm, Foxtel Round 10, Sunday, May 27, Adelaide Crows, TIO Traeger Park, Home, 2:50pm, Seven Round 11, Saturday, June 2, Western Bulldogs, Etihad Stadium, Away, 1:45pm, Foxtel Round 12, Monday, June 11, Collingwood, MCG, Home, 3:20pm, Seven Round 13, Bye Round 14, Friday, June 22, Port Adelaide, Adelaide Oval, Away, 7:20pm, Seven Round 15, Sunday, July 1, St Kilda, MCG, Home, 1:10pm, Foxtel Round 16, Saturday, July 7, Fremantle, TIO Stadium, Home, 7:10pm, Foxtel Round 17, Saturday, July 14, Western Bulldogs, MCG, Home, 4:35pm, Foxtel Round 18, Saturday, July 21, Geelong Cats, GMHBA Stadium, Away, 7:25pm, Seven Round 19, Saturday, July 28, Adelaide Crows, Adelaide Oval, Away, 7:10pm, Seven Round 20, Sunday, August 5, Gold Coast Suns, MCG, Home, 3:20pm, Seven Round 21, Sunday, August 12, Sydney Swans, MCG, Home, 3:20pm, Seven Round 22, Sunday, August 19, West Coast Eagles, Perth Stadium, Away, 1:20pm Seven Round 23, TBC, GWS Giants, MCG, Home, TBC, TBC .

Patriots deal QB Jimmy Garoppolo to 49ers for 2018 draft pick For a 2nd round pick too by the looks of it ... Garoppolo was to become a restricted free agent by seasons end so the Pats get a deal done now. Re-signing him might have been a prohibitive move by the Pats in the sense that the 49ers are looking like tagging Garoppolo as their franchise player.

Good teams win anywhere BC ... we've got 15 games in Melb/Vic which is 3 more than any of the teams outside of Victoria get in their home states. And compared to a lot of other major sports, the amount of games that the majority of our supporters can actually attend is quite high. Don't forget that the members receive 2 games as compensation for the NT exercise. It's my belief that the NT games are here to stay and PJ may well be able to broker an even better financial deal from the arrangement. One could argue that we're traveling interstate on our own terms (albeit for a percentage of those interstate games) .

The fixture is not all that tough from a playing point of view but from a financial point of view we could have done with 2 home fixtures against teams like the Hawks, Blues or Dons. But, we've got 3 blockbuster fixtures in the first half of the season and it should be remembered that we pick up 800k from each of the NT games. The lack of exposure for our sponsors with regards to free-to-air prime-time games is a concern and of the 104 slots available in those prime-time free-to-air games, we received a total of 4. We are on free-to-air a dozen times though which seems more than what has happened in the recent past. From a playing point of view only having 4 six day breaks is a great result ... both Sydney & GWS are hard to beat at their home grounds but we only play both those teams at the MCG. And we don't visit Tassie either - another tough place to find a win. Our toughest away games are against the Crows, Port & Eagles but we won 2 of those away encounters in the recently completed season (Crows & Eagles) In summary we've got a lot of very winnable games and from a financial viewpoint, the club pockets some very decent coin in the first half of the year ... which means we can set ourselves up for a fruitful 2nd half of the season. Home games in the 2nd half of the season against the Saints, Bulldogs & Swans could end up being quite rewarding. The attitude from the playing group and coaching department should be anyplace, anywhere, anytime

Yeah, I'm heavily into podcasts nb ... Movies & TV shows mainly. But for something different, 'Inside Psycho' & 'Inside The Exorcist' are both extremely good (both rank high on the various podcast charts) 'This American Life' is also quite good. For any movie that I've really liked or for a particular favourite movie, I can listen to as many as 10 podcasts to re-live that film. Once done, listening to that many podcasts about a movie often makes one want to watch that particular movie again! The intriguing part about podcasts is that anyone can do them ... and because of that, they are not exactly big money-spinners. In effect, podcasts are like a community service out in the public domain. They're here to stay for the same types of reasons. Here's Podbay's top ranking Film & TV podcasts (click on 'browse' for other categories)

I reckon the thinking when playing a top team away from home is that you have to score twice in order to have a realistic chance at getting points from the game. That's a generalisation though. Mourinho is the master at achieving a 1-0 victory with a late winner. He's happy for his teams to sit back even at home. I see United only had 45% of possession. Man City are the team to beat all the same - 28 points from 10 games with a +29 goal difference already. They don't really look like faltering but you never know

In the 97th minute too ... but I'm well used to it after all these years. The ambition is often just to stay up and the incremental achievements are to take points off the big clubs (which we did to great effect in the 2015/16 season) Bilic hasn't got a lot to work with but he's close to being sacked anyway ... that's just the way soccer works. It's nothing personal in many ways, it's just win or you're out. And in soccer it's always about winning now. I know of plenty here that follow teams that are no longer in the top division (Leeds, Forest, Derby et al) so I'm hoping that we can survive (again) The games on the telly have been terrific ... Spurs really missed Harry Kane last night. He's not easily replaced and he's so good that he is irreplaceable for a team like Tottenham.

Not sure we're going to get the audio coverage back in a hurry GV ... I've got a tunein subscription and they don't do the games either. The thinking is archaic - the EPL is one of the most in-demand leagues in world sport and we can't even get radio coverage. On Tunein radio I can listen to any NHL, NBA, MLB or NFL game anywhere, anytime ... but no EPL.

There are a number of podcasts surrounding 'Stranger Things' but I found the following one to be amongst the better ones ... Dungeons & Demogorgons - A 'Stranger Things' Podcast by the "Bald Move Crew."

Humidor might have won if it didn't hang in late ... but when you're chasing a champion horse that can happen. Edit: Bowman just said Winx kicked again when threatened so maybe a bit of both. Was a good race and an exciting finish all the same. 2000 is her distance down to 1600 so the 2 English races targeted makes sense.

Here are the games again along with Bill Simmons' latest column ... 10 Ways to Make the Miserable NFL Season More Fun - Plus: your Week 8 picks

It seems there are big plans ahead DJ ... Cox Plate a Winx farewell to Melbourne? According to Chris Waller ...

Found this link ... Weight For Age Championships: The Best Global WFA Events By Region For the reasons you've outlined, I'm not sure we'll ever see a truly world class field in the Cox Plate. Other incentives could be introduced but that would almost certainly involve some hefty dollars.

I still remember Bill Collins proclaiming that "Kingston Town can't win" ... it duly flew home and won! Won 3 Cox Plates all up so Winx would be joining exalted company if she wins today. I've been to the Cox Plate a few times but have always gone to the trouble of getting decent seats. Saw Northerly & Sunline win

The only worry for Winx might be interference but the field is down to 8 now. It's a race for 2nd & 3rd for the rest. There's 440k up for grabs for 2nd place which easily covers the total acceptance fees of $30,590. Even 8th place receives 100k ... and conveniently, there are only 8 runners. Winx should win easing up - 10 lengths is a stretch but you never know.