Macca

Here's a free book that is out in the public domain ... Mark Twain ... 'Following the Equator - A Journey Around the World.' Mark Twain visited Australia as part of his travels around the world in the late 19th century and wrote about & visited many towns, cities & places (including Melbourne, Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Horsham, Bendigo, Ballarat, Tasmania et al) He was engaged in his own speaking circuit per se because of the financial difficulties that he was facing at the time (he'd lost most of his money in a failed business venture) ... all the same, it must have been quite a treat for the locals (especially in the country towns) In the book he also made many observations about our history, culture and somewhat chequered past up until that point .. the Australian part of the book is from chapters 9 through to chapter 29 but the whole book is a thoroughly enjoyable read (and he absolutely pulls no punches too) Anyway, here's the book in text form and also, here's the book in audio form (read by John Greenman) .

New England Baltimore Indianapolis Denver (?) Dallas Packers Carolina Seattle Reckon I'll get at least 3 wrong and the Colts & Pats are my only lead-pipe locks.

I'll have go as well in time JV7 but I reckon you're close to the mark ... not sure on my Packers but not just because of the Nelson injury (we should be able to cover for him to a reasonable extent) ...much will depend on how hungry the group is after bombing out the way we did against the Seahawks. There's always a few teams that come out of nowhere and this year will probably be no different ... other fancied teams drop away inexplicably. I'm intrigued with what Rex will do with Buffalo whilst the Panthers and your team in your division will make it tough for the Saints. The Ravens are another team to watch and who knows what will happen with Denver & Peyton. As usual, the NFC East will an interesting division to watch as will the NFC West. Depending on how much the Vikings improve, the NFC North could be a real bunfight between all 4 teams.

Harper Lee's long lost manuscript of "Go Set a Watchman" was discovered in 2011 and the book form was finally published just last month (July, 2015) The book was a follow on about the events of "To Kill a Mockingbird" twenty years on except Harper Lee wrote 'Go Set a Watchman' before she ever wrote 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Upon reviewing 'Go Set a Watchman', Harper was commissioned to re-write the book by her publishers ... it was retitled 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and of course, the rest is history. Anyway, here's the first chapter (in text form) of 'Go Set a Watchman' and on this same link you can listen to the first chapter (read by Reese Witherspoon) .

Your team payed way overs for Jennings for instance but I'm not sure he was ever that good anyway. Every team gets injuries but unless it's an out and out game breaker like AP or Rodgers, those teams just have to get on with it. To my way of thinking, it all evens itself out when it comes to injuries. Footy is the same - we're not the only team who gets a rash of injuries. Nelson going down gives more opportunities to the other WR's & TE's but a lot still rests with Rodgers anyway - same as the Pats with Brady etc etc. Cobb probably becomes the main man exclusively and he's very capable. Devante Adams shows a lot of promise also. .

Hammers lose at home to Bournemouth, Demons smashed and I'm greeted with the Nelson news first thing this morning. Ugh ugh ugh!

We're losing a lot of experience in one hit (Rogers, Clarke, Watson & Haddin) so I reckon there's room for someone like Voges or perhaps Voges himself - he or Shaun Marsh might be retained but I doubt whether it would be both. The issue is that we need to find another opener, the no.3 or 4 spot is up for grabs whilst the all rounders spot needs to be consolidated - Mitch Marsh looks the most likely ... I reckon they'll continue with Nevill. Khawaja or Burns will possibly get another run at it whilst Bancroft is now being talked about as the possible opener to partner Warner. Interesting that Bancroft's fielding position is listed as a wicketkeeper so he's obviously got a bit of talent ... not sure he keeps for WA though - he may have filled in occasionally.

I've got Starc in - I reckon he'll have a big summer. On our hard, fast tracks, all our young fast bowlers will be a handful (especially against the Windies) Jackson Bird and Coulter-Nile are another couple who could play that 3rd seamers role. The batting remains the concern but we might consolidate and recover a lot more quickly than people think. The upcoming 11 tests (which includes the tours to Bangladesh in October and the tour of New Zealand in February next year) offer lots of opportunities for the would-be batsmen that will come into the side. As it happens, it's an ideal time to re-build the team.

I see you finally got Siddle into the side TD - Warne wasn't too happy about it though. Shane wanted him in for the 4th test but I'm not sure whether he said as much "at the time" ... I hope he does well all the same and Hazlewood did need a spell - Josh will be back though, he's got loads of potential. And you're right, that session was a bit of a throwback. A good, solid start.

The 2 point conversion and the probable extra use of it may well bring Tebow back into the sport ... as you said cfh, he should be able to get a gig when there's approximately 100 QB's in the sport (when including all the rostered back-ups) And he may well be suited to Kelly's fast pace offense at the Eagles - I'd like to see him make his way back. Hayne is doing everything right so far as well. As for Dunn as a punter JV7, I can't see why not but the punters all seem to have that 3 or 4 step walk up style - he'd need to learn it. Good coin too considering it's a 2nd sporting career that an Aussie rules player wouldn't ordinarily have. Both Sav and Ben Graham played a number of games. McBriar eked out 12 seasons and is now retired.

Tebow did ok in yesterday's game for the Eagles vs the Colts - ran in a TD and threw 6/12 for 69 yards. He's probably 4th in line behind Bradford, Barkley and Sanchez but you never know. The way Kelly uses his players, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tebow at least remain on Philadelphia's roster.

Speaking of which, here's the Super Bowl in 2 parts ... unlike the other highlights, the players and coaches are miked up in these 2 clips ... it would be great if we could hear this sort of stuff when watching "live" games ... 11 of 11 ... Super Bowl - Patriots/Seahawks .

Ha! ... very good Earl. It's actually Rami Malek who stars in a new drama called ... Mr Robot There's some iconic avatars attached to certain posters here aren't there? Name changes are hard to get used to as well - like anything else, we just don't like change sometimes

Would you believe it's him wearing a "hoodie?" (when he was in his early 20's) ... thought not! ... he'll be back, sometime soon.

Clarke set to retire after Ashes Pup has had a wonderful career - a sad way to go out but he did captain a world cup winning side just a few months ago. An outstanding batsman and let's hope he makes some runs at the oval - he deserves a good send off.

9 of 11 ... NFC Championship - Packers @ Seattle (ugh) 10 of 11 ... AFC Championship - Colts @ Patriots

A couple from 'Max Sedgley' His music is described as Electronica/Funk but there are heavy shades of acid jazz and a bit of nu-jazz in there as well - to my ears anyway! Anyway, here's "Something Special" (with Tasita D'mour on lead vocals) followed by the more mellow "Slowly" (featuring Z-Star on lead vocals) .

You're perhaps expecting too much, too early. Hazlewood and Starc can only get better and we shouldn't be blaming the younger bowling members of the side when the obvious issue is the batsmen. It's hard for a bowling unit to protect scores such as "60" ... ordinarily, Harris might have been expected to play in most or all of the tests over there which could have meant that Starc & Hazlewood were rotated in and out of the team. Our bowling unit might be inexperienced but at least there's an upside. Re the batting, oddly enough, our best current batsman is Rogers - but he's retiring. Even if he did go on for another year we still need to try someone else in the openers spot eventually... another opener "type" may well be needed for the no.3 spot too - a good no.3 also needs to have the capacity to open the innings as well as set up a teams score. Smith looks more suited to no.4 but he may be persevered with at no.3. We'll also be needing a no.5 soon enough as well (unless Clarke can turn things around) The all-rounders spot isn't absolutely secure either - or the keepers spot. Re Maxwell - let's not confuse technique with playing risky shots/temperament. Watch Maxwell closely - he has a sound defence and has all the shots - he's an ideal no.6 but his issues are that he's in too much of a hurry when he gets to the crease. Maxwell needs to tone down the way he plays - again, his issues can be fixed but that's up to Maxwell. I'm certainly not predicting greatness for him but I won't rule a line through him the same as I don't like ruling a line through young players as a general rule. I have the same philosophy in footy. Warner has been "unorthodox" for most of his test career and we're going to see more and more batsmen take more risks as the game progresses - the shorter forms of the game will create the new breed of batsmen - get used to it. Even Rogers gets on with it these days. Re Burns - don't be looking for instant results. He was a spec pick and like footy, not all spec picks will give you instant results. Patience and proper development are the keys ... at least Burns now knows what to do to make it as a test batsman - well, at least he should know. Many young players such as Hayden, Martyn et al fought their way back after extended absences. As for the old boys ... first Hilditch and now Lehmann have fallen for the trap of filling gaps with older batsmen instead of building a team for the future. We kept picking older players and now we probably need a major re-build. I'm not against picking older players per se but we need to get the right mix. The squad over in England right now has far too many players who are at or near the end. And I disagree on the next "real test" ... for me it's probably New Zealand (twice), then India, then England here with South Africa twice before we go back to England again. These are all "big" to "biggish" series that we need to win. The aim should be to be a powerhouse again - a team capable of winning 16 tests in a row - which we did twice in the not too distant past. Anything less than that is not living up to the high standards that have been set. .

We picked an old & aging squad who have had their butts kicked - serves us right. The selectors have a lot to answer for. It's time to rebuild primarily with youth - this policy of picking older blokes or players well past their best needs to be addressed - picking players to "play a role" or having "stop-gap measures" is a philosophy that looks foolish if it doesn't work. I've never been an advocate of necessarily picking player who has made the "most runs" at the next level down. There's a lot more to unearthing a top test batsman than that. There's "longevity" to take into account as well. Rogers has been a relative success but just 2 years down the track, he's going. Out of the initial squad of 17 up to 9 players are either finished, aren't the future or aren't good enough. That's far too high a number but the selectors have only got themselves to blame for the dilemma we find ourselves in. They made the choices so they have to wear the consequences. Harris, Haddin, Watson, Rogers, Voges, S Marsh, Clarke, Nevill & Siddle are either finished or they have big question marks against their names - Nevill's keeping is "adequate" and his batting is average - I hope he can improve because he needs to - he turns 30 in a month. Siddle is medium/fast at best these days whilst Voges & S Marsh do not represent the future - the rest of the aforementioned 9 are either finished, are finishing up or close to finishing up. I really hope Clarke can turn things around and champion players often do - the short ball is a major weakness for him now and he needs to overcome that. His weakness against the short ball is affecting the other parts of his game. However, there's a number of young talented batsmen in shield ranks so it's not all doom and gloom - again, the issue is perception rather than reality - many of our previous top batsmen were virtual unknowns before they were initially picked for Australia. Some of the young batsmen to keep an eye on - Stoinis, Maddinson, Bancroft, Silk, Handscomb, Head, Patterson, Lynn, Burns & Khawaja ... all are worth consideration by the selectors - others like Maxwell & Henriques may get a recall but the all-rounders spot is Mitch Marsh's for the foreseeable future (he should have played in this test) Khawaja needs to learn to go on with it (and he can) whilst Maxwell is a rare talent who needs to work on his temperament. Burns showed a bit and may get another chance - the others all have "potential" but it's always been that way with young batsmen - there's not too many Don Bradman's about. If the selectors can get their act together I'm quite confident that we'll bounce back almost straight away - the bowling stocks look plentiful in comparison - Pattinson, Cummins & Coulter-Nile have big upsides and there's other bowlers on the horizon too. Starc & Hazlewood can only get better. The young batsmen picked should be based on a trial & error basis - as it's traditionally been. Give 'em 3 or 4 tests (initially) and see where we go from there - rotate another young batsmen in if needed. Like footy, people shouldn't be looking for instant results or the next "wunderkind" ... these things take time. The weird bit is how many footy followers seem to be obsessed with under 18 talent yet when it comes to cricket, these same people have almost no knowledge of the young talent coming through. Because it's not in their face, they presume bleakness. The other issue is the drop-in wickets or decks that don't offer much to seam or spin bowling in this country anymore - that effects both our batsmen and our bowlers. We're really good on flat decks or hard and fast surfaces but we continue to struggle when the ball has sideways movement (especially in England & India) Next up it's Bangladesh & the Windies who aren't very strong ... we play the Kiwis in-between those 2 nations but New Zealand are nearly always hard to beat - and they're a much better team these days as well.

We're getting a good run of luck ... dropped catches ... a no-ball when they do catch one. Then Rogers misses one by half a metre and they all go up - what, what!

7 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Cowboys @ Packers 8 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Colts @ Broncos

5 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Ravens @ Patriots 6 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Panthers @ Seahawks

I'm more thinking of how to win this particular test rather than any long term or short term solutions with the keeping spot. Nevill's keeping to Lyon in the 3rd test was at times amateurish - missing balls completely and not gloving the ball well ... I thought he moved a bit too slowly to the quicks too - especially taking balls down the leg side. Ian Healy made some pointed comments - and he'd know. Haddin dropped a soda in Cardiff but other than that, he kept to his usual standards. Haddin brings a wealth of experience, know-how & leadership where as Nevill is trying to find his way in the grand final of test series. So are Mitch Marsh, Voges, Starc & Hazlewood for that matter. That's a lot of inexperience. Nevill probably deserves a good go at it but my idea of an extended run in test cricket is not always to play every test uninterrupted. McGrath was rested or dropped 5 times in his first 9 tests. Sometimes we're in too much of a hurry to get rid of experienced players too quickly - the balance of the side is all important. Once Mitch Marsh was preferred to Watson then I would have kept Haddin in - especially when we already had an unproven newcomer in Voges in the side. A 5,6 & 7 of Voges, M Marsh & Nevill didn't hurt us in at Lords because of the Rogers/Smith partnership but that same 5,6 & 7 line-up let us down badly in the just completed test. My reasoning of having Haddin at 6 and Mitch at 7 is that both might be better overall value with that configuration rather than the other way around. One has loads of experience whilst the other doesn't. I accept that Nevill will probably play though and I genuinely wish him well - if he does do well with the gloves, I'll give him due credit. However, the selectors will be picking a team to win this next test match - not necessarily with an eye on getting games into new players ... so, it wouldn't surprise to see 3 changes. Anyway, time will tell. .

Continuing on with all the highlights of last year's playoffs ... the links will take you to youtube where you can "fullscreen" the games ... 3 of 11 ... wild-card Bengals @ Colts 4 of 11 ... wild-card Lions @ Cowboys

I'd bring S Marsh & Haddin in for Voges & Nevill ... Voges out because he hasn't made runs and we need Haddin's experience despite Nevill being a good prospect. Nevill's glovework against Lyon was average but it's more so that Haddin's batting in the late middle order that is badly needed. The next test is do or die. I'd also reshuffle the batting order so as to make it more productive ... I also can't see Siddle being picked - Cummins is more likely but I reckon we'll keep the same 4 bowlers regardless. I do like the idea of having an experienced batsman and an experienced bowler in the squad but not necessarily as first choice for the test matches. So, the selectors have probably got that bit right with S Marsh and Siddle as back-ups. My team in batting order ... Rogers Warner Smith S Marsh Clarke (out of form and needs to drop down a rung for the foreseeable future) Haddin (a temporary move to no.6 until M Marsh is more accustomed to test cricket) M Marsh Johnson Starc Hazlewood Lyon So, with my side we'd end up with a 5, 6 & 7 of Clarke, Haddin & M Marsh instead of Voges, M Marsh & Nevill. A much more solid look about it ... S Marsh can bat anywhere in the order but having a left hand bat to break up the 2 right handers in Smith & Clarke could put their bowlers off their line - remembering that they'll be missing the experience of Anderson. It's a big out for them and we need to take advantage. .