Macca

'cfh' must be absolutely livid ... a missed chip shot of all things. Hard luck mate. As for the Packers, Washington's secondary might just have played Green Bay back into form ... I wasn't at all confident especially after being down 11-0 (which could easily have been 16-0) Once we got our game going it was always going to be difficult for Washington. Hoping that Arizona come out rusty next week because I believe that's what it's going to take for the Packers to have a chance ... and there always seems to be at least of the the top seeds that does come out rusty. The Packers themselves did it the season after the SB. Anyway, here's the line-up of games for next week ... AEDT Sunday 8.35am Kansas City @ New England Sunday 12.15pm Green Bay @ Arizona Monday 5.05am Seattle @ Carolina Monday 8.40am Pittsburgh @ Denver Leaderboard in the tipping comp (post season) 4 - JV7, Macca 3 - cowboy_from_hell 1 - Georgiou R.R. Martin, Gorgoroth 0 - The usual suspects

Guilty and the players out for 12 games ... wouldn't be at all surprised if the verdict is not guilty though.

Big Ben has a minute to win it for the Steelers ... good comeback by Cinci and McCarron has been decent Edit: And the Bengals implode - twice. Crazy stuff.

The Steelers should have put them away by now ... Cinci's offense is just woeful. One TD either way changes things though, in this low scoring game.

KC go to either New England or Denver next week and who's to say they can't keep winning? ... it's not like the Pats or the Broncos are absolutely dominant at this point of the season. I'm tipping the next game will be of a much better standard ... however, a lot rests with how McCarron performs.

Houston have been awful - KC are decent but they haven't beaten much. Weeden might be coming in but it's academic ... the Chiefs can run the ball from here on in. A quick TD to Houston might change things but it had better happen soon. Edit: another TD to KC ... 27-0 now.

I agree and it frustrates me as well ... this saga has taught me a valuable lesson about how people in this country view sport that is played within this country. The media will often reflect what a large percentage of what the public "wants" to think and they've done so time and time again ... the public's love of the game is at the heart of the matter. Rather than a gullible public being fed nonsense, I see it as the footy public being fed what they want to see and hear. Take this particular thread as an example ... many of the more prominent posters on this site have nothing to say on the matter and it's my guess that many of these same prominent posters don't even bother to open the thread. It's what they're not saying that intrigues me. Why so quiet? Even though this thread has remained as a prominent one, it's the same dozen or so people who have kept it going ... again, I maintain that most people do not want to know about this saga and just want it to go away. Where as guilt is almost automatic when it comes to "overseas" athletes (with regards to PED use), when it's closer to home, it's seemingly an almost opposite view (primarily) I don't know when it happened but there has been a major shift in the attitude towards PED use in sport ... I believe many have either given up or they see it as a part of sport that they can now live with. From a practical viewpoint, we're pushing the proverbial uphill. WADA needs at least 20 times the funding that it currently receives ... in 2013 WADA's income was just over 26 million dollars ... that is such a paltry amount that one wonders how it operates at all - forget effectively.

Hoyer makes another giant blunder ... this ain't looking good for the Texans

No, I do understand the mass appeal of cricket in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but if all aspects of a sport are taken into account, then other sports are bigger than cricket. My view on a sport isn't just about the sheer number of supporters (passive or otherwise) Previously I mentioned astronomical salaries, huge numbers of actual spectators at the games (often paying top dollar), massive tv rights money and worldwide appeal in sports other than cricket . In terms of actual numbers interested in a sport, cricket is right up there but that's only one aspect. Basketball has widespread popularity as does baseball ... ice hockey is massive in Europe and the NFL generates enormous sums of money. The world's best players in baseball, basketball and ice hockey are attracted to the MLB, NBA, & the NHL - those 3 Leagues are "International Leagues" much like the EPL is in soccer ... Multiple NFL games are played at Wembley in London every year to sellout crowds - and the patrons are paying decent coin for the privilege. Test cricket is actually one of my favourite sports to watch so I could be biased if I was that way inclined. I'm happy to agree to disagree, all the same. I will concede that cricket is on the rise (with a bullet) mainly because of the impact that t20 cricket will have going forward. Not sure where cricket stands with regards to WADA but I'm guessing it's on a country by country basis ... cricketers in Australia probably fall under the strongest WADA code/agreement but again, I can't be sure on that one. How many times are our cricketers tested and are there blood tests involved? Blood passports have been created in pro cycling but not many, if any sports have followed suit (Olympic sports aside) Anyway ... would you agree that most Aussies only seem to care about PED use when the story is away from our shores and we can point the finger? Would you also agree that Aussies tend to turn a blind eye when PED use happens here?

t20 cricket is boosting up cricket's overall appeal but in terms of money, salaries, spectators, tv rights etc it lags way behind the other 5 big sports ... each NFL team alone gets 188 million dollars from tv rights (every season) Baseball attracts up to 4 million actual spectators every week (apart from the tens of millions of TV viewers) and the NBA and the NHL are huge sports. Soccer is in a league of it's own in terms of worldwide appeal. I agree with you on the hiding of things though (in a roundabout way) ... it's not in the best interests of the big sports to have tight testing procedures and standards (as well as penalties) ... the less they do, the less the athletes are caught. And the less the public will think those sports aren't clean. These sporting bodies are there to make money and promote the sport - if they really wanted to do something worthwhile they'd sign up to the strongest WADA code and do weekly/fortnightly blood tests. Chances of that happening - zilch. As I said earlier, I believe we can have clean sport in Australia but worldwide, it's a very big ask.

That sort of stuff is already happening and has been happening for a very long time I'm talking about a means to an end rather than the actual process you have mentioned Chris (which would vary from sport to sport - especially the big 5 sports - Soccer, NBA, NHL, MLB & the NFL) The issue is transparency and using one's common sense to see what is actually happening. It's my opinion that PED use in sport around the world is out of control and has been out of control for quite some time - for people to think that only "certain" sports are targeted by drug cheats is either naïve or they just want to ignore the inconvenient truth. Olympic sports and cycling testing procedures & standards and the quantity of testing is far far greater than most other sports so therefore more athletes are going to be caught in those sports. Check out what the big 5 sports are doing about the use of PED's in their respective sports - it amounts to SFA in my opinion but people mistakenly think those sports are somehow clean. There is a very real soft approach to the use of PED's in sport these days - rather than keep up the fight many have simply given up. That's not to refute what you've said ... I just have an added take on things. As an example, here's the wiki page on PED use & substance abuse (and suspensions) in the NFL (American Football) There are numerous offenders - especially more recently. I enjoy watching the NFL but I also recognise that there is a major issue with PED use in the sport. Moreover, the NFL's testing procedures and standards are not great either (yet they still catch numerous PED users) I'm of the belief that we can have clean sport in Australia but world wide, I'm not so sure.

We have a good laugh? Either way, I'll be accepting of the outcome. A not guilty verdict won't mean that they won't have paid some sort of price ... as it stands, the 3 year saga has damaged the EFC to quite a degree anyway. It will take that club quite some time to become properly relevant again regardless of the outcome. They are coming from a long way back and their list is below average.

We know who the 34 are and Melksham is one of them ... we could assume that those who refused to take part in the injection of the "possible" PED's aren't part of the 34. Including rookies, Essendon had a total of 46 players on their list going into the 2012 season. So 12 players weren't charged ... (including Zaharakis and Hal Hunter*) Here is their 2012 list and here are the 34 who were charged *Although not charged, Hunter is still pursuing the EFC (and the AFL) through the courts.

Hangin' for Sunday ... ideally, a couple of games every Sunday (our time) would be fabulous. All the road teams are favoured but any of the games could go down to the wire ... next week, all the home teams will probably be favourites. If Seattle win they will go to Carolina and if Pittsburgh win they will go to Denver - it's been said before but the NFL playoff system works really well However, there is still a good chance that 2 more teams will be added to the current 12 playoff teams with only the 1 seeds subsequently receiving the bye - I'm not against adding the 2 teams even though I like things as they are now. The new 'point after' distance seems to have been received well too although only Pittsburgh looked to have attempted the 2 point conversion on a regular basis ... will they continue to do so on Sunday? The Steelers & Cinci match-up is probably the game of the weekend and it may well be real bruising affair given the recent history between these 2 teams. The Vikings/Seahawks game could be a must-see too - for all sorts of reasons not the least being the weather forecast for the game ... -3° celsius is forecast for the start of the game rising to a maximum of 1° celsius by the end of the game - plus, winds gusting up to 30km/h are predicted. That's rather chilly! Edit: 7mate are showing all 4 of this weekend's games live - I suppose we can assume that 7mate will be showing all the playoff games.

Kansas City 21 Houston 17 Pittsburgh 27 Cincinnati 24 Seattle 24 Minnesota 22 Green Bay 27 Washington 21 ... have to pick the Packers

Vikings far too good and are fully deserved division winners ... Packers were terrible though and it was a miracle that we were still in the game at the finish. So, the Vikes now host Seattle and Green Bay go to Washington ... in the end, a Vikings win means they face a hot Seattle and the Packers would probably rather face Washington more so than Minnesota (even though the Washington game is on the road) I'd be surprised if we could defeat Washington all the same ... as JV7 mentioned above, we are a shadow of our former selves. There's is no real continuity to our game mainly because our wide receivers and tight ends can't create separation even on a semi-consistent basis. It's been an issue all season which hasn't got any better. Rodgers is more often than not out of the pocket looking for someone to throw it to (often to no avail) Still, we're in the playoffs and as we've seen on a number of times previously, anything can happen in January in the NFL. In other news the Jets blew their playoff chances whilst the Steelers could cause some damage in the AFC. The Pats drop to the 2 seed with an untimely loss whilst Denver may well have dropped to the 3 seed (without a week off) but now find themselves in the 1 seed position with home field all the way through to and including the AFC Championship game (if they make it that far) Next week's playoff games (AEDT) Sunday 8.20am - Kansas City @ Houston Sunday 12.15pm - Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati Monday 5.00am - Seattle @ Minnesota Monday 8.40am - Green Bay @ Washington

And we have a winner in the tipping comp! Congratulations Gorgoroth and well played ... in the end, you needed your own team to lose in order for you to win (go figure) ... that Rams/49ers game going to O/T to decide things added to the drama! ... 'cfh' was that close Anyway, well played to all the participants ... any of the notables could have won in the last week. If we get enough takers, we can do another post-season comp as well ... "traditionally" we've added the potential scorelines in the post season - a tradition initiated by 'pantaloons'. The post season comp gives 1 point to any winner (home or away) with 3 points on the line for the Super Bowl. Final Tally (notables only) 10 - Gorgoroth 9 - cowboy_from_ hell, JV7, Georgiou R.R. Martin 7 - Macca Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 cowboy_from_hell/ pantaloons/ Gorgoroth Strafford Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan Georgiou R.R. Martin Gorgoroth ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell, Macca JV7, Georgiou R.R. Martin ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell/ Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7/ pantaloons Gorgoroth/ Go the Biff Macca -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't remember ever picking Jacksonville anytime in anything A drowning man will clutch at a serpent

Hammers defeat Liverpool (again) ... getting a few players back (including Payet) and our schedule isn't all that tough. Bilić is doing a fine job but without Sakho fit and firing a top 4 finish will probably be out of reach - but who knows? The other 3 big guns all recorded wins last night whilst Leicester slipped up - Spurs need to win at Everton tonight if they're to be a real threat for the title.

Watts is always going to be scrutinised more than most players because of his draft position ... that is obvious even for people like me who aren't draft believers like many others are. It comes with the territory and nothing will change unless we change the drafting system (which is highly unlikely) There is an assumption of "A grade" with a top end draft pick and that assumption is magnified for a bottom club that can't get out of the bottom reaches of the ladder. And that magnification is even bigger when it's the no.1 draft pick .. if we were inclined to view all these draft picks as "just another recruit" then most of the chatter would die down - but that isn't going to happen. Supporters have expectations (often unrealistic) and if those expectations aren't met they are going to lash out. It happens the same way in the NBA & the NFL ... the patterns are almost identical. You would reckon that many Demon fans would have lowered their expectations by now but I still don't see it. Fact is we draft these kids when they're still in high school and placing an assumed expectation on these kids when they are miles off the "finished product" is quite ridiculous. But I suppose if one is told something that is contrary to the above view (thousands of times) then one might be inclined to believe that something. Any system that doesn't work the way one wants it to work should be questioned - but we don't question the system, we question the results. Melbourne Demons coach Paul Roos says more attention needs to be on AFL ‘feeder comps’

Pittsburgh Detroit Jacksonville

Yeah, the good news is you will win gold or silver so ... at least you won't win another bronze Looking at the week, there's any number of potential road winners but none that could be called absolute certainties. A number of teams could rest their starters too - week 17 always throws up some surprises. It's probably the most interesting week 17 for quite a while in terms of how the playoff seedings could change (especially the 1 & 2 seeds in both conferences)

Didn't help that the Giants had nothing to play for and Beckham was out ... all the same, the Vikings probably would have won anyway. Bridgewater was very good and for most of the year they've been a very honest, consistently good team. Next week at Lambeau is an interesting scenario considering the loser possibly gets the easier wild-card game (at Washington) Seattle could rest a few starters against Arizona as a win for them would be hard fought and not entirely necessary. They might have already decided that the 6 seed will suffice. Leaderboard in the comp (notables only) 10 - Gorgoroth 9 - cowboy_from_ hell, JV7, Georgiou R.R. Martin 7 - Macca Week 17 games ... all to play for this week with 3 points on offer. Finding 3 obvious road winners in week 17 could be a little difficult. You'd reckon that the teams that have to win, will win but ... all the games are divisional games so there's sure to be some close finishes. Anyway, good luck to all.

Week 17 holds a lot of interest after today's results ... any number of the seedings can change. Pittsburgh are the big losers out of today's games and they will now need the Bills to defeat the Jets as well as win their own game against Cleveland (to make the playoffs) I've already had numerous goes at the ESPN Playoff Machine but it will be interesting to see how Seattle approach next week's game @ Arizona. They've already clinched a playoff berth and will either play @ Washington or at Minnesota or Green Bay. Meanwhile, the Vikes need to win today to clinch a playoff spot (and therefore eliminate Atlanta) Currently leading 10 - 0. As for the Packers - the good news is we can't play any worse and at least we're in the playoffs ... with Rodgers at the helm we're always a chance but right now, we'd be doing well to win 1 playoff game.

These 2 won't get a better chance to cash in ... an opportunity to boost the aggregate and average with a big score. Hard to believe that the Windies haven't played a test in Melbourne for 15 years. Still, their batsmen might get amongst them on this track ... then again, they may not.