Macca

Arizona 17 Carolina 24 ... Cam Newton to be the difference Baltimore 20 Pittsburgh 23 ... the Steelers, just. Cincinnati 23 Indianapolis 32 ... the Colts should win. Detroit 27 Dallas 28 ... I'm tipping a late interception could decide this one. What are the chances that all the "road" teams get up?

Ashton Agar has been added to the squad for the Sydney Test If he was to come into the side where does he bat and who makes way? We've won the series so I hope Agar plays so we can have another look at him. Apparently his selection rests with how the SCG might play ... Agar recalled to the Australian Test squad Edit: Dhoni has retired from Test cricket - effective immediately ... Kohli to captain in Sydney?

You've got to feel for the bloke ... in the previous over it looked like he'd got the message that we were declaring shortly. Then Hazlewood comes out to bat? Anyway, with the declaration we can probably set attacking fields for as long as we need to - India have to go for it but will they? They'd have to score 384 in 70 overs. Big ask. Edit: 70 overs minimum

... and for those wanting a "result" the best thing to happen would be for Australia to be bowled out. Personally, I'd like to see Marsh get his century ... after that, I'm not fussed.

I doubt we'll declare anytime soon for a number of reasons ... The match is almost certainly destined to be a draw If so, we will have won back the Border-Gavaskar trophy Our bowlers get to rest up until Sydney (we've played 15 days out of 22 in this series so far) Their bowlers on the other hand won't get that same opportunity to rest up Shaun Marsh will get a chance to get himself a century You never give a sucker an even break We may well declare but Smith will know that the game can be called off early if both captains agree to call the game off early. The next test doesn't start until next Tuesday but even so, why would we risk bowling Johnson & Harris if there's no real chance of a win? If we're happy to take a 2 nil lead to Sydney then we'll probably bat on until they bowl us out. If the declaration comes it probably wouldn't come before Marsh (hopefully) achieves his century.

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 Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell/ Macca 2014 ???????? ???????? ?????????

It's a fairly easy thing to run JV7 ... you and GtB were the frontrunners for a long time there but as you both found out, getting points late in the season is really tough. I have to admire the perseverance skills of the participants though - being Demon supporters steels us that way hey? We're well used to the odd setback! Dappa picked up points in 6 different weeks I believe so he was a fully deserved winner. I'll run things by everyone before the start of next season but I thought we could add 1 or 2 more "bonus" weeks and the other idea I had was we could add in our own version of "wild-cards" - each participant has 2 or 3 to use anytime and the "wild-cards" act as extra point if you tip all 3 winners in any given week. Bad luck with your blokes today ... I haven't taken a lot of notice of the Falcons this year but at least you've got a decent QB. Probably just need to get a lot better in other areas. As for the Packers, we'll need a decent slice of luck and a fit Rodgers ... I'm hoping that Detroit beat Dallas as I give them a chance of possibly upsetting the Seahawks in week 2 of the playoffs. Seattle look just as hungry though and they'll be hard to beat.

Me too ... I'm left wondering why we haven't got a trophy to play for when we play South Africa. It's one of the biggest rivalries in world cricket - we should play them more often too (4 tests minimum)

I'm in Dappa as long as I don't have to think too much about it .. ha ha Last year we even had a playoff tipping comp ... titan won it From memory we had a go at tipping the winners of all the playoff games (just straight winners) with a point awarded for every winner and 3 points for the SB winner. We did it week by week. pantaloons set the trend with having a go at the actual scorelines as well ... I'm happy to keep tabs on the points again and it gives a 2nd chance for those who missed out on regular season comp.

lol ... when did t20 ever "have" you? The sport has only been around 5 minutes. Anyway, I reckon Smith will take the conservative route tomorrow if our batsmen can last that long ... we bat for an hour? Maybe longer if the target figure of 400 is on his mind. He wouldn't want to lose his 2nd game as captain as besides all that, the 'Border-Gavaskar' trophy is on the line ... that trophy may not mean a lot to the general public but it will do to the players and CA.

I thought that was the "one day cricket" glide? :-) I guess we've got to get a t20 reference in somehow!

India have had their chances right throughout this series. I wonder whether they'll take their chance this time?

Playoff Schedule ... it looks like all the playoff games will be shown live on 7mate & ESPN Sunday Jan 4 8.25am Arizona (5) @ Carolina (4) 12.15pm Baltimore (6) @ Pittsburgh (3) Monday Jan 5 5.00am Cincinnati (5) @ Indianapolis (4) 8.30am Detroit (6) @ Dallas (3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday Jan 11 8.30am Indi/Cin/Balt @ New England 12.15pm Car/Ari/Det @ Seattle Monday Jan 12 5.00am Dal/Car/Ari @ Green Bay 8.30am Pit/Indi/Cin @ Denver

Good post Gonzo but we might be able to ink in an agreement with the Tigers to swap home games with them annually (the game is earmarked to be played on Anzac eve as well) Next season Richmond get the home game but we might get the home game in 2016 (and so on and so forth) We've got our foot in the door and by the looks of it the game just needs a decent crowd and then AFL approval to have the game played annually ... AFL Fixture 2015: Richmond and Melbourne to clash in Anzac Eve showdown If we could snag home games against the Blues, Dons & Hawks in 2016 that would give us 5 home games against the "big 5" Gotta help the coffers with a draw like that - especially if the team starts winning games consistently.

Rodgers came back on and though he looked a little restricted, he ended up doing quite well ... a cloud remains over that calf of his however so we'll have to wait and see. It looks like Carolina (the 4 seed) will host the Cardinals (5) whilst Detroit (6) will visit Dallas (3) and ... the lowest seeded winner of those 2 games will then go to Seattle in week 2 - unless Detroit can upset Dallas then that team will be Carolina or Arizona (otherwise, if Detroit win next week, the Lions will go to Seattle) I agree though, it's all set up for the Seahawks if we're being brutally honest. In the AFC it's all set up for the Patriots but their home field advantage isn't as strong as Seattle's. There's always upsets and a team or 2 can still get hot at the right time. If I had to pick a team from each conference to get hot it would be Dallas & Pittsburgh. If Flacco can find his range then the Ravens could surprise - a lot is going to have to be on him though. I'm obviously hoping the Packers can do well but Rodgers will need to be ready to go if we're to have any chance.

... and Rodgers has made a miraculous recovery There's no truth in the rumour that the Packers have a supply of Dank's "calf" blood

Rodgers down and possibly out Could be season over despite making the playoffs ugh

We have a winner in the tipping comp ... Dappa Dan is triumphant - well played! Thanks to all for participating ... we might fine tune the comp a bit next year ... I've got an idea or 2 to add to the competition to make it a bit more interesting but we'll leave that for another time. Final tally 8 - Dappa Dan 7 - Georgiou R. R. Martin 4 - Gorgoroth 3 - JV7, Go the Biff, Macca 2 - pantaloons 1 - cowboy_from_hell Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 cowboy_from_hell/ pantaloons/ Gorgoroth Strafford Macca 2014 Dappa Dan Georgiou R.R Martin Gorgoroth

The odd bit is that Haddin let that one go to Watson's left which Watto dropped but went after the other 2 (and caught them brilliantly) when both those 2 other edges were going comfortably to Watson's midriff (or thereabouts) One of the 2 might have even been going to Watson's right. Again, it's the keepers call but the keeper has to be consistent otherwise the 1st slip can become hesitant or move late (which may have been the issue with the Watson dropped catch) I mainly stood at 2nd slip but one thing's for sure, an understanding needs to be adhered to in the slips. Like the catcher in baseball, the keeper in cricket has more to do than some might think. Again, 1 or 2 errors doesn't mean Haddin didn't have a terrific day behind the stumps. Agree with you generally on the drop in wickets ... the wickets around the country used to have far more distinct characteristics ... the Gabba was more of a green top, Perth had ridiculous bounce, the Adelaide track used to turn a lot more, Sydney would turn as well but often really helped the quicks on days 1 and 2. Are all the tracks drop ins these days? For years, the MCG wicket was a low, slow, deadish wicket ... this current one is so much better to bat on but you're right, the tracks have a neutral (ish) feel about them these days. I reckon the drop in wickets have improved a bit though - the MCG wicket drop in wickets had "trampoline" bounce there for a few years. I can remember the Aussies being 4/92 at tea on day 1 against South Africa at the MCG about 15 or so years ago - the ball just wasn't coming on to the bat. Here's the match I'm talking about Cards (note the scoring rates)

Well I played a lot of cricket and often fielded in the slips and it's up to the keeper to get the stagger right (both in the spacing and the depth) ... if Watson was "loose" as you say, it's up to Haddin to pull him into line (so to speak) I think it's just another reason for the knockers to slag off at Watson again. It shouldn't have been his catch. Agree with you on the batting/bowling bit with Watson though - he's a no.6 who has batted too high in the test team ... the ODI's confuses the issue because he opens up in that form of the game ... let's not forget that Mark Waugh and Gilly used to open in the ODI's as well ... you wouldn't have either of those 2 open the batting in test matches.

It's generally up to the keeper to set the slips up ... also, if the first slip has to go too far to his left to take the catch it's either the keepers catch or the 1st slip is too wide. Again, more so the keeper was at fault for not setting up the slips properly. The captain should be on top of things as well - it was a bush league error. Mind you, Haddin had a great day all the same. I suppose the good outweighs the bad.

Aussies end the day on top ... any sort of half decent lead on the 1st innings when batting first is generally an advantage considering the other mob usually have to bat last (and often on the 5th day and often on a wearing pitch) Even a lead of 50 can be very handy especially if we can knock up 280-350+ when we bat for a 2nd time. Anyway, I now expect us to go on and win the match and take a 3 nil lead in the series. 2 great catches jazza - the earlier one was almost a carbon copy of that last one. He's had another terrific day behind the stumps ... we just need him to start making more runs with the bat. His knock in the 1st innings was a step in the right direction.

hello ... we picked up a wicket! Edit: ... and we've dropped another one. Edit (II) ... and we've finally caught one ... 5 down now. ... the match is nicely poised

Indianapolis San Diego New Orleans

I think that "liking" of other teams in other sports comes down to 'manic' support vs normal type support. I obviously support Green Bay but I also have no real connection to Wisconsin or the USA at all. There are a number of NFL teams that I have a soft spot for - there's only a few teams that I have a genuine dislike for (and even that opinion is changeable) Joe Montana was the first player that I ever became aware of - the niners remain one of the teams that I can't dislike because of Montana. He was a genuine superstar.