Macca

Much will depend on Pattinson, Starc, Bird, Johnson, Siddle and Lyon. It's a shame that Cummins will probably not be available. Think we can make enough runs to be competitive although we'll need a few of our batsmen to step it up on the tour of India. In England, Maxwell could be the batting all rounder unless the selectors want to play a 4th seamer. Hopefully Watson will have returned to the bowling crease by then and we'll have even greater bowling depth. Lots of if's and but's although England have their issues as well. They are not as good as when they 'peaked' in the series in Australia a couple of years ago. Gonna be tough though and first of all, we need to perform in India. It's arguably going to be tougher to win in India with the spinning decks that will probably be presented over there. Clarke is a very good leader and in career best form with the bat so we've got no problems there. I'm hopeful without being overly confident. (kinda like the way I feel about our footy club )

Top stuff hardtack ... keep 'em comin' Ozzy released an album a year or 2 ago called 'Scream'. Worth a listen. He just keeps going ... Here's a classic Black Sabbath song from 43 years ago ... A 'young' Ozzy ... Macca 12.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz_6jagv_D4

The Doors ... Macca 12.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XWQrt00_NM

Stumbled across this article on modern day journalism ... it's from the States but it's quite relevent (even though it might contravene the rules of this thread with the references to B$ !) Journalisms New Mantra is Get It Now, Fix It Later

Thilan Samaraweera (SL)

I saw a fair bit of holding in the match. Probably at least 8 - 10 times. I couldn't remember the one they called but you make a reasonable point. My reasoning was that 'generally' the officials were consistent. You'll never get it perfect - in any sport. I can remember thinking at one stage that 'They're not calling much'. If that last call was made, then I've no doubt there would have been Ravens fans complaining that the officials had let things go all game - why change now? Not sure there's any right or wrong here. I can fully understand those who reckon that that last play should have been called pass interference. It will be talked about for years.

The last 2 rounds could make for some interesting choices, Biff. Comments such as "He hasn't played for years" or "Who's that?" or perhaps even "You can't have any more South Africans!" Punter and Mr Cricket may be forced out of retirement. Warnie? :-)

If only our footballers were as competitive as some of you blokes. An endless run of flags would ensue ... Who are the 'mystery' adjudicators? And can they be 'influenced'? Can gifts be given 'a la' the IOC ?

In a few days it might be remembered as the Super Bowl where holding was vitually 'legal'. Wouldn't surprise me with the analysis that goes on in their sports. There were 23 unsuccessful pass attempts with only one call of pass interference. As I intimated earlier, the officials set the pattern early in the game and were consistent throughout. If you were a Niners fan you may see it diiferently. Must admit, I haven't looked at that run back in detail. Will have another look - I'm sure you're correct about it, Cards.

Tim Bresnan (Eng)

Yes, that's the 2nd bit. If Cale starts looking like 'Arnie' we're definitely on to something ... Warnie cracked a mention in there as well (but he's always in the news for some obscure reason) Just back to the Super Bowl. Apparently there was only one pass interference call in the whole game. So the last 'Non call' needs to be put into context. Even though it was pass interference in my opinion, I was happy that they didn't call it. In fact, if they did call it we'd be getting countless replays of all the instances that weren't called. I distinctly remember seeing lots of WR's for both sides pleading for favourable decisions. At least the officials were consistent. The only issue I have is if you're not going to make these calls in a Super Bowl then why do we see regular season games often have umpteen penalties?

Yep, was thinking the same thing 'cfh' (nostradamus) These sort of things quite often happen in 'Three's' . I'm making sure I take a lotto ticket this Saturday (can you please PM me the numbers ) Might even take out a multi sports bet on the weekend.

One of the best parts of the NFL is the unpredictability of it. Within the games and overall. There is no 'sure fire' way to win though you do need a reasonably good QB. It seems in todays NFL it's all about timing, belief and getting 'hot'. Same sort of thing has been happening a bit in Hockey and Baseball. Where did we all have Flacco on our lists after week 17? Not even top 15 for mine and yet he was stellar in the playoffs. He's done an Eli ! The roster for next year is out (not the week to week schedule yet) . Our division (NFC North) has got it tough - we play all the teams in the NFC East and all the teams in the AFC North ... Ravens, Steelers, Giants, Redskins, Bengals, Dallas, Eagles and Cleveland. That's apart from the 6 tough games within our division. The other 2 games the Packers have got are Atlanta and San Francisco. Your blokes 'extra' 2 games are against Carolina and @ Seattle ... Aaron and Adrian will both need huge years again ! Anyway, for those that are interested, if you click on the following link it will take you to a site that lists all the individual team's schedules - click on any team to find out your teams schedule for 2013. ... NFL Football Schedule

Yep 84, good point re Williams. Obviously Flacco and Boldin stood out on the offence, but that stand at the end was typical Ravens. Some teams drop away after a loss like this. Can't see it with these 49ers. Jim Harbaugh won't let this team slip back. Kaepernick stays fit and they'll be right back into proceedings.

Ravens win. And to think that they lost 4 of their last 5 games in the regular season. You get hot at the right time and you can win the whole damn thing - once again. Great finish

Did Jim Harbaugh waste that 'time out' on 3rd down? They take a safety. Looked liked they'd practiced it too.

They've got 4 goes at it here

Have to look at it again but that was a vital 3 points. Didn't seem much in it anyway.

Wow, what a turnaround. 28-23 . Akers got lucky. That was an awful miss the first time. Still a stack of time left in the game

They got on the Deer antler juice when the lights went out. Lewis is descending back

Nice 80 yard drive by the 'Niners. They need to stop the Ravens from scoring in this next possession. The Kap has had a decent game apart from that one interception.

It's a conspiracy I say. Joe Montana has flicked the switch . He's seen enough

Flacco has been good hey ... Suppose it's only 2 scores the difference but the 'Niners' need the 1st score in the 2nd half (preferably a TD) . The Ravens are playing really well though. Yeah, Beyoncé was terrific. They do it well. Wow ! Jones with a 109 yard kick return ... 28 to 6 now ...

Horse meat! They've often got the 'Excuse' well planned out in advance. Think there's a website out there that 'lists' all the excuses. Some wild and wacky explanations have been thought up. Anyway, I've gone for option 'A' tomorrow. On the couch watching it live. Had a get together I could have gone to, but it's too big a day sometimes and it's often too easy to get caught up. I'm thinking of Tuesday morning! ESPN have got 'NFL Countdown' from 5.30am. Still reckon it's the 49ers just.

Came across what looks to be a decent new 'docudrama' series from the States. 'The Men Who Built America' starts tomorrow night (Monday) at 8.30pm on the 'History' channel.