Macca

Good 1st set win to Murray. Vital. Novak needs to step it up.

I agree with you totally on the balance, though all the nations will probably chase the cash so we will all have to be ready. Just on chasing the cash ... I read somewhere that Cricket Australia received 6 million dollars from the BCCI for each ODI that India were involved in last February (2012) . It was one of the reasons we had a round robin series involving Sri Lanka as well. CA received similar amounts for the India/Sri Lanka ODI's. Obviously driven by the huge TV audience back in India. It's any wonder we play India on an annual basis now (Tests and/or ODI's) . I stand corrected on the 6mil figure but I'm almost sure that's right. (couldn't find a link)

Ah yes TD, and every team needs a top class captain . Love him or loathe him he leads the no.1 nation ... Round 4, pick 28 Graeme Smith (South Africa) That's my 2nd Protea gone and I still haven't picked a fast bowler (who says that bowler's win games?) Is DK Lillee available ? All yours Biff....

Good post TD and you make some excellent points. I think it's more about a mindset here rather than who is right and who is wrong. I suppose I'm just one of those people who (on occasions) will embrace something new straight away, without hesitation. I've been a critic of modern footy for a number of years (as opposed to the 'glorious' days of the 70's, 80's and 90's) but have only recently decided to change. Mainly because those days aren't coming back and it's time I got on with things. So I've finally changed my mind and I already feel better for it. There is nothing wrong with hanging on to the past but if you know the future is going to be vastly different you have to adapt. I'll address your points individually TD ... 1 :- Australia day weekend :- I think on this particular weekend we may well go back to ODI's and the t20's will come later. Maybe it's because they've got to fit 5 ODI's in against the Windies in early February and then immediately go to India is the reason. Not sure on that but it seems they've chucked these 2 t20 games in before the Sri Lankans go home. Could be just an expediency thing this time around. 2 :- t20 World Cup :- Yep, every 2 years seems a bit over the top but the tournament only goes for 3 weeks and once again, it probably comes down to demand and money. Tomorrow's crowd could a huge one for instance and the counter argument for those who love t20 internationals might be - "Why aren't there more matches" . As an aside, a few years ago, ESPN paid 1 Billion dollars for the rights to broadcast the Champions League finals (another annual 3 week tournament) Money talks. 3 :- City based Big Bash teams :- I reckon in time the City based teams will be almost totally accepted. Remembering that this sport has a huge appeal to women and young people (who may or may not have any connection to the Bushrangers or such like) . Stars and Renegades pulled nearly 50,000 to their 2nd clash . That's good numbers. Perth, Hobart and Adelaide regularly played to packed houses. There's talk of Geelong and Canberra having teams in the future. The Big Bash could get very big. 4 :- Test status for minnow nations :- Maybe we could have a 2nd tier Test cricket system or for clashes between non Test nations, it just continues to come under the banner of 1st class cricket . Zimbabwe's and Bangladesh's infrastructure isn't strong and is largely the reason these 2 nations struggle. (though both nations have produced some fine cricketers) Don't know enough about Ireland's cricket infrastructure so it's hard to have a definitive view. You made some interesting points though TD. Think the Boxing day Test is fairly safe. Though we did get a Big Bash game in the evening! I view both sports separately so switching from one to the other is like switching from AFL to NFL Just a final point. Shield cricket has been heavily subsidised for many many years. It doesn't even go close to paying for itself. Of course, many of us would like it to stay in it's current set up. It's the lifeblood of our Test side and is still a strong and vibrant competition. But it plays to sparse crowds and has done for years. It would cost millions to run it. As a business model it doesn't really work but there is no talk of scaling it down. T20 pays it's way and in time it may end up helping to subsidise shield cricket. That's part of the reason why I believe t20 is good/great for cricket on an overall basis.

Most team sport is played over a 2 - 3.5 hour time period. Cricket, and in particular Test cricket, is played over a long period of time and on the World scale is not a massive sport. I love it but I also recognise that the sport itself needs to grow. But this is not about any particular individual's opinion. It has to be viewed as the masses view it. We've now got a version of cricket that goes for ...... 3 hours . 'Hey presto', it's really popular. IMO t20 can only get bigger as the years go on. Many people regarded ODI's in the early days with extreme skepticism and branded it 'rigged' or part of the 'Packer Circus'. I maintain that t20 can bring more people to the sport as a whole and it can help and enhance Test cricket (mostly of an indirect nature) Interesting that all 3 versions of the game were invented in England. I don't know how people can resist not sneaking a peek when Warner is at the crease in a t20 match.

In terms of paying customers and TV viewers, t20 is going to be a huge part of cricket's future . Some people may not like it, 'TD', but they will have to accept it. We're seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of International t20 and to a lesser extent, domestic t20 games being scheduled. The opposition to t20 reminds me of the opposition to One day cricket / coloured clothing and lights etc in the late 70's. Test cricket scoring rates have most probably improved because of the influence of One-day cricket. Test scoring rates may get even better still because of t20. Dave Warner came through the t20 system to Test cricket and he's definitely a drawcard in the longest form of the game. Taking all personal feelings and all emotion out of things and then looking at t20 in a totally practical way, it's hard to see it failing in the future. Many see it as a threat but I believe it will bring about more popularity to the sport as a whole. There is a new kid on the block and the kid packs a punch. Many women and young people love the sport (already) and that alone possibly points to a 'sure fire winner'. My view isn't a popular one and will upset the purists but ... It should be remembered that my first love is Test cricket and probably always will be. I've never really compared One day cricket to Tests and doubt whether I would ever compare Test cricket to t20's. It's like comparing the marathon to the 100 metre sprint - view them separately and you may find you like them both. There is room for all 3 forms of the game going forward. Michael Clarke has decided to play in the IPL this year. The view is that he will command somewhere in the vicinity of 750k to 1 million for this season alone. Not too shabby for 6 weeks worth of 'super short' cricket. Edit : I agree with you somewhat re the Adelaide Test over the Australia Day weekend but I can't see it coming back in a hurry. Next year's Ashes series (here) has the 5th test being played in Sydney from Jan 3 to Jan 7.

Yep, there are conflicting rules on the field depending on what position you play. Suppose if the same rules applied to the way the QB is protected, we'd have quite a soft sport. Over there, many complain about the sport being less violent (so to speak) yet recognise that the sport has a major issue with concussions. Anyway, we've got the 'Pro Bowl' on Monday (our time). Another high scoring game will no doubt ensue. I'm not sure that many care who wins these games. Usually sells out and gets a large TV audience but often falls flat. I'll probably still have a look though Some sport is just pure 'entertainment' I suppose. Little bit like how some ODI's and t20's are viewed by many fans (in the 'other' forms of cricket).

It's funny, I saw it as Roger making a lot of unforced errors (albeit in his attempt to hit the far corners or near the sidelines) Wouldn't be ruling a line through him yet, though if Murray wins on Sunday night we might start seeing a small gap between the top 2 and the next 2 (but probably mainly on hard surfaces) A big '4' would be fantastic for the sport. Not sure about Tsonga - maybe someone else will emerge in the next year or so. Nadal seems to get a few injuries but he's still only 26. The next slam is the French which is Rafa's favourite. After that it's Wimbledon (and we know how good Roger is on grass) . Still a fair bit to play out 'dl' and the final on Sunday will tell us a lot (especially if Murray wins)

Top 5 MVP . Putting aside the injury 'comebacks' I still reckon AP has been a standout. 1 - Adrian Peterson 2 - Tom Brady 3 - Peyton Manning 4 - Aaron Rodgers 5 - Calvin Johnson Top 5 coaches . San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh has been the best in the last 2 years in my opinion. 1 - Jim Harbaugh 2 - John Harbaugh 3 - Bill Belichick 4 - Pete Carroll 5 - Mike Smith

We go to a 5th 'dl' . It's a toss up. The match deserved a 5th set.

We could be here for quite some time. Really good match so far. Could go either way. I'll be happy for either Murray or Federer to get through. Maybe a slight leaning to the 'Fed' though Andy is a much more rounded player after his US Open triumph over Djokovic

Ozzy Osbourne with 'I Don't Wanna Stop' Macca 12.2

Matt Prior (England)

When you think of Ceylon, you think of tea and you think of Kamahl (though he was born in Malaysia)

Bad luck you can't watch the game. Not sure if you're in any position to listen to the game but the following site provides links to a live radio broadcast of games (quite legal) ... San Francisco 49ers radio stations ... the 1st link (1360 KUIK) has broadcast games previously. Just a heads up for anyone reading this who may want to listen to live sport from the States - just google up the full team's name and add 'radio stations' and google will take you to all the listings via 'tunein' . For instance - by clicking on this link 'Chicago Bulls radio stations' ... Google's 1st choice will be ... this ... from that list, scroll down to ... 1250 WSPL for live broadcasts of the Bulls games . If I get a chance I'll post the radio stations that broadcast the games on the appropriate threads. It's a bit hit and miss but a lot of the time you'll pick up a game.

Only that regular poster's here have discussed forming a 'Banana Republic' Oh and some 'summer reading' about a cruise around a big island.

Top 5 teams ... 1 - San Francisco (should win the Super Bowl) 2 - Baltimore (have gotten 'hot' at the right time) 3 - Seattle (another hot team and if they'd gotten past Atlanta .... ) 4 - New England (Brady had an average game at the worst possible time) 5 - Denver / Atlanta (both were disappointing in the end) Top 5 QB's 1 - Brady (just shades Aaron but could have gone either way) 2 - Rodgers (defence and offensive line are below average, does a mighty job - all things considered) 3 - Peyton Manning (coming to the end but he had a great season) 4 - Brees (his team were poor around him this season - only QB to throw for over 5000 yards) 5 - Kaepernick (set for a huge career) Flacco has had a terrific post season and if he can get the Ravens over the line then he'll rise up in people's estimation .There are a host of very good QB's and some real up and comers in RG3, Luck, Newton, Wilson, Bradford and Tannehill

Yep, great match and apparently most of the crowd stayed as well. Federer did it much easier in the round of 16 . Top 4 seeds in both Mens and Womens are through to the quarter finals. Should be a great week of tennis. Djokovic (1) vs Berdych (5) tonight (Tues) could be a beauty.

Hilarious, though one particular run was quite effective and he picked up vital yards. A number of the QB's have that same trait. It's like they never had to run at College level. Forgot to mention Kaepernick in an earlier post. He was very good again - hard to reproduce last week's stellar game but he threw very well. Gore was excellent and the 49ers defence denied Atlanta any points in the 2nd half - not even a field goal. Baltimore did much the same at New England - holding them scoreless in the 2nd half - that is some achievement . We've got 2 weeks until the Super Bowl so maybe we could do our top 5's for the season to pass the time. No formality to it - just pick any sort of category you like at random and fire away - ROTY, MVP, QB, RB, WR, defensive player of the year , Coach of the year, any category anyone can think of. I'll do a couple of categories in a couple of days or so.

Yes, if only to give a bit of sporting joy to our Demon brethren! (unless there's one or 2 Raven fans on this thread who want to 'out' themselves - it's never too late btw) If that happened we might have to revert back to 'May the better team win' or other such jargon ! But for now it's 'Go Niners'

Here's a snowbound double header for those who may wish to partake ... First off, 'The Grey' starring Liam Neeson ... here's the IMDb link ... The Grey Next ... 'Into the White' . Set in WW2, this film, made in Sweden & Norway, is based on a true story ... Into the White

Nothing went right for the Patriots but the Ravens were far too good. Only 1 TD pass for Brady whilst Flacco was very good (again). Baltimore have come good at the right time and are healthy. Makes for a terrific Super Bowl match-up with the 'Niners'. Congratulations to the 49ers for getting through and quite a few on this thread will be more than happy right now - good luck to you blokes and Ladies. That 'fumble' by Ryan was costly. Missed a certain field goal opportunity (at least) because of that blunder. There is no thought that he fumbled on purpose of course (though the AFL's dynamic duo may be studying the tape in due course!) We haven't got the dream Super Bowl match up (49ers/Pats) but we have got the Brother vs Brother Bowl. You don't reckon the Yanks will be playin' that story up? Harbaugh Bowl - bring it on !

'Hunter' aired from Nov last year on SBS . Series finished up on Jan 12 this year. You'll have to source it out now.

Here's Bill Simmons column this week from 'Grantland' ... ... That Championship Mailbag

Good work DD, funny as. The links to the other 'Bad lip reading' videos are also well worth a look.