Macca

Ha! On the Packers fan site they are constantly into McCarthy - and no one seems to mind. Winning a Super Bowl doesn't win you that many brownie points I'm afraid. The thinking is a lot different over there of course. It's win or it's cya later - I like that way of thinking. Keeps everyone on edge and besides, comfort zones are for losers. For the life of me, I don't understand why a player or a coach needs 'security' in order to do well. My thinking is the opposite and always will be. The Ravens have lost a few and picked up a few but it's hard to see them dropping off anyway. If Big Ben stays fit the Steelers can beat anyone. Not sure about Cleveland but there was talk they might improve. It ain't gonna be easy for Cinci whichever way you look at it. Think you'll be thereabouts though. The actual schedule comes out in a day or so but if you go to this site (2013 NFL Football Schedules ) and click on your team, you'll get to see all the teams that you play (home and away). The NFC North schedule is tough and everything is going to boil down to how the teams perform within the Division. I noticed that the all the AFC North teams play all the teams from the NFC North this upcoming season. My Packers have to visit your blokes at some stage. .

Occasionally will look at the games Strafford. Usually just the bowls but not with any great interest. If they had a proper finals system I may get more interested. I follow the NHL and the NBA so in the end, there is literally no time left ! When there is a good seeding match-up I'll tune in but not avidly. Got a mate who follows it closely ... I have no idea how he finds the time as he also is a Hoops, Hockey and Baseball freak. The Bengals haven't been too far away in the last 2 seasons from progressing further in the playoffs and winning your Division. Tough, tough division you're in though. Bit like a few other divisions ... the NFC West, the NFC North and the NFC East are other tough divisions. Many on here follow teams in the NFC so it's good to have a few more here from the AFC. Although KC, Denver, the Jets and a sprinkling of others are well supported. It's usually fairly 'friendly' on this thread although there's been the odd 'moment'. We're all Demons so things never get out of hand. I don't mind other teams doing well for fellow supporters. We all need a bit of sporting joy! There's some knowledgeable fans on the thread. I tend to post in an 'overview' way ... leave the intricate stuff alone most of the time! Welcome aboard .

Great Scott! We've finally done it. What a fantastic win and after his last day in last year's British Open, what a way to bounce back. To win the Masters and the green jacket. Well done Adam Scott - you've done your Country proud. Cabrera was great again ... he is such a great fighter and competitor. Jason Day fought hard as well and his day will come. But it's our day .... at last! .

Be interesting to see how the Lakers go in their last 2 games. Both the Spurs and the Rockets can move from their present seeding so both games are 'alive' right now. Seems there might be a few unhappy campers with regards to Derrick Rose not coming back to play in the playoffs ... ... Derrick Rose never will know because he never tried

Yeah it's our team, then a close go between the Test side and the Packers for next best. After that there's a big gap in terms of manic or strong support for a team. Probably the Australian Olympic team is next then West Ham. The Red Sox and Canucks as well. Out of all that you end up finding some sporting joy! Then there's the NBA ..... That was a good video. Watched the 1st part just then. Got the rest bookmarked for another rainy day .

Got a mate who's a Tiger fan and over the years I've often received a text message from him sometime in late April/early May along the lines of "When does the NFL start?" Sadly, he received a similar text from me after round 1 this season. I've got all 4 of the Packers playoff games in HD stored on the hard drive from our last Super Bowl win. Been saving them for a rainy day - it rained today !

It's a bit sad when you already find yourself hangin' out for the NFL practice games. Not sure if I could handle a loss against GWS. It could completely do my head in if that happens. .

Yeah, what's the bet he'd end up at Casey. Complete with his gridiron gear on. Melbournised

Kobe reckons he made a move and it just went pop. Calf muscles and Achilles tendon injuries are the domain of the older athlete. Story of the Lakers year really. You'll almost certainly be playing OKC if you make the playoffs. Utah and the Lakers both won today but LA are possibly going to have to beat the Spurs and Houston to make it anyway.

KC will probably go with the popular pick in Luke Joeckel. With Andy Reid and Alex Smith on board, they could be a team to look out for. Did I read somewhere that the 49ers have 13 picks in the first 6 rounds of the draft ? As if they're not strong enough already! ... NFL Mock Draft 2013: Most Likely Scenarios for Every First Round Pick

Now that was a great version. Time for our team to blow off the cobwebs. Here's a couple of tracks from Marilyn Manson that might help them. The first track (No Reflection) was released last year whilst the 2nd song (Sweet Dreams) was released in 1995 Macca 12.7

The Lakers win out and they make it. 3 games, all at home. Warriors, Spurs, Rockets. Utah have Minnesota home and away then are at Memphis. Magic said today that the Lakers will beat the Spurs if they meet them in the 1st round. Although to make the playoffs LA might have to defeat the Spurs in their 2nd last game (which could cause the Spurs to finish in the 2 seed). Anyway, big call. Bill Simmons chimed in with his usual cutting humour. Something about the Lakers lack of defence. One week and we're into it. Can't wait really, playoffs in the NBA are just great. The Knicks have been on a fine run but it's looking like a match-up with the Celtics in the 1st round. That would be a classic series. .

All I know right now is that our division is gonna be an absolute bunfight. The Red Sox have started with a few wins. Yep, good start by Oakland (now 7-2) . The Braves have started well.(8-1) Washington might do ok. There are so many in with a chance.

Macca 12.6

Yeah, good point HT (of what I can remember of it !) We'll take 2 spinners to England. The following quote is from an 'Age' article a couple of days ago. Bit of a misleading headline but interesting, nonetheless ... We'll cook the pitches: Skipper

With a bit of coaching Xavier could be a much better bowler. He needs to get a lot more side on in his delivery stride and put a lot more body into his bowling. He's a bit too open and that's why he doesn't get enough flight, drift and spin on the ball. I'm really surprised someone hasn't got hold of him and fixed his delivery stride and action. Haven't the individual States got any bowling coaches? He's 30 years old and there might still be time. His bowling right now is better suited to limited overs cricket. Look at Ojha, Panesar and the like. Really nice actions with a smooth flow about how they bowl. All the good left arm tweakers had this trait. Lyon or Ahmed? At least we might have 2 decent spinners vying for the one spot. That's a good thing ...

It may be a good thing that he's a mature age leggie. Hohns and Holland were quite handy for us before Warne arrived on the scene.

Yeah, as I was posting that team I had an eye on the future as opposed to right now. It largely explains why Cummins is in my XI. You are most probably right with regards to Lyon being in the team first up but 2 things to take into account. 1 - If Fawad is named in the squad then there is a very good chance that he will debut in one of the 5 Tests. 2 - The selectors did drop Lyon from the Team after the 1st Test in India so he may not be regarded as a permanent fixture by the selectors. In summary, if all those players I mentioned were named in the squad then you may find that XI that I named could be the one named for the 3rd Test (especially if we're 1 - 0 down in the series at that stage) It was more of a future's XI, Django, rather than the team picked for the 1st Test. I think that even if Cummins is fit, they'll wait a bit before bringing him into the side. I did call it the 'Best XI'. Should have put a 'Going forward' bit beside it to be clear. By the way, I like Lyon but it's doubtful he'll ever be 'Great'. And besides all that, we all know that England don't play leg spin very well !! Here's my XI for the 1st Ashes Test. I don't believe it's a 'great' team by any means. Ultimately I believe Cummins, Ahmed and possibly Paine and Burns will find their way into the team. Henriques or maybe even the 'smoky', Mitchell Marsh could come in for a 'Non bowling Watson'. I like the look of Doolan and Maddinson as well. We need to unearth a number of 'stars' if we're going to return to no.1 status. Warner Watson Cowan Clarke Khawaja Smith Wade Siddle Starc Pattinson Lyon

Here's my Ashes squad. The selectors will no doubt be thinking differently. One proviso ... the selectors have intimated that they will take 7 batsmen, 2 keepers, 2 spinners and 6 fast bowlers (or 5 quicks and an all rounder who bowls medium fast) Squad of 17 Clarke (Capt) Warner Cowan Smith (has to be rewarded) Burns (need one new batsman who didn't tour India) Khawaja Watson (V Capt) (plays in the best XI if he is bowling) Mitchell Marsh (have heard he might be the 'smoky') Wade Paine *Ahmed (if he's available) Lyon Pattinson **Cummins (if he is fit and raring to go) Starc Siddle **Bird (subject to fitness) *Beer, Ajar or Holland on standby for Ahmed **Harris, Hilfenhaus and Johnson on standby for Cummins and/or Bird (in that order) Best XI Warner Watson Cowan Clarke Khawaja Smith Wade Siddle Pattinson Cummins Ahmed 12th man Starc The XI bats "left and right" all the way through the order. Paine, Starc and Lyon are unlucky not to be included in the XI. Would have liked to have found room for Doolan and or Rogers in the squad.

Got a stack of new stuff to post in the coming weeks but in the meantime, here's a couple of 'bumped' songs from 'The Strokes'. A band out of New York with their own unique style.

Maxwell opened the batting and opened the bowling. When was the last time that happened? And when was the last time we opened with 2 spinners? Have we ever done it? Maybe Watson for the 1st question but opening with 2 spinners is a toughie. A wild guess would be O'Reilly and Grimmett. It's looking like a 4 nil clean sweep now (barring a massive batting collapse)

All the same, it's tough going for the batsmen out there. The ball is turning big time and is often keeping low or jumping off a length. Even the best players of spin are going to struggle in these conditions. We need someone to take the long handle - maybe Johnson? Thinking ahead, it's quite possible that Lyon will open the bowling. Maxwell could be on early as well.

So how do we bat in this innings? Do we go out there and try and smack as many as we can, before the pitch gets us? Maxwell opening! Here we go!

There's been some strange goings on, that's for sure. A month long training camp to help with team bonding could help fix things. (a training camp doesn't necessarily have to be a hard slog) Trouble is, many of our available players will be otherwise occupied in the IPL. Straight after that, the 'Champions Trophy' will be held in June (in England) There literally isn't any time for many of our players to draw breath. Not enough time to freshen up. The England players don't have the same problem as many or most of them aren't playing in the IPL. Our players have a whole host of distractions to deal with. There is a huge change going on in the sport as a whole and I'm not sure how it can be addressed. The money on offer is enormous (in t20) Lyon picks up a career best 7/94 ... bowled beautifully.

The way I generally view sport, there is nearly always something to be gained in winning games when it doesn't really matter. For any number of reasons. Primarily, it's the 'Never give up factor'. If we win this match it could easily help us win a close game in the future. There's the belief and confidence factor. Hating to lose anytime, breeds a winning attitude. You take a win anytime and you never give up - ever. Do we really want to lose 4-0? To India? Aren't we supposed to hate losing to teams that we hate? India are like the Pies, Bombers or the Blues. Any loss to any of those teams, anytime, is unacceptable. Even if you're clearly not good enough, you have to fight it out. We're finally showing a bit of gumption after showing very little in the first 3 Tests. Lyon could end up with a big match haul which would do his confidence the world of good (the coach has 'stated' that Lyon is low on confidence) A win is a win is a win. Edit : England currently 9 for 204, just after Tea on the 3rd day of the 3rd Test in New Zealand (the Kiwi's made 443 in their 1st innings) Considering the first 2 Tests were drawn, England are staring down another series defeat. (they've lost series to Pakistan (3-0) and South Africa (2-0) in the past 15 months) C'mon New Zealand !