Macca

Here's a talented singer/saxophonist ... 'Grace Kelly' From Grace ... Macca's jazz 6.2

Latest from 'Vampire Weekend' and 'Paramore' ... Macca 13.3

Looks great, well done ...

Seedings are out for Wimbledon. The big talking point is Rafa at no.5. David Ferrer is ranked 4 so the they may meet in the quarter finals. Then again, Nadal might be drawn to meet Murray, Federer or Djokovic in the QF's. The draw comes out later today (tomorrow, our time) Sam Stosur is seeded at no.14. Edit: After the draw was announced, Nadal will meet Federer in a QF (if both advance that far) If that does happen, the winner is drawn to meet Murray in a SF. Djokovic has the seemingly easier path with Berdych, Ferrer and del Potro in his side of the draw. In the Ladies, 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 are the seedings match-ups for the SF's (if all the seeds advance that far) If Sam Stosur reaches the 4th round (the round of 16) then her likely opponent will be Serena Williams. Mens seeds ... Novak Djokovic Andy Murray Roger Federer David Ferrer Rafael Nadal Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Tomáš Berdych Juan Martín del Potro Richard Gasquet Marin Čilić Stanislas Wawrinka Kei Nishikori Tommy Haas Janko Tipsarević Nicolás Almagro Philipp Kohlschreiber Ladies seeds ... Serena Williams Victoria Azarenka Maria Sharapova Agnieszka Radwańska Sara Errani Li Na Angelique Kerber Petra Kvitová Caroline Wozniacki Maria Kirilenko Roberta Vinci Ana Ivanovic Nadia Petrova Samantha Stosur Marion Bartoli Jelena Janković

Heat just a little bit too good in the end. That game 6 epic will be talked about in future years. What could have been ... LeBron was the difference today ... Highlights

And off to Rio we go! That was a tense game. A goal the other way and it could have been all over. Well done! 3 qualifications in a row ... makes up a bit for getting so close, so many times.

At the Crows, Craig often played one or 2 players behind the ball. His players ran hard to position, used a lot of handball and the switching of play was another of his trademarks. His teams weren't averse to using the corridor. The Crows were not a low possession team. Bit hard to see our team being able to do all that very quickly (if he still coaches the same way) Give him a month and we might see a win in round 17 (vs Lions) We might even sneak a win in the next 2 games. The main thing he's got to instil in the players is a will to win and a never give up attitude. Another tall order but not impossible. Things can change quite quickly in footy so we might expect a much improved effort on Saturday. Team selection will be very interesting.

I've stretched it out to 17. 4 Backs: McDonald, Terlich, Garland, Frawley 6 Forwards: Watts, Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Howe, Trengove. 7 Midfielders: N Jones, Sylvia, Grimes, Viney, Toumpas, Blease, M Jones. So there's a bit to work with. We need another 10-12 good footballers ... trades, free agents, draft. Almost have Davey in. 2/3 goals a game from a small forward is vital.

Some good stuff there, JJ. Steely Dan are one of my all time favourite bands. This clip is a 'Classic Albums' music doco on their famed album 'Aja' from 1977. Goes for an hour so you'll need to to be in the mood. Some recognisable songs such as 'Peg' and 'Josie' are featured. Their music is a mix of jazz, rock and funk and they are what I would call an "acquired taste." Many of their songs need multiple listens to really appreciate the depth of this duo's talents. Macca's jazz 6.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o

Warner missing the 2 warm up games prior to the 1st Test means he'd have to be a doubtful selection for the first 2 Tests. Gives the selectors a chance to give Watson another chance at the top of the order. (Watson bowling again probably assures him a spot in the side) Rogers has made 214 and 184 playing for Middlesex in the last 5 weeks so he'd have to be a real chance to get into the starting XI. Cowan could drop down to no.3 or maybe Rogers could bat at 3. We could see a batting order going into the 1st Test as follows ... Rogers Watson Cowan Khawaja/Hughes Clarke* Wade Haddin Faulkner/Starc Pattinson Siddle Lyon/Ahmed The big concern for our bevy of left handers is Swann. He's in great form and if the wickets continue to be dry, he'll be more than a handful. Warner is not a good player of spin and I've left Hughes out for the same reason. In an ideal world Wade would be replaced with someone like a George Bailey or an up and coming young batsman like Burns, Doolan or Maddinson. However, Matthew can bat and he's worth a go in the lower middle order. Faulkner adds a bit of X factor although he might have to bide his time. Ditto for Fawad. *Pup might bat at no.4 and let's hope his back comes good. We're going to need him to make some big runs to have any chance.

... Warner suspended until start of Ashes

Huge win in game 3 for the Spurs. Miami were awful in the 2nd half ... highlights Green and Neal provided the X factor. Vital 4th game now. If the Spurs can get over the line it may prove enough. Miami would then have to win the last 3 games to defend their title.

What about if our club made extra money according to crowd sizes? Say a minimum $250,000 as a base rate. $325,000 for a crowd of over 20k and $400,000 if the crowd exceeds 25k. That's a fair incentive for our members and supporters to roll up. We are talking about games against GWS, GCS, Freo and Port. You can probably include the Eagles and Crows as well. Or we could sell more games to Darwin, Cairns or Canberra for similar cash returns. At least in selling off home games locally, the bulk of our supporters can get to the games. If the AFL want to spend a truckload of money and build a boutique stadium in the outer South East, well and good.

It may be in the AFL's best interest to buy Docklands now. Especially if the return eventually far outweighs the outlay. Is it 2025 or 2030 when the changeover happens? If they're going to have a 3rd stadium, they could give Princes Park a do-over and get deals done so that everyone wins. Just can't see a stadium in the South East when we've got a perfectly good stadium laying dormant (though it does need a fair bit of money spent on it) Here's a scenario ... The AFL works in conjunction with Carlton and the other relevant bodies to get Princes park up to AFL standard. However, the proviso is that if the AFL spend money on the ground, they will determine the fixturing and the relevant returns to the 'home' teams and Carlton. It can be a 'take it or leave it' deal. If Carlton want extra revenue from other games played at their ground, it wouldn't necessarily be on their terms. However, the Blues could still make enough to go ahead with the deal. Win/win.

You may be remembering Princes Park when we had to play a game or 2 there as part of whatever deal was in place at the time. We weren't receiving any extra money for playing there and most of us just wanted our team to play our home games at the MCG. It's was similar to the Docklands 'home' games we have now (1 against North this season). A lot of Demon fans hate having to go to Docklands when it's our home game. But what if the club was receiving a decent amount of cash for playing a few home games at another venue? I agree it needs to be a substantial amount but that's the whole point. The Hawks have set the benchmark for selling off low drawing home fixtures. And they have quite a large membership base in Victoria. The money they get from Tassie is quite a lot when you consider how much they would make if they had to play these same games at the MCG or Docklands. Our issue is a 'right now' issue. Reckon Jackson will be looking at all our income streams and he'd be looking to bring extra revenues to the club. He would no doubt be looking at the returns we get from playing interstate teams at the MCG. Especially those returns we get from home games against GWS,GCS, Port and Freo.

I'm now thinking the Bruins might prevail. We've had some short series and some long ones but I reckon this series will go to 7 games. It's a great match-up and I'm eagerly looking forward to the games. Game 1 is tomorrow (oz time) with the 2nd game on Sunday. When Boston won the cup 2 years ago they had quite a time of it ... ... How the Bruins ran up a $156,679.74 bar tab

The deal with Princes Park I had in mind didn't necessarily feather Carlton's nest (like previous deals) A new deal could be struck where everyone wins. If it's not a fair deal, you don't do the deal. Obviously the Blues have to get some benefit, but it doesn't have to be one-sided. Talks could be had between all relevent parties before anything is settled. As for a boutique stadium at Casey, unless the AFL are behind the push, I can't see it happening. Reckon the AFL are far more interested in fast tracking the Docklands ownership.

The easiest fix is to refurbish Princes Park. Build a decent sized carpark or fix up the existing car parking arrangements. Forget about how non Carlton games were played there in the past. A new deal involving all the relevent parties could be arranged. Open the ground up for all the low drawing fixtures and make sure all the participating home teams all make good cash out of it. Kardinia Park has merit too. Geelong will want more games down there to help pay off the cost of the new stands. As it is, the ground is only used 6 or 7 times a year. Might be a much better fit for North or the Bulldogs and if the Cats were confident about making 500-600k out of these type of games, then offers may be made.

We can't be making much money out of any of our fixtures against GWS, GCS, Freo, Port, Crows or the Eagles. We've got 7 home fixtures against interstate sides this year including a Darwin game against Brisbane. The Crows are the only interstate team we don't play at home this season. We could probably expect more of the same in the coming years if we don't march up the ladder. A legacy of CH7 wanting more and more 'high rating' games is that the low drawing teams will play each other more often. It's already happening. Just checking the crowd numbers at 'AFL Tables' confirms that whenever we play an interstate team, we don't often reach the standard 23,000 to 27,000* break even mark. And that break even mark is for the MCC/MCG Trust. Although we do have some sort of 'other' deal with the MCC, I'm not sure if that's dependant on our team playing a minimum amount of home games at the MCG. We've been known to pull decent crowds against Sydney and Brisbane but against the other 6 interstate sides we continually struggle to reach the break even mark. Most of the time we're nowhere near it. When we've been travelling well, our crowd numbers against Freo, Port, the Eagles and Crows haven't been great. So what's the answer? Do a deal with the interstate team we're playing? (like the Brisbane deal) Princes Park would be a real option if it is brought up to AFL standard. And then there's Cairns, Canberra and Darwin. We've heard that Jackson is projecting a loss of between 2.5 and 3 million this season. The media are forecasting another substantial loss next year (which the club didn't deny) If we're going to be fixtured 5 - 7 home games against interstate teams on a regular basis, then the club needs to find a way to make decent money out of these games. We were drawn to play 7 home games against interstate teams in 2011 and we had another 6 home games against interstate teams in 2012. *Figures need confirmation.

Can't keep him out of the news ... ... Sources: Pats to sign Tim Tebow

Bruins through in 4. Not sure what happened to Pittsburgh. All over very quickly ... extended highlights Anyway, the Blackhawks have a chance to wrap things up tomorrow.

Spurs win game 1 ... highlights and recap ... game 2 is on Monday at 10am (our time)

WJ summed it up well in the above post, 'dl' Swann is going to be a handful regardless of the conditions. He looked in great form in those 2 tests. The English commentators were also not exactly complimentary towards Nathan Lyon. I was quite surprised with that attitude because I believe he's quite a decent bowler and their batsmen won't want to underestimate him. Whilst not in Swann's class he's quite capable and can turn the ball. Anyway it's looking almost certain that Fawad Ahmed will join the Ashes squad after being called up for the Australia 'A' squad (currently in England) ... Ahmed's call-up a 'dream come true'

Big news on the PED controversy ... ... MLB seeks to suspend A-Rod, Braun

I agree. It's at least healthy competition for Nathan Lyon. The commentators in the 2 England/New Zealand tests were of the opinion that the wickets were quite dry for that time of year. They went on to say that Swann would really trouble the Australians if the wickets presented during the Ashes series were just as dry (or drier) Another good reason why Fawad could be added to the squad. Apart from anything else, we need some sort of X factor in order to compete well in the series. Of course, if our batting doesn't improve substantially, we're in a bit of strife. In other news ... Taylor calls for Watson to be Ashes opener