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Macca

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Everything posted by Macca

  1. I had a fair amount of doubt about him as well but he was so well admired for his winning ability and for his charity work that you were loathe to say anything. I did once, and got accused of being too cynical. Thinking about it, if many or most were 'on the gear' then how would it have been possible to win the 'Tour' 7 times in a row as a clean athlete? It's not logical. After many of his teammates got done, that kinda made up my mind to a certain degree. Was still holding out hope that he was innocent - mainly for those who believed in him. Armstrong was so well protected. And his fierce attack on those who accused him made you want to believe him. He had it all planned out - right down to the last detail. But there were a few clues. He first 'retired' after his 7th win in 2005. Not long after he retired, 'blood passports' were first initiated and introduced.
  2. Only that regular poster's here have discussed forming a 'Banana Republic' Oh and some 'summer reading' about a cruise around a big island.
  3. Macca

    NFL

    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
  4. With regards the training groups and in particular the 'defensive group' : - It's quite likely that things aren't set in stone and we've still got 3 months to go until our first real game. Watts was going to play forward last year (according to the coaching staff) and ended up primarily in the backline (via the wing). Jack may pinch hit in the forward line this season or he might even be tried again in the forward line for a sustained period of time to see if he can make a go of it. For all we know, the groups may be there for any number of reasons. Some might be in certain groups to develop a more defensive mindset or develop more accountability skills. More than a few might get shunted around in the course of the pre-season. Neeld may be looking for flexibilty and adaptability in all our players. The groups could may well be a means to an end. We're coming from a fair way back and many on our list need to establish themselves as regular starters. In any event. all the players in any given game will probably play forward and back (flood and the forward press)
  5. Macca

    Tennis Anyone?

    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.
  6. Tapscott needs to get better but if he gets a good go at it (injury free) I'm confident he'll be best 22. He's only 21 years old. Still very young. There were a few getting into Blease on here last year. Sam's curve is upward. Time will tell.
  7. Yeah we need pace and run out of the backline. Watts, Nicholson and hopefully Frawley add that . I had Tappy at half back in that 'best 22 post draft' thread but if we've got a functioning forward line then having Blease in the back half would be a nice little luxury. He's done alright on occasions off half back. Reality is we need to develop players to able to play in multiple areas of the ground. For instance - the days of Sylvia being plonked on the HFF are probably long gone. Look at the all round game of Sydney's Ryan O'Keefe. He can play anywhere and has terrific defensive skills.
  8. Macca

    NFL

    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.
  9. Ok, we beat Port and Ess in rounds 1 and 2 - done deal. Round 3 is the Eagles at home - plane strike and they have to drive over - win no.3 Giants and Lions in rounds 4 and 5 - easy peasy. Round 6 is the Blues - Murphy injured and Judd out for his 4th 'weird' suspension - McLean stretchered off and it's win no.6 Tigers in round 7 - payback for '09 - Win Round 8 - Gold Coast - in a canter That's 8 Biff . That's what I call a prolonged winning streak (for our team)
  10. Macca

    NFL

    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'
  11. 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
  12. Actually, I wasn't making that dream up. It was real (as much as dreams can be real!) Distinctly remember trying to 'escape' from the dream - nobody could believe it was happening and I felt alienated. What does it all mean Biff ?
  13. Macca

    NFL

    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 !
  14. 'Hunter' aired from Nov last year on SBS . Series finished up on Jan 12 this year. You'll have to source it out now.
  15. Had this weird dream last night where our Demons went on a prolonged winning streak this season. Will that do?
  16. Retro must be the way to go these days. First the tanking, now Jonesy is making a late run in a 2007 poll (he's raced from 11 to 21 votes) What else can we change in hindsight ? Lotto numbers? Can we clone Norm? The possibilities are endless Who says you can't change history?
  17. Macca

    EPL

    Couple of big games tonight with Chelsea at home against Arsenal (just after midnight) followed by Manchester United at White Hart Lane against Spurs (3am) . Here are the current standings ... Table Some interesting comments from 'Fergie' in the following article ... Ferguson: United can claim the treble
  18. Not necessarily disagreeing with you 'bm' but it also could also be a case of 'Every dog has its day' ... Steve Bradbury Wiki page From Wiki ...keeping in mind that Bradbury 'won' his gold medal at the 2002 Olympics ...the moral is that we could very well have our day soon enough.
  19. Clive Lloyd would often juggle catches. The 'Supercat' almost turned his way of catching into an artform. Taylors catch was no fluke - he maintained focus when many others would have given up on the catch (or panicked) Like Lloyd, he rarely grassed a catch. Keeping your eye on the ball in the slips is easier said than done. Fielding at 1st slip to a bowler like Bevan would be a tough ask. Quite a few batsmen couldn't pick his wrong 'un. The delivery was a wrong 'un. Hooper (who could bat a bit) didn't pick it. Taylor wouldn't have seen the ball until the last moment as Hooper was in some ways shielding the edged ball. Sensational catch and Benaud was spot on once again.
  20. Reasonable point Biff, though I can't think of a comparable athlete of his standing who's done anything remotely close to these deeds. There's been quite a few blatant cheats in Track and Field, Baseball etc but nowhere near this scale. He would have redirected a lot of his money 'elsewhere', no doubt. He may end up being sued left, right and centre but he'll never go without. Agree dc, there's a lot more to come. Makes you wonder how many others have slipped though the net (in any given sport)
  21. I've lived a sheltered life, Wyl I suppose there's probably been a stack of 'sporting psychopaths' and if that's the right description then this bloke would have to be at or near the top of the list. Trying to think of other sportspeople that fit that description but no one readily comes to mind. Might also come under the banner of 'A law unto themselves' . I could think of a few footballers from yesteryear. But this fellow has been so calculating over such a long period of time. As you said, scary
  22. The consequences of his actions are widespread. The flow on effect goes every which way. Him being caught out is so much different to any other cyclist being caught out. How he can even compare what he did, to what others did, is quite disturbing. If he is a '10' on the scale of the impact and the harm he has inflicted on others then the next worst offender is about a 2 (max) . Watching both parts was at times excruciatingly difficult. Again, I thought Oprah was very good. They reckon there's such a thing as a 'corporate psychopath' but do we now have the sporting version? A sporting psychopath?
  23. B : Nicholson Frawley Garland HB : Tapscott McDonald Watts C : Grimes Sylvia Toumpas* HF : Blease Clark Trengove F : Byrnes* Dawes* Pedersen* R : Jamar N Jones Viney* INT : Kent* Howe McKenzie SUB : Rodan* Emergencies : Barry*, Terlich*, Matt Jones* * indicates new Edit : The old 'us against them' mentality can never be discounted in sport. Maybe Neeld can tap into the psyche of the list and instill that attitude. Coupled with that, other teams may believe that we're vulnerable and underestimate our team.
  24. Macca

    NFL

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