Macca

NBA is back ! Managed to listen to a fair bit of today's game between last years Western conference Semi-finalists - OKC and the Spurs... Here's a few highlights ... which may only be up for a few hours ... http://www.nba.com/

Good story and one that highlights how quickly a team can rise . Good drafting and getting very good free agents is the key hey ! Who's to say the Colts don't rise again quickly with Andrew Luck . They're a sneaky chance to get a wild-card in the AFC . The thing that impresses me with Luck is how he plays well in the 'Big' moments . I've probably mozzed him now ps - hopefully your Lakers can get a win for you tomorrow (it's on ESPN) Those Chiefs can't get it done - what the hell's happened ?

Yeah it most probably happens but it's difficult to pin down . The Colts could have possibly won an extra game or 2 last season but because they'd lost Peyton through injury they had an easy out . Andrew Luck was the prize on offer of course . And yeah , those 49ers are doing well . You've got a few testing games to come (vs Chicago , @ New England and @ Seattle) but you should win your division . I reckon the NFL would prefer to do Friday or Saturday games but fairly sure that College has both those days 'Protected' (though Saturday night NFL games have in the past been on in late December) I've heard a bit of talk about Tuesday night games but the Thursday night games probably gets a big TV audience so they'll stay . Money talks . I see the Vikes are on the tele again 'cfh' . Miracles do happen ! Tough one at Seattle though - should be close . Ha ha ! It seems that 'Tanking' is sort of accepted in the States . Obviously they've had a draft a lot longer than us but it seems they're years ahead of us with regards the public acceptance of tanking . Teams are probably way more adept at 'Disguising' the practice as well . I've also heard that despite having a lottery system in the NBA, it doesn't stop teams from tanking . In the States it seems tanking is not viewed as 'Throwing games' . It should be viewed the same way in Oz . Experimentation with player positions and roles , 'Resting' players , giving rookies game time experience , early surgeries etc etc has been going on in all sorts of sports way before we had such things as drafts . That practice was never called anything before the advent of 'Drafts' though do I seem to remember phrases such as "They're just playing out the season" . Now it's called tanking . Same difference in a lot of ways . The 'Caro's of this world wouldn't agree but they're often just muckrakers anyway

Games on the box this week ... FRI, NOV 2 11.20 AM Kansas City (1-6) at San Diego (3-4) OneHD & ESPN MON, NOV 5 5.00 AM Arizona (4-4) at Green Bay (5-3) Fox2 5.00 AM Chicago (6-1) at Tennessee (3-5) OneHD 8.15 AM Minnesota (5-3) at Seattle (4-4) Fox2 8.25 AM Pittsburgh (4-3) at NY Giants (6-2) OneHD 12.15 PM Dallas (3-4) at Atlanta (7-0) OneHD & ESPN TUE, NOV 6 12.30 PM Philadelphia (3-4) at New Orleans (2-5) ESPN For all other matches ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#9

Tampa Bay played very well - surprised me . Thought you had 'em covered . Tomorrows games on TV ... MON, OCT 29 4.00 AM Atlanta (6-0) at Philadelphia (3-3) Fox2 4.00 AM Seattle (4-3) at Detroit (2-4) OneHD 7.25 AM NY Giants (5-2) at Dallas (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM New Orleans (2-4) at Denver (3-3) OneHD & ESPN TUES, OCT 30 11.30 AM San Francisco (5-2) at Arizona (4-3) ESPN And for the other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#8

Current table ... http://soccernet.esp...-league?cc=3436 Couple of big games on late Sunday night .. Saturday, October 27, 2012 22:45 EST Aston Villa v Norwich City 01:00 EST Arsenal v Queens Park Rangers 01:00 EST Reading v Fulham 01:00 EST Stoke City v Sunderland 01:00 EST Wigan Athletic v West Ham United 03:30 EST Manchester City v Swansea City Sunday, October 28, 2012 00:30 EST Everton v Liverpool 02:00 EST Newcastle United v West Bromwich Albion 02:00 EST Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur 03:00 EST Chelsea v Manchester United

Along the same lines, here's Ella (with a bit of help from Louis) . A classic from George and Ira Gershwin ... Macca's Jazz 4.9

Apparently each game held in the UK has sold out in rapid time . In 2008 there were 500,000 applications for tickets and they had to ballot them out in the end . Prices range from 45 - 100 pounds . Yeah , that Giants at Dallas game holds a lot of interest . Always a big clash between those 2 rivals . Atlanta at the Eagles will be interesting as well . Quite a few good games this week . Washington at Pittsburgh is another good match-up as well as MNF and SNF . And 'cfh' , your blokes are finally on the tele tomorrow ! On ESPN and not OneHD this week

Here's the TV games and Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal's podcast ... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8539013 Tomorrow ... 11.20 AM Tampa Bay (2-4) at Minnesota (5-2) ESPN MON, OCT 29 4.00 AM Atlanta (6-0) at Philadelphia (3-3) Fox2 4.00 AM Seattle (4-3) at Detroit (2-4) OneHD 7.25 AM NY Giants (5-2) at Dallas (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM New Orleans (2-4) at Denver (3-3) OneHD & ESPN TUES, OCT 30 11.30 AM San Francisco (5-2) at Arizona (4-3) ESPN And for the other games ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#8

Verlander may well pitch in games 1, 4 and 7 (or at least that is Justin's wish) . More likely he pitches in game's 1 and 5 . If his form holds up its Detroit in 7 for mine . ESPN radio are covering all the games for those without Foxtel . Depending on your type of mobile phone , ESPN radio is quite accessible ... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/

Ha ha ! Well done to you blokes all the same . Those Lions were somehow still in the game right to the end despite being woeful in the red zone . In all honesty the Bears should have put Detroit away by the end of the 3rd quarter . Cutler took a huge hit from Ndamukong Suh . He seemed to recover ok but he'll no doubt have a bit of 'General soreness' himself tomorrow . In the States, some are describing this 'Tackle' as some sort of 'WWE' move . Suh is just a beast of a man !

Confident, sort of . Bit concerned about the Bears - if they keep winning it might be out of your blokes and mine for a wild-card spot . Dare I say it , at Green Bay we're taking it "One week at a time" . Although It may well come down to the 2 games that we play each other (week's 13 and 17) . Btw , how'd ya pull up after yesterday's 'Footy Forum' games ? Good to see we got another overall victory !

I've still only seen edited highlights but from what I can gather, Rodgers had a huge game again . He's an immense player when on song and unfortunately for your blokes, he stepped it up again today . As you're no doubt aware , the Rams play New England next week at Wembley - another big game ! No real surprises today although the Jets and Redskins were both unlucky to lose . Houston made a statement and the Saints won again . With Brees at the helm they're capable of winning quite a few more games and will at least provide nuisance value . Their defence is woeful though and remains their achilles' heal . Need the Lions to win tomorrow :-) Edit : Just noticed that the Rams / Patriots game is on at Wembley Stadium (corrected post)

The UK production of 'Inside Men' is a very good, fast paced thriller . 4 parts in series 1 (2012) . Series 2 to be aired next year . http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1989062/

May the better team win 'Hipster' What's the odds on a close finish ? A lot riding on this game . The loser will have a reasonably long haul back in either of their divisions . Being a 16 game season , teams that fall too far back start running out of games . Especially in our divisions, with every team being at least competitive .

Yeah , was a top game last night . Mata was brilliant and I thought Torres looked dangerous . He could have scored at least 1 goal . The game itself lived up to it's expectations . Thought Man City looked gone there for a while . Down to only 10 men they did well to win it in the end . The title race is wide open . My Hammers continue to get points . Big Sam has got them playing well as a team . Liverpool are getting back into it but Arsenal dropped points . Looking forward to the Sunderland/Newcastle clash tonight .

The Stones with 'Gimme Shelter' Macca's 60's 10.9

Here's the full week's games and Bill Simmons column ... http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8524001/a-hierarchy-hypocrites FRI, OCT 19 11.20 AM Seattle 6 at San Francisco 13 OneHD & ESPN MON, OCT 22 4.00 AM Washington (3-3) at NY Giants (4-2) Fox2 4.00 AM New Orleans (1-4) at Tampa Bay (2-3) OneHD 4.00 AM Tennessee (2-4) at Buffalo (3-3) 4.00 AM Dallas (2-3) at Carolina (1-4) 4.00 AM Baltimore (5-1) at Houston (5-1) 4.00 AM Cleveland (1-5) at Indianapolis (2-3) 4.00 AM Green Bay (3-3) at St. Louis (3-3) 4.00 AM Arizona (4-2) at Minnesota (4-2) 7.25 AM Jacksonville (1-4) at Oakland (1-4) 7.25 AM NY Jets (3-3) at New England (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM Pittsburgh (2-3) at Cincinnati (3-2) OneHD & ESPN TUES. OCT 23 11.30 A Detroit (2-3) at Chicago (4-1) ESPN ·Bye: Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego

The EPL returns this week after a week's break due to the World cup qualifiers . Match of the day is probably Spurs vs Chelsea . A fierce rivalry remains between these 2 clubs as pointed out in this blog . It's from a Spurs fan so it's a tad biased ... http://soccernet.esp.../id/109?cc=3436 The other big game is the 'Tyne-Wear' Derby (or the 'Wear-Tyne' Derby) between Sunderland and Newcastle . These games are always keenly fought out affairs and according to this blog , the rivalry dates all the way back to English Civil War . A more balanced article is this one ... http://soccernet.esp.../id/175?cc=3436 Some vital games for many teams this weekend, especially so for Liverpool and Everton . Here's the current table with Everton and West Brom still being prominent ... http://soccernet.esp...-league?cc=3436 You can click on any team for further news , information and fixtures ... Saturday, October 20, 2012 22:45 EST Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea 01:00 EST Fulham v Aston Villa 01:00 EST Liverpool v Reading 01:00 EST Manchester United v Stoke City 01:00 EST Swansea City v Wigan Athletic 01:00 EST West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City 01:00 EST West Ham United v Southampton 03:30 EST Norwich City v Arsenal Sunday, October 21, 2012 23:30 EST Sunderland v Newcastle United 02:00 EST Queens Park Rangers v Everton

Hardeman, Frank Davis, Fowler, Biffin, A Johnson, Hughes, Wight, B Lovett, Grinter, Yeats , N Brown , Walsh and the Febey's - all good to very good . Hardeman the best . Great mark and was a dasher with a penetrating kick . Could play forward as well .

I'm still not totally sold on Atlanta though it's hard to fault winning form . Their schedule isn't too tough from here on in so they could easily end up with the 1 seed . They could 'Dome it' right through to the Super Bowl (which is at the Superdome) Should be a good one tomorrow . Harbaugh will have your blokes fired up you'd reckon . For a week 7 preview here's Bill Simmons/Cousin Sal podcast ... http://espn.go.com/e...play?id=8509315 And for a bit of a laugh here's a small bit of audio from Frank Caliendo . He was on 'Mike and Mike' earlier in the week . His impressions of Jon Gruden and Chris Berman were quite good http://espn.go.com/e...play?id=8507635 Week 7 games on the tele ... ESPN as well as OneHD are covering tomorrow's game ... FRI, OCT 19 11.20 AM Seattle (4-2) at San Francisco (4-2) OneHD & ESPN MON, OCT 22 4.00 AM Washington (3-3) at NY Giants (4-2) Fox2 4.00 AM New Orleans (1-4) at Tampa Bay (2-3) OneHD 7.25 AM NY Jets (3-3) at New England (3-3) OneHD 11.20 AM Pittsburgh (2-3) at Cincinnati (3-2) OneHD & ESPN TUES. OCT 23 11.30 A Detroit (2-3) at Chicago (4-1) ESPN And here's the other games for week 7 ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule#7

Yeah , posted that clip and then lo and behold Lewis is on the Daily Show (which I just watched and is a must view) You may have caught hold of 'Real Time with Bill Maher' . If not , it's definately worth a look - on once a week (Friday in the States) Topical, and like the Daily Show , has a strong political slant and can be very funny .

More from Lewis Black ...

It's a tipsters nightmare 'Harcourt' . Makes the games so much more interesting though . I had the 49ers as 10pt favs over the Giants but was once again proved wrong . Was thinking about doing a top 12 this week but it's very difficult with Houston , New England and San Francisco all losing along with the Ravens and Falcons just getting over the line . I'd have to have the Giants near the top . Yeah , nearly did the same '84' but Peyton has been getting this Denver team back into games . Once they got it back to 24-14 it was game on . Don't know what's happened to Rivers .

Big comeback win to the Broncos today . Denver have had a really tough schedule and are now 3 and 3 . As for San Diego , that was a meltdown . Leading 24 - 0 at half time . The locals aren't very happy ... http://www.utsandieg...-lead-ballgame/ Peyton's QB rating was 129 . He threw for 309 yards (24/30) with 3 TD's . Elway look well pleased on the sidelines .