Macca

"el clasico" on at 7.55am tomorrow morning . Real Madrid vs Barcelona . Arguably the 2 best soccer teams in the world and interestingly , both teams are owned by their fans .

Yep , at last count the Packers had about 112,000 part owners . Remarkable really , considering the size of Green Bay . Barcelona are another Club wholly owned by their fans - I support both Clubs mainly for this reason . Barca even "Paid" Unicef for the advertising on the front of their top . That 5 year deal is over now but I reckon they'll do something similar again in the future .

Patrick Cummins out for all the Tests vs India - what a shame as I was looking forward to seeing him live in Melbourne . Suppose it gives another quick a chance to cement a spot in the side but it's still a big blow .

Yeah , and you would have thought Ivor Warne Smith would have received his fair share of 2nd and 3rd B.O.G's as well . Virtually impossible to figure out . At a guess he might have got a total of around 120 votes , maybe more . That's giving him 15 x 2 and 15 x 1 . Anyway , interesting exercise bobby .

Nice quiz there bobby . Ivor Warne-Smith played his 9th game for our Club at the age of 27 ! He amassed 25 B.O.G's in the Brownlow when only 1 vote was cast per match to the best player . He also served at Gallipoli and the Western front in WW1 as well as the Middle East , New Guinea and Borneo in WW2 . He was Captain Coach of the Club from 1928 to 1932 and was Chairman of selectors from 1949 . He was said to be Norm Smith's closest advisor . Ivor was also a regular football writer for the "Argus" . Of course he won 2 Brownlows ( 1926 and 1928 ) and was also runner up in 1929 . He was named at Centre Half Forward in Melbourne's Team of the century . He was known as quiet and unassuming but what a life this man had !

Ivor Warne-Smith won his 2 Brownlows when only 1 vote was given to the B.O.G . He received 8 and 9 votes in those two years . Equivalent to 24 and 27 ? . Fairly sure he polled well in other years .

Yeah , Sydonia are great . And I liked the solo guitarist in your 1st post - wow !

This bloke must have been some sort of player . Did just about everything . Late starter as well . http://demonwiki.org/Allan+La+Fontaine

Thanks for that link HG . I remember the days when we used to get the last session of select Shield games on the tele !

Played a lot of cricket at 2 cricket clubs - at one I was known as "Nuggets" after the great Keith "Nugget" Miller - somebody added an "s" and it stuck ! Btw It had nothing to do with rivaling his cricket ability ! And at the other club I was known as "Macca" - most people I know call me that . When I played footy I had various nicknames but "You" and "Mate" figured predominantly in the early days ! I'm figuring yours is self explanatory yeah ?

Yep , I remember walking past a his 4wd ? years ago . It was parked in the MCG carpark near the MCC members . I remarked to a friend "Who would want to call themselves THEO X" ? Got me !!

Excellent article in that link "Nasher" . Perhaps Dave Warner will set a trend of T20 batsmen progressing to Test cricket - can't see why not . As for India , they were woeful in England a few months back and are notoriously poor away from home . Aussies to win the series though India might win 1 test . Can't wait to see this Cummins / Pattinson duo in action . Bring on Boxing day !

Shane Warne's 1st Test figures 45 - 7 - 150 - 1 ( Ist innings vs India , Sydney , 1992 ) We need to give these new players a bit of a go . Hughes has major issues but what's the bet he makes a big score in Hobart ?! Don't know what to make of him really . Jayasuriya . Sehwag , Gilchrist and plenty of others were highly successful without having perfect techniques , which leads me into "The Suburban Boy" otherwise known as the "Bull" . I reckon Warner will be fantastic for Test cricket if he's successful and I'm backing him to do it for this reason . He may get found out but I really hope not . Cummins and Pattinson should lead our attack for many years if they remain healthy . And Starc will hopefully be a goodin' as well with his variety . And there are other young quicks on the horizon ( Cutting , Hazelwood . Herrick etc ) . Lyon keeps getting better and better . Suddenly this Indian team are quite vulnerable .

J.L. Pattinson! ... and he's a Victorian.

Terrific song HT . Thought I'd bump it up to top of the Billboard being a Saturday night and all that !

Macca 3.7

Great song - and a great sound . Another band I need to explore more - rest assured I will !

Ha ha ha ! Must see if I can find that painting on the net and update my avatar ! I never get tired of Seinfeld , my favourite episode is when George is "O'Brien" in "The Limo" . Classic .

Yeah , IASIP is very good JJ . What an awful , opportunist bunch hey ? A train wreck really but funny as . A big departure from "Sunny" is a new comedy called "New Girl" . Better than I thought it would be . Kinda corny but Zooey Deschanel is terrific and plays a zany type sharing a loft with 3 blokes . One of those shows you immediately like or ...........................

Macca 3.6 - slideshow only for this Kiwi classic !

Wouldn't hit the "doom and gloom" button re Test cricket just yet "jako" . Whilst I agree T20 will be huge it might help Test cricket just like the 50 over game has . Test cricket will survive and will probably get better aesthetically with run rates rising etc . And how about if Warner is successful at the 5 day game ? Already there has been a change of scheduling with the big 4 teams ( Australia , England , South Africa and India ) playing each other home and away over the next 3 years instead of over 4 years . I remember people started saying that 50 over cricket would kill off Test cricket back in the late 1970's - It didn't . And the "Ashes" is just as big as it ever was . I love both forms of the game and am looking forward to watching the Tests vs India during the day and the "Big Bash" in the evenings - bring it on !! As for the "Big Bash" I reckon most Victorians will "secretly" follow both Melbourne teams - Warnie playing is gonna be huge so get ready for some big crowds . I was at the Vics / Tassie game 2 years ago when 43,000 turned up - it was like a footy crowd ! I'm going to follow both teams as I cannot see myself wanting any interstate team beating a Victorian team . I may form an allegiance later on but for now .............. Go the Renegades ! Go the Stars !

Cryptic clue for the X ! Beach anyone ?

Macca 3.5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waacof2saZw&ob=av2e

U is for Under 19 Morrish Medalist Greg "Sugar" Healy ( 1983 )

My observation on the lack of representation at Test level for Victorian batsman might have been seen as a complaint about the National selectors but that was not my intention . My point was about the Batsman only as I do think Victoria's bowlers get a decent go at it . I don't reckon there's any bias against Victoria or bias towards any State either . The only Test class batsman who might count himself unlucky is Hodge - wrong place , wrong time for him I'm afraid . Siddons was another with claims . Another point is that Victoria often seem willing to give young bowlers a go and as I mentioned earlier the Victorian Bowlers do get a decent go at Test level - Hughes , Warne , Fleming , Reiffel , Siddle and now Pattinson . Perhaps if Victoria took a leaf out of NSW's book and played more young batsmen ( especially at the top of the order ) then things might be different . Though I doubt anything will change .