pantaloons

I wonder if Melbourne are still pursuing Judd as the club's official mascot after it was revealed this morning that he is in fact the devil.

Im realy not in the mood to bend over and help either collection of scum acquire Chris Judd. Any attempts to take pick 4 from Melbourne's hands must involve considerable hurt from our trading partner. I don't believe us winning comfortably out of any dea for pick 4 will see us viewed in future asa poor trading partner. Given the desperation of whichever club is after our pick, we'd be mad to accept an deal in which we came out only marginal winners.

Too flaming right. The last time the Olympics (not of the winter variety) ventured to the Orient, the Demons reigned supreme - Tokyo in 1964.

Yes. I blame this on Chris Judd also.

I know. I was quite surprised to see it too. Go to Fox Sports Active if you've got Foxtel. Lynden Dunn won the Best Clubman award and Brad Green the Best Team Player.

I'm very pleased he's staying. The forwardline would have been a comedy act without him. It would have been tough seeing him run around in another club's colours.

According to Fox Sports News, James McDonald won the B & F on 260, ahead of Nathan Jones (190) and Matthew Bate (176). I find it staggering that McDonald won by such a large margin. I thought Jones is stiff to miss out on winning it actually. Petterd won best first year player, Newton most improved.

Keep Johnstone. Unless we want to go the Terry Wallace "We'll be good in 2168" route, in which case we can get rid of most of our older players for good draft picks and have a 3-5 year rebuild.

Great post, Diablo. Perhaps you should have sent an emotive and convincing letter to that eunuch before he made his mind up!

Spot on, YM. One of the softest, mercenary moves I have seen in all my years watching football. Fortunately there is little chance we will have to endure seeing him win a flag with those hacks.

TJ is most certainly worth more than pick 11, but the 'weak dog' Buchanon is worth more than Miller. It's all speculation until Judd names his team though.

Geelong by 43. Joel Corey.

According to the Fox Sports News that is being replayed hourly, Meesen is seeking to be traded to the Demons. I don't know if they've just read Niall's article and slaped two and two together, or if they're ooking seriously at a Meesen to Melbourne deal.

I'm with you, Deano. Seeing them lose won't change the fact that we've been unsuccessful for the last 43 years. They thoroughly deserve this year's flag. This year's Port side would be luck to make the top 4 most years. It would take a monumental upset for the Power to steal the cup, and I'd prefer not to see the lemming-esque flinging off the top of the Southern Stand of Geelong supporters should the Cats cough up one of the biggest chokes in history.

I actually think a fat kid would have some difficulty running with a box of chocolates in their hands. Anyway, I'd be surprised if Judd hasn't made his mind up already. I'd be very upset if it's not Melbourne.

Preferably not Chris Judd, Coxy.

Yes, I saw that too. I am steadily losing the plot here. For the love of Pete, just announce the decision!!

The final, most glorious omen, is that the great Martin Luther King Jr made this speech shortly before Geelong's last premiership in 1963. Although he made a similar speech by the same title, this particular one didn't get the due recognition it deserved. Here are the main excerpts: I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the Melbourne Footbal Club dream. I have a dream that one day this club will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal - except Chris Judd." I have a dream that one day on the MCG the sons of the fathers who witnessed the last Demons dynasty, and their fathers will be able to sit down together and see the resurrection of the Demons. I have a dream that one day even the state of Victoria, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice for the Melbourne Football Club. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their guernsey but by the content of their trophy cabinet. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Broadmeadows, with its vicious anti-Melbourne sentiment, with its former resident Eddie McGuire having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Broadmeadows, little boys and girls will be able to join hands with other little boys and girls as sisters and brothers, and convert them to become Melbourne supporters. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Melbourne Football Club shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the MCG with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our club into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together (only the Collingwood supprters, that is), to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all Melbourne supporters will be able to sing with a new meaning on that last Saturday in September, "Its a Grand Old Flag." And if Australia is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Templestowe. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of the Dandenongs. Let freedom ring from the heightening hills of Greensborough! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Mt. Buller! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of Rebecca Twigley! But not only that; let freedom ring from the MCG! Let freedom ring from Light Tower 3! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Melbourne. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all Melbourne supprters, children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old [censored] spiritual, "It's A Grand Old Flag" with the Premiership Cup resting once again in the hands of the Melbourne Football Club.

Damn it , Jaded! This is NOT the time for logic and reason!

This whole ordeal has in my opinion been another cross against the reputation of the sporting media. I hope they feel embarrassed when Melbourne sign Chris Judd. If some of them are still shaking their heads and ondering 'why?' then perhaps they should be looking for new modes of employment next year. Throughout the process, they've led the public down the garden path with their ill-considered and narrow-minded opinions. I'll lump them all together because the general vibe ebbed from one group idea to the next, but most of them generally made a couple of key mistakes when assessing the situation: 1. Failing to consider both sides of the trading equation: At first it was "Judd to Carlton!" Who could forget the sickening superimposed picture of Judd in a Carlton guernsey in the Hun? Simply because Carlton had the highest picks, this didn't mean that Chris Judd would want to play for them. He had to nominate them as a team to West Coast for any deal to be done. In the end, Carlton weren't prepared to match Melbourne's offer by the sounds of things anyway. Likewise, the next favour of the month was Collingwood. Notoriously shonky dealers in trade week, I don't think it was ever a fait accompli that Judd would have gone to Collingwood even if he had nominated them alone. The PSD would have been a real option. They failed to see that Melbourne could satisfy both criteria: being attractive to Judd, and having something to offer West Coast. Realistically, none of the other clubs could satisfy both. 2. I think the biggest mistake the media and the non-Melbourne supporting public made was to underestimate the Demons. I think the fact that Judd barracked for the Demons as a child and his family are still Melbourne fans had to mean something. What kind of self-respecting Melbourne fan could play for Collingwood by choice anyway? But more so, I think we are selling ourselves short if we think the only reason he has chosen Melbourne is because of his childhood yearning to pull on the red and blue. We hear people bemoaning our facilities - they'll be fixed in a year. People questioned our list - the best Victorian team last year, and completely ravaged by injury in 2007. I'm sick of hearing people moan "Why would he go to Melbourne?" Do some research into Judd's criteria and you'll find out. I'm thinking once Judd is in the fold, Melbourne won't be quite the same irrelevant sideshow that media spanners choose to neglect in future.

Good to see an indisputable statement from you, Ooze! Gold. I saw the Chanel 9 report too. I think Tony Jones was holding back tears of grief and bitterness.

It's not like St. Kilda is doing us a favour here. They're getting a gun backman for the next 12 years. Much better than a speculative 9th pick. Obviously great for us if it lands us Judd though!

I was about to post exactly that. You saved me the trouble!

I just saw it, folks. It was much as reported by Hutchy. Basically, that Frawley will go to the Saints for their first pick, and that Judd to Melbourne is virtually a done deal. I am highly excited. Naturally, there were the thoughtless, numb-nutted comments from those peasants about Melbourne's facilities: "Boo, hoo. Melbourne doesn't have good facilities - why would he go there?" Do some research you brainless maggots. We'll have those facilities this time next year.

Hopefully this walleted character is onto something. I'll be very pleased if he turns out to be Biff back from 2015 with his sports almanac.