Diamond_Jim

Rather important two sessions coming up. Strange decision by Smith not to enforce the follow on. The ball swinging in the evening session is nothing new and while England bowlers may not be quick they can certainly swing that ball. 354 not an easy target so hopefully we can have them 7 down for 100 at stumps tonight 3 for 150 or thereabouts could make for an interesting last day

So my opening match in good old Kazan is Australia v France... will have to take the right coloured scarf Who would have thought that when I bought my series tickets. Will pretty well decide Australia's chances... hopefully a draw or a 1-0 loss. If we repeat the German loss 4-0 a la South Africa that is almost certainly the end of our chances. Australia's second game (Denmark) is in Samara which is not far from Kazan so I might think about the logistics of trying to catch that game as well. Spain play Iran in Kazan followed by Germany v South Korea. The other game is Poland v Colombia which should be a close game. Round 16 match is most likely France v Croatia or possibly Nigeria. Should be fun. Looking at heading to Moscow for a week before going to Kazan but accommodation is seriously expensive. Wouldn't mind tripping around Kazan but so far have not managed to crack the code for independent tourism given that most web sites are in Cyrillic Russian.

Given that he is stick thin and makes Weideman look muscled I think there might be a deceptive camera angle in that shot with Hogan. Would be interested in training observers' comments

Half way through Godless the new Netflix "Western" mini series. Thought after the first few episodes that it might rival Deadwood but after episode 3 I don't think so. That being said well worth watching. Guardian gave it five stars: "Godless, Netflix’s new seven-part miniseries, opens in 1884, in Creede, Colorado, with a thick cloud of smog shrouding the camera. The haze slowly dissolves to reveal a chilling landscape: parched bodies being tended to by swarms of flies; a man, sedentary, with a gunshot through his head; a train-wreck near which a young boy hangs from a noose; and a woman, crouched over a corpse, singing mournfully about Christ. It’s a near-wordless several minutes, a triumph of mood and cinematography, that evokes the sort of rough-and-tumble anarchy of the great filmic frontiersman. Soon after, we’re in La Belle, New Mexico, where we learn who’s responsible for the massacre, and from thereon it’s guns blazing. " https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/22/godless-review-netflix-wonderfully-wicked-western-fires-on-all-cylinders watch out for spoilers in the comments

Have been watching the third season of Ballers which focuses on the pursuit of a team for Las Vegas. Some serious money in that sport but I had not appreciated how much This little snippet from the Washington Post on my Redskins. According to Forbes magazine’s 2017 valuation of sports franchises, the Redskins are worth $3.1 billion — trailing only the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and New York Giants. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and his partners bought the team in 1999 for roughly $800 million. Snyder also owns FedEx Field, which is expected to be replaced in the next decade https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/football-insider/wp/2017/11/24/redskins-call-threadbare-condition-of-fedex-field-a-non-issue/

Almost posted a two hours back that this session could well determine the Ashes but thought it a little trite. Had England scored a 100 for the loss of none or one wicket it might have been hard for Australia. Now for one of those pesky small run chases. Unfortunately for us older people we will still remember the difficulties some Australian teams have had in knocking off such totals. Some interesting views on the Ali stumping: http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/21560783/twitter-reacts-moeen-close-stumping It is being suggested that the crease line was not straight !

Interesting.... had not thought of that angle USA and Italy not making it must be a huge disappointment for the TV rights owners not to mention FIFA itself. Have now got my accomodation in Kazan. A one bedroom unit with a pull out couch for the son in the living room. Apparently a 15 minute walk to the stadium which has the largest outside screen in Europe which I assume will make a good fan site for the non Kazan matches. In the scheme of things the accomodation while basic was not expensive but it was still 3-4 times what they usually charge. Looking forward to the draw next week.

wouldn't read anything into that .... he will be gone by pick 50 if not 40

The dream draw ... better still easy to get tickets

So Ange has gone..... love him or hate him his tenure must be rated a success if for no other reason than his willingness to utilise A League players. Left field .... what about the coach of either the Italians or the Dutch Not sure what to expect at this WC but even though I like the attacking style of Ange's game plan we just don't have the players to pull it off at the WC level.

Forgot it was on but I did enjoy the NRL last night

Ah ... the old Sandown races. Do they still run the Sandown Cup? I remember some of the cup horses used to run in it so as to pay their expenses etc. I hear that the old place may be sold for housing. Perhaps they could extend the place across the road. (The crematorium). Many years ago in a job I had, the people at the Springvale cemetery asked for my advice on how to make the cemetery more family friendly. They were thinking of bike rides etc to increase the cafe patronage. Even offered me a tour out the back which I politely declined.

To be honest lists were a lot bigger in those days and you could have more spec players on your list. Perhaps the AFL needs an academy in Ireland. Pity that Ireland is not a big draw country. Imagine if say Canada or France had a Gaelic tradition and were then available for growing the game. In the future I am worried that the power clubs will be able to spend money on overseas development. In return they will demand a form of exclusivity. After all there is a limit on how many local netball teams you can fund.

Some more great news. I booked for Kazan simply because it looked like a nice relatively small city and it has direct flights to Dubai. Being reported today that the Socceroos will be based in Kazan so we are odds on to see at least one of their matches. All I need is the Dees to do well next year and 2018 could be a very good year PS On closer reading they picked Kazan before qualifying so it will be just luck if they play there. Fingers crossed.

Wow......... I now have tickets for Russia for the Group stage and the round of 16 for myself and my son. Over the moon. My tickets are venue specific and are for the city of Kazan which is the Tartar capital of Russia. Never know I may be able to get to a Australian match as well. Now for the airlines and accomodation. Airbnb apartments in Russia are a little basic by the looks of things but hell the vodka is cheap.

one could say never in doubt but of course it wasn't. At last the Aussies got the rub of the green but they deserved it as they made their own luck. Well predicted Macca. Now all I need is some tickets to Russia in tomorrow night's draw

Milan is a wonderful city and the stadium has tours and a museum. I was there in August but it was just too hot. The club websites are well used to foreign ticket enquiries so that could be a good place to start. You may find the big clubs have a local supporters club in Australia which could also be a great source of leads. Sounds like a great trip. Don't forget the Lords cricket museum. Not very big but some very special exhibits.

11 shots to one in the first half ..... sounds very familiar

Italy misses out..... wow Will be interested to read the analysis. Understand that many of the team were aged in their 30's. Perhaps the Italian League is not much better than the EPL for bringing through the local talent.

must say I agree with your assessment Redleg. Another view is that they are playing a slightly longer game and have taken players on one year contracts with the intention of going big next year either in the draft or free agency.

Coming to grips with the ticketing system for the forthcoming World Cup. Next round opens on Thursday our time. I will never complain about the complications of the AFL ticketing system again. It seems that the GWS membership twist is well alive in Russia. The equivalent is you apply to follow Saudi Arabia and thus maximise your chances of getting semi final and finals tickets. You then don't bother going to the Saudi games. The system works because individual countries are given an allocation to all games and of course the demand from Saudi is apparently low. Ends up costing an extra US$800 or so for the tickets in the foregone early matches but I suppose that for one of the hottest tickets in sport it's not a bad idea.

makes sense shallow draft... young player, now proven etc etc The only question is his bulk and ground skills. Have been saying for months he is late second or early third. Perhaps he could end up at the Eagles as one of those several mid 20 picks they have. Cannot see him at the MFC as we are once again short of outside mids. The flip side is that the VFL lists do not seem to be throwing up a large number of late bloomers. Surprising because numerically they should be there.

NZ v Peru in Wellington. No score after 24 minutes. Memories of past Australian qualifications in the Oceania Group

that surprises me....... good luck to both of them but am a little bemused by the Port strategy. Never know they could be onto a winner

Had to go out this morning so I only caught snippets on the radio. Hopefully can find a replay. The trouble is Macca in most of the qualifying games we have been better than the opposition but we are where we are because we cannot score goals. Looking forward to Wednesday but hell I hope we score first. Big news re Italy possibly missing out. That return match will be one for the ages.