Diamond_Jim

wonder if you can guess number 1.... a clue it's British If it was an Australian countdown I suspect number 3 would be tops

Came across this youtube compilation today entitled top UK 100 of the '70's. It features 10 second clips of each song and only goes for 15 minutes or so. Worth watching for some of the clips alone let alone the costumes PS and who are number '74 above

we made finals regularly during the 90's and early 00's and most times we just made up the numbers so no I'm not ecstatic by just making finals.... 8 out of 18 (barely the top half of the comp) shouldn't be that hard to hit it with a reasonable degree of regularity .. to go further is where it becomes a much harder task. Many have said it before but to stutter for the third year in a row is not acceptable. We are not as strong as Richmond who can withstand many years of just missing out.

so right jnrmac and what is more a few seasons of success will not turn this juggernaut around.

Should've made the finals relatively easily this year so just making them next year doesn't thrill me much. Sixth with one finals win is a bare pass for me.

3 for 117 and Australia use their only two reviews ... no refreshes these days ... please don't let England win !!!

No Victorian club draws less than Brisbane ... let alone less than Gold Coast and GWS Would you like to address the failure of Brisbane... 30 years in a growing AFL area (due to northern immigration from Vic)... three straight premierships and around 7 years of success plus a stadium smack bang in the middle of the city wonderfully served by public transport etc

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

But how long do you go on pumping money into Brisbane, GWS and Gold Coast. Brisbane is the worry ... they have been there for around 30 years .. won three flags and yet they are now structurally a fail. What hope for GWS and Gold Coast. AFL supporters in NSW would be wedded to Sydney. Is there really any hope to grow GWS other than the often repeated mantra .... lots of people in the West. Gold Coast to Tasmania is just so obvious but it would require the AFL to admit they got it wrong.

He is around 15th or perhaps a little higher in my rankings of best 22. If he can make top 10 he will do well. Don't expect any better

The phrase... "the body is not even cold" springs to mind

Lot of truth in that buck N One of my great memories is training the Thursday night before the '88 grand final at the Junction Oval. Not sure that Gosch's paddock would be the same.

Interesting article here from the Guardian about the giant EPL team Liverpool restricting radio commentary of its upcoming UEFA Champions League match to its own club website. Apparently BBC5 were denied the rights. The AFL control of match day internet radio broadcasts through its internet site has long concerned me as a precursor to greater controls in this area. Like the AFL the radio coverage via the Liverpool website is free but it is Liverpool commentary only. One thing you can be assured of is that they aren't doing it for the benefit of the supporter. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/dec/03/liverpool-bbc-five-live-rights-broadcast-spartak

When Sydney aren't playing would the footy by any chance be on the second channel in Sydney ? Might explain the higher ratings when they play. On the bigger clubs get the prime TV games etc perhaps it's time we had two games Friday night and let the viewing public decide. Plenty of spectrum available these days.

In the 80's we used to go see Robbie play ... not so much the team as we always knew the likely outcome team wise. His performances for Victoria were sublime .. frequently best on ground amongst the best players of his time PS Is the cup that he is presented with the Night premiership of '87?

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.

Not the most optimistic injury report I have read. Disappointing to see Vandenberg still struggling in rehab: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-12-01/ankle-surgery-keeps-young-demon-off-track Luckless midfielder Aaron vandenBerg is being monitored cautiously after he missed the entire 2017 season with a stress fracture in his foot. "Vanders has been a little bit slow, just with that foot, but he's probably had his best week in rehab this week. We're really hopeful that he can start to progress a little bit quicker," Misson said.

The curse of the Jack's strikes yet again .... fingers crossed but it has the sounds of a long term impact injury. PS sorry no idea why all the blank space appears below

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

Interesting concept. Last year we had a discussion about the concept of Spring training as marketed in the US. Would not surprise me if some of the bigger clubs especially Adelaide trial marketed a few nights of twilight training or similar. Throw in some trendy food vans etc and some nice grass to spread the picnic rug and it could become a great evening. Not sure if it would work for the MFC due to support numbers and we would need a venue. (Then there is the curse/blessing of the extended cricket season which ties up a lot of the prime grounds.)

I'd pay $50 per year for simple no frills coverage of Casey games. Live would be good but not strictly necessary. Don't need commentary but I would like four angled static coverage cameras (ie four streams) that I could swap between as I watched a match. Not overly difficult in this day and age with excellent cheap cameras. Almost labour free so not much ongoing cost after camera costs are recovered. If Casey are on free to air I would accept no coverage just so as to keep that part of the VFL deal going if necessary. Would be great if it included a post game debriefing by the coach or similar

Like MFC the AFL went to automatic renewals last year. Can't say it thrilled me as I stay well clear of automatic debits where I can. On a positive note one can't say you aren't warned that they are going to hit your credit card. I have had three emails over the last month telling me that the membership will be renewed. Tomorrow is the magical renewal date so we should see memberships jumping up as the club based AFL members are included in the count.

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 !