Diamond_Jim

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 !

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.

Negatives: Our year is full of Hogan back to Perth talk. The Tom Mc experiment is increasingly recognised as not working. The call goes out for the Weed and memories of Juice come flooding back. On the positives: Petracca has a solid season We beat North at last Sixth on the ladder at end of home and away

could not agree more Dr G. The EPL is a league for the power clubs with the rest in the role of paid extras. Not sure but I am getting the feeling that increasingly the Champions League is now where it's at. Out of interest who controls those media rights? Will be interesting to see if there is any impact from the drop in oil prices given the ownership of some of the larger clubs.

Fritsch probably would have gone to WCE otherwise .... Interesting pick by MFC ... can take a mark but not sure about the ground skills

Hard to compare apples to apples in the AFL. Pies made an operating profit of $1.65M before writing down the Glasshouse and renovations at the Holden Centre. Turnover is king in AFL in the sense that a non profit has little interest in generating large reporting profits. Even turnover is skewed in the sense that turnover which includes pokies delivers a lot lower return on revenue albeit a guaranteed revenue. Would love the numbers people to pull apart club finances like some pull apart playing lists etc. As a student of balance sheets the fun is always in the notes to the accounts. Then of course there are assets like Collingwood have in the form of the Glasshouse that are great football centres but don't produce much revenue as compared to say the Bentleigh Club owned by the MFC. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-24/black-and-white-in-the-red-as-pies-lose-27m

didn't work for GWS or Adelaide and they are way better sides overall and have way better talls. Will be interesting to see what game plan Crows and Giants adopt in 2018

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

Good points and another way of putting that Dr G is that NFL has reached saturation point such that growing the media revenue pie in these days of media diversity is a challenge. In 5 years time or whenever the AFL rights are renewed who would be surprised if the internet rights (assuming they are unrestricted) are worth as much as the FTA/pay TV rights. In fact that will be where the battle is... ie between the pay TV dinosaurs and the emerging internet streaming behemoths

you can either stand in front of the train or plan how you are going to move. As the man said... "The times they are a changing"

Just putting it out there but the continued reliance upon pokies could have an adverse impact upon memberships in the future. It troubles me as I am sure it troubles others. I would like to see a long term strategy (5-10 years) for their removal. They may be legal but that does not mean that I have to support their insidious impact upon vulnerable members of the community. In reality this is only moving with community opinion. Twenty years ago concepts of ethical investment were laughed at and now they are mainstream.

Would love to know the basis for the inclusion of Weideman. Let's be honest he has shown little at VFL level and the jury is firmly out as to whether he will make it. What worries me is that a so called "expert" is so ignorant of our players strengths and weaknesses. Suggests that we are very low profile.

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

Like to hear more on how it would work at AFL level and how it works in other sports I have an open mind on the subject at present.