Football is back, yo

 My preview of this AFL season with some ladder predictions.

The clear favourite
No one is doing what Collingwood is doing right now. You can't go past the Pies as the clear Premiership favourite. They cleared out some experience and some dead wood over the summer, but kept the Premiership 22 together. It also opened up some salary cap room, which had been tight thanks to the recruitment of Darren Jolly and Luke Ball. Recruiting Krakouer was brilliant, same with Tarrant. Krak has matured as a man and a player after spending 16 months in jail for assault. He is grasping the second chance with both hands. It's great to watch. In terms of the rest of the team, the coaches have focused on making sure they don't get complacent. It looks to be working so far. The Pies didn't need to win the preseason comp. Most senior players only played two preseason games. They won it because they were clearly better than everyone else.

The top three
Despite the Essendon game, the Western Bulldogs will still finish top four. They have pace, depth and talent. There are always aberrant results in round one that you look back on with disbelief at the end of the season. St Kilda are still strong, as are Geelong, but I get the feeling that they could both struggle a bit this season. They've got the miles in the legs and the skills... but Geelong have lost some quality, and St Kilda lack a decent bottom six or any depth. One of these two teams could well finish eighth or ninth, with a bad run of injuries and luck.

The next three
Carlton, Fremantle and Hawthorn - they should all be here. There are no excuses for these teams. They have the personnel and the time to put their gameplans together. The big issue for Carlton is how important young Kreuzer is to their team. It was all over for the Blues when he went down last year. The other problem is the stupidity of Jarrad Waite. At 27 he should be a dominant key position player. Instead, he should have been suspended for kicking a player in the nuts (how he got off that charge is a mystery). Hawthorn need a big season from Buddy Franklin and for the rest of the team to stay injury free. Freo have had a shocking run of injuries and at the moment look the most likely to drop out of the eight. Which is sad, because it would have been nice to see the Dockers go on with it.

The chasers
One finals spot, a bunch of teams chasing it. Essendon and Adelaide are the clear standouts at the moment. Adelaide have recruited well with Tambling off half back, and Dangerfield looks an absolute gun. Essendon look amazing at the moment, but it's hard to tell if that's just the extra month's fitness they have on everyone. Will they die in the arse? (Yes, a lovely Australian term). North Melbourne could do anything, as could Melbourne. They each have some talent but need the gameplan to come together. Sydney lost Kirk, but Goodes is as amazing as ever. This is a real mixed bag of even teams and it's hard to know who will sneak into September.

The bottom five
Richmond are the best of the rest. Riewoldt would be the main goal threat for any team in the league. He is that much of a gun. Taller than his cousin Nick, more mobile than Chris Dawes, and a better kick than Travis Cloke. More durable than Jonathan Brown at the moment too. Port Adelaide... who knows. They won a bunch of games at the end of last season, but they seem to lack talent. They will win a few at home though. West Coast will rebuild this year, but losing Mark LeCras will hurt. The club needs some serious work on its playing list, and perhaps John Worsfold isn't the man to do that job. The Gold Coast Suns will win a few games, definitely. They have an amazing collection of young talent. They grabbed the best players from two years worth of drafts - guys like Swallow, Toy and Maverick Weller. Brisbane is a car crash. Now they've lost their best player - Brown - for months with facial surgery. Black and Power will do what they can, but 2011 is basically a writeoff.


To end this preview: some pics of Miranda Kerr in a Collingwood jumper :)

Sports thoughts

1) Does Collingwood need Chris Tarrant? No. Is he a useful addition to a team going for another premiership? Yes. He will replace Presti in the backline and offer more speed and agility. Taz will also be a really good option to replace Ben Reid and Nathan Brown if they get injured. Reid and Brown are both 22 and share a house. They will share Collingwood's backline for another decade or so. But Tarrant, 30, has a couple of good years left and will be part of a backline squad. Collingwood showed that football is becoming a squad game. Your best 22 is no longer enough. You need a best 30 to cover for injuries, suspensions, loss of form and to match up against different teams. It's the Manchester United model, which every club has copied in Europe over the last few years.

2) The Bulldogs have rejuvenated well. Justin Sherman is an outside runner coming into his prime, while Mitch Wallis and Tom Liberatore are father/son selections with pace and skill. Goodbye Aker, Brad Johnston and Nathan Eagleton.

3) Brisbane... it's hard to know. I thought they'd be great this year, they were for five games, then things turned horrible. They've traded away Sherman, Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan - three players in their prime, with the good years still to come. A strange decision. But they've picked up heaps of draft picks, and they still have some good players. With Jonathan Brown in your team you can do anything. A fit Fev and Brown and who knows??

4) Geelong has a chance to prove the Ewing Theory. It's when a team loses its superstar and everyone writes them off, and they actually go better the next year. Based on Patrick Ewing, the great Knicks centre, whose teams played better without him. He was a weapon, but for some reason his teams did better when he was injured or gone. Time for Selwood to show he's worth the big wraps and big dollars and take over games like Ablett did.

5) Who knows what will happen with Carlton? Judd was great, Murphy was good but hasn't learned how to break hard tags, and Bryce Gibbs... is taking his time maturing. Carlton's top 8 players are damn good - the rest aren't so good. Andrew Walker may well thrive somewhere else.

6) Why do batsmen always "save their Test career" with a big hundred? You know what I want? I want a batsman to make runs to WIN GAMES FOR AUSTRALIA, rather than so they can stick around and be s*** for another five Tests. Shane Watson is the only player I feel will reliably make runs. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? I mean, I've always been a big Watson fan. He was awesome for Tassie. But you could never call him reliable. Now he's the big man at the top of the order.

7) Marcus North... all of Australia is expecting you to screw us over during the Ashes. Will you do a Hussey and do nothing for four Tests, only to make a big score in the final match when it's all over and the pressure is off? Or will you make a big score in a huge win and live off that for the rest of the summer, slowly finding new ways to suck? I would love you to deliver like you were a while back. It would be great. Please do it. I'm just saying we don't expect it.

8) The Opals' performance in the World Championships was a bit embarrassing. Fifth in the world. Losing to the Czech Republic. The only silver lining I can see (not that we got close to silver... fifth... pffff) is that now we know what we need to do to win gold at London 2012. Liz Cambage will be two years older and more experienced, the team will have more time together. The big worry is that Lauren Jackson will finally break down and her body won't be able to bang it in the paint anymore. We need a healthy Jackson and a firing Cambage to physically dominate other teams, while our guards can match it with anyone.

I'm nervous because of history, not a lack of confidence in this team

Points about the Grand Final

1) This is the best Collingwood team I've seen in my lifetime. It is incredibly even, but also very skilled. Players like Tarkyn Lockyer, Josh Fraser, Shane O'Bree, Paul Medhurst, Nathan Brown and Tyson Goldsack would be in the first 22 of many other clubs. They aren't even in the team for Saturday. Not because they're too old or bad players. It's because they're skill levels are not quite good enough. It's a good thing to know that the 22 players in the team are better, because the guys who are left out are great.

2) The game plan has taken three years to come together. It's why other clubs may find it tough to catch up to Collingwood and St Kilda in this. The players have committed to it. The game plan means everyone plays a role, and doesn't play for stats. Geelong coach Mark Thompson said he tried to introduce something similar, but his players wouldn't go along with it. They liked how they were playing. Fair enough, it worked beautifully - but it doesn't cut it anymore.

3) Darren Jolly and Luke Ball have been huge additions. Jolly is a dominant ruckman. One of the top 5 in the AFL. Ball... is at the bottom of every pack. He's added a hardness that has allowed the Pies to give Dane Swan the ball more often. He used to go looking for it - now Ball gives it to him, and he uses it well. Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams, Chris 'Early' Dawes, Brent Macaffer and Sharrod Wellingham have improved tremendously too. Collingwood's improvement has come from those recruits, young players getting significantly better, and everyone committing to the game plan.

4) I don't understand the hatred for Collingwood out there. If we had been dominantly successful, then fair enough. But we haven't been that since the 1950s. We've won one premiership since 1958. We're not the freaking Yankees or Lakers or Manchester United. All anyone alive today can remember is Collingwood losing grand finals. Hardly something to build hatred on. It would be like hating Swindon Town for all the success they had in the 1910s.

Perhaps it's the arrogance? That was definitely a factor. But supporters today don't have the arrogance that they did. Carlton supporters are more arrogant. Try talking to a Geelong supporter!! They think they're freaking God's Gift to Football. What with "the way it's meant to be played" and the recruiting of a bunch of nice blokes who happen to be amazingly talented on the field and humble off it. So Collingwood is not nearly as arrogant as other clubs.

Yes, we do have a working class supporter base. And in the past, that has meant racism. Obviously we weren't the only club with racist supporters, but we were the best-supported club, so we probably had more of them. That's all changed now. Eddie McGuire has overseen a cultural change at the club. It's still got working class roots - but the positive aspects of those are to the forefront now, not the negative ones.

Perhaps it's Eddie? He is everywhere. But he's a passionate bloke who came from a poor background who has made his own way in the world. It's a really good story. A positive story. Broadmeadows boy made good. So maybe people hate him because he's been successful? And because he passionately supports a football club? It can't be that, because millions of other Australians support teams with one eye removed.

So I'm not entirely sure why people hate Collingwood. I think it's just that people are expected to hate them. So they do. Logic is not a part of the decision. Emotion is not part of the decision. Expectation is.

5) I wouldn't begrudge St Kilda a victory. I have a soft spot for them. They've been through a lot of heartache, and I really like Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo and Brendan Goddard. But if they win, it'll be because we lost it. I think Collingwood's best is better than St Kilda's best. If St Kilda win, it will be like Hawthorn in 2008. Geelong had the better team, but they bottled it on the day.

6) Collingwood by 40 points.

All-Ireland Final

Cool hair.

In other news:
- It's harder being anti-war when your preferred president is in charge and the war is still going. Activists are finding it tougher to maintain the rage.

- Apparently Christina Hendricks had to beg designers to make her dresses.

Lawren has to beg, buttering up the designer, saying Christina is a 'huge, huge fan' of their work. Yet nine times out of ten, it is still a flat 'No'.
'They'll say: ''Unfortunately, we don't have the sizes to support her,'' or ''Unfortunately, we only have a size two or four." '
For the Emmys, a handful of designers - Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Donna Karan - said they wanted to help, but were too busy to make something specially for Christina. 

- Katy Perry's parents think Russell Brand is going to be a "man of God".It's possible. It'd certainly be interesting. Anyway I love that she had to tell her mum and Russell to stop flirting.

- Former Collingwood player Chris Bryan joins Tampa Bay as a kicker.

- Tommy Conlon in the Irish Independent had a crack at Aussie Rules football. He reckons it's a game with no skill. He reckons it's lucky former Collingwood player Marty Clarke came back to Ireland before his "brain turned to mush".

[Clarke] played 46 senior games for Collingwood in the AFL, but obviously had far too much brainpower for a sport that requires no brainpower at all.

It is stupid, of course. Especially when viewed in the light of this other article in the Irish Independent, which recommends young Irish players staying in Australia to avoid the intense spotlight the Irish system puts on them.

Overall, since 1984, Gaelic football has probably lost Jim Stynes, Marty Clarke, Colm Begley, Tadhg Kennelly, Setanta ó hAilpín and Tommy Walsh to the AFL. And some of those boys came back. But how many have we lost to rugby? How many to soccer?
It's easy pickings to say that the invaders/non-natives are the culprits here; the people stealing our local talent. But what about the guys at Marty's level who are literally wrecked by the time they're 22 because of the pressures county teams put on their better players.

The other issue is that Marty Clarke has gone back to Gaelic Football as an absolute star. He is leading his team to an All-Ireland Final off the back of his pace, endurance and creative kicking game. He's also powerful in the tackle. He's a weapon. Where do you think he learned that? He's only 22. He could return to AFL, or he could go on being one of the best players in Ireland. But the professionalism and skills he's showing now, he learned in the AFL.

A post that isn't just links...

...and no pics of Christina Hendricks.

Some observations on the football

- I know people hate Collingwood, and for good reason. They play attractive football, score goals, defend well, and display a team mentality often lacking in professional sport these days. It's sickening. But if you can overlook all that, you will see a team that is really doing the biz in almost every way. Mick Malthouse has added hard bodied, experienced players (Ball, Jolly, Brown) to the established core (Swan, Maxwell, Shaw, Didak, Davis, Cloke, O'Brien, Pendlebury), and brought on young players who show no fear (Beams, Sidebottom, Dawes, Toovey, Blair). It's a potent mix. This is the best Collingwood team I've seen in my lifetime. I guess the 1990 Premiership team was bloody good too, but it was slightly before my time (I did start supporting Collingwood in that year though).

- All that said, Collingwood may not have enough to beat Geelong at their peak. The Cats are running hot again. It's scary how good they are. I can only hope Gary Ablett Jr comes out before the finals and announces he's leaving to go to the Gold Coast. It might upset the apple cart enough for the Pies to snatch a key win. We'll find out this weekend if Collingwood have improved enough to tackle a red-hot Geelong.

- Brisbane... where to start? A debacle of a season. Someone said the other week to judge the team next year after all the new signings have had time to settle in. I don't know. They've actually got worse as the season has progressed. Surely they should be settling in better? This could ruin all that good work Voss did in his first season as coach.

- Got to say, I'm still enjoying West Coast's demise. HAHAHA. Fun. Other people irrationally hate Collingwood, I irrationally hate West Coast. And Essendon. But seriously, HAHAHAHAHA West Coast suck.

- I want to make a public apology to the young Richmond fan who sat in front of me and Dr Harry at the preseason game vs Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium. While watching that performance (one of the worst I have seen), we were dead certain the Tigers would not win a game in 2010. We discussed their chances of ever getting a high draft pick in the next three years (chance: zero). We said how they had no one coming through. We said it would be three years of pain for Richmond. Well, young bloke who had to listen to us (justifyably) verbally destroy your team - I apologise. Turns out Damien Hardwick is a better coach than we gave him credit for.

- Also, on Richmond, who in the AFL thought Jack Riewoldt wouldn't make it as a goal scoring forward? Anyone - anyone - who watched him play for the Tassie Devils in the VFL as a 17-year-old would have known he could do it. Why? Because as a skinny, light weight 17-year-old, he regularly kicked multiple goals against hard-bodied, AFL listed players. That takes skills and intelligence. Once he added the bulk and got a few games under his belt, he was going to take off. I thought he went low in the draft at the time, and now other people are recognising it too. Also, got to give Richmond credit for playing Richo on the wing that season to allow Riewoldt the chance to develop up forward. Not only did it give Richo a real chance at the Brownlow (a crying shame when he missed out), but the dividends are paying off handsomely now with Jack's goal-kicking form.

- Melbourne are a game and half outside the eight. Ridiculous, I know. They won't make it... but they could go very close. Considering they were missing a few players through injury this year, it's a great effort. The Jim Stynes effect could get them over the line.

- On North Melbourne moving to Hobart for a few games, I have this to say.
1) It would be their fourth base outside Melbourne in eight years. Sydney, Canberra and the Gold Coast didn't work. Why would Hobart?
2) More than $20 million needs to be spent on Bellerive to get it to AFL standard, including removing the Hill and adding a drop-in wicket. Nice way to ruin the cricket.
3) North Melbourne are uninspiring. They look at the Hawks and the success that has been. They're not realising just how well the stars aligned for Hawthorn. A young team, an absolute superstar in Buddy Franklin who brings people to games, an unexpected premiership early on in the deal, and a huge latent supporter base from the 1980s. North has none of those things. The team is uninspiring and has no one to attract new supporters.
4) Hobart people do not have a culture of going to sporting events. It's unfortunate, and no fault of ours. We have been starved of national winter sport for so long that it doesn't occur to us. When we do have some sport - like the Tassie Devils in the VFL - we only go along when they're successful.
5) The Mercury is pushing this hard, because their readers only care about AFL football. They don't give a stuff about local football (which is why it is covered intermittently). The Merc wants to write about the big time. AFL is the big time. And it's in Launceston right now. I work for the opposition, sure, but I'm a Hobart person born and bred. I would love to see AFL games here. Unfortunately, the deal on the table will not work. Richmond could make it work. North will not.

- There are a few footy books coming out worth reading. Andrew McLeod's autobiography will let everyone know what happened between him and Tyson Edwards that meant they did not speak to each other for FIVE YEARS, despite playing in the same team that entire time. Mental. David Schwarz talking about his massive gambling debts and when his father got shot dead by a masked gunman should be interesting. And, of course, Aker. Damn. That is going to be a good read.

- Carlton suck sometimes and I like that.

Reach for the Cup of Life cos your name is on it!

World Cup review

Thoughts on the final
It was not a fun game to watch. Two teams, packed with talent, decided to play not to lose. It was understandable. The stakes were so ridiculously high. In the end it was good that the teams that went through did so on the basis of good use of the ball. It's good for the game. Spain are redonkulously talented. Their reserves would have probably made the quarter finals on their own. If soccer moves in the direction of more skill and creativity with the ball, that's great. I think what's happened recently is the athleticism of the game took some creativity out of it, as creative players without huge engines were overrun. Now everyone is athletic, and every creative player knows that they need to be able to run just as much as anyone else. It means the creativity is coming to the fore again.

That said, Mark Van Bommel is a bitch. He should not have even been playing in the final because he should have picked up four yellow cards in the previous two games.

Thoughts on the Socceroos
This has been a watershed for us. This is what we know:
- Australians play attacking football, no matter who it is against.
- The never-say-die attitude extends to our national soccer team
- It took a 4-6-0 formation against Germany to tell us that.
Pim Verbeek did some good things. He gave us a consistency in defence that Australia has never ever had before. He easily qualified for the World Cup, which was hugely important to the development of the game here. And he showed us how we want to play in the future... by playing the opposite in the opening game.

Unfortunately for Australia, we lack another great generation coming through. Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup will be tough.

Best Young Player
Thomas Mueller from Germany was the business. Fast, powerful, skilfull, energetic, fun to watch. He was great.

Best player
I find it hard to go past Wesley Sneijder. Forlan was great for Uruguay, but I'm with Wes. He had a tremendous season with Inter (super long too) and then provided the main invention in the Dutch team that made the final.

Most hilarious
The French. Heh heh heh. I think "The French at South Africa 2010" will go down as a punchline. They were abysmal. So much talent, so many goals in that team. Tight defence. Creative midfield. It was there for the taking. And they fought amongst themselves. I think it was the Sun who did "The French are revolting!" headline, but it could have been anyone. AHAHAHAHA. In the words of Diego Maradona - "Suck it, France".

Most Diego Maradona
A tie between Luis Suarez and Diego Maradona. Suarez's goal line handball kept Uruguay in the World Cup, but only because Ghana missed the 119th minute penalty. Diego, well... he was touching everyone on the sideline, getting his grey suit everywhere. I'm wearing a grey suit today in his honour. (Or because it went with my dark shirt. Either or.)

Best goal
From an Aussie perspective, Brett Holman's long range stunner. A couple of the Japanese free kicks were great.

The Jabulani
Why didn't Adidas design a ball for control next time? They keep designing balls that fly weird or feel too light. Why don't they design one that players can control better? It will make for a better World Cup if players are confident with the ball.

Cutest moment
Iker Casillas kissing Sara Carbonero when she was interviewing him after the final. Okay, so it might have undermined her hard work getting to that position as a journalist a little bit. But it was cute.

Most shameless famewhore
Larissa Riquelme. She promised to pose naked if Paraguay won. Then if they reached the semis. Then the quarters. It didn't matter. She got her clothes off and the Paraguayans were stoked.

Favourite article
Bill Simmons plays 20 Questions with the World Cup.

When Donovan scored that Cup-saving goal against those spineless playing-for-a-tie-when-they-needed-to-win-by-two-goals Algerians, the moment resonated like no other goal in American soccer history. We didn't have anyone telling us how we should feel, what the implications were, what the moment meant. We knew what it meant. We wanted more games. We wanted our boys to keep playing. Someone scored. We celebrated. We jumped up and down. We ran around the room. We were alive for another game. For once in a fragmented sports world, we all happened to be rooting for the same thing.

Runner up: Michael Davies and Roger Bennett

Americans will never completely understand how crap it is, most of the time, to be English. We might have cute accents and be good at cocktail parties. But we are mostly losers.

*************

I love the World Cup. The three weeks I was meant to have off would have been great. Instead I had to work and fit games around sleep. Not ideal. In 2014 I will make more of an effort to plan my work life around games.
Until Brazil...

Le Le Le Le Le Le Bron

A round up of a bunch of LeBron James links.

In case you didn't see it, LeBron James chose to join the Miami Heat, leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. He did it on an hour-long special on ESPN called "The Decision". Let's just say that it did not go down well. Both things. The decision to go to Miami, and the decision to announce it on "The Decision".

- Bill Simmons and his fans sound off.

For LeBron not to understand what he was doing -- or even worse, not to care -- made me quickly turn off the television, find my kids, give them their nightly bath and try to forget the sports atrocity that I had just witnessed. He just couldn't have handled it worse. Never in my life can I remember someone swinging from likable to unlikable that quickly. I will forgive him some day because I like watching him play basketball, and whether you're rooting for or against him, his alliance with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami created one the greatest "Holy s---, how is this going to play out?????" scenarios in recent sports history. Sports are supposed to be fun, and eventually, this will become fun -- for everyone but people in Cleveland -- because we finally have a Yankees of basketball.
But I will never, ever, not in a million years, understand why it had to play out that way. If LeBron James is the future of sports, then I shudder for the future.

Man, the comments from fans that Bill posts at the end will help you understand the depth of feeling there is about sport.

- Check out Bill's piece just before The Decision, especially the rumour he had heard about LeBron, Bosh and Wade making a pact to play together... with CHRIS PAUL. Yes.

As the rumor went, the 2010 free agents (LeBron, Wade and Bosh) would sign with the same team (at that point the Knicks if they created enough cap room), then Paul would join them in 2012 (or sooner). I thought this was the craziest thing I had ever heard -- so crazy, I only mentioned it once (in a November '08 column). It reminded me of being in my mid-20s in Las Vegas, gambling in the wee hours with my single high school buddies, then all of us drunkenly saying, "We should all pick one city and live there, we'd just go out and kill it every night!" Then you wake up the next morning and forget it was ever discussed. So even if the China rumor was true, that didn't mean it was actually going to happen. Or so I thought.

- J A Adande from ESPN points out that people expect their hometown heroes to move onto brighter lights. But it's the manner of James' departure that rankles.

But it's not too much to ask him to be respectful on the way out. In this case promotion took precedence over protocol. He strung everyone along, tried to build the drama at the expense of the common courtesy of notifying teams of his plans so they could get about constructing their teams.
Everyone associated with this looks bad.

- Cleveland's newest No. 1 pick John Wall gives his thoughts on LeBron's decision.

- "Never has being a sports fan felt so stupid."

Never has it been laid more bare, and never did it feel so empty. It felt like a break, the moment when the tide crested, when we looked at the games, and their players, and ourselves, and wondered: Why in the world are we watching these awful people? It was a question impossible to answer.
LeBron James, thanks to this debacle, will never be the same. (That he appears unable to understand why is the precise reason why.) ESPN, it feels, will never quite be the same: There were surely thousands of employees there who rubbed their eyes, aghast at what they were watching, guilty to be a part of it. The NBA, the hunger laid bare and the wound gaping for all to see, may never be the same.

- The Cavaliers' owner fired off a bitter letter after LeBron left. Which players will want to perform for him now?

- The Bulls console themselves over missing out on Wade and LeBron.

- The Knicks have been building towards this moment for two years... and ended up with none of them. Who dropped the ball? And another article on how much it's going to suck being a Knicks fan. AAAAAND an article looking at ALL the players who have played for the New York Knicks since LeBron was drafted in 2003.

- So, how will it work? Will LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh make it work in Miami??

Dude...

...it's been a busy couple of weeks.

A couple of links!
- Pravda says "Australia's new Prime Minister to face severe unfeminine problems."

- The crazy Russians also say "Give Obama a chance."

- I love the way Bob Ellis writes this piece. The writing style just feels so flowing.

One of the few maxims I live by, Bad things happen fast, was evident yesterday in Canberra, where I saw the big change unfolding.

It was all too fast, and it was not thought through. And mistakes were made that needlessly gave the Abbott Opposition a tactical edge.

The first was to give Rudd permission to speak first, and emphasise (like Mark Antony) the enormity of his assassination and the majestic wonder of his many achievements (I cured the lepers, he said, and I raised the dead and I sought to save the planet but they wouldn't let me save the planet, the bastards, and the knife-thrust to this valve in my heart was cruel and unusual punishment, in my humble view) and to show, for the first time in years, the decent, civic-minded, smart, self-mocking, uxorious husband and parent that I (for one) first met and very much liked, and liked getting on the turps with, in 1999. 

 - Oscar Wilde quotes.

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.

 - The most mental new soccer move I have seen in a while.

That is Juan Mata nutmegging Raul Albiol at World Cup training. Brilliant.

- How Germany saw Rudd's defeat.

- A crime novelist happened to be on the scene of the Rudd stabbing when it happened.

IT’S FOUR on Wednesday afternoon and I’m wandering the corridors of Parliament House trying to figure out where I am. The place is vast, a world entire, and its navigation presents a considerable challenge for the non-denizen on a temporary visa.

I arrived yesterday, come for a bit of a sniff around, collecting background for a novel way beyond deadline. I’ve already got what I came for – a few minutes with a handful of members, people who can draw diagrams of processes and describe situations that will become grist to my fictive mill – and I’m wondering if I can trade my cut-price ticket for an earlier flight back to Melbourne. What I don’t yet know is that an accident of timing has put me in the dress circle for the biggest show in town.

- Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis got back together to play doubles at Wimbledon. I saw them play together at the 02 Australian Open and it was great. The other pair kept hitting the ball to Kournikova, trying to keep it away from Hingis. Anna was great.

- Possibly the most successful band you've never heard of.

- Bill Simmons' hilarious draft diary from a while ago. It's great.

5:09: Just found out that Rasheed Wallace is definitely retiring. Gotta say, I respect Sheed for knowing when to call it quits … and then waiting two more years, getting two more paychecks, and finally calling it quits.
(Follow-up note: Apparently he's doing one last noble act, not filing his retirement papers right away so the Celtics can trade his cap figure for another player … which, ironically, gives him real value to teams looking to dump payroll and/or get under the tax. This reminds me of a dying Darth Vader being nice to Luke Skywalker at the end of "Return of the Jedi." I don't know where this is coming from, but thank you, Darth!)

- The Bulwer-Lyton Competition for the worst writing in the world - winners announced!

- Larissa Riquelme (on the left) has become something of a massive celebrity since she's been following Paraguay at the World Cup.

There are plenty of galleries of her floating around, but here is a mainly safe for work one. She has said she deliberately went to the World Cup to boost her career by being photographed. It worked!

- The owner of the Cavaliers wrote a bitter letter to LeBron James after he dumped them for the Miami Heat (full post to follow). Unfortunately... he wrote it in Comic Sans. Heh heh heh.

- Snoop Dogg eyes cameo on Coronation Street!?!?

- The story behind why soccer players swap jerseys at the end of games. (Thanks Ben).

- Awwww the cutest thing from the World Cup Final!

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas being interviewed by his journalist girlfriend Sara Carbonero... and giving her a big kiss :)

- Some criticism of Germany because they didn't have as many German-born players as people might have liked. At least Thomas Mueller hasn't let the team down.

- Is Suliemen Benn the Baddest Boy In Cricket??

His career highlights so far:

At least two tripping incidents.
Mouthing off to every opposition player.
Mouthing off to most players on his own team.
Getting in scrapes with Johnson and Haddin that lead to a suspension.
Being thrown off the field by his own captain.
And getting spat at by Dale Steyn.

That is not bad for a guy who has played 50 international matches.

Nathan Hauritz played that many before anyone knew he was alive.

- And... every pick up line on Mad Men.

Gary and LeBron

Mike asked for some NBA coverage. Unfortunately I don't work next door to my house anymore so I've missed seeing most of the finals series. Disappointing yes. I think I was going for the Celtics, but only because I don't really like Kobe. I respect Kobe. But I don't like Kobe. So sadly, LA won, the Cavs didn't, and that means LeBron James is off somewhere.

Bill Simmons did a really really really good job of looking at where LeBron should go. He tipped Chicago. It's a good choice. He'd have Derrick Rose (a scoring machine) and Joakim Noah (athletic big man) alongside him. It's a huge media market, and he was a Bulls fan growing up.

Others have suggested New York, and there are pros and cons.
Pros: LeBron could be the man to end decades of pain and bring a title to New York.
Cons: It's New York. They are useless. Organisationally. LeBron would most likely get stuck in crap teams and never achieve that greatness a ring brings.

Chicago is a better choice, but there is a huge shadow there. Michael Jordan. Whatever LeBron does will be compared to MJ. That said, perhaps he's actually good enough to handle it.

----------------------
Another superstar could be on the move - Gary Ablett. Should he stay at Geelong or go to the Gold Coast? Let's have a look at the options.

In purely monetary terms, it's a no brainer. He's been on about $500,000 a year with Geelong - well below his market value. Gold Coast are prepared to offer him something like $1.5 million a season, while Geelong can only go up to $1 million due to their excellent list. If you knew that you could only earn big money for another seven or eight years, what would you choose? He could sign a five year deal worth $7.5 million. That's not small money. And it doesn't include endorsements and prize money he might win.

What about the football? Geelong is an amazing team. Fast, skilfull, dominant. It probably has about two more years at this peak, and then another three years as a top four side. That would probably mean two more flags in the next five years for Ablett.

The Gold Coast is a brand new team. It will be based on uncontracted stars, recycled players, and, crucially, massive draft concessions. This is a big deal. Ablett at the Gold Coast would get to work with 17-18 of the best young footballers in Australia. He could mould them, lead them, and show them what it takes to win a premiership. This story from the Herald Sun was a bit over the top, but the message is clear - this new team has been handed a HUGE chance.

Consider the names if the Gold Coast had been able to take their pick of players from the 2008 and 2009 drafts: Steele Sidebottom, Nic Natanui, Jack Watts, Dayne Beams, Daniel Rich, Dustin Martin, Jack Trengrove, Tom Scully, Stephen Hill, Anthony Morabito... FRICK. Give that team two years and they will be playing finals. Put Ablett in there and they would gun.

I used to deal with one of the Gold Coast draftees - Maverick Weller. Yes, his name it's Maverick, and yes, it's awesome. He was a nice kid, very very quick, and he made his senior debut for Burnie in the NTFL a couple of weeks after his 15th birthday. He got taken by the Gold Coast a year early, so he didn't actually go into the main draft. If he had, I believe he would have been Tasmania's first midfielder taken in the top 6 since... well I don't know who. What I'm getting at is this: the Gold Coast squad is packed with these sort of players.

Gary Ablett has won two premierships, a Brownlow, a Norm Smith medal, and club best and fairests. He is already a legend at Geelong. What more can he do there?? Add a couple more medals? He has been very very good to Geelong. They signed him to a long term deal very young, meaning he earned less than half his market worth for years. He is massive for them in marketing terms. He helped break the premiership drought.

Ablett owes Geelong nothing.

He could go to the Gold Coast, earn much much much more and take a fantastic group of players to a premiership. But does he want to? Good question.

My initial thoughts after the game

A letter I sent to Football365, a site I read a fair bit. They have a mailbox or two every day. No idea if it will get published.

- That was never a red card, not in any league in the world. A yellow card, yes. Who knows what the World Cup appeal system is like, but any fair viewing of Tim Cahill's challenge would rescind it.
- Australia was awful. Vince Grella, much as I love him, seems done. Chipperfield is finally showing his age.
- How pissweak are the Germans?? I always thought of them as stereotypical Teutonic giants, broad-shouldered and strong in the tackle. We rounded up the smallest collection of Aussie men we could find, sent them to South Africa and the Germans made them look like brutes. Pissweak.
- That said, Germany looks frightfully talented. And young. Prepare for another decade of semi-finals, I expect.
- Wilkshire and Emerton down the right were great. It was notable how many of Germany's attacks came down our left.
- I expect we'll see a very different line up and gameplan for Ghana, and I'm still hopeful we can get the win we need.
- What are the odds of Australia qualifying for 2014? Not high at the moment. We don't have the quality players coming through and playing regularly in top leagues. A decade ago it was Kewell, Neill, Emerton, Aloisi, Agostino, Zdrillic, Moore, Vidmar, Bosnich, Schwarzer, Grella, Bresciano, Viduka. Which young Australian players are now playing regularly in La Liga, Serie A or the Premier League? Or the Bundesliga or Ligue Un? It's worrying.
- I have adopted Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" as my personal (super cheesy) World Cup anthem. There will may well be tears after the Ghana game.

On reflection, I'd add this:
- It appears we went in already conceding the game. Verbeek is focusing on winning the Ghana match and getting a draw at least against Serbia. Assuming Germany win both their remaining games, that's all we need.
- That's is all well and rational. But it's not the Aussie way. We have a crack. We have a go. We set ourselves to knock someone off their perch. We are the underdog. We thrive as the underdog. Against Brazil in 2006 we played extremely well, got the rough end of the stick with the referees and had a couple of chances. We lost 2-0, with their second goal coming in the 90th minute as we pressed forward to find an equaliser.
- We need to attack against Ghana. There is nothing to be gained by sitting back. They would love a draw. We really cannot afford one.
- I only hope the game's rest will mean Harry Kewell, Mark Bresciano and Josh Kennedy are fired up to have a crack.

Folau the market leader

Israel Folau, rugby league's brightest young star, is switching codes to join the AFL. Some people say it's a great move, others say it will never work.

My take? This is a piece of marketing genius.

Folau is 21 years old, 195cm and 102kg. He has won an NRL premiership and State of Origin. He averages a try a game with Brisbane. He is Polynesian and comes from the Western Sydney area where he will play AFL. That's all useful marketing stuff.

But I think the real genius will come when the Greater Western Sydney team enters the AFL in 2012 and Folau plays. Kevin Sheedy, the master marketer, will play him in defence. Here's the pitch:

"Folau vs Riewoldt! Folau vs Jonathan Brown! FOLAU VS BUDDY FRANKLIN!!"

Who can run faster, jump higher, tackle harder? The AFL's superstars taking on the hardness of rugby league's Man of Steel. I can see it on the back pages of the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald right now. It will be the chance for rugby league fans to see how the best of them does taking on AFL players at their own game. Any loss for Folau can be written off as inexperience. Any win would be huge.

You see, you don't get those one-on-one duels in rugby league. The best players never square off against each other. In AFL it doesn't happen as much as it used to, but there is still that element of "superstar vs superstar". The fans love it. The media love it. Coaches don't love it as much, but sometimes they'll pander to it. Sheedy knows how to build a buzz. He will do it with Folau.

So yes it's a lot of money. But as a former sports journo, I can see the back page stories filling up. I can see the opinion pieces writing themselves. I can see the letters pages filling. I can see the website views rising. It's all the stuff the AFL desperately needs as it tries to build a following among kids in NSW.

More Bill Simmons

He is awesome. Here's a great piece about the Russian billionaire who just bought the New Jersey Nets.

You may remember him as the dude who got arrested on suspicion of pimping in France, but got off when he proved that all the women were there to see him of their own choice. Anyway, he's hilarious.

When the Soviet Union was collapsing in the late '80s, Prokhorov was attending the Moscow Finance Institute. He made his first wave of money producing ... (wait for it ...) stonewashed jeans, buying a ton of denim (shades of "How to Make It In America"), renting a corner of a laundromat in Moscow, processing the denim there and making incredible profits (14 rubles for every one he spent).

And a great piece about LeBron James.

No, Chicago makes more sense. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah proved they were warriors these past two springs. They could be LeBron's Pippen/Grant or McHale/DJ. Easily. Rose could take the creative load off LeBron on nights when he doesn't have it. Rose could come through a few times in the clutch. Rose could hide some of LeBron's faults. It's the single smartest basketball move for LeBron James. It's the Michael Corleone move.

Things

This Friday night's game between Collingwood and Geelong is huge. Garry Lyon just said it means more to the Pies than it does the Cats. I think he's right. But if Collingwood can get a win it will bring them huge confidence going into the finals.

Players Collingwood is getting improvement from:
1) Dayne Beams. Only in his second year, he is playing with the consistency of a senior player.
2) Sharrod Wellingham. Nice to see a young player wearing the long sleeves occasionally, like a new Gavin Croscisa!
3) Harry O'Brien. Already a good player, Harry has stepped up to "top defender" status this year.
4) Steele Sidebottom. Another second year player who is stepping up, Steele is learning quickly every game.
5) Brent Macaffer. Big-bodied player who is learning the game at both ends of the ground.

In other random news, is this the first Aboriginal super model? Samantha Harris:

Why I am completely jealous of ESPN's Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons explains sporting greatness better than anyone.

If you were ever fortunate enough to have season tickets for a memorable athlete in his prime -- Gretzky, Montana, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Pedro, Koufax, whomever -- then you know exactly what this means. It's not just about the winning. It's about heading to the stadium or the park feeling like you won the lottery. It's about the buzz in the crowd, the way everyone seems like they spent just a little more time getting ready. It's about the ceiling being removed for the night. It's about the chance that, 50 years later, your grandkid or your great-grandkid will ask you, "What was it like to see HIM play every night?" ... and you'll have an answer for him. It's about the familiarity of excellence -- constant exposure to someone who's better at his job than you will ever be at anything -- and how that superiority ebbs and flows from night to night.

For me, I expect that will be like seeing Shane Warne and Roger Federer. I always make time to watch Federer. Because one day he will be gone, and I won't be able to do it anymore. And I know I will regret not seeing that level of perfection more often.

That article is about LeBron James, an American basketballer with the body of a power forward, the skills of a point guard, and the athleticism of Michael Jordan. If you don't understand how potent that is, let me put that in AFL terms. It's like a player with the body of Wayne Carey or Jonathan Brown, the skills of James Hird or Nathan Buckley, and the athleticism (running and jumping) of a younger Chris Judd. AND he's getting better. I loved this paragraph.

My friend Hirschy is adamant that we haven't seen LeBron's greatest highlight yet, but when we do, it's going to be life-altering and might get its own two-hour ESPYS show. The play will either be a hellacious follow-up dunk (the odds-on favorite) or an alley-oop like what nearly happened in Portland two Sundays ago, when Mo Williams screwed up and lofted it too high from the left side, only LeBron kept climbing and climbing -- his chin at the rim, his hand approaching the top of the backboard -- and somehow controlled the ball (behind him at this point) as his body started doing a pirouette. For a split second, it seemed like LeBron might attempt the first ever 360-degree alley-oop, then he thought better of it. I almost had a heart attack. It was the most exciting split second of my life. 

That highlight is this one:
Remember, the ring is 10 feet high, or about 3 metres. LeBron's head is well above the ring.

Can I just say, I love Bill Simmons. I covet his job. Yes, I definitely do. Imagine a job where you get to watch sports, and then write about it on the internet and mix in whatever pop culture references you like??? IS THAT NOT THE DREAM JOB??? DAMNIT BILL SIMMONS!!! Seriously, Bill Simmons. I'm coming for your job.

For instance, here he is live-blogging Wrestlemania XXVI. If you have any sort of passing interest in professional wrestling, this is hilarious.

Update: three ladders now in the ring, at least 12 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"s from the crowd (and counting), and Cole just used the phrase "ladder sandwich." I'm having fun. I'm not gonna lie.

He gets to write about heaps of awesome stuff, like how to fix the NBA. And he has awesome long email conversations with Malcolm Gladwell, the authorof Outliers, about sports. Super jealous? SO yes. If someone can find me a way to get this job, I would be hugely grateful.

Premature speculation

Can Collingwood win a premiership without a superstar? Jake Niall at The Age asks the question.

He also asked that question about Geelong in 2005. It took them a couple more years to win a premiership, but it's an interesting comparison.

Dane Swan

I think Collingwood have, at the moment, a few players who would go to any other team in the league no problems. Alan Didak, Dane Swan, Heath Shaw and Leon Davis are top players. They would slot into St Kilda or Geelong no worries. But the key for the Pies is depth. Dayne Beams, a standout first year player in 2009, could not get a spot last weekend. Neither could Tyson Goldsack, a key defender with impressive mobility. Or Nathan Brown, a third year defender who held down some of the biggest names in 2008. Recruit Simon Buckley couldn't get a guernsey either.

Alan Didak

Depth is what wins you games during the season, but it's tempting to argue that superstars win you games in the finals. It's here where I believe Collingwood is somewhat underrated (hard to believe, I know). Didak's foot skills have no peer. Dane Swan gets his own ball and uses it well. Davis can produce game-winning magic (more and more regularly in recent seasons). Harry O'Brien is turning into the dashing rebounding defender I hoped he would become.

Harry O'Brien

And that's without even mentioning Scott Pendlebury, who looks like he has more time on the ball than anyone (except perhaps Nick Dal Santo). Or Paul Medhurst, who combines strength and goal-kicking ability. Or new recruit Luke Ball, who is ferocious in the tackle and effective in distribution.

Even the ruck division is finally going well at Collingwood. After a decade without a ruckman, we now have two. Darren Jolly was the business at Sydney, while Cameron Wood is improving. It has freed up Josh Fraser to finally play his correct position, which is wing/half forward.

This is the strongest Collingwood team I can remember. Much, much, much better than the team of 2002-2003, which made Grand Finals but lost to the ridiculously talented Brisbane Lions (the toughest, meanest, hardest team I have ever seen).

The 02 granny was a bitch

Will we win the premiership? I don't know. But the window is well and truly open for the next three to four years.

Also, fair play to Harry O'Brien, the first Brazilian born AFL player.

Harry O'Brien and foxy date

For the States United

I have always thought that Australian Rules Football would appeal to Americans. Here's why:


- It is extremely athletic, even more so than basketball.
- It has some of the stop-start, chess-like nature of American football, but in a more open way.
- It is hard as nails.
- It makes for extremely passionate fans.
- It is incredibly team oriented, as well as providing a platform for individual brilliance.
- It is stat driven.

Collingwood, my team, have signed American Shae McNamara on an international rookie contract. He has played professional basketball in Europe, college-level soccer, and a bit of almost every other sport. He's 6'8" and very athletic. Unlike basketball, he will use all of his athletic abilities when he plays AFL. I really hope he succeeds.

He's done a couple of interviews. I liked this quote:

"Once I got here in Melbourne in November, I had to not only soak up the footy culture and know what I'm doing on the field, but learn and know how these Aussies tick! They are very similar to us, but with the "tall poppy syndrome" you have to watch what you say and do, so you don't come off as a you-know-what. It's very different from the American culture where they hype you up and over feed your ego as opposed to here where you have to earn your stripes before you can have a swagger and even after all that they will still put you in your place if you think you're bigger or better then the rest, and rightly so. To be quite honest, no one likes a jerk."

This one:

“When I discovered footy it was the ball movement and control that drew me to the game. No set plays. Reverse psychology, make opponents think you are going to do one thing, but do something completely different, reminded me a lot of soccer. I saw the toughness of (American) football, the jumping and catching like a wide receiver, the basketball vision, defense and the footwork. It’s all accumulated into one and I absolutely fell in love with the game and knew I could do well.”

And this one:

What do you want American fans to understand about the AFL?
“The beauty of the game, it is a hard hitting game, but there is a tremendous amount of skill required. Every player on the ground has to be able to run, kick, jump, handball and defend. In baseball, it takes hand-eye coordination, but this game requires hand-eye-foot coordination. These are some of the finest athletes in the world!”

It might look like a confusing game, but so does the NFL. So does basketball sometimes. So does rugby union (I'm certain there are international players who don't fully understand all the penalties in union). I think Aussie Rules Football is a sport that could really appeal to Americans.

Barry and the Gangs

I wish they had Offsiders on ABC iView. It's the sister program to the ABC's Insiders, both hosted by Barry Cassidy. Insiders is the political one, with Barry and a panel of political journalists. Offsiders is the sport program, with Barry and a panel of sports journos. It's really good. Funny, insightful, and sharp.

I can catch up on Insiders on iView, but I can't see Offsiders, which is sad. Because it's a great way program. On at 10.30am on Sunday, it's a good way to find out the most interesting issues in sport.

My take on sport issues:
Bingle and Clarke: Michael Clarke has split up with Lara Bingle, and that's for the best. He is going to take over one of the two most important jobs in Australia (Prime Minister and Australian Test Cricket Captain). Clarke should not have someone like Bingle backing him up. She is a 22-year-old attention seeker. A woman willing to sell stories about her personal life just to make money. Not the kind of woman the Captain of the most important sports team in Australia should have behind him. If that seems sexist, well... I'm sorry, but Test Cricket is too important to muck around with. It's a team game, and that can extend to players' partners. Some players can handle off-field issues, some can't. I think Clarke might be one who can't, and so it's good he's taking steps to end this distraction. Settle down with a good woman and get on with the job, Clarkey.

AFL: Barry Hall has been excellent. I only hope he manages to keep it together until the finals. The Doggies deserve some success, and Barry Hall is being fantastic at the moment. The Bulldogs won the NAB Cup without Brad Johnson, against a very strong St Kilda side. Collingwood look pretty good. We're finally close to the salary cap with the recruitment of Luke Ball and Darren Jolly. Those two players have added a gloss of excellence to the list. A little bit excited.

Liverpool: They need get rid of Rafa Benitez. Because he has lost the plot.

Football!

I saw my first AFL game at Aurora on Saturday. If you could call it that. Hawthorn crunched Richmond. It was more like watching men vs boys. Like watching Chelsea play Arsenal in soccer. Or Australia play the West Indies in cricket. Dominant players clearly bettering smaller, slower, less skilled opponents. Dr Harry was with me and we spent most of the second half discussing the rest of the league for this season. Here's what we came up with:

1. St Kilda
2. Geelong
Easily the top two teams in the comp. Both have had off-field dramas that will hurt on field, but they still have massively deep lists. The loss of Harley from Geelong's backline and midfield will have an effect, but possibly it won't show until September. Milburn is a year slower, while Stevie J's hip must be almost gone. The Saints gave up pick 16 and former captain Luke Ball (only 25yo) to get Lovett... who they just sacked. That said, they'll be very strong again.

3. Collingwood
4. Bulldogs
5. Lions
6. Hawthorn
7. Adelaide
Five teams chasing two top four spots. Hawthorn will depend on how the injuries go this year, although Buddy and Roughead looked good the other night. Doggies and Collingwood probably still favourites for those top four spots. Hall will add something to the Bulldogs' forward line, but realistically this is one of their last couple of years challenging at top four level. The addition of Ball and Jolly to Collingwood tops up the list really well and frees up Fraser to spend more time in the forward line, replacing Rocca. Ball will rotate through the middle, winning the hard ball. That will mean more first use of the ball for Pendlebury, and more time in goal kicking positions up forward for Didak. Adelaide are strong without being stars, and home ground advantage will play a part. If Fev and Brown fire for Brisbane, expect some bags to be kicked. Voss has gone crazy recruiting a team to win a flag in his second year of coaching, so fair play to him.

8. Sydney
9. Carlton
10. North Melbourne 
11. Essendon
All chasing that eighth spot and last spot in the finals. Carlton lost their best goal kicker, and still have cultural issues. Essendon picked up Mark Williams but lost Lovett. North have a new coach but still have a disciplined squad. Sydney have Tadhg Kennelly back, along with Malceski and Rhyce Shaw out of the backline, and an angry Bradshaw up forward.


12. Port Adelaide
13. West Coast
14. Fremantle 
15. Melbourne
Freo might surprise, given that they still have Pavlich, who will start and end his career as the best player at Fremantle in each season he spends there. West Coast have some excitement in Natanui, but he's still raw. Port... you never know. They will win some great games and lose some shockers. Melbourne are young young young but hungry.

16. Richmond
It will be four or five long years of pain for Richmond. They have bottomed out at the worst time. The Gold Coast get all the draft picks this year, then Western Sydney get them the two years after that. Unless the Tigers unearth some gems lower down the draft, this will hurt. I can't seem them getting off the bottom in a long time. Dr Harry and I went through their squad and picked out maybe four players who could make Collingwood's team (Cousins, Deledio, Cotchin, maybe Tambling or Riewoldt as backups).

That's my loose ladder predictions. Obviously things will change, but they are the groups I expect to form on the ladder. Carn you Pies!

A mixed bag

So, Avatar. Thoughts.
- Definitely, definitely, definitely go see it at the movies. The 3D is too good to watch it on dvd.
- It is a technical masterpiece.
- The story... the story isn't that fantastic. I mean it's serviceable, and hits the right emotional points, but there are some leaps of logic and strange decisions that serve only the filmmaker's purposes.
- Seriously, go see it at the movies. Like, go now. Go tonight. Grab someone and go. Find a babysitter if necessary (and take them along!). But it's worth seeing on the big screen.
- There are things in Avatar that I have never seen on screen before. Things that make you smile like "oh I'm actually watching this and this is AWESOME" kinda things.
- It's a cool world James Cameron has dreamed up. Very cool.
- Go see it at the movies. Seeing it on dvd will make it about... 35 per cent less of a film.

Thoughts on the cricket
- Hauritz??!?! Really???? He took five wickets in the second innings and scored 75 quick runs as a nightwatchman... totally unexpected. He's gone from a "spinner" who didn't spin to a bowler with five wickets in an innings. I still wouldn't call him a spinner, but he's done bloody well. Sad for us fans of Jason Krezja though.
- Glad to see Watson do the biz. I remember when he was young and playing for Tassie and he looked like an absolute star. Could smash with the bat and bowl bloody fast. Has the talent to be a genuine all rounder, and seems to finally be staying fit long enough.
- I love seeing the young Pakistanis play. They're great to watch and they bring so much to the game.
- Pakistan's batting really let them down, as expected. They just don't have anyone to bat through the innings, aside from Yousuf.

Some links!
The guilty pleasure of gaming
A great article if you want to understand the emotion of sports fans. This guy describes exactly what it feels like to be a fan of a sports team and see them achieve something.
The sad story of why Duke Nukem Forever never got made.
And an excellent piece on why Adam Lambert (an American Idol singer) caused such a problem for TV networks in the US. The phrase "We don't care what you do in New York" is very interesting.

Cricket

Thoughts on Australia vs the West Indies
- Hilfenhaus bowled (with knee tendonitis) in one Test. He got Chris Gayle twice, and Australia dominated the match in a walk over. He missed the next two Tests, including one where Gayle batted right through, and another where he scored 100 runs in 74 balls or something.
- In England, Hilfy consistently got the top order wickets, but did not usually get a chance to bowl at the tail, which was left to Siddle and Johnson (Hilfy had usually been over-bowled at the start of the innings trying to get the wickets Siddle and Johnson couldn't). So while he got three wickets on innings on average, he never got the five-for the Siddle did, and thus did not get quite the recognition.
- I worry that his spot will be taken by Bollinger and the selectors will forget how good Hilfy has been, as a workhorse and as a strike bowler. I know I'm a bit biased as a Tasmanian, but I think the numbers and performances are there.
- Johnson is still not quite there.
- Australia will always give a leg spinner a go. If you're any good, or any chance of being any good, we'll give you a shot. And I think history speaks for itself on why. We might not get the next Shane Warne, but we might get the next Stuart MacGill, and that would be fantastic.
- Cricket needs strong middle-tier teams.Watching the West Indies come together in this series reminded me of what they can bring to world cricket.

Thoughts on Australia vs Pakistan
- Where are the Pakistani stars? It feels weird not having some ridiculously talented batsmen out there.
- Hauritz.... may be better off pitching himself as a low order batsman rather than a "spinner". Cameron White made the same move and it worked out for him.
- It's great seeing Pakistan throwing young players into international cricket. It'll be good experience. I'd like to see Mitchell Marsh given a chance at some stage, probably in a one day match.
- I don't know what the hell Gayle was thinking when he said Ponting couldn't handle short pitched bowling. Punter made his name on short pitched bowling! For crying out loud, he made his debut when the West Indies had some freaking awesome fast bowlers!