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Rob's Blog

October 19th, 2006 · Cricket, Sports Medicine

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan’s premier fast bowlers, were found recently to have the muscle building steroid Nandrolone in their system after a random drug test by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Cricket is not just a gentleman’s game anymore – it is serious business. No sport at the elite level is immune to drug controversy. This is not the first instance of drug taking in cricket, though it is probably the biggest and worst. There have been several cases of marijuana use being highlighted, though the biggest previous story concerned Shane Warne, one of the greatest players of all time, who was suspended for a year after his mum gave him a diuretic so that he could look good in front of the cameras. Let’s hope that if proven guilty that these Pakistani’s get the punishment they deserve. We don’t want the beautiful game of cricket being tainted with drugs like many other sports.

Related Pages: cricket, Shane Warne profile, doping in sports

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October 9th, 2006 · Olympic Games, Track & Field

Australian sprinter Peter Norman recently passed away. His silver medal in the 200m at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 is still the best performance by an Australian male sprinter. Norman ran 20.06 seconds, which is still an Australian record. Despite his great performances, he is not a well known sportsman in Australia. However, many people have seen a photo of him receiving his Olympic medal, as he was part of one of the classic Olympic Games controversies. Norman came second behind American Tommie Smith, and in front of John Carlos also from the USA. Smith and Carlos were African Americans, and made their black power salute, raising their fists with black gloves on. All three athletes wore human rights badges, with Norman showing his support for their cause.

Related Pages: Mexico 1968, Summer Olympic Games, Australia at the Olympics

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October 9th, 2006 · AFL, Cricket, Spectators

My wife is expecting a baby in April next year, and one thought in my mind is whether to get he or she onto the waiting list for the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is an exclusive club – the waiting list is so long that it may take 20 years before you are offered a place.

To get onto the waiting list, it currently costs a non-refundable $55(at the time of writing). A lot can happen in 20 years. Once they offer you membership, if you don’t take it up you may forfeit your place. By then you may not even be interested in sport. If you do take up the offer of membership, it is going to cost you a small fortune to join and stay a member.

Commonwealth Games at the MCG

The current entrance fee is $660.00 (which you pay in instalments as you move through the various membership and age categories), and being a full member also cost $504 annually. If you are not at a stage to regularly go to matches or events at the ground, it is quite a bit to pay.

In twenty years time, MCC membership will probably be very well sought after. My child can always say no, I see the $55 fee as a good price to pay to just give them the option in the future.

Related Pages: Cricket, Aussie Rules, MCG

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October 7th, 2006 · Football (Soccer)

Tonight a friendly match between Australia and Paraguay was played in Brisbane.

My nephew Dan played Australia against Paraguay on the FIFA Soccer PC game just before kick-off, the result 1-0 to Australia. The actual game was a similarly tight affair.

The skillful Paraguays played tight football and defended well, with Australia having more attacking opportunities. These “friendly” games never seem that friendly as there was lots of tension out there. The South Americans rolled around in pain after every tackle, as expected, and it was good to see the Aussie did not follow their example. It does not need to be done.

Australia scored both goals in the game, though unfortunately the second one in the final minutes was into our own goal, the final result 1-1. From the euphoria of the first goal to take the lead, to the own goal robbing us of victory in the last minutes, soccer can be frustrating and disappointing, but I guess that is why we keep coming back.

Related Pages: Football

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October 6th, 2006 · AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union

It is interesting to compare the popularity of the different football codes between the Australian states – historically SA, VIC and WA are AFL states, NSW and QLD rugby states.

AFL appears to be recently making headway into the northern states, and starting with the kids is the way to go. One thing I believe that makes Aussie Rules a popular sport with kids, and gives it an advantage, is the ability to have a social kick to kick. In comparison, throwing a rugby ball to each other does not have the same excitement.

Rob watching Australia play football (soccer) in Perth

The highly physical nature of the rugby codes also does not lead themselves to schoolyard play. With the issues of liability and the concern about injuries, we may see a gradual change to AFL. Soccer may beat them all, but that is another story.

Related Pages: AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer

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October 5th, 2006 · AFL

I have just finished reading a book, “Beyond the Wave” by Trisha Broadbridge. It was one of those books that when you start you just can’t put it down. It wasn’t because it was well written or anything – I was just curious to read a first-hand account of a major disaster. The sporting link made it more interesting.

Tsunami
Tsunami

The book is about the events leading up to and following the Tsunami disaster on Boxing Day 2004, in which Trisha’s husband Troy, and AFL player, was killed. The message I got from this story is that we cannot take anything for granted.

No matter how big and strong you are, the human body is still pretty fragile. We have to make the most of every day. In the words of one sporting company, ‘Just do it!’

Related Pages: AFL

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October 4th, 2006 · Football (Soccer)

Leading up to the Australian Soccer Team’s game against Paraguay this weekend, the captain of the squad Craig Moore was controversially dropped from the team. He did not turn up for a training session as he had slept in and missed his plane.

In a time of ‘bad boys’ football players, my first thought was that he was out all night partying and drinking. It was not the case; he was probably affected by jetlag more than anything. However, he still needs to be more responsible and get himself to the national squad training session no matter what.

sleeping-man

It may seem harsh to be dropped from a game for missing one training session, but a standard has to be set, and the rules upheld. It is a hard decision to leave out one of our best players, but right nevertheless.

No matter how good the player is, or how good their record has been in the past, I think it was the right thing to do and send the message to the other players and the supporters that this team means business, and everyone has to pull their weight.

Related Pages: Soccer, Craig Moore profile

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October 1st, 2006 · Rugby League

For the first time in the history of the Australian Rugby League, no Sydney based team made it to the NRL Grand Final. It is not a good time for the traditional supporters of the national football codes, as AFL has had a similar situation for the last three years.

It is not that surprising it hasn’t happened before for the NRL, as for a long time there were no interstate teams, and then for a while only one. Not only is there no NSW team in the final, traditional rival city Melbourne is the favourite to win.

A state of origin game being played in the home on AFL – Melbourne

Only ten years ago no one would have ever dreamed that a rugby league team from Victoria would even be playing in the competition, let alone winning it.

Unfortunately for me and other Melbourne supporters, the game was won narrowly by the Brisbane Broncos. As with most grand finals, it was a hard-fought game. Some would say that Melbourne should have won as there were a couple of refereeing decisions that could / should have gone the Storm’s way which would have reversed the result.

But it is often that way, and I don’t want to be a sore loser. The winner on the scoreboard at the end will always be remembered long after the controversy of an unpaid try has gone away.

Related Pages: Rugby League, AFL

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September 30th, 2006 · AFL

I felt pretty special on the walk from Melbourne city centre to the MCG for the AFL grand final. We passed at least 10 people with signs begging for tickets to the game, and I had mine and I was not going to sell it. Well, if the price was right, I could be tempted.

I wonder if any of them got a last-minute ticket, though I doubt it. If someone offered me over $1000 I would have sold them mine, but that was unlikely. AFL authorities were out to stop any scalpers, so I would not be risking it close to the ground.

If I was going to try and pick up any tickets before the game, I would try the pubs or at least be further away. Actually, if I did not have tickets, which was nearly the case, I would have forgotten all about trying to get hold of any at the last minute and organised to watch the game at a friend’s place or at a pub nearby. That way you can avoid any disappointment, relax with a few drinks, hear the commentary, yell and scream whatever you want, then come out later and celebrate into the night with the crowd if your team wins.

Related Pages: AFL, MCG

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September 30th, 2006 · AFL

The 2006 Grand Final Sprint was won by the Carlton player Brendan Fevola (the ‘Fev’). I don’t understand why, but this year it was a handicap event, meaning the players started from different marks.

In the old days (as far as I can remember) all the players would run off scratch, which then meant that the winner was the fastest AFL player around (unless the fastest player was in one of the Grand Final Teams), which I thought was the purpose of the whole thing.

A bit of searching found out that the contestants’ times over 20 metres were sourced from their clubs and sent to Athletics Australia, which then devised the handicap marks for each player. The result of the final sprint did not mean much at all, except that maybe Fev was foxing when the club did their sprint tests, enabling him to have an 8m head start.

Let’s hope they revert to the straight sprint for next year.

Related Pages: AFL, Carlton Blues, Grand Final Sprint

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