22 January 2012 233.1 - With Dan Butterly’s first appearance of 2012, he recapped the end of the U.S. college football season with the deluge of bowl games involved and discussed the pros and cons of underclass men leaving college in the hopes of being drafted to the NFL. Dan expressed surprise at teams in the NFL Championship game after the Green Bay Packers lost to the Giants and the San Francisco 49′ers defeated the New Orleans Saints. He thought the match up would have been between the Saints and Packers. Dan says the Ravens will fall to the Patriots this week and the home advantage going to the 49′ers over the Giants for the Superbowl. The NBA strike has been the cause of numerous early injuries to players and predicts that the accelerated schedule will increase that number.  Also, aging players might fall prey to being traded as teams will have to weigh whether or not they can keep up with the season’s gruelling schedule. Less than a month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training in the MLB! The  Gelding was back in form this weekend selecting three winerss and two placings from his five choices. It took Sportzfan Stan thirty-eight minutes into the show before he called for the first sacking this week. He also observed that “some horses are faster than others”. Daniel talks NBL and felt that Ayinde Ubaka’s sacking with eight games left in the season was the worst timing by the Melbourne Tigers.

15 January 2012 232.2 Mark Fiorenti goes on to talk about the sacking of Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic and the appointment of Jim Magilton. He thinks the Victory could still slip into the top four. Mark also talks about the Melbourne Heart and says they are clearly the best side in Melbourne. He discusses the A League initiatives of Big Wednesday concept with five games being played on the one day and the coach of Gold Coast being miked up during the game. Daniel says if he owned the team he wouldn’t have allowed it. Mark finally looks at Arsenal signing Thierry Henry for the next few months and Eric Cantona vying for the French presidency. The Panel talk cricket and the test series against India. The Gelding says that Craig McDermott is doing a great job as bowling coach. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk both NRL and NFL especially his beloved Denver Broncos. He thinks Billy Slater will be fit to start the NRL season and that Canterbury Bankstown are a special for the coming season. Tennis is the next topic of discussion and the Professor quizes the Panel about how many Australian men and women are in the Australian Open draw. The Professor also queries whether Ian Thorpe should have come back after a fifth place in the Victorian championships. Daniel likens it to the embarassing comeback of Tony Lockett. Daniel also talks both NBL and NBA looking at the LA Clippers, Melbourne Tigers and Patty Mills.

11 December 2011 230.2 – Mark continues talking soccer and Melbourne Heart’s recent good form. He doesn’t think Brisbane Roar are in crisis after two losses in a row but they may have peaked too early. In the Premier League he has had to re-evaluate Arsenal’s form and thinks he’ll have to eat humble pie about his early season prediction. He doesn’t think they’ll beat Manchester City this week though. Mark was up early to watch the Real Madrid/Barcelona match and says it sets the stage for an interesting finish to the La Liga season. Dr Leslie’s CSA on before the Gelding this week. The Gelding talks horse racing and before he looks at how his selections and the Sydney Colt’s fared, Sportzfan Stan wants to discuss the arsenic doping case with him. Sportzfan Stan is pleased when the Professor advises the Ladies from the Tennis Club have also invited him to their Christmas function. The Gelding tells the Panel that Danish Rock is in pre-training for a February 2012 campaign. Daniel talks MLB and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun testing positive for a performance enhancing drug and facing a 50 game suspension. Paul Dalligan has a brief look at tennis and says Aussie youth tennis stocks seem to be improving. The Professor and Paul discuss what is happening in rugby league and Manly have their first five games away from home. They also talk about Will Hopoate leaving on a two year mission for the Mormons and Paul Gallen winning back to back Harry Sunderland medals. Daniel finishes with a look at the NBL and the Age publishing the Melbourne Tigers beat the Cairns Taipans but in fact, the Taipans won. He thinks the Tigers may struggle to make the playoffs now with five teams fighting for two spots.

4 December 2011 229.1 – The Panel start with a look at the first test against New Zealand. Daniel also reviews the Melbourne Tigers recent performances and says with the game on the line in the last four matches, they couldn’t get it done. The Gelding queries whether they are missing Patty Mills already. Dan Butterly comes on to discuss US sport talking College football including who will qualify for the National championship and the other BCS bowls. Once again Dan argues that there should be a playoff in College football. He also looks at the coaching carousel with a number of Colleges firing their football coaches and says it’s not good to be a coach at this time of year. Dan says Tim Tebow is a winner and Tebowmania has overtaken Denver. He thinks the Packers can run the table and sees the Colts going 0-16. The Professor and Dan discuss the bid by Jerry Kramer’s daughter to have him admitted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Professor learned about it on Twitter. Dan says it is an amazing story and he encourages the fans to learn more about the cause and Kramer’s career. Dan thinks Bobby Valentine’s hiring to coach the Red Sox is a great one. The Gelding talks racing and reviews both his selections and the Sydney Colts. Unfortunately for the Gelding his tips were just off the mark with four seconds. He awards an s-hit ride to Danny Nikolic for his ride on Starchine. Sportzfan Stan is upset that the Gelding has been invited to the Ladies at the Tennis club’s Christmas party but he hasn’t. Mark Fiorenti talks A-League soccer and says the Melbourne Victory are a ‘little bit’ back in crisis. The Professor reviews Mark’s pre-season ladder predictions, especially Adelaide on top and the Newcastle Jets on the bottom.

27 November 2011 228.2 – Sportzfan Stan predicts Australia will lose the first test against New Zealand. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk rugby league and quips that Mark Fiorenti is ‘suddenly’ in love, that he went to a Russian wedding that went longer than the last Aussie cricket innings and he turned into Boris Yeltsin after a lot of vodka. He discusses the final of the Four Nations Championship and said Australia were good flat track bullies and once they got in front they weren’t going to be beaten. Darren Lockyer’s last game and he got a standing ovation. He gave Tim Sheens an 8 or 9 for his coaching of the Australian team. Paul also talks Wests Tigers with Robbie Farrer and Tim Sheens having problems. He predicts Cameron Smith will be the next captain of the Kangaroos. Melbourne Storm have recruited Jason Ryles and Ryan Hoffman during the break. Mark Fiorenti makes it albeit a bit late to talk soccer and reviews the happenings in the A League and thinks the Melbourne Victory are in crisis. He also looks at the English Premier League and Champions League. A pleasant surprise that Daniel Eade calls in to talk NBA with the lockout apparently being over and dependant on a vote by players and owners. He also looks at Patty Mills taking a large contract in China and leaving the Melbourne Tigers. Daniel says the Tigers still might make the final four in the NBL.

20 November 2011 227.2 – Mark Fiorenti also is critical of Socceroo’s coach, Holger Osieck with tactics and team selection. He thinks the tie against Saudi Arabia in February 2012 will be played at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Mark also reviews the current A League round and provides an update on the English Premier League. The Dr Leslie CSA is on later than usual in today’s show. The Panel discuss an email on the passing of the late Peter Roebuck and Sportzfan Stan agrees that he was a very good cricket writer. They then discuss 20/20 Big Bash cricket with the Melbourne Stars signing Shane Warne and playing atthe MCG. World Champion Hot Dog eater, Joey Chestnut is appearing at an eating contest in Melbourne although Sportzfan Stan has difficulty believing that eating can be a sport. Paul Dalligan is also on a day off (at a Russian wedding if you don’t mind) so it is left to the Professor to review the Kangaroos win in the Four Nations Tournament over England. The show then crosses to Mordiboy for a live update from the President’s Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Course and he says the coverage by the media on the event has been amazing. Finally the Panel looks at the current NBL round and they try to make sense of the Melbourne Tigers beating the top side then losing to the bottom side the next night.

6 November 2011 225.2 – Mark Fiorenti discusses his pre-season predictions against how the placings are on the current A-League ladder. He says he’ll do a mid season review to compare placings at that time with his earlier predictions. Mark reviews the Melbourne Victory draw with Brisbane Roar and says it is the best live game he has seen this season. He also looks at the Premier League results and says Arsenal has turned its season around in the last few weeks. The Panel then talk about boxing and in particular the world bantam weight title fight being screened on free to air television on 7 mate between Darchinyan and Moreno. Sportzfan Stan says it is a brutal sport and nothing is gained by watching two men try to knock each others brains out. They then discuss Ricky Nixon’s attempted venture back into player management. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk rugby league and the four nations tournament. He is also worried that Russell Crowe may not continue his support of the Rabbitohs. Daniel Eade talks basketball with the Panel and the Melbourne Tigers getting back on the winners list in the NBL. He also talks about ONE HD showing matches at 1.30am in the morning and says it must be programming for security guards. Daniel then looks at the NBA negotiations and says it is quite possible the entire season could be lost. The Professor and the Gelding talk about their love of the Great Western Hotel as a place to have a production meeting. The Panel finally look at the International Series and believe that to survive the games need to be more than just an after thought and they wonder why the best players aren’t playing.

We all joke on Sportzfan Radio about resident panelist Sportzfan Stan being quick to suggest sports coaches, administrators, teams & players being sacked. Most recently he called for the sacking of Melbourne Football Club coach Dean Bailey (podcast #200.1). This despite the Demons being in the top eight and with the best start to a season for many seasons. By the way the Demons have since beaten Adelaide by more than 90 points!

My feeling is that we are too quick to pull the trigger in today’s sporting world.  Even having excellent records in the recent past is not enough to save a coach or player. One only needs to look at the way the Melbourne Tigers behaved after their season didn’t turn out the way they thought it should. Two NBL Championships and four trips to the playoffs in as many seasons couldn’t save long time servant and coach of the club, Al Westover. On our show, Daniel Eade urged restraint and argued a case for Westover’s retention. History tells us that Al was sacked mid season. If one compares Westover’s coaching record to that of Lindsay Gaze, Westover had more success in a much shorter time but even that comparison couldn’t save him.

It seems that today’s ‘must have now’ phenomenon pervades all areas of sport. Being in the USA now and with the NBA finals series in full flight, I am amazed at the reaction of the media to the LA Lakers whitewash at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Let’s remember that the Lakers were the two time defending champion and have been one of the most successful franchises of all time with 11 championships (5 since 2000 and runners-up twice). Yet today, we are greeted with the media saying the Lakers are a ‘train wreck’…’the locker room needs massive repair’…’fractured franchise’. There have been calls to trade anyone but Kobe…meaning one of last season’s best players, Pau Gasol is on the block because the Lakers failed to win for a third time in a row. Reality check – the NBA is one of the most competitive competitions in all of sport and the Lakers have been to the big dance in each of the last three seasons. Is there really a need for ‘massive’ change?

Memo to the sports media of the world….have some patience. I find support for this proposition in the example provided by my fellow Sportzfan Radio panelist, Mark Fiorenti when he spoke recently of Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United fame. Early on in his tenure and with not much success, the media and fans were calling for his sacking (a la Sportzfan Stan). The club, to their credit, and eternal satisfaction, stayed the executioner’s hand and one only needs to look at the stellar record since, that has put United at the forefront of soccer in not only Europe, but the world. They are in line this season for the Premier League/Champions League double.

One lucky person is the former coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson. His retirement after the Lakers last loss at least means we won’t have calls for him to be sacked by all and sundry including Sportzfan Stan. Goodness knows his 11 NBA championships may not have saved him in this ‘need it now’ world.

Restraint is what I will be preaching on Sportzfan Radio from now on!

1 May 2011 200.2 – Daniel talks NBL finals and says it has been one of the worst Grand Final series he has seen between New Zealand Breakers and Cairns Taipans. He says game 2 had absolutely nothing and Cairns only scored 52 in game 3. He also talks about the recent coaching appointment by Melbourne Tigers, Trevor Gleeson. Mark Fiorenti comes on to discuss soccer with Champions League and predicts a ‘mouth watering’ Manchester United Barcelona final. He also looks at  Premier League and confirms he still feels the three W’s will be relegated. There is also a brief look at the Championship with Sportzfan Radio’s own Hull City finishing middle of the table. Paul Dalligan talks NRL and reviews the weekend’s matches and the coming Australia v New Zealand test match. He is disappointed that coaches are not given time to build a squad and feels there is no loyalty in sport. Paul Gamble wants to get Sportzfan Stan in to sack Bowls Australia. The Panel also talk with Sean Callanan about Telstra retaining the rights to the digital side of the AFL with games being able to be watched from mobile phones. Daniel gives his sports highlights over the last four years.

24 April 2011 199.1 – Sportzfan Stan leads off the show with suggesting the Port Adelaide FC coach, Matthew Primus should be sacked after yesterday’s loss to the Gold Coast Suns. Daniel says the club should look outside for a replacement. This leads to a discussion on whether the Melbourne Tigers should also look outside the club and not go with Darryl McDonald as coach. Stan suggests they should appoint Andrew Gaze. The Panel talk to former NBL player John Rillie who is now with Boise State’s basketball program. He discusses College basketball, NBA and the NBL playoffs.  The Gelding comes on the show to talk racing and the weird behaviour of jockey Shane Scriven during the week when he ‘borrowed’ the whip of another jockey during the race. He has been suspended for 5 months over the incident. The Gelding also reviews both his and the Sydney Colts selections. His two tips for the Ladies at the Tennis Club got up. The Panel then discuss the Anzac Day game and whether it should be limited to just Collingwood v Essendon or should other teams also get a chance to play on the day. Mark Fiorenti has finally tweeted again…about the Copa Del Rey between Barcelona and Real Madrid.