Not being a big American sports fan I have not seen a lot of sport in my two and a half weeks in Hawaii, but I was there for the Super Bowl. My daughter and I went to a bar on Maui and watched the game from just before half time. While being seated by the manager I enquired as to whom I should be supporting and I was assured I should be on the Seahawks. The bar seemed to be evenly divided between the Denver fans, who were very quiet and the Seattle fans who were a little more excited with plenty of Sea-Hawk chants. I enjoyed the game, however, the advertisements and the entertainment seemed to go for a lot longer than the actual playing time. My daughter also enjoyed the game and the advertisements! I think the game was an endorsement for the maxim that a good defence will usually defeat a good offence.
My other sporting observation from my time in Hawaii was the saturation coverage of basketball. It did not seem to matter what time of the day it was, if you went into a bar or restaurant and they had sport on the television, it was usually the NBA or college basketball and that included the time leading up to the Super Bowl.
Since being back in Australia I have been disappointed to see the Essendon supplements saga rear its head again. I guess it is not going to go away until such time as ASADA have closed their file. This could go on for years!
A good start to the Test series in South Africa, but I am starting to get a little concerned about Michael Clarke’s ongoing form lapse. Having scored 100’s in the first two Ashes tests he has not passed fifty since. I have been happy with the continued good form of Steve Smith, who in the same period has made three centuries. With Shane Watson missing from the line-up I hope we won’t be found to be a bowler short.
Have a great weekend everyone.
25 July 2010 164.2 – Mark Fiorenti is quizzed whether Jon Bon Jovi is a realistic number 1 ticket holder for Melbourne Heart. The Panel has some fun with some of Bon Jovi’s songs and Gambo worries that the show is moving away from its sporting roots with the music discussion. Mark also previews the A League season thinking Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Heart will be the teams to watch with Perth Glory being the dark horse after the signing of Robbie Fowler. Mark talks about the aborted transfer involving Shane Smeltz due to Smeltz not liking the surroundings in China and thinks it is a bad thing for the League as Aussie players look unreliable. The Panel talk about the proposed 15,000 seat upgrade to Eureka stadium at Ballarat and wonder whether the AFL will fixture games at the venue. Is this an endeavour for North Ballarat to be a 19th team in the AFL?… which would then open the door for a 20th team from Tasmania. Gambo and Daniel ponder whether South Africa and New Zealand may also field teams in the AFL in the future or be preferred to Ballarat and Tasmania. Nick Tedeschi covers the NRL scene in Paul Dalligan’s absence. He thinks Melbourne Storm will need to let Greg Inglis go to keep other stars and some of their second tier players. The level of support for the Storm will depend on their on field performances. He also discusses the Danny Green/Paul Briggs “fight” and believes it is a disgrace that it went on. In Tour de Farce news, did Contador break race etiquette in passing Schleck when Schleck had a mechanical failure with his chain? The Panel thinks so. We sneak a different Dr Leslie CSA in just before the end of the show.