15 January 2012 232.1 Daniel starts with the observation that when Sportzfan Radio went off air in 2011 the Australian cricket team sucked, but now they are world beaters. Sportzfan Stan talks about China being a great market for Australian Rules Football. Special guest Jamie Pi comments on this and also goes on to talk about the growing impetus of players of Asian heritage contributing to AFL with Lin Jong being drafted by the Western Bulldogs. He says it is very important to get the message out that Asian kids can play the game. Jamie also comments on how the Southern Dragons will perform in 2012 in division 2 of the Southern Football League. The Panel have a brief discussion of the NFL playoffs and each teams chances. The Gelding talks racing and starts with a discussion of the penetrometer and the grading of the track. He didn’t have a great day yesterday at the track but did manage to get a selection up for the ladies from the Tennis club. Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and says his soccer wishes were fulfilled at the end of 2011 but not to good for the start of 2012.
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Gelding’s tips for 17 December 2011
With Christmas almost upon us, the Gelding’s attention turns to Flemington with some selections that he hopes punters will use to good advantage to stock up the larder with Christmas treats.
It has been a good year for followers of the Gelding and he is looking forward to having a few drinks on the ladies from the Tennis club at their Monday Christmas party.
Flemington
Race 2 Horse 1 – Nicholls Court
Race 3 Horse 3 – Apprehend (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 5 Horse 7 – What a Beauty (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 1 – Periduki
Race 8 Horse 2 – The Big Steel
You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM. The Gelding’s segment is sponsored by the Great Western Hotel.
The Gelding will be back for the 14 January 2012 meeting so until then good luck and good punting!
The Gelding
Sportzfan Radio show #230.2
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.
Sportzfan Radio show #230.1
11 December 2011 230.1 – The Panel comprising the Professor, Daniel Eade, Paul Dalligan, the Gambler and Sportzfan Stan lead off the show talking US sport with Dan Butterly including the NBA nixing the Chris Paul deal. He also looks at Major League Baseball talking about the recent free agent moves with the Miami Marlins leading the pack. Paul Dalligan talks NFL with Dan and Paul says he likes the New Orleans Saints. Dan says any team can win on any given day. Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders also discussed. Dan revisits the College Football championship game and says every game can’t count in the regular season if Alabama is playing in that game. He likes Robert Griffin III from Baylor for the Heisman trophy. The Panel look at Barry Hall’s announcement that he intends to enter the boxing world and the Professor says he is already 4-0 following his AFL career. There is a discussion about the second test and another poor batting display by Australia. Sportzfan Stan says there are some players in the baggy green who are not good enough and they should be sacked. Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and he starts with a review of the Melbourne Victory/LA Galaxy game featuring David Beckham. He also looks at how the Victory are travelling at the moment and says they are not getting enough from Harry Kewell.
Sportzfan Radio show #229.2
4 December 2011 229.2 – Mark Fiorenti continues with his look at the A League and the Melbourne Heart playing a match this weekend against Wellington in Gippsland. He also looks at the LA Galaxy playing Melbourne Victory next week at Etihad Stadium. John O’Callaghan & Nicole Chvastek join the Panel for the last hour of the show. Sportzfan Stan opens the discussion regarding St Kilda Football Club’s anticipated million dollar loss mostly due to playing at Etihad Stadium. John says he finds it extraordinary and simplistic to just blame the return from the home ground. He poses the question whether football is sustainable at AFL level. John reprises his push to have a criminal law against doping in sport and also match fixing. Paul Dalligan talks rugby league and the tragic news of the death of Arthur Beetson and says it is a massive loss for rugby league. He was the first indigenous person to appointed captain of any sporting team in Australia. Paul also discusses the proposed changes to rules for the All Stars game on a trial basis. Nicole starts a discussion about the development of Michael Clarke as Australian cricket captain. John says he thinks the Australian cricket captain’s job is second only in importance in Australia to the Prime Minister’s job. Daniel suggests maybe Michael Hussey should have been given the job. Sportzfan Stan says Ricky Ponting has been a great servant to Australia but his time has come and he shouldn’t be in the team. The Panel look at the proposal for topless basketball by Rick’s Cabaret and give it the thumbs down and says it denegrates not only women but also basketball.
Sportzfan Radio show #229.1
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.
Sportzfan Radio show #228.2
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.
Sportzfan Radio show #228.1
27 November 2011 228.1 – Due to another technical glitch, we lost the first few minutes of the show but we come in with the Sports Geek, Sean Callanan talking sports digital and social media with sports personalities in the news for the wrong reasons like Jabar Gaffney and Josh Hunt. Aston Kutcher also had problems tweeting on sports. Sean comments that the AFL draft looked terrible and was a missed opportunity. The Gelding is back to talk horse racing after his week off and returned to form even though the Sandown track was very heavy. Sportzfan Stan has umbrage that the Professor cut him short to take the Gelding’s call and says he takes a dim view of that but refrains from sacking anyone. Stan talks cricket and says it appears the selectors have got rid of most of the dead wood although he hasn’t heard of the new players selected for Australia.
Sportzfan Radio show #227.2
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.
Sportzfan Radio show #227.1
20 November 2011 227.1 – An almost empty studio today with only the Professor and Sportzfan Stan behind the microphone with the Gelding playing golf and Daniel Eade at a wedding (his own?). Sportzfan Stan is convinced cricket is doomed to failure because tests matches take too long and no young people are taking up cricket. He then gives the Professor his views on cricket and in particular the poor performance of wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and says he should retire gracefully. He also believes Ricky Ponting is a ‘has been’ and hands out a few sackings to the Test team. In the absence of the Gelding, the Professor talks racing and the results of the selections from Moonee Valley and the Sydney Colt’s tips for Warwick Farm. It wasn’t a good day for the Gelding or the ladies at the Tennis club but the Sydney Colt was a hit with one from one. Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer with the Panel especially Sepp Blatter’s unfortunate comments about racism in sport and soccer. The Professor says it is particularly poor given the reach soccer has across the world. Mark then discusses the Socceroos performance against Thailand and thinks we should be worried about the form being displayed by the National team. He only rates the current chances of qualifying for the World Cup at 60-70%.