All posts by @packers4

Sportzfan Radio #192.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!6 March 2011 192.2 – Mark Fiorenti talks with the Panel about the poor crowd attending the A League preliminary final.  The Professor asks if marquee matches should be played in population centres to draw a crowd and says it is incumbant on the organising body to look at this. Mark then looks at the Asian Champions League matches involving Melbourne Victory and Sydney.  He asks the Professor how frustrating it must be to be an Arsenal supporter. The Panel then talk with Australia’s first professional women’s world boxing champion Susie Ramadan.  She recently won the world IBF bantamweight title. Susie says she is a “Girly, Girl” but wanted something mentally challenging that got her fit so took up boxing. She fought 79 amateur fights and 20 times as a pro winning all of them and eight by KO. With women’s boxing starting to gain acceptance, she believes it won’t be long before we see a TV show like the Contender about women boxers. The Panel come back and examine the Ricky Nixon saga and ask why he hasn’t been suspended pending the outcome of the AFLPA investigation. This leads to a greater examination of the role of the player agent. There is also a discussion of Bernie Ecclestone’s suggestion to use artificial rain to liven up Grand Prix racing. All agree the sport is in trouble if it needs to resort to tricks. John suggests that the doctrine of ‘volenti non fit injuria‘ applies…we liked that! There is a further discussion of the AFL, AFLPA and player agents. Sean Callanan, batting clean up again, talks about the Mountain West Conference rating their twitter followers with a new program called Sports Digital Passion. It ranks the ‘fandom’ of the MWC twitterers. It is not true that Charlie Sheen is a member of the MWC. Sean also talks about ‘Social Media Executioners’. He has also made a bit of progress on getting Aaron Rodgers on Sportzfan Radio talking with some Packers officials, clearly a work in progress.

Sportzfan Radio #192.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!3 March 2011 192.1 – Sportzfan Stan has a problem that the benefits the AFL players are going to get under a new collective bargaining agreement will be better than our military personnel who risk their lives on a daily basis. He is not happy with it. Paul Dalligan provides a bottom to top assessment of the 2011 NRL season….Cronulla Sharks to finish on the bottom – Melbourne Storm to be top of the table  and beat St George in the Grand Final.  The Professor takes an opportunity to talk with Glenn Day from the Great Western Hotel, the sponsor of the show. He thinks Hawthorn will finish in the top four and that Buddy Franklin will kick 100 goals for the season. The Gelding talks about his great day at Flemington, tipping four firsts and a third from five selections.  He tells us he finished ‘about even’. Ha! Although the Gelding is a big fan of jockey, Brett Prebble, he awards him an S-Hit ride for his performance on Playing God. The Gelding also reviews the Sydney Colt’s selections at Warwick Farm.  The Professor takes Mark Fiorenti to task about his prediction skills after saying last week that Adelaide would beat Gold Coast 2-0.  He also discusses the Central Coast’s dour win against Gold Coast to get into the A League Grand Final.

Mountain West Conference rating twitter followers

To celebrate two years on twitter the Mountain West Conference has started ranking their fans on twitter….what a great idea! I have made the “first team”…now time to try and improve my ranking.

We’ll talk with our US reporter Dan Butterly about this when he is back on air after the MWC Basketball tournament and NCAA Basketball finals.

Meantime, why not see where you are rated as an MWC twitter fan!

packers4

Score: 1260

Ranking: 9

Level: 1st Team

Get your @SportsDP score for MWC here

Sportzfan Radio #191.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!27 February 2011 191.2 – The Panel discusses cricket and Ricky Ponting’s thrown cricket protector that damages a television. They then have a discussion whether Shane Warne should have been selected as Australian captain. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer and Daniel wants to know whether teams actually train to score goals. Mark doesn’t believe Gold Coast can beat Adelaide. Given Melbourne Victory came fifth and is now out of the finals, Sportzfan Stan says coach Ernie Merrick has been there long enough and should go. There is also a discussion of the Asian Champions League matches involving Victory and Sydney this week. Daniel predicts a 2-0 win to Adelaide using his own tipster method. Mark tips Arsenal to beat Birmingham City 2-0 in the League Cup and agrees with Daniel on the Adelaide game. Paul Dalligan, on the golf course again, reports on the developments in NRL during the week. The redemption story of 2010, Todd Carney back in the headlines again for drink driving.  Ivan Henjak sacked as coach of Brisbane Broncos two weeks out from the start of the season. Paul also reviews the World Club Challenge between St George and Wigan.  He thinks the Dragons will be too strong. The Professor awards the second ‘Benny Hill’ award for 2011 to Nathan Tinkler – when is a deal not a deal? Paul says Newcastle and Tinkler are still working through a deal. Dan Butterly comes on the show to bat clean up with his US sport report.  He talks NBA and Carmelo Anthony’s trade to the Knicks and also the trade by the Clippers (supposedly building for the future) of their 2011 #1 pick and Baron Davis for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.  At Detroit, there are discipline problems with players missing the shoot around.  Dan says at this time of the year all eyes are on College basketball with March madness on the horizon.  He thinks BYU will be seeded high by the NCAA tournament committee.  Finally Dan looks at baseball and he believes the Colorado Rockies will do well this season, the Mets won’t make the playoffs, the Kansas City will be Kansas City and the New York Yankees are getting old.

Gelding’s tips for 5 March 2011

The Gelding’s attention turns to Flemington today after a great day of racing at Caulfield last week.  There are a lot of very, very good horses running today so selecting winners is a difficult task, but one the Gelding enjoys!

Flemington

Race 3 Horse 3 – Dubleanny (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 5 Horse 3 – Aloha (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 6 Horse 2 – Playing God
Race 7 Horse 4 – Master Harry
Race 8 Horse 7 – Launay

You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

Good luck & good punting!

The Gelding

SportzfanRadio #191.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!27 February 2011 191.1 – Daniel thinks it was a stupid idea for the AFL to draw Greater Western Sydney in the NAB Cup as yesterday’s game was a farce. Sportzfan Stan notices he has been moved away from Daniel after last week’s show. The Gelding says Carlton would have had a better practice game with the ‘possibles’ playing the ‘probables’. Daniel doesn’t understand why the AFL is expanding, he thought 16 was the prefect number. Sportzfan Stan says the increase is so the AFL can get more revenue. The Panel then discuss whether Andrew Demetriou’s payrise is appropriate and if Friday night matches should be shown live. Sportzfan Stan says 1.8 million people want to watch Better Homes & Gardens so the football should be delayed. Sean Callanan comes on to talk social media and enters the fray saying the AFL should get innovative and look for a partner that delivers an ability to watch the game on line. The NFL and NFLPA discussions on a new collective bargaining agreement are headed to social media with a hashtag of #NFLlockout. The MLB have an all access for all season I-phone/I-pad app called Major League at Bat which is good value at $18. AFL clubs have begun to use You Tube with a channel to release news and magazine type shows. The Gelding talks horse racing and Caulfield’s meeting where there were three Group One races including the Blue Diamond Stakes. He was successful picking three winners from four selections and awards Craig Williams the S-Hit ride of the day for his ride on Response. There is a discussion about the horse that the Professor and the Gelding have an interest in, Danish Rock, it should run a race by August at the earliest.  The Panel discuss who was the best James Bond and the Gelding says he always thinks of Sean Connery as James Bond and this follows on to whether ranking movies stars is a sport.  Daniel thinks it is.  The Panel then move on to talk cricket and the One Day World Cup and who should replace Doug Bollinger.

Gelding’s tips for 26 February 2011

The Gelding’s attention returns to his home track at Caulfield today where we will see some of the best horses in Australia racing.  Three Group One races including the Blue Diamond Stakes.

As always, the bets are on an each way and all up basis.

Caulfield

Race 5 Horse 8 – More Joyous (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 6 Horse 1 – Catapulted
Race 7 Horse 1 – Sepoy
Race 8 Horse 2 – Heart of Dreams (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

You can hear the Gelding discuss racing with the Professor every Sunday on Sportzfan Radio at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

Good luck & good punting!

The Gelding

The Punters’ Guide to the 2011 NRL Season

The NRL season is nearly upon us and as the cricket thankfully winds down and the trials start to arc up, we all get that feeling deep down in the loins.  It is February, right now, where we start thinking starting line-ups, draws, player moves, fantasy, long-term futures betting and the countdown to round one.

That being the case Nick Tedeschi has created The Punters’ Guide to the 2011 NRL Season where each team and each player are broken down with absolute truth and absolute honesty.  The Punters’ Guide to the 2011 NRL Season is the must have guide for every rugby league fan.

Respected rugby league writer and pricing consultant Nick Tedeschi has put together this thorough guide that is a no-holds barred assessment, unique statistical evaluation and comprehensive betting appraisal all rolled into one. With the legendary Mr Rugby chiming in and much information sourced from within the gambling industry, there is no better tool for the rugby league punter no matter how seriously one takes their betting. It can even be used to win your tipping competition or fantasy league.

The Punters Guide to the 2011 NRL Season includes:

All the latest team information with complete squad listings for each club.

Detailed betting information from the 2010 season including analysis of head-to-head, line and total points betting for each club and the NRL as a whole.

The thoughts and premiership prices of Australia’s top rugby league gambler and former Punting Ace guru, Mr Rugby.

An in-depth and original statistical analysis of all 16 teams.

Detailed betting data for each and every team.

Recruitment analysis, positional and coaching assessment and draw evaluation for every club.

Predictions and betting advice for the 2011 season.

Nick says there is no guide quite like The Punters Guide to the 2011 NRL Season.  It is on sale for only $14.95 and is extraordinary value for every rugby league fan.  Go to http://www.makingthenut.com/content/punters-guide-2011-nrl-season to purchase a copy.

Sportzfan Radio #190.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!20 February 2011 190.2 – Mark Fiorenti talks about the headlines during the week ‘Soccer crowds worst of any code in Australia’ and wonders why these headlines have appeared at the start of the A League finals – he queries whether it is a conspiracy. He then looks at the finals already played and previews the Gold Coast United/Melbourne Victory game. On Kevin Muscat’s retirement he feels that Kevin’s passion sometimes led to some unfortunate consequences on the pitch. He did not expect Arsenal to beat Barcelona in the Champions League tie. Sportzfan Stan thinks Chelsea’s coach should be sacked as they have only won 6 of 19 games recently.  The Panel discuss the NBA All Star game and the voting that sees Yao Ming in the starting five even though he is injured and won’t play in the game.  Daniel says that the voting in the celebrity game was suspect as Scottie Pippen was clearly the MVP but Justin Bieber, who did nothing, got the nod as all the teenage girls voted for him.  He says if he had been Justin Bieber he would have handed the award to Pippen.  Daniel believes Blake Griffin will try to dunk over a car in the NBA dunk contest.  He still thinks Carmelo Anthony will end up with the New York Knicks even though Nets have improved their offer.  Paul Dalligan calls in from the golf course and talks rugby league and says Nathan Tinkler couldn’t offer any more to the Newcastle Knights.  There are also whispers that Kade Snowden and Wayne Bennett could be heading to the Knights.  Daniel picks up on a tweet from an Adelaide 36ers player who alleges that the accommodation arranged by the Perth Wildcats for visiting teams is sub standard.  The Gelding talks World Cup cricket and the selection of the one day team.  The Panel then talk with Sean Callanan on sports social media in particular the ICC banning any social media use by players and officials.  Sean says it is the case of another large sporting organisation not understanding the benefits of social media.  He believes that as long as there is a policy and guidelines, that should take care of any problems.

Sportzfan Radio #190.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!20 February 2011 190.1 – Sportzfan Stan makes his presence felt calling for the coach of the Wollongong Hawks Gordie McLeod to be sacked for losing 10 games of eleven. Phil Cleary comes on the show to talk about the VFL & Coburg. The club would have difficulties if the alignment with Richmond ceases at the end of this season. He says with some AFL teams fielding reserves teams it will make things hard for the non AFL clubs. He says it has been a disgraceful history starting with the abolition of the VFA. He says the VFA teams were bullied into changing the name and sold a lie about their future.  He says that the majority of the non AFL clubs would not be able to survive by themselves and a long term strategy should be developed to align each club with the community in their area.  Phil says he would be eminently well qualified to be on a Board running VFL football but he wouldn’t be asked because he wouldn’t bow to what the AFL wanted (we agree with Phil!).  The Gelding comes on to talk racing and talks about the retirement of SportzfanRadio’s own Typhoon Tracy.  He says the trainer Peter Moody didn’t call him to discuss what should be done with the horse.  The Gelding picked two winners and three fourths, one of the winners being Black Caviar.  The discussion then moves to the production meeting held at the Great Western Hotel (our sponsors).  We get a tweet for the Gelding asking if he is ‘light on for balls’.  Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and says he also has trouble with twitter but he is going to try and get on it before the end of the year.