Category Archives: Sports

Booze + late night out = bonding

MarkNot an equation that I learnt in maths class at High School, but one that the touring Indigenous All Stars thought was the solution to a lack lustre first up performance in the first International Rules Test against Ireland.

All Stars coach, Michael O’Loughlin said “It’s about that bonding stuff…….have a few beers and tell stories and you get to know each other”.

O’Loughlin must have missed the large number of articles and studies on the adverse effects of drinking a lot of alcohol. He must have also forgotten that elite athletes specifically avoid alcohol during competition.

If it was all about the bonding…….why did they need alcohol or a late night to seal the deal?

 

Friday musing – Cox Plate, Fiorente, Arsenal, Wenger…..

Chris Barwin HillsIt was disappointing to see Atlantic Jewel is out of the Cox Plate as she was the clear favourite and it would have been great to see her win the race. It is now a lot more open with Itsadundeel likely to start the favourite, but having missed a run with a foot abscess, I think he is vulnerable.  I am going to get in before the Gelding and tip (Mark) Fiorente to keep it in the Sportzfan family!

Also disappointing to see the Gunners concede a late goal against Borussia Dortmund and not escape with a draw. Arsenal has had a great run since their opening loss of the Premier League season against Aston Villa. The Champions League group stage has got a bit to play out so all is not lost.

I did finally get a look at Jack Wilshere’s goal scored against Norwich City. What an absolute cracker and an early nominee for the Goal of the Season!!  In the newspaper article they suggested that it was a goal that had Arsene Wenger written all over it and I would agree it is the type of slick football that is the trademark of his teams.  Perhaps a bit more focus on defence will take them further in all competitions though.

The ‘Friday musing’ is back

Chris Barwin HillsA regular part of Sportzfan Radio was the Friday musing provided each week by Chris from Barwon Heads.

Luckily, prior to the end of the free agency period, we have managed to convince Chris to continue providing the musing each week for the online version of Sportzfan Radio.

Check back in next Friday to see what Chris has turned his mind to in the World of Sport!

Gelding’s ‘hotties’ for Caulfield Cup day 19 October 2013

Feb 20 2011 015The Gelding has hit a purple patch of winning form with three winners from five selections last week, including getting two home for the ladies from the Tennis club! His attention is on his home track at Caulfield today with the running of the Caulfield Cup. Although there are many chances, the Gelding believes he has isolated the likely winner.
As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.
 
Caulfield
 
Race 2       Horse 6     Hucklebuck
Race 4       Horse 4     San Diego
Race 6       Horse 1     Boban (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 9       Horse 1     Red Tracer (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 10     Horse 16  Royal Descent
Good luck and good punting.
The Gelding

Mark Fiorenti on the search for the Socceroos coach

Jan 23 2011 Studio Picturies 040Whilst it was a good result for the Socceroos against Canada, I am not sure we can read too much into this result for the following reasons:

1. The players were always going to be fired up after Holger Osieck was sacked and the shellacking’s the media has served up to the them in the last few days.

2. Canada haven’t qualified for the World Cup so are they a worthy opponent?  Would the Canadians have taken this game as seriously as the Socceroos given the events of the last few days?

3. Canada is nowhere near the calibre of football team that Brazil and France are.  In hindsight, I Holgerconsider Osieck shot himself in the foot opting to play friendlies against these two nations, especially considering: (a) Brazil never take friendlies easy, especially ones they play at home (their fans expect to win all the time!) and moreover, they don’t have to qualify for the World Cup as they are hosts and (b) France were shooting blanks up until last week so the Aussie game would have given them and their strikers, particularly Karim Benzema (who hadn’t scored for the French national team in over 1,000 minutes) some good shooting practice.

I still believe and moreover, am concerned that our national team is in danger of embarrassing itself next year.  Luckily, we have eight months to try and steady the ship and get the broom out to clear some old wood. Lucas Neill and Brett Holman immediately come to mind – they could still be handy squad players, but not starting players in my opinion. The new regime should blood some youngsters like Rogic, Davidson, Lowry and Williams and take a serious look at the problem left back position. McKay is a midfielder and not an option whilst Carney is a shambles.  Lowry and/or Davidson are good options.

Finally, the coach, whoever it is, can start to bring back the competitive spirit and self belief our players have been lacking in recent months.

As for the coach, it looks like it will be a local appointment and moreover, over a five year period.  It graham-arnoldappears the FFA has learned the lessons of the past and the new appointment will incorporate next year’s World Cup, the Asian Cup in 2015, qualification rounds for the 2018 World Cup and the 2018 World Cup, assuming we make it!.

The most likely candidates are Ange Postecoglou, Graham Arnold and Tony Popovic.

tony-popovicPoppa had a great year at the Wanderers last year, especially considering their limited budget and experience and it was in their first season!  Nevertheless, I feel he is still a little too raw.

I don’t warm very well to Arnold, but in his defence he has done wonders at the Mariners considering their limited funds and constant sales. This has forced him to regularly re-invent the team.

I like Ange.  When he joined the Roar they were a shambles – they allegedly had a culture unsuited to top level sport and a number of egos ruled the roost.  He eradicated the culture and cleared out the dead wood in his first season, remembering he was appointed mid way through that season. He then won the minor premiership and Grand Final in his second season and the Grand Final in his thirdange-postecoglou season.  A fine effort!  He then joined Victory and implemented his plan and did very well considering his ideas were quite foreign to the team. Victory are now favourites for this season’s A-League flag.  I also like the style of play his teams adopt.

For me, it should be Ange but I wouldn’t lose sleep if Graham Arnold was appointed.

Professor’s rant – Osieck over and out!

HolgerOn a recent Sportzfan Radio show we discussed at length with our soccer expert, Mark Fiorenti, the notion that the Socceroos coach should be appointed for a period well beyond the next World Cup. The rationale behind such an appointment was to encourage the coach to rejuvenate the playing squad at regular intervals with younger players so as to not be left with what we have now……a lot of players that are past their use by date.  The average age of the team that lost 6-0 to Brazil several weeks ago was 32.7 years. The average age of the Brazilian team was 26.3.

In fact, the Sportzfan Radio panel has been discussing the average age of the Socceroos players since the qualifying rounds for the last World Cup and said way back then that youth needed to be infused. This didn’t happen and now we are left with the sad reality that, whilst Australia is going to the World Cup, we look like we are simply making up the numbers.

Who then to appoint to replace Osieck? This will depend on whether the FFA has learnt anythingschwarzer from the current situation. I have heard calls to bring back Guus Hiddink or to insert a credentialed coach from Europe. Both suggestions are not the answer. Guus at 66 years of age (67 when next year’s World Cup is on) is yesterday’s man and also past his use by date. He will only be thinking about achieving something in the World Cup (like Osieck) that will not take care of the Socceroo’s future. Same could be said for any profiled European coach.

I am all for giving one of the current Australian A League coaches a shot with the mandate to coach for the future of the Socceroos and not be blinkered to think the future only extends as far as next year’s World Cup. As an example, look at the great building job Tony Popovic has achieved at Western Sydney Wanderers in one season.

The FFA needs to insert KPI’s into the contract that reflect the need for identification of young talent and the need for youth to be injected into the squad. Only then, will the national team be capable of approaching the past glories that the Australian public has become accustomed to!

Gelding’s ‘red hot’ tips for 12 October 2013

Mar 13 2011 021The Gelding’s attention is well and truly on Caulfield this Saturday and with the big races just around the corner, all the good horses are trying to stake their claims.

With so many good horses, winners will be difficult to pick, but that won’t stop the Gelding from having a go!

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

Caulfield

Race 6 Horse 6 –  Atlantic Jewel (for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Race 7 Horse 10 – Richie’s Vibe

Race 8 Horse 1 – Sea Moon

Race 9 Horse 6 – Speediness

Race 10 Horse 4 – Long John (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

The Professor’s rant #1

ChipperPoor form by Braves players who refused to catch the ceremonial first pitch from Chipper Jones. By the way Chipper just happened to play 19 seasons with the Braves, 8 time All Star, 1999 NL MVP, his number retired by the Braves and no doubt a first round Hall of Fame entrant when he is eligible.

The petulant players sent out the Brave’s mascot instead to catch the ball.

Chipper’s crime? His forecast to the media that he thought the Dodgers would beat the Braves 4-1 (which they did).

Me thinks the Braves as an organisation need to take a good hard look at themselves! A terrible way to treat a former champion.

Braves……you have struck out!

Sydney Colt – The Last Post

Good luck to the Professor and all the gang for tomorrow’s final show. It has been a great ride. Hopefully Sydney Colt groupies and punt drunks everywhere have reaped the rewards of the Sydney mail which comes from a mixture of trackman, ratings expert and a pro punter. Have dialled everyone I know in the industry this morning to come up with a final winner for everyone. Give it strength.

Race 3 n1 JULIENAS We have good mail from the right people for this neddy from Gai’s stable. If you’ve been asleep at the wheel you wouldn’t have noticed Gai is in the midst of a purple patch at the moment in both Syd & Melb. JULIENAS is now rock hard fit and is up in distance. It has been working strongly on the track. Nash should have this one leading all the way. Have a saver bet on I’M IMPOSSING.who is also reaching peak fitness and is destined for a great Spring campaign. 

Have a great punting life and always remember…

Money lost, nothing lost.Confidence lost, everything lost

Sydney Colt’s Mail For Randwick Saturday 21 September 2013

Last week Sydney Colt groupies and punt drunks everywhere had a fill up with 2 winners from 3 picks including our best of the day. Good weather and good horses are a recipe for success. The past few months have seen profits the best they have been in the past 5 years. If you are not a winning punter in 2013 you surely have been asleep at the wheel!!

Race 2 n3 ARABIAN GOLD Hoping to knock off the hot fav here. This neddy had impressive form before a spell and has trialled brilliantly in preparation for this.

Race 6 n3 SIZZLING Again we are hopeful of knocking off the fav BOBAN who won well 1st up. SIZZLING has all the favours with the weights and had to run against the bias last start.

Melb Race 7 n9 POLITENESS I don’t like stretching over the border into Gelding’s domain but it worked for us last week with a winner. I must pass on the strong tip for this neddy who has been killing them in weaker provincial company.

Money lost, nothing lost. Confidence lost, everything lost.