Punting

Gelding’s tips for 18 December 2010

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The Gelding’s attention is well and truly focussed on Flemington for tomorrow’s meeting being his last trip to the betting establishments before Christmas.

Beware the weather as rain is predicted but we will not know how it will affect the track and performances at this stage.

Race 3 Horse 1 Lady Gaga (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 5 Horse 11 Eclair Mystic (also for the ladies of the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 6 Module
Race 8 Horse 3 Verdasco

Good Luck and Good Punting and a very merry Christmas and happy New Year to all!!

The Gelding

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio #183.2

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!12 December 2010 183.2 – Mark Fiorenti continues his discussion of the A League looking at Sydney Rovers dropping their bid to join and also reviews at Premier League and Champions League. John O’Callaghan and Nicole Chvastek return to discuss a number of sporting topics including the World Cup bid fiasco which highlighted the lack of leadership by those running the bid process for Australia and the secrecy of surrounding money spent on the bid. Daniel says that it was OK for Elle MacPherson to be involved with the bid….he wouldn’t complain about that. Nicole queries the cost benefit analysis of spending so much money for one vote. The Professor eblieves the money paid to consultants was an absolute waste.

John also looks at the ‘rivalry’ round in the ABL and he believes after four weeks that is an absolute nonsense idea. Sean says Brendan Fevola smashing a car windscreen in a baseball promotion gave the ABL some main stream press during the week but for all the wrong reasons. Daniel talks about the stupidity of one match last week being called a tie becaue of the time curfew restrictions at the stadium.

Nicole starts off a discussion with the Panel about Shane Warne – his suntan, his eyebrows and his teeth, the mediocrity that is Australia cricket and whether or not Warne will make a comeback. She also believes that Geelong officials should be deemed to be ‘negligent’ for allowing Bomber Thompson and Garry Ablett to not talk to each other for about eight months. She says whoever oversaw such a debacle should be kicked out of the Club.

Daniel and the Professor discuss the NBL, particularly the new imports with both the Adelaide 36ers and the Sydney Kings. They also talk NBA and the improvement of the New York Knicks this season after recruiting Amare Stoudemire.  Daniel wonders if Carmelo Anthony will sign soon with the Knicks.  He talks about Julius Hodge who says he has finished with Australia and won’t be back to play in the NBL.

Paul Dalligan also wants to talk ABL and he was impressed with his first game watching the Melbourne Aces. He also has NRL mail that Wayne Bennett will coach the Rabbitohs in 2012.

Punting, Sports

Sydney Colt’s Xmas Present To You!

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I’m only handing out mail for just 1 runner at Randwick tomorrow because it is a super each-way Xmas special. I intend paying off the debt of a small African nation with what I’ll win if this neddy gets up. I have managed to back it e/w and my outlay will break square if it places. So, all you punt drunks and Sydney Colt groupies, open your wallets and join in the Xmas money give away.

Race 7 n1 SWIFT ALLIANCE e/w Gai has this neddy 100% ready to win tomorrow. It was primed to win in Melb on Derby day but the track ruined any chance. Has been saved for this race, is working like a group 1 horse and you can still get $4.5 e/w with the corporate bookies.

Merry Christmas to all the punt drunks and Sydney Colt groupies. In 2011 always remember, money lost, nothing lost. Confidence lost, everything lost.

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio #183.1

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!12 December 2010 183.1 – Sean makes a rare appearance in studio and Daniel starts with an apology as it took him five days to read Mark Fiorenti’s blog so he knows nothing about what happened in the sports world for the week. He also adds his favourite Qatar player after some research is Eric Clapton and Sean adds that FIFA’s new game Qatar hero. Stan gets into Daniel again about basketball asking him how he thinks the Melbourne Tigers will go against Perth. Sean thinks as it is Al Westover’s 200th game it may get the Tigers across the line. Their is also a discussion about the the test cricket side and Stan is for sacking all the player sand the selectors. Dan Butterly talks US sport and commences with his view on the Heisman trophy and who will win it. He thinks Cam Newton from Auburn will win it, even with all the cloud of suspicion over him regarding the behaviour of his father. Dan also talks about the Bowl matches coming up with 35 being played over three weeks. He likes Oregon to beat Auburn in the Championship game and TCU to beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. There are moves afoot within the Conferences and Hawaii has now decided to leave the WAC and join the MWC in 2012. The Professor asks whether the MWC will play a game in Australia given Hawaii is halfway here. Dan agrees that it would raise the MWC profile. Sean says AAMI stadium would be perfect to host such a game. Dan feels Brett Favre’s streak will end at 297 as he will not recover in time to play in tomorrow’s game.

The Professor thinks there may have been a first last week when the Gelding was not on the show at all. The Gelding talks cricket first discussing the problems with Victorians trying to get into the Test side. He then moves on to racing and reviews his selections for the Flemington meeting. Although he got off to a great start tipping Aloha to win, it was all downhill from there with his other three selections failing to even be placed. The Gelding’s favourite Qatar player is Jimmy Page from Led Zepplin.

The Panel discusses Gary Ablett’s revelations during the week where he hadn’t spoken to his coach, Bomber Thompson since March this year. Sean talks about a rumor that James Hird and Thompson had been talking about getting together for 2012 but because Essendon’s coterie groups wanted Matthew Knights out, everything got moved forward twelve months. Daniel starts talking about Bob Costas (NBC sportscaster) but he really means the Geelong president, Frank Costa. Stan is swinging the axe again and Sean observes he is going to put Centrelink out of business as everyone is getting the knife.

Mark Fiorenti talks up the local Melbourne derby between the Heart and the Victory with over 23,000 at AAMi stadium. Sean went to his first game during the week to see Heart play but they went down in front of around 2,000 people. Mark says it was the lowest ever at an A League game in Melbourne. He says the FFA must address this as mid week games don’t work.

Punting

Gelding’s tips for 11 December 2010

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The Gelding’s attention is firmly focussed on VRC headquarters at Flemington today featuring the Western Health Cup.  Hopefully the rain will stay away long enough to make it an enjoyable day at the track.

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

Flemington

Race 4 Horse 4 – Aloha (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 5 Horse 4 – Right Fong
Race 6 Horse 15 – War Ends (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 7 Horse 4 – Gold in Dubai

You can hear the Gelding discuss today’s winners and losers with the Professor on Sportzfan Radio every Sunday at 12.30pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

Good luck and good punting!

The Gelding

Sports

AUSTRALIA’S WORLD CUP BID DIDN’T SELL

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So, what was Australia’s point of difference to make us unquestionably the only choice for the 2022 FIFA World Cup? Hmmm… Beaches, Kangaroos, and locally known sports celebrities. No, they’re not strong enough to make our pitch unlosable. That’s a selfish and cheesy chest beat.

The question we needed to ask ourselves was, how would Australasia, the game of soccer, and the world, benefit from Australia winning?”

So how would it? That’s where the brain storming starts. That’s where we find our point of difference, that’s where we find THE ANSWER!

After we have the answer, we then work out the best way to sell our solution (the pitch process). That’s when we look at who we are presenting to, which in this case was to older, wiser and well travelled FIFA officials. That’s where we make our sell interesting for them, because they make the decision.

Bells and whistles usually means the polishing of a turd. And didn’t we polish it well. A 45 million dollar polish on a thieving cartoon Kangaroo, that reminded me of a Caramello Koala commercial.

I hope we learn from Qatar. They did it beautifully, using changing the world’s perception of The Middle East, and recycling stadiums in developing countries after the World Cup ends with the over arching idea of PEACE. Qatar’s bid sold the idea that if Qatar wins then lives will be saved. That’s powerful, that’s pitch winning. You’re not choosing Qatar, you’re choosing peace. That’s unquestionably the only choice!

What I don’t know is after the announcement was made that Qatar won, why did our bid stop. Why didn’t we have something ready to steal the lime light away from Qatar to make us favourite for the next bid and already show that we are committed to bringing the World Cup to Australia?

Scott Hall
Art/Design Director
McCann Erickson Melbourne

News, Sports

From the colony to the colonised….Football’s not coming home but to new frontiers….and without a dose of “Fair Play” (Part 2)

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So, too 2022….

Millions of football fans around the world are still wondering how Qatar ultimately won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. Yet in the end FIFA was seduced and “sold” by Qatar’s promise of a high-tech tournament. 

I always maintained Australia was arguably punching above its weight in trying to secure the hosting rights to 2022, yet I also consistently argued we had a solid bid and our real and only rival, and favourite, was the United Sates of America.  Exactly how the tiny Emirate state which has a climate conducive to hell on earth and its capital, Doha, is according to Lonely Planet, “the dullest place in the world” secured the rights over the mighty United States is about as impressive and moreover, believable as me getting lucky with Megan Gale.

And Jennifer Hawkins.

On the same night…..

Not only did the win leave me breathless, but more so, the gravity of same – 11 votes in the first round to the United States’ 3….14 votes in the fourth round to the United States’ 8!

Some of the reasons why I was, and will continue to be shocked by the Qatar win include:

-Heat – the average temperatures in June and July are a whopping 41 and 46 degrees celsius, respectively;

-Potential terrorist attacks/threats;

-The fact there will be ten stadiums within a 25 kilometre radius of Doha which was deemed incapable of hosting the (2016) Olympic Games only last year; and

-Restrictions on the consumption of alcohol. 

To counter these problems Qatar has promised, amongst other things:

-Airconditioned stadiums which will be solar powered and therefore, carbon neutral.  What effect will airconditioning have on the “ball”?  It may make the Jabulani (which was used at this year’s last World Cup and branded by many as like playing with a beach ball), appear “normal”?!; and

-Fans will be able to drink alcohol in specially designed areas called “fan zones”.  Will Doha, I mean Qatar, have room to fit these fan zones? Will they be air conditioned too?!

I’ll believe it when I see it. 

For now, it is a fictional tale. 

Just like Qatar’s bid video which was largely set in the future and the country shown as it “might” be in 2022.   

The abovementioned concerns are shared by many, including FIFA.  In fact, Qatar received the worst technical report of all the bidding nations from FIFA (for instance, FIFA labelled the punishing heat “a potential health risk”) and was the lowest ranked by FIFA’s own independent inspectors.

Yet FIFA still awarded Qatar the World Cup!

In the words of Paul Dalligan, “I have now seen it all”.

So, too the conspiracy theories…..I’m no investigative journalist but the following just doesn’t wash with me:

-How secretive was the voting when Qatari state owned broadcaster, al-Jazeera reported the result before Sepp Blatter opened his envelope and informed the world? And what of Qatari officials who were reportedly seen embracing one another and appeared relaxed in the lead up to same whilst Frank Lowy looked like he needed a year’s supply of Gastro Stop to curb his anxiety?

-What did Mohamed Bin Hamman say to Reyanld Temarii (the Oceania member who was suspended from voting for his part in an undercover newspaper sting) when he met him in Kuala Lumpur last week and shortly thereafter, Temarii stated he would proceed with his appeal, thereby allowing Oceania not to be represented in the ballot? Lest we forget that Temarii was quoted as saying he would have voted for Australia.  To add salt to the wound, Hamman supported Temarii’s decision (to proceed with his appeal).  

-The fact the Qataris were able to sponsor the Confederation of African Football Congress on 29 January 2010 and in doing so secured “exclusive” rights to make presentations to African delegates, including FIFA executive committee member, Issa Hayatou.  Does that name sound familiar?! If not, read my last blog!  In short, he has been accused of accepting bribes in the past! Australia, and the other 2022 bidding nations, could only attend the event as “observers” and could not organise press conferences.

Which brings me to my final point….

The integrity of the World Cup bidding process has been damaged and the system of bidding within FIFA ranks must change.

Transparency is needed. 

In awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar (and the 2018 World Cup to Russia) does FIFA really care about the fans who have made the game what it is today? It would appear not.  FIFA does not appear concerned if a supporter is subjected to a violent racist attack in Moscow or another dies of heat exhaustion whilst playing, “Let’s find the nearest watering hole” in Doha. I have no doubt that any of the other bidding nations would have delivered a better experience for the football fan than the eventual winners.

The “beautiful” game and its loyal fans, stands to lose.  

Mark “The F Word” Fiorenti

News, Podcast, Sports

From the colony to the colonised….Football’s not coming home but to new frontiers….and without a dose of “Fair Play” (Part 1)

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“And the host of the 2018 World Cup is….Russia…

And the host of the 2022 World Cup is….Qatar”

 When the abovementioned hosts were announced just after 2am last Friday morning, I no longer needed my shot of espresso to wake me up. Rather, I needed something to drown my sorrows.

If that wasn’t enough, I became nauseous when I learnt:

  1. England was out in straight sets and finished dead last in the voting for 2018;
  2. Australia was out in straight sets and finished dead last in the voting for 2022; and
  3. The icing on the cake….the results was allegedly known approximately one hour before the tournament.  So much for a secret ballot….

I can read the headlines already…. FIFA president Sepp, or should I say Gall, Blatter is remembered as the man who took the World Cup to Eastern Europe and the Middle East (along with Africa). 

What won’t be widely reported is that Qatar’s victory gives him a reprieve, for had the World Cup not gone to Qatar, Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam (Qatar’s bid chief, no less) would have allegedly challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency.  Blatter will now serve a fourth term as FIFA president.

So Hamman gets the glory of winning the World Cup for Qatar (a nice ego check) and Blatter gets to keep his job (and leave a “legacy” behind).

Nice wok guys – ego and political aspirations first, most logical choice and delivering fans a better footballing experience, a distant second.

To 2018….

Russia won the vote in a landslide victory in as early of the second round of voting, whilst England, a favourite, was miraculously sent packing after securing only two votes!

Nevertheless, in the weeks leading up to the vote, Blatter himself stated, “England can organize the World Cup tomorrow” boasting of its numerous world class stadia and the necessary infrastructure to deliver the world’s biggest sporting event.

And what of Russia…? FIFA’s own inspectors graded the bid as a “medium” operational risk and did not appear concerned by:

  1. Travelling distances between host cities;
  2. The need for extensive investment in infrastructure; and
  3. The problem of racism amongst Russian fans (read – the banner erected by Lokomotiv Moscow supporters that abused Peter Odemwingie when he moved to West Bromwich Albion).

I can only guess FIFA didn’t appreciate England’s media recently uncovering new evidence about bribery claims regarding four of the men who voted last Friday morning.  Three of those men, Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, Brazil’s Ricardo Teixera and Paraguay’s Nicolas Leoz were accused of accepting bribes in the 1990’s and the fourth, CONCACAF President, Jack Warner was treated to a renewal of old allegations from earlier this year when he allegedly sold thousands of World Cup tickets on the black market for personal gain….but more on the issue of bribery and these shady characters, namely Hayatou, in Part 2….

It’s a travesty to think that the country which gave the world the beautiful game and continues to give so much to the world through its highly successful league – the most widely followed in the world, no less, scored so miserably in the voting last Friday. 

England must now wait in excess of 60 years before football comes home.

I’m all in favour of FIFA’s legacy argument and desire to sail into unchartered waters, but in order to move forward one must also acknowledge and pay respect to our past.  Further, a nation should be awarded the World Cup on its respective merits.

England would have been a logical, fair and timely choice.

It appears reputation means nothing in FIFA’s murky corridors of power. 

Mark “The F Word” Fiorenti

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio #182.2

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!5 December 2010 182.2 – Daniel and the Professor talk ABL and in particular the ‘rivalry’ round and ask how you can have a rivalry after three weeks of a new league. The Panel talk about whether the ABL will be a success. Stan is not so sure as there have been six or so attempts at starting a league over the years. The Professor believes with the MLB putting money and young talent in, it has its best chance. Some of the up and coming players include Quincey Latimore.

The Panel also discuss emails including the Gabba’s entry restrictions for bags.  Daniel wants to know how Wayne Bennett won the coach of the year award over Mick Malthouse.  Paul Dalligan weighs in with his opinion and believes Wayne Bennett is not only head and shoulders above all other coaches in the NRL, but he also gives his team an ‘x’ factor, so much so that he would love Wayne to coach the Rabbitohs.  Paul believes that Benji Marshall deserved his Golden Boot award and whilst the Professor queries whether the NRL are serious about arranging a World Club challenge in Las Vegas Paul thinks it is a good idea.  Although Paul yet to get to a Melbourne Aces game due to wash outs, he thinks it is a bit early for a rivalry round in ABL. 

Dr Leslie follows Paul’s segment this week and leads into a discussion of the NBA by the Professor and Daniel.  The Professor is amazed that the Knicks are 11-9 and struggles to remember the last time they started a season so well.   Axel is a huge fan of David Robinson…the General….no make that the Admiral.  Daniel believes the Knicks may make the playoffs but it depends on whether they go after Carmelo Anthony.  Daniel finds a way of bringing his team the Clippers into the discussion even though they are on the bottom of their division.

Sean Callanan looks at how social media was used in the World Cup bid and whether Australia used it effectively.  He believes it worked engaging fans but not in getting votes.  Sean reveals he did the ‘shimmy’ at the U2 concert and was rcognised as ‘the shimmy guy’.  The twitter handle ‘the Ashes’, is owned by a US woman who doesn’t know anything about cricket and she is getting cross about people tweeting her about cricket.  Sean will pluck the best three or four tweets he sees over the coming weeks to talk about on Sportzfan Radio.  He is considering bringing out a ‘how to’ shimmy dvd for Christmas.

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio #182.1

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!5 December 2010 182.1 – ‘Hostilities’ start early with Daniel noting that Stan is growing a beard and is dressing like a metrosexual.  Guest panelist Axel Dench is welcomed  by the Panel and the Professor comments that he thought the Melbourne Tigers, given their recruiting of seven footers, may have called on Axel to fill out the roster.  Daniel is on NBL “import” watch and indicates he thinks Eric Devendorf will survive but Craig Winder from the 36ers was wound up.  He also confirms LeBron James did the ‘powder clap’ and that the game between the Cavaliers and the Heat was like an NBA finals game.

Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk about the failed Australian bid for the 2022 World Cup.  He is shocked that Qatar won and that the Aussies only received one vote in the first round and therefore was eliminated.  Mark believes we may have been too honest and not cunning enought to get the required votes.  Axel wants to know how Australia could have been so blind sided by how countries would vote.  Mark believes we could have been naive and other countries thought getting Australia out early inproved their chamces in latter rounds.  The Professor asks just what we could have gotten for our $45 million spent on the failed bid.  Australia’s bid video gets unanimously panned by the Panel and Mark says it looked more like a tourism advertisement whilst Daniel says the sports stars we used may be big here but not to the rest of the world.  Mark thinks our next bid won’t be until the 2040 World Cup.

The Panel look at a tweet from Lisa Hayes regarding Tom Brady becoming a spokesperson for UGG clothing.  We find out that Daniel is a New England Patriots fan.  The Professor has Daniel speechless twice in a few minutes saying Tom is the elder brother the Brady Bunch never spoke about.  Daniel says the only thing he likes better than basketball is Star Wars and Axel says he gave out more Star Wars autographs than for basketball.

A tweet from Craig Eyles is also discussed regarding the Australian cricket team and the Ashes.  Stan says there aren’t enough players playing cricket and not enough care about whether we win the Ashes or not.  He says we should sack the selectors and Daniel actually agrees.  Axel believes the Aussie fans are front runners and tend to fall off when Australia is not doing well.