12 February 2012 234.2 – The Panel discuss the test series between Australia and India with the question being whether Australia has improved that much or was India that bad. Paul Dalligan feels it has a lot to do with new bowling coach, Craig McDermott. Even Sportzfan Stan gave the Aussies the thumbs up with a nine out of ten. Tennis is also on the agenda with a look at Australia playing China in a Davis Cup qualifier being played in Geelong this week. The Panel agree that Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic have the advantage over Ze Zhang and Di Wu. The Professor raises the question whether Australia will get back into the Davis Cup top 16. Mark Fiorenti comes on to discuss soccer, beginning with Sydney’s coach, Vitezslav Lavicka ‘resignation’ this week. Names rumored to replace him include Italian great, Gianfranco Zola, former Sydney FC player Dwight Yorke and Graham Arnold. There will be other coaching vacancies at the end of ther season and these are also discussed. Paul Dalligan looks at the pros and cons of Harry Kewell’s signing by Victory and whether it was a good thing. Internationally, England’s coach, Italian Fabio Capello, announced his resignation after the F.A’s decision to strip Chelsea’s John Terry of the England captaincy over racism charges during a Premier League match. In rugby league, Paul Dalligan was pleased that the independent commission is off the ground after four years in the making and he discusses the future of the ARL with the coming media rights negotiation.
Tag Archives: australia
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 #223.2
16 October 2011 223.2 Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk about the Socceroos and their 3-0 win againt Oman and says all Australia need is a point from their remaining games to qualify for the next round of World Cup qualifiers. He is full of praise for Holger Osieck and also reviews the other Asian Group standings. Mark looks at the A League and the Professor asks how long before the Melbourne Victory coach is under pressure. Mark says if Victory don’t beat Heart it will be a disastrous start to the season. Daniel talks basketball and the Professor takes him to task about how One HD are selecting the games. He feels decisions are made on a financial basis because it must be cheaper to go to Townsville than Perth. The Panel talk about the poor television ratings for the NBL while Sportzfan Stan discusses the benefit that Mills has given to the sport whilst he has been here. The Gelding compares the amount of newspaper columns given to all sports and decides basketball gets less coverage than rugby and soccer. The Professor asks Paul Dalligan where Todd Carney will land as it has been rumored he is being chased by at least four teams. Paul previews the Australia v New Zealand rugby league match predicting a close game but an Australian win. He also comments on Tim Tebow starting at QB for his Denver Broncos. The Panel talk about the big clash in the World Cup semi final between the Wallabies and New Zealand. The Panel unanimously select the Wallabies. To round off the show the Panel discuss AFL trade week and Casey Stoner winning the motorcycle GP.
Sportzfan Radio show #222.2
9 October 2011 222.2 The Sydney Colt continues with his discussion of racing and comments hot tubbing should be a mandatory sport especially in the latter years of High School. Mark Fiorenti talks about the Socceroos recent big win against Malaysia in a friendly and previews the World Cup tie against Oman during the week. He predicts a 2-0 win. Mark also talks about the A-League season launch held in Sydney and the first round of the A League. Daniel says Melbourne Heart need to do something to get into the paper as Melbourne Victory are grabbing all the headlines at the moment. Daniel comes on to talk hoops and the Professor asks him what the segment should be called. Mark Fiorenti suggests ‘White Men Can Jump’. Daniel says he can’t so he has gone back to the drawing board. He talks about the start of the NBL season. Sportzfan Stan asks whether the Breakers after losing players are as good as last year. Daniel thinks that they will be as good. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk rugby league and reviews the NRL Grand Final. He discusses with the Panel the signing of Des Hassler by Canterbury to coach them in 2013. Paul also talks about the coming 4 nations tournament with the opening game between Australia and New Zealand. The Panel talk about the Rugby Union World Cup with the Wallabies taking on South Africa in the quarter final. The Professor looks finally at the MLB payrolls with the top two being the Yankees and the Red Sox but neither have made the Championship Series.
Sportzfan Radio #179.2
14 November 2010 179.2 – Daniel thinks the Melbourne Tigers theme song is very annoying to listen to and believes there should be no basketball theme songs. The Professor wonders whether Daniel was alive when the Leyland Brothers were on television. The ‘F’ word looks at the local A-League scene. Archie Thompson back for Melbourne Victory will be a positive however the Victory have lost one of their other strikers. He doesn’t believe Victory can make the top three given their current ladder position. He is going to see both Melbourne Heart and Victory in the next week but will only be wearing a Heart scarf. Mark also has a quick look at English Premier League and the Socceroos upcoming friendly against Egypt. The Panel discuss IPL’s growing disruption to other forms of cricket with Australia’s test series against Bangladesh needing to be moved as it clashes with IPL matches. Paul Dalligan is stoked about Greg Inglis heading for the Rabbitohs and says it is the biggest signing in his lifetime. He is disppointed that Australia was beaten by the Kiwis in the last minute of last night’s final of the Four Nations Tournament. Social media expert, Sean Callanan believes the Queen has a lot of work to do to catch up to LeBron James on Facebook. He likes people quoting tweets but has a problem with journalists quoting tweets but then not linking back to the original story or using their twitter handle. The NBA and the NHL are always trending on twitter when the games are played which says those Leagues are on the ball with social media.
Sportzfan Radio #175.2
17 October 2010 175.2 – Dr Leslie comes on and cleans up after the Gelding’s weather forecast and racing segment – stool gazing indeed! The Professor explains that the Sydney Colt was unable to be on the show this week due to an illness and increases the intrigue when he passes on that the Colt and Stan have never been on the same show together – like Clark Kent and Superman. The Panel welcomes Nicole Chvastek back to the show. Mark Fiorenti discusses the creativity and passion of A-League soccer and the Newcastle Jets gaining more funding under Nathan Tinkler. There is also discussion of the ever increasing debts of Manchester United and Liverpool and the foreign ownership of EPL clubs. Nicole talks about the interest or lack thereof in the Commonwealth Games and the many countries/athletes not competing at the Games, Daniel says it was good to hear that Australia picked up a late gold medal in the ‘Throwing the washing machine out the window’ event. Nicole observed “Well done those Aussies”. Nicole also discussed the legitimacy of naming AFL players even though they had not been charged with an offence. Paul Dalligan talks with the Panel about the Rugby League Four Nations tournament with the marquee match between Australia and England at AAMI stadium. He thinks that the first game between Australia and Papua/New Guinea is like the Aussies playing the Wesley College Old Boys. In a heads up, Paul has heard Jonathan Thurstons may be heading to the Parramatta Eels. The Panel finish off with a discussion of Australian cricket and Ricky Ponting. Is Shane Warne too old to come back? Finally, Daniel asks the Professor which number comes after 248. Strangely it is 250, as apparently Daryl Corletto played his 250th game after his 248th.