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Send in your #madeupbaseballfact for @MelbourneAces broadcast

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Reprint from SportsGeek.com.au

This Saturday night the @SportzfanRadio crew will be calling the final game of the Melbourne Aces inaugural season in the ABL. With a home final at stake the Aces will be trying to get some Ws before the finals.

Baseball commentary is all about statistics & telling great stories while the action continues out of the diamond. As @SportzfanRadio has embraced Twitter wholeheartedly gaining listeners from around the world via Twitter we will be taking tweets during the game make sure you tag your tweets #LetsGoAces.

To help the commentary team – Mark Seymour (@packers4), Sean Callanan (@seancallanan) & Daniel Eade (@DanielEade) we would like to have some fun with the broadcast and we need your help. Please share your best “Made up Baseball fact” on Twitter, we’ll sneak the best ones into the broadcast ;) .

To enter please send a tweet with the hashtag #madeupbaseballfact to join in the fun.

Listen to the broadcast on 88.3 Southern FM or streaming from SportzfanRadio.com.

To enter please send a tweet with the hashtag #madeupbaseballfact to join in the fun. If you are not on Twitter then add yours in the comments.

Sports

The Melbourne Aces – The Heat Is On….

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Well here it is…crunch time. 

Your Melbourne Aces face their biggest challenge of the season starting this Thursday night  January 13 when they take on the second placed Perth Heat in a 4 game series to be played at Melbourne Showgrounds, Flemington.

The Aces and Heat will play 4 games on 13 -15 January, with 7pm starts on Thursday 13 January and Friday 14 January.  There will also be a massive double header starting at 4.30pm on Saturday 15 January 2010 with Game One at 4.30pm and Game 2 at 7.30pm.

And in a first for the Melbourne Aces, Southern FM is proud to announce that it will be broadcasting live from Flemington Showgrounds on 15 January 2011, going to air at 7pm for the crunch second game of the Aces v Heat double header.

The two teams will then head across the country to play 4 more games in Perth to finish the ABL season from 20 – 22 January.

Whilst making the finals is any club’s main goal at the start of the season, the main prize is being able to play those finals at home in order to benefit from that extra lift in intensity that only home supporters can provide.

The ABL table currently stands as follows:

 
  Club W  L  PCT  GB  *ELIM #       
  Adelaide 18 12 .600 – –        
  Perth 18 14 .563 1.0 –        
  Sydney 17 14 .548 1.5 –        
  Melbourne 16 15 .516 2.5 –        
  Brisbane 13 17 .433 5.0 7        
  Canberra 11 21 .344 8.0 3        

Only the top 4 teams will make the playoffs, and with fifth placed Brisbane recording some strong wins of late the Aces need to make sure they put up a strong home stand against the Heat before heading across to face Perth in their home cauldron to finish the ABL season.

In the ABL playoffs, the team finishing first will host the team finishing second in a best of 3 series from January 27 – 29.  The winner of that matchup will have the honour of hosting the Australian Baseball League Championship in a 3 game series on February 11 – 13.

Unlike our American baseballing compatriots, where the World Series goes back and forwards between the two cities involved, in the Australian Baseball League all 3 games will be on the home turf of the team that wins when first plays second.

The team that finishes third for the season will host the team who comes fourth for a 3 game series on each night of January 27 – 29, and the winner of that matchup will face the winner of the first v second series to determine the other team in the Championship Series.

The equation is simple – for your Melbourne Aces to play finals baseball at their fantastic home ground, the Melbourne Showgrounds, they need to finish the season no lower than third place.

The Aces will need to be at their best to catch the third placed Sydney. Given however that Sydney plays the struggling Canberra Cavalry in their last 4 games to end the season it is absolutely vital that the Aces come out firing against the Heat in Melbourne.

Dare we say, the Perth Heat have been in sizzling form, managing to win all 4 games at Sydney to surge into second spot and in contention to play for a place in the Championship Series in week one of the finals.

Perth Heat starting pitcher Matt Zachary was last week named Player of the Week for Round 8 after throwing down seven complete innings while conceding just four hits, no runs, and no walks while striking out four Blue Sox batters.

Perth’s Robbie Widlansky is also 6th in the ABL for batting average for the season with a very impressive average of 0.328.

The Aces have the second and third best batting averages for the ABL season in Melbourne’s very own Andrew Russell and Grant Karlsen who have averages of 0.363 and 0.354 respectively.  These local lads have no doubt caught the eye of many of the 28 of the 30 Major League teams who have sent scouts to Australia to scour new talent.  Andrew Russell has also belted an ABL high 7 home runs for the season, and will be looking to go deep against Perth at the Showgrounds.

 It will be a massive series against the Heat, and the Aces season may very well ride on whether it can head to Perth with a few victories under its belt as it attempts to secure that all important top 3 finish.  With the Aces dropping their last 3 games against league leaders Adelaide they are desperate for your support against the high flying Heat.

Get out to the game or join us live on 88.3 Southern FM from 7pm on Saturday 15 January 2011 with your host The Professor, Sean Callanan and Daniel Eade who are all very excited to bring Melbourne Aces baseball to the airwaves for the very first time.

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.

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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.

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Sportzfan Radio #181.2

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!28 November 2010 181.2 – Daniel wants the Tigers to get rid of their white alternate strip. Stan adds that the Tigers are hopeless at 1-7.  Mark Fiorenti talks up Australia’s chances for the 2022 World Cup and thinks the bid looks a lot better than it did three or four months ago. He also thinks the USA are favourites.  Daniel believes if Julia Gillard writes a letter of support that will sink the bid. The Professor thinks Bob Hawke should have been asked to write a letter.  Mark also wraps up A League and Premier League matches of interest.  He thinks it is Chelsea’s title to lose.  Dr Leslie’s CSA returns to the show after a few weeks off.  Daniel is not happy that the Professor signed off with “We all hope we get the 2022 World Cup”…this then promotes a discussion as to who actually wants the World Cup.  Stan and Daniel don’t want it.  The Gelding hopes we do get it.  Suitably chastened, the Professor re-announces “The Gelding and I both hope we get it, Daniel and Stan definitely don’t”.   The Panel then discuss emails about the Australian Test selections.  The Gelding thinks the role of wicketkeeper has changed over the years as we now pick a wicketkeeper that is an allrounder.  Stan believes it is no good trying to make a batsman into a wicketkeeper.  Paul Dalligan is back to talk rugby league….didn’t the season finish eight weeks ago?  He talks about Russell Crowe leaking details of Greg Inglis’ contract on a US talk show.  The NRL are now looking more closely at the deal.  The Professor asks why this deal is different to the Mark Gasnier deal.  Daniel thinks it would be good for Crow to team up with Inglis at the Rabbitohs.  Paul then goes on to talk baseball and the ABL.  Unfortunately, the Melbourne Aces first three home games have been rained out.  We give a shout out to a new listener…Lisa Haye’s husband.  The Panel talk about Mark “Choco” Williams appointment as Kevin Sheedy’s assistant at Greater Western Sydney.  This leads into a discussion of whether Sheedy will actually coach the team in 2012.  Stan decides to swing the axe and believes Mick Malthouse and Kevin Sheedy have reached their use by date and should retire as the old guys are keeping the younger coaches out of jobs.  Sean Callanan comes on to talk social media and discusses the Dallas Cowboys forgetting to renew their domain name so they were left without a website and thinks the IT man at the Cowboys may be out of a job.  The Denver Broncos have been fined $100,000 for filming the 49ers at practice.  Sean talks about Vince Young apologising to his coach Jeff Fisher by text and says it is probably not the most effective means of doing that.  A listener queries why Young didn’t call Fisher as he had the phone in his hand sending the text.

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Sportzfan Radio #180

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!21 November 2010 180.1 – The Panel are live at the Bentleigh Festival, Stan gets the show going with another seaching question about the Melboure Tigers. Daniel looks at convincing the Professor to join with him and make a move for the Tigers franchise. There is also a discussion surrounding the ABL’s rules regarding a double header. Daniel has been told the first game is only 7 innings whilst the second game is 9 innings. Why not start the game 45 minutes earlier and play 9 innings? The Panel discusses Chris from Barwon Heads email regarding Shane Warne and they discuss Warne’s contribution to Victorian cricket. The Panel welcomes Bentleigh MLA Rob Hudson to the show and Daniel asks if he recommends use of mints (like Jeff Kennett). Rob outlines the announcements made by the Labor party with respect to upgrades to sports venues in his electorate and also building programs in schools. There is no truth in the rumor that Rob had been approached by St Kilda as a specialist kicking coach. The Gelding discusses the horse racing at Moonee Valley and Rosehill. The Gedling and Sydney Colt managed to pick 3 winners and 2 placings from six selections. There is also a discussion about jockeys and trainers being caught gambling and the Federal Court decision handed down during the week in favor of Racing NSW and their 1.5% betting tax per dollar. Daniel talks about the trade of Aussie David Anderson from the Toronto Raptors to the New Orleans Hornets. The move should be good for Anderson as the Raptors are at the bottom of the ladder and the Hornets are at the top. There is also a brief discussion regarding the AFL draft and St Kilda picking up Polo and Gamble from other AFL clubs but Paul Gamble doesn’t think they will make the difference. He won’t say whether he believes the premiership window is still open for the Saints but he does talk about need for flywire screens on portholes in submarines and we are still trying to work that out. Given it is cricket season the Gambler starts a discussion about England’s Graeme Swann who the Gelding describes as a ‘different unit’.

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Sportzfan Radio #179.1

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!14 November 2010 179.1 – The Professor starts by asking Daniel whether there should be a “mercy rule’ in basketball like there is in baseball, which then starts a discussion on the Melbourne Aces and whether their double header games are only 7 innings in length. The Gambler gives an update on Danish Rock who has been put out in the paddock for a six week spell. Stan has more basketball questions for Daniel about the Melbourne Tigers including whether an import (or two) will be sacked. Daniel says if the Tigers are 0-6 after the next two games they will both be sacked. Daniel doesn’t think Al Westover will be sacked though. The Gambler complains about the traffic created by the Australian Masters golf. Mordiboy sends a text predicting Tiger Woods not being able to win the tournament and thinks Daniel Gaunt will win by a shot. The Gelding discusses yesterday’s racing at Sandown and Rosehill. He says with the track being a ‘heavy 9’, runners needed some wet weather form to be in with a show. He says that like Danish Rock, Queen Asa is also going out for a spell.

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Sportzfan Radio #166.2

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@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!8 August 2010 166.2 –The Panel say it’s all very well to have a baseball league but where will Melbourne Aces play their home games.  No decision made on that as yet as we understand it, but hopefully not Altona as both Daniel and Trav say they won’t go to that venue.  Nick Tedeschi talks NRL and believes Canterbury Bulldogs are the bet of the weekend v Newcastle.  We catch him before he heads out to the SCG to watch the Roosters play St George and felt it would be nostalgic to see League played at the SCG again.  He says Israel Folau will defintely come back to rugby league after his flirtation with the AFL.  We get Dr Leslie’s CSA in earlier this week so we can do more stool gazing before the end of the show.  Daniel says Brett Favre can’t be @packers4 on twitter as the Professor already has that handle.  Daniel reviews the Melbourne Tigers tour of ‘the world’ and notes that they beat England but lost to the University of Pittsburgh.  Stan wonders whether the Tigers should be investing more in players than spending it on a bonding tour.  Sean Callanan joins the discussion and says Stan’s point is fair enough, but he guesses the Tigers are looking at getting advantage from sharing knowledge with other teams aound the world.  The Professor finds it funny that the Tigers are playing the “Irish All Stars”.  The Panel discusses whether there should be a Hall of Fame for the players who actually help the stars into the Hall of Fame by doing the blocks or opening the running lanes.  Sean thinks that a Brett Favre reality show on his “Decision” to comeback (or not) would be a weekly program not a one off.  The Panel gets a tweet from @BrisbaneNBL announcing an attempt to revive the Brisbane Bullets franchise.  Sean thinks sports fans would struggle to name five NBL players.  He doesn’t know when the Tigers will appear on twitter and fires in a record number of sports cliches on Collingwood’s run to the finals.