9 October 2011 222.1 – The Panel put the heat on Mark Fiorenti to start with regarding him jumping off the Melbourne Victory bandwagon to support Melbourne Heart. Sportzfan Stan talks about the continuing negotiations between the AFL and the AFLPA. Daniel can’t understand why both parties go to a Mediator to sort it out. The Professor talks about the John Travolta safety video taken out of circulation by Qantas although we don’t know what that has got to do with sport! The Panel also discuss whether hot tubbing is a sport or how it could become one and the great winning run of Black Caviar. The Gelding comes on to discuss yesterday’s racing and awards a number of S-hit rides. He is followed by the Sydney Colt who also has an S-hit ride to talk about.
Tag Archives: melbourne-victory
Sportzfan Radio #199.2
24 April 2011 199.2 – Mark Fiorenti also looks at the mathematical possibilities of Melbourne Victory and Sydney in making the knockout round of the Asians Champions League. He says Arsenal’s mediocre recent form with two draws seems to have finished its Premier League run. Sportzfan Stan believes Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger should be sacked. The Panel talk with Southern Football League CEO, Wayne Holdsworth about Jason Akermanis playing as a ‘gun for hire’ in local leagues and whether it is a good thing for football at grass roots level. Drugs in sport also raises its head again with Alberto Contador still cycling notwithstanding he has been found guilty of returning a positive test to clenbutrenol. He has lodged an appeal with the Courts of Arbitration for Sport and can ride pending the appeal. Sportzfan Stan says it is an outrage. Paul Dalligan comes on the show to talk rugby league and this week’s round of matches. He goes out on a limb and selects the Roosters to beat the Dragons 16-12. He discusses the off field trouble that Todd Carney and Anthony Watts have found themselves in and says it is a massive blow for the Roosters. Sean Callanan talks sports digital and Essendonfc will use a fan cam tomorrow to take a panoramic digital picture of the crowd at tomorrow’s Anzac Day game. He also discusses new teams strategies to draw in fans especially for the new 20/20 franchises, the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. Don’t forget next week is the 200th Sportzfan Radio show.
Sportzfan Radio #198.2
17 April 2011 198.2 – The Gelding sends a cheerio to two new listeners who do the gardening whilst listening to Sportzfan Radio. Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and confesses to not having sent a second tweet as yet. He also discusses further departures at the Melbourne Victory, Asian Champions League and the mouth watering Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Barcelona. With six games to go, Mark doesn’t believe Arsenal can catch Manchester United in the Premier League. The Socceroos are back in the top twenty after their win against Germany. Paul Dalligan talks NRL and thanks channel 9 for broadcasting the Melbourne Storm game at Penrith this afternoon. The Panel discuss the NRL teams solidarity and foundations go out the window at this time of year when players and coaches announce their intentions on where they will be playing mid season. Paul doesn’t like the whole process. He believes it has got to affect the onfield performance. The Gelding disagrees that is affects performance. Daniel is confused as to how Damian Martin from the Perth Wildcats was awarded the Player of the Month in the NBL. This leads to a discussion of what MVP actually means. Sean Callanan talks social media and coverage of sport on mobile phones. The NBA spike in numbers is coming from people following the league by mobile phone. It is one area that the AFL could lift in. One issue in Australia is the lack of or poor coverage on 3G network in stadiums.
Sportzfan Radio #197.1
10 April 2011 197.1 – Golf returns to the show with Mordiboy (aka Fatman Blues) talking the US Masters in Augusta and how well the Australian golfers are doing. Mordiboy had picked Lee Westwood to win, however he is too far back now. Daniel queries why the Gelding’s segment starts with the James Bond theme. The Professor says it is because Gelding is an ‘International Man of Mystery’. The Gelding reviews the days racing results at Caulfield and Randwick. After being ‘in form’ in recent weeks, he had a bad day and awards three S-Hit rides. He again advises Daniel that ‘You can’t eat odds’. Dr Leslie’s CSA comes along to clean up after the racing segment. Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk soccer and says although Melbourne Victory has a mathematical chance of making the next round of the Asian Champions League…it is unrealistic. Roy Keane has been linked to the Victory coaching position but Mark doubts his coaching credentials. The Gelding asks if the money would be better spent on a marquee player rather than a coach.
Sportzfan Radio #193.1
13 March 2011 193.1 – To start the show the Panel wish Sportzfan Stan a Happy 90th Birthday. Stan says the secret of longevity for men is to have a healthy interest in the female sex. He may have done his dash with the ladies at the Tennis club. 
Stan leads off with a rant about another cyclist Franco Pellizotti being sanctioned for blood doping. Both he and the Gelding believe drug cheats should be banned for more than 2 years as the 2 year ban doesn’t seem to be deterring athletes from trying to illegally enhance their performance. The Panel then talk with Lynne Anderson from Repucom who released their 9th annual benchmarking report on valuing media exposure for sports sponsorship during the week. AFL Clubs in front but NRL Clubs are closing the gap. The Gelding talks about his efforts at the track at Flemington having a successful day tipping 3 winners and a second from 5 selections. He talks about how good Black Caviar actually is and compares
her with great horses of the past. Undeniably broke the Gelding’s 23 race run with a placing or better. He almost awards an S-Hit ride for Michael Rodd’s effort on Undeniably. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer. He admits that although he has a twitter account he has yet to send a tweet. He discusses what he believes the reasons are behind Ernie Merrick’s sacking by the Melbourne Victory.
Sportzfan Radio #192.2
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 #191.2
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.
Sportzfan Radio #190.2
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.
A Heart stopper for this fan
My visit to the heart mechanic this morning didn’t exactly go to plan….
I (unusually) arrived early so I decided to kill the time reading the headlines in one of our leading newspapers…..Whilst the 1.25 litre bottle of water I was drinking may have disguised my morning custard tart and flat white from the impending blood pressure reading, the headline on the front page certainly didn’t.
“Soccer fans the Worst”.
So a top cop says.
I’m not a police officer, but a fan of the A-League and moreover, the world game, and not here to dispute what the chief says. I repeat however, I am a football fan….something I’m unsure Victoria Police and large sections of our media fail to understand. But more on that later…
I am baffled though, why this newspaper felt so compelled to report this story on its front page….
This, on the same day the A-League finals commence. Coincidence or conspiracy?Where was the report previewing the A-League finals campaign? Half way through the sports section…..Or the report reviewing the football purists’ wet dream (that is, Arsenal vs Barcelona in the Champions’ League round of 16) and the former’s stirring comeback? It was a mere footnote…..
Or the right of reply to the refreshing and challenging remarks made by former Socceroo, Llubo Milicevic earlier this week in which he stated, amongst other things, many AFL and NRL players allegedly take drugs, yet get away with it because those codes’ stance on drugs being built on thin “ice”. No pun intended. I’m still looking for it…..
I did however, read an article the other day in the same newspaper about a self confessed drug and alcohol user and former AFL star whose former partner would rather spend a night with the lions (no, not the AFL club) on their African holiday than him, being offered a lucrative contract to try and do his best Fred Astaire impersonation on Dancing with the Stars It’s ironic how sections of our media continually throw lifelines to AFL footballers who can’t, nor know, how to control their emotions, yet throws the boot in on passionate and emotional fans at football games!
This is not the first time my temples have been pounding at the sight of such news…..
The night after the first A-League and Melbourne football derby was played, sections of our media, rather than embrace the significance of the game, ran beat up stories about alleged violence between sections of supporters of both clubs and how those supporters allegedly vandalised our public transport system. Yet how many people did Victoria Police arrest that night? One. It must have been a slow news day….Oh, but the Caulfield Guineas was on that same weekend and 57 people were allegedly arrested for underage drinking. Well so I heard on the grapevine…..
With A-League crowd numbers already way down on those of the opening season, sections of our media seem intent on chasing more fans away from the world game. Even lower crowd numbers are surely to be the consequence of such stories and the heavy handed manner in which the more enthusiastic, active fans are being treated by security staff and police around the country.
And so to the point I alluded to earlier…..
Football fans are a rare and unique breed. Our authorities, media and the administrators of the game cannot expect a passive and sanitised form of support witnessed in other football codes. Football supporters are, above all, fans. They have too much pent-up passion to be able to sit there quietly and cheer when the odd goal goes in. Of course they will get passionate if and when the winning and only goal is scored in the 94th minute of a pulsating context or the referee makes a bad decision which affects the outcome of the game!
Football fans see themselves as members of the team and will do whatever they can to contribute to the defeat of the opposing team. Hence the songs they sing, the giant banners supporting a team or player, the horns, the drums and the hardcore fan groups. The passion extends beyond the field and into the stands and a connection is built that makes every fan more than a mere spectator.
It is why at many football clubs around the world, like Boca Juniors for example, there is no number 12 squad shirt – the number being reserved for the fans who are collectively seen as the 12th man. This is non existent in other football codes.
This does not of course mean that passion which is channelled into violence should be accepted or go uncontrolled. There is no doubt certain fans are tarnishing the A-League brand. I’m not that ignorant and/or one eyed. But as a regular attendant at many A-League games since its inception, I cannot help but observe and note a consistent misunderstanding between our authorities and the games’ fans. Passionate, positive support should not be confused with football hooliganism, an extremely different and ugly beast. It is this difference that I feel our authorities and media do not fully understand and moreover, embrace.
Further, I see no justification for an unnecessarily high police presence at A-League games such as the one witnessed at the Melbourne Victory vs Newcastle Jets game last month. As a friend later remarked, “There was not one hint of violence….That sort of police presence will only fire up fans even more!”
And let’s not let the flare throwing individual take the headlines away from a game which has given the world mouth watering local derbies steeped in history and many nations joy in times of despair.
Sportzfan Radio #185.2
16 January 2011 185.2 – Daniel believes that skill goes out the window in 20/20 cricket and therefore this is not a good thing for cricketers who are wanting to be successful in test matches. He says 20/20 should be scrapped. The Professor says there are too many players over thirty in Australia’s cricket sides and the Gambler suggests that perhaps there should be a compulsory retirement age. Daniel thinks it could be a case of mates scratching mate’s backs and even he gets into the groove suggesting sackings. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer in particular the Asian Cup and reviews the Socceroos matches against India and South Korea. He thinks Holger Osieck is demanding a more attacking game from the Socceroos. He thinks the squad is getting older and a few players are at the end of the road. Mark also talks about the A League, in particular the form of Melbourne Heart and Melbourne Victory and the poor crowds attending A League matches. There is also a discussion with the Panel on the happenings in Premier League with Man Utd, Man City & Arsenal going well at the top. Paul Dalligan chats about the ABL and the recent poor form of the Melbourne Aces having lost 6 in a row. He also talks with the Professor about Sportzfan Radio’s broadcast of the Aces match against Perth Heat. Paul even manages to sneak a discussion of rugby league in even though it is not in season. Daniel exclusively announces a charity baskets game to aid the Flood relief appeal. Sean Callanan comes on to talk social media and a Liverpool soccer player being charged by the Football Association over what he had written in his twitter account. The Gambler talks about Essendon FC’s high numbers on their Facebook account. The Panel conclude with their thoughts on which Australian tennis players will do well in the Australian Open.