16 January 2011 185.1 – The Professor, Daniel, the Gambler and Sportzfan Stan are back for 2011, bigger and better than ever. There is some discussion to start the show about Sportzfan Radio’s Christmas party and the Gelding now being a greyhound expert as well. They also discuss the first radio broadcast of an ABL game in Victoria from the previous evening by Southern FM. The Panel then discuss Stan’s call for the sacking of the AFL’s Andrew Demetriou over the decision of choosing Virgin Blue over Qantas as the airline transporting the teams. Dan Butterly talks US sport including the NFL playoffs and selects New England to beat the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons over the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears over the Seattle Seahawks. Dan also talks about some of the coaching changes at NFL teams who haven’t made the playoffs. He wraps up the College football season and says it will be interesting to see what the NCAA do about the Cam Newton situation and possible rule infractions as it could be that Auburn may not hold the national championship they won. He is still all for a BCS playoff series whether it be an 8 or 12 team series and would like to see that in place sooner rather than later. The Gelding talks racing from Flemington and discusses the winners and losers in racing from the weekend’s meetings. The Panel then look at the Australian cricket team, the chairman of selectors, the CEO and the coach. Stan calls for an inquiry to be headed by Ric Charlesworth. Daniel says it’s good that Stan is finally giving someone a job given that he has sacked so many over the last few months. Stan says Tim Nielsen’s record as a coach on a win/loss basis is terrible and he should be sacked.
Tag Archives: the-professor
Gelding’s tips for 15 January 2011
The Gelding’s attention is on Flemington this fine Saturday and isn’t it wonderful to see the sun shining!
As always the bets are on an each way and all up basis.
Flemington
Race 3 Horse 1 – Warm Love (for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 4 Horse 4 – Fashion Black
Race 5 Horse 2 – Verdasco (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)
Race 8 Horse 6 – Lord Pindari
You can hear me discuss all today’s racing results with the Professor from 12.30pm tomorrow on Sportzfan Radio broadcast on 88.3 Southern FM.
Good luck and good punting!
The Gelding
The Melbourne Aces – The Heat Is On….
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.
Australian cricket needs a revamp and quickly!
I often listen to Stan (@sportzfanstan) on Sportzfan Radio calling for underperforming sports administrators and coaches to be sacked. Recently, he has been critical of the Australian Test team’s performance in the Ashes series against England and I would say with good
reason.
If I compare how the successful teams from other codes behave – Collingwood in the AFL and St George in the NRL, there are hallmarks that lead to that success. Discipline, elite training regimes centred around world class training facilities, an astute and experienced coach, forward planning for filling the gaps that regularly occur in the playing ranks over time, investment (money and time) in drafting replacements and succession planning.
These hallmarks are not apparent in the Australian cricket team. I am continually surprised at Australian players making comments in the media regarding team selection, injuries and batting order. At best this shows an amateurish approach by those in charge of Australian cricket. Can you imagine for 
one moment that Alan Didak would suggest that a fellow Collingwood team mate should be playing in place of another?…or that he should be playing on a half forward flank as opposed to the wing? It just would not happen. Please take note James Sutherland.
Australian cricket was once at the forefront of all cricketing nations in all forms of the game. Well out in front of the pack with the rest struggling to remain a respectable distance behind, let alone catch up. Instead of building and laying solid foundations for the future, leading Australian cricket administrators have taken their eye off the road ahead and it has been left to deteriorate to the shambles that it is today.
There is one thing for certain. In this crowded sporting marketplace, it takes little time to lose relevance with the sporting public….just ask the NBL. Professionalism of a high order needs to be injected into Australian cricket and quickly and this means more than changing captains, players, coaches or selectors. An attitude change is required and quickly to reverse the trend.
Sportzfan Radio #184.1
19 December 2010 184.1 – The show starts off with a festive intro and Daniel, Stan, the Gelding and the Professor talk about what they would like for Christmas. Daniel then discusses the blockbuster NBA trade sending Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson & Hedu Turkoglou to the Orlando Hornets for Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus. Stan is all over the poor form of the Melbourne Tigers and the Houston Rockets scouting Eric Devendorf and Luke Nevill. Daniel says the Tigers need a miracle to make the playoffs.
Nick Tedeschi comes on to talk rugby league and the retirement through the week of Eric Grothe Jnr from Parramatta Eels. Nick thinks Eric did not live up to his potential and was basically a waste of space, He believes the Eels may go after Greg Inglis as they have a very big war chest. He sees Canterbury as being the big improvers next season. The Wests Tigers can go one better and make the Grand Final and Melbourne Storm will bounce back. Parramatta Eels and Cronulla will struggle in 2011.
The Gelding and the Sydney Colt talk winners and losers at Flemington and Randwick whilst Mark Fiorenti talks all things soccer with the A League and Premier League updates.
Sportzfan Radio #183.2
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.
Sportzfan Radio #183.1
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.
Gelding’s tips for 11 December 2010
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
From the colony to the colonised….Football’s not coming home but to new frontiers….and without a dose of “Fair Play” (Part 2)
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
Sportzfan Radio #182.2
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.