Maybe that’s why Tasmania can never have an AFL team.

Especially when a Tassie stays with a Swedish.

How would you define “racism”?

I cannot imagine anything more racist than a Swedish saying that she needs no help from RMIT on English because she’s “not Asian” and then when in meetings, give a snide look and would rather ask someone else for the meaning of a word an Asian just used.

Especially if she’s a Tassie’s housemate. (More to reveal.)

Pauline Hanson galore. Wait, not really. Hanson’s arguments can sometimes be seen through economic lenses, especially as a reaction against Paul Keating. (Presuming Don Watson to be truthful and accurate.)

Maybe that’s why Tasmania can never have an AFL team.

Especially when a Tassie stays with a Swedish.

Then Swedish gets to work with another Tassie and tries to kick Tassie out of a team on the basis of meeting with an unfortunate accident at work while denying any contribution made whatsoever.

In that way, there’s no way you can have rights. I suppose.

Because the first Tassie is all about student rights. Well, the bleeding heart of an anarchist – pardon the wrong use of “bleeding heart” if it is – would not permit the governmentality of anti-racism efforts, I’d guess. Particularly when exercising laws or regulations is part and parcel of governmentality.

Clearly, in this case, the anarchist abetted with the racist.

I suppose that’s why the Student Rights Office at Bundoora insisted that I meet with a certain Tassie at the City Campus. The Swedish’s housemate.

Or maybe that interpretation wasn’t correct: Maybe Swedish tried to kill all Tassies with the help of a Jew.

I’ll try to keep in mind next time that when Singaporeans ask me in classes why the Aussies can’t spell (including university tutors and lecturers), I’ll just agree with the wide sentiment spilled over from the Pauline Hanson affair that Aussies are stupid.

Well, just not the ones in Singapore. Because Singapore’s immigration law concerning professionals, by and large, only takes the best.

American Football League

The new AFL will start its inaugural season the first Saturday of March, 2011. The AFL is no cheap knock off of the NFL like the UFL, but rather a new football league that brings together all the Americas with 18 teams in North and South America.  The rules will be a mix of the best rules from the NFL, Arena Football and the CFL.  The two most notable changes will be that games will be played on a field the same as in soccer and instead of 4 quarters, there will be two half’s.

Notable differences in the AFL from The NFL

• AFL football fields will be 120yds length and 80yds wide.
  • This will speed up the game and make it much more exciting
  • Current soccer stadiums can be used for football games
  • Only two point conversions will exist in the AFL no 1 point kicks
  • First Downs will be every 15-yards
  • There will be two half’s with each being 35 Minutes long
    • In-between the two half’s will be a 15-minute break.
    • One player may be moving forward on offense before the snap of the ball
    • In overtime each team will get a shot to score with the ball being placed on the 40yd line of the opposing team.
    • Kickoffs will occur from the 34yd line of the kicking team
    • Two time outs per half per team
    • No tuck rule
    • 12 players with five required to be on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped
    • Rule applies to both offense and defense
    • Two more referees than the NFL will exist on the field
    • If a player is charged with pass interference in the enzone and the ball is ruled catchable, then the team with possession will be awarded with the touchdown.
      • Other pass interference calls will be spot fouls.
      • Penalties
        • When a player receives a penalty they will be asked to leave the field for 5-minutes and after two penalties they will sit out the remainder of that half.
        • If a player receives two personal fouls they will be ejected from the remainder of the game and the first half of the next game.
      • First official team practice may not begin earlier than 3-months prior to the start of the season.
      • All rookie players must live together in a communal living situation for their first playing year.

Teams

Who will be getting a team and which players will play for these teams?  Most host cities in the U.S will not have an NFL team and in Canada the CFL will be converting the best teams to the AFL and ceasing to operate the CFL.  The NFL has hosted games in Mexico City for years, and now Mexico City will get two teams. The league hopes that the recent success of Rugby in South America will breed players that may crossover to the AFL.

AFL Teams:

North:

1. BC  Lions – Vancouver
2. Saskatchewan Roughriders – Prince Albert
3. Quebec Alouettes – Montreal
4. Alberta Stampeed – Calgary
5. Ontario Tigers – Toronto
6. Utah Avalanche – Salt Lake City

Central

1. California Bears – Los Angeles
2. Nebraska  Buffalos – Omaha- Lincoln
3. Oklahoma Indians –(first major league teamed owned my a Native American tribe)
4. Baja Bandits –  Tijuana
5. Virginia Minors – Richmond
6. Kentucky Red Raiders – Louisville

South

1. Texas Rangers – Austin
2. Mexico  – Mexico City
3. Brazil  – Rio
4. Argentina
5. Puerto Rico – San Juan
6. Costa Rica – San Jose

Regular Season

There will be no sanctioned pre-season games, but officials have said they have interest in NFL vs. AFL matchups. The regular season will be shorter than the NFL and more like college football with 10 regular season games.

Each team will play every team in their division and the top four teams in the division will play in the playoffs.

Playoffs and Championship Games

Following US Baseball, the AFL will have divisional playoffs.

• Divisional Playoffs
  • The top four teams will play in a sudden death tournament.
    • 1 vs. 3 and 2 vs. 4
    • The winning two teams will move on to the League Playoffs.
• League Playoffs
  • Each team will play each team once, equaling six more games
  • The top two teams after the six games will go onto the Championship
  • Championship
    • Known as the Americas Cup, the top two teams will meet each for the best of three games
    • The three games will be played in a host city, which may be different than those playing in the championship
    • The championship games will be played in different cities each year.
      • 2011- Los Angeles
      • 2012 – Mexico City
      • 2013 – Toronto
      • 2014 – Rio
      • After the first four years the host city will be that of the previous years champion

Salaries

Unlike other professional sports, salaries in the AFL will not be muti-million dollar contracts. The league wants players who love to play the game and want to make a good living to do so.

• Each player will be paid an equal some of $175,000 dollars a year
• Bonuses may be given based on their performance given at the end of each season.
• Players will  be fined minimum of $1,000 for penalties and other types of infractions.
• A player may receive a signing bonus when they sign a 4+ year contract with one team.
• Each team will have a recruiting bonus cap of $8.5m a year.

Draft and Player Acquisition

There is no official draft, as the AFL will utilize recruiting methods to get the best players they can.  They may utilize their bank of recruiting bonuses to lure key players to their organization.

So where will players come from?

• Not drafted College Players
• CFL players
• Rugby Players
• Former NFL players
• NFL players who want to play more

A team may only have a roster of 36 players. The AFL hopes to one day be strong enough to acquire top players before they enter the NFL.

TV and Broadcasting

DirecTV has signed on to carry each AFL game with the ability to select the game of the week you wish to watch from your remote. A viewer will get only 5 minutes to change their selected game.  In Canada, only Bell Express-Vu has signed on to carry the games. The league hopes to sign major national TV stations in each region to carry other games.

• Games will be broadcasted in HD with French, English and Spanish commentaries.
• No TV timeouts, however sponsors will receive ad placement on the TV screen

By CHARLES HAPPELL

Once again, the AFL National Draft has dominated the sports media in the past fortnight in a way that defies logic, reason or any form of commonsense.

Consider this: pages and pages of newsprint, gigabytes of cyberspace and hours of talkback radio have been given over to 17- and 18-year-old footballers most of us have never heard of. And, the stats would suggest, are unlikely to hear much of again.

We’ve had stories about little players, big players, players who’ve recovered from life-threatening illnesses, players who’ve grown up in one-horse towns and players who’ve been brought up by maiden aunts. We’ve had pieces about who’s going to be picked at No.1, the likely top 25 candidates, who’s got the highest standing vertical leap, who has the best beep test, who eats the most Weetbix for breakfast and which of these gentlemen prefer blondes.

Forget the Melbourne Cup, this is the new sporting event that stops a nation – or a deranged part of the nation that is obsessed by such things. The one day in November when footy tragics tune in to the Foxsports telecast, or SEN broadcast, or afl.com.au webcast, to discover which of these young men get assigned to their club.

The obsession really is a tale of our sporting times. And a living example of how the AFL has taken over the sporting landscape in vast tracts of Australia. The AFL season no longer ends neatly on the last weekend in September. It drifts over into October when we have trade week, pauses briefly for Melbourne Cup week – although it is footballers, of course, who dominate the social pages out at Flemington – then hits full stride again before Draft Day in November.

(And it’s not just the teenage would-be champions who beguile us. I’d guess more words have been printed in the Herald-Sun and The Age about Luke Ball’s future since the grand final than have been printed about Barack Obama. That’s just a guess, but I’d be willing to lay a small wager on it.)

On Thursday night, the draftees’ names will be called out by clubs in a staccato ceremony so full of dead time it makes the Brownlow Medal count seem like a candidate for the Tony Awards.

These kids will have their moment in the sun – or the TV arc lights – and good on them. But, the brutal reality is that the vast majority of them will never get to play 100 games. And only a tiny percentage will become the household names they’ve always dreamt of becoming.

The facts, taken from AFL drafts between 1996 and 2005, are these:

* 29% of top 10 selections play 50 games or fewer; only 51% reach 100 games.

* 55% of those picked after selection No.10 play 50 games or fewer.

* 44% of those picked after selection No.10 play 25 games or fewer.

* 16% of those picked after selection No.10 never get to take the field at all.

What these stats show is that after the first 10 picks — the standouts that Blind Freddy could see were champions-in-the-making — it’s an absolute raffle. The guy picked at No.81 has got almost as much chance of succeeding as the guy selected at No.11.

As inexact sciences go, AFL drafting is up there with economics and weather forecasting. Some duds get drafted in the top 10, while champions get overlooked until the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Consider this: Chris Grant was picked at No.105 in 1988, James Hird at No.79 in 1990, Scott Burns at No.90 in 1992, Brent Harvey at No. 47 in 1995, Brendan Fevola at No.38 in 1998 and Ryan O’Keefe at No.54 in 1999.

Of course some of the boys written about in the past fortnight will go on to become household names. They’ll be the Judds, Hodges and Murphys of the next decade – even the Hirds, Grants and Harveys. But let’s wait until they become champions, or even 100-game journeymen, before devoting acres of newsprint, hours of airtime and gigabytes of cybermemory to careers that have not yet even started. For the sake of the trees.

It’s the middle of November and the AFL pre-season is officially starting to get under way. It’s the time of year club’s typically begin their membership drive – cheesy slogans and all – and whad’ya know, I’ve decided to comment on a few of them.

First up, Collingwood.

In 2008, the marketing department over at Collingwood FC convened a meeting. Their task? To come up with an inspirational membership slogan. It had to be witty, innovative, daring. It had to unite their supporter base like never before.

After hours upon hours of deliberation, they finally had it. Collingwood’s marketing department, comprising some of the greatest minds to ever enter the profession, had generated the slogan to end all slogans: Collingw08d.

Collingwood's 2008 Membership Slogan

Somehow they had managed to merge the name of their club and the year into a single word. Utterly breathtaking.

As incredible and ground-breaking as it was, it did however pose a problem. In 2009, having already raised the bar so high, how could they possibly improve upon perfection? Well…er…they couldn’t. In 2009, their slogan was Collingw09d.

Fast forward to 2010. Now it gets a little tricky. Surely they couldn’t possibly rehash this concept again? Especially now that the third digit of the year was no longer a “0″?

Don’t put anything past those down at the Lexus Centre.

Collingwood 2010 Membership Slogan

Isn’t that just jaw-droppingly brilliant? And doesn’t Nick Maxwell’s pointy, alien-like ears really top it off well?

That’s why they get the big bucks.

By ASHLEY BROWNE

About the only thing we don’t know about Tom Scully, the likely no.1 selection at Thursday’s AFL national draft is how many sugars he has in his caffe latte. By the time the draft rolls around, we will probably know that as well.

When it comes to the draft, it is now a case of information overload. There is practically nothing about the likely top 25 or 30 players that we don’t already know. Not just height, weight and position, but strengths, weaknesses and at which parts of the draft camp they really excelled. We know more about their medical histories than we do anyone outside our immediate families.

We know how they got into footy, who they barrack for, who they model themselves on and what sort of player they most closely resemble. We know that they’ll be happy to move interstate if required, even if in actual fact, they are not.

The AFL draft has become such a massive part of the yearly footy cycle that there are now footy journalists who own the “draft beat” so to speak. Matty Burgan from the AFL website was the first to cover the draft and emerging footy talent in reasonable detail, although The Age’s Emma Quayle is now recognised as the oracle, thanks to her excellent book, The Draft, which was released last year.

The amount of space the draft receives in the daily newspapers has increased five-fold in the last few years, but electronic media has taken some time to catch up. Channel Seven used to televise the draft live on a Friday morning in the late 90s, but the event dropped off the radar for a time. There was no live telecast at all of the 2001 draft that spawned, among others, Chris Judd, Luke Hodge, Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett. Channel Ten owned the rights to the live draft once it moved to Saturday mornings in 2002, but opted for a highlights show that afternoon rather than show it as it happened.

Indeed, the AFL website has been the home of the draft for the last few years with all sorts of trackers and updates and until this year, a live webcast.

But perhaps discovering the sleeping giant on its hands, Fox Sports has assumed the TV rights to the event and will show it live on Thursday night from 6.30, opening with a bizarre countdown of the top selections from no.10 to no.1, followed (hopefully) by the remaining 80 or so picks. Fox are promoting the announcement of the top 10 picks on their ads for the draft coverage, so perhaps the diehards will need to turn to the radio broadcasts on 3AW, SEN and 5AA to follow the other 80 or so selections.

What does the spark of interest in the draft tell us? Firstly, that footy remains the king of sports. The draft clashes with the first day of the First Test against the West Indies, yet there will be more journalists in the draft room than in the Gabba press box, and heaps more coverage generally, especially in the southern states. The draft offers an oasis in an otherwise long and barren footy off-season, particularly for the clubs that didn’t make the finals and have therefore been out of mind and out of sight for the best part of three months.

The draft also offers us the “loser makes good” stories. Melbourne will show off Scully and Jack Trengove and will bask in triumph, conveniently casting aside the two years of crap football that cleared the way for them having the first two selections. Dustin Martin will be hyped as the best thing to happen to the Richmond midfield since Billy Barrot. Anthony Morabito will be the cure to all Fremantle’s ills.

It all seems silly (and perhaps a bit unhealthy) to take so much interest in a bunch of 17 and 18 year old boys. But come 6.30 Thursday evening, we won’t be able to help ourselves.

24/7 Wall St. looked at a very large number of Nascar crashes to assess which were the most expensive. The crashes reviewed occurred  between 2002 and the present.

A Fox Sports analysis estimates that the cost of a single Nascar car is $125,000 for auto, engine, and labor. All of the teams carry multiple vehicles. Engine development programs run as high $3.5 million a season, although we have not prorated that into the costs of any of the crashes.

The most important hidden cost is the exposure a sponsor loses when a car is out of a race. Companies like Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), Kellogg’s (NYSE:K), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Procter & Gamble’s (NYSE:PG) Gillette division, Kraft’s (NYSE:KFT) Nabisco unit, UPS (NYSE:UPS), and Visa (NYSE:V) are unlikely to be hurt badly if a car is out of the race because they are sponsors of the all the Nascar races. Fedex (NYSE:FDX), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT),  Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), and Aflac (NYSE:AFL) are sponsors of cars and that can cost them as much as $12 million a year. If one of their cars is off the track for a large number of laps, they lose important commercial exposure.

The high cost of Nascar crashes is one of many headaches in operating a team in the sport which may make it more difficult for GM and Chrysler which have gone through Chapter 11 bankruptcy to stay in the race business at the levels that they have in the past. A weak dollar and poor global margins may even hurt Toyota’s (NYSE:TM) participation.

Each estimate below covers that cost of the car wreck and in many cases the cost of several cars being destroyed. The cost of damage to the track and facilities has also been estimated.

The list:  

Watkins Glenn, 2009, Jeff Gordon & Sam Hornish, Jr. A six car pile-up with five cars totaled and one badly damaged. Damage to the track as well. Total damage: $688,000

Dover, 2009, Joey Logano. Four cars totalled and damage to the stands. Total damage: $500,000.

Bristol Motor Speedway, 2002, Mike Harmon. T-Bone accident. Two cars totalled. Bad damage to track and stands. Total damage :  $270,000

Las Vegas, 2008, Jeff Gordon. One car totalled, with another badly damaged. Severe damage to guard posts. Total cost: $210,000.

Talladega, 2009, Ryan Newman. One car flips on roof and damages three other cars. Total: $190,000.

Talladega, 2009, Carl Edward hits Brad Keselowski and Dale, Jr. One car flies through the air and two other damaged. Severe damage to track.  Total damage: $180,000.

Talladega, 2003, Eliot Sadler. Two car crash. One totaled, another damaged.  Total: $160,000.

Daytona, 2003, Ryan Newman. Several flips and crash.  Total cost:  $150,000

Texas, 2008, Michael McDowell. New barriers save the driver. Totalled car.  Total cost: $130,000

Lowe’s, NC. 2009. Jeff Gordon, Hit Kyle Busch. Total cost:  $80,000.

Douglas A. McIntyre

These are Friday morning’s top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen early this morning in Wall Street research calls:

AFLAC (NYSE: AFL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Dominion (NYSE: D) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Removed from Conviction Buy List (still Buy rated) at Goldman Sachs.
RioTinto (NYSE: RTP) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) Raised to Hold at Soleil.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 20, 2009

By ASHLEY BROWNE

We at TDD really like Luke Ball. As a footballer and as a bloke. He is, what my dear, departed grandmother would call, a mensch (that’s Yiddish for fine upstanding man, not to be confused with the former Geelong footballer).

But the young man’s image is being tarnished ever so slightly by the appearance of draft tampering – reportedly discouraging certain clubs from calling his name at next week’s AFL national draft.

At 25 and with question marks over his football longevity, this is Ball’s last real chance to shape his career and to find a footy club that ticks most of his boxes, which presumably in his case, starts and ends with prospects of a premiership some time in the next few seasons.

But because we like the young man, we’re going to give Ball a leg-up and offer him some sort of guide as to the pros and cons of each of the clubs that are considering calling his name next week.

MELBOURNE: Ball would be a coup for Melbourne and there are many who believe that the club is so bloated with young kids and high draft selections that it can afford to take him with pick 11 or 18 on Thursday. Ball would offer much-needed experience and guidance for the kids at Demonland and you would have to think that 14 games at the MCG would suit his sometimes-fragile body better than a similar number of games at Etihad. Of course, the downside is that it is Melbourne and that the chances of a flag sometime in the next five years would be slim at best.

PORT ADELAIDE: Port has declared itself out of the running to draft Ball but Mark Williams has a cunning streak and it would not surprise one bit if he selected Ball. We would welcome that if only for the fact that it was Ball’s manager, Paul Connors, who declared during trade week that “No one wants to play at Port Adelaide.” Ball would add some steel to a side replete with downhill skiers, but you’d have to wonder whether his heart would be gladdened by the prospect of the next few years at Alberton.

ESSENDON: This is the most intriguing. From all reports, Ball has refused all entreaties from Windy Hill until now, so it would be a humbling experience should he have to join the club and commit to the cause for the next few seasons. The Dons are still a work in progress and could do with an experienced player such as Ball, if only to take some of the pressure off Jobe Watson, a similarly hard-at-it midfielder who gets sat upon by the opposition every week. The downside is 10 games at the less-forgiving Etihad Stadium and a flag that is still at least three years away.

BRISBANE: Probably a long shot, but Michael Voss is collecting retreads with the same enthusiasm as Tiger Woods collects golf trophies. So why not add Ball to his foreign legion? Playing alongside Simon Black and Luke Power in the midfield feeding the ball to Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola would surely have some appeal. As would going to a club that has clearly rolled the dice in the bid to win a flag in the next two years. If the Lions were a Melbourne-based club, Ball would have to be seriously tempted.

COLLINGWOOD: Ball to the Collingwood midfield frees up the likes of Dale Thomas and Leon Davis to spend more time in the forward line, where they’re most dangerous. 14 games at the MCG suits as does the reality that the Pies are well placed for a serious assault on the 2010. Big club and big games, it all makes sense for a player who is leaving a club to which he has a strong emotional attachment in search of greener pastures.

But the Pies are traditionally loath to pay market values during trade week, and thus missed out on securing Ball when they an opportunity to last month and it may come back to bite them on the bum next Thursday because as it stands, there are too many clubs ahead of them in the queue for whom the opportunity to draft Ball will be too tempting to ignore.

TULSA – O escritório administrativo da Arena Football One anunciou hoje que a sua oferta de compra dos ativos da Arena Football League (AFL) do administrador no Chapter 11 da lei de falência foi formalmente apresentada pelo Tribunal de Justiça (U.S. Bankruptcy Court) de Northern District em Illinois.

O Tribunal aprovou a AF1 como “stalking horse” licitante (regulador de oferta) para todos os ativos da AFL. O lance da liga no valor de USD2.5 milhões, define o valor mínimo para o processo de licitação do leilão. Outros compradores também poderão concorrer para os ativos no leilão que sestá marcado para o dia 25 de Novembro de 2009.

A AF1 está comprometida em trazer a emoção do Futebol Americano de Arena para os fãs após um ano de ausência dos mercados da AFL.

“Este é mais um passo positivo em nossos esforços para levar a diversão e a agitação do Futebol Americano de Arena para os fãs de todo o país”, afirmou o encarregado da liga Jerry Kurz. “Nosso objetivo é criar empregos e oportunidades para jogadores, treinadores, pessoas que fazem o operacional e as pessoas que trabalhos nos escritórios da liga e das equipes em todo o páis, e para trazer um bom entretenimento acessível ao público.”

Once again we fly off to new highs on most indexes. There was no true direction all day today, but we managed to close a little higher, again on weak v. Early in the day the UUP and the VIX were both up, and the UUP managed to stay up, but the VIX finally gave up its gains. Once again the TLT finished up nearly 1/2 percent. The weak sectors seemed to be housing, consumer discretionary, and utilities, while materials, and banks seemed to have some strength. Definitely not a strong up move, but an up move none-the-less. Let’s look at some charts:

This is a 60 min. chart of the VIX. I show this to illustrate how it opened sideways and then began losing steam an hour into the day dropping slowly all day, with an up move the last 1/2 of the day. We have now formed a new wedge on the D chart, and you can see the support line forming here on this chart. I will be looking for a move up from here, even though we took out my 22.77 support. On the D chart we have a hammer on the support.

We are still in a bearish divergence on the DOW. It really looked like we were topping 5 days ago, but we surged right past my 10360 and are headed right towards the top of the range. Note the low of the day, 10360 ( oh all right it was 10361.99, you guys are tough). I really expected that 10360 to offer a lot more resistance, especially in light of the divergence, but it is all the SPX’s fault.

You see the SPX refuses to hit 1120! If the SPX had rallied up to 1120 about the same time the DOW hit 10360, we would have been primed for a sell off. All this for a measly 10 points! Now though, the market makers are going to try to stick it to the option traders, so this mkt. will be manipulated as much as possible the next few days to cause as much pain as possible for us option traders ( at least those holding November).

Even my coveted NASDAQ gave up the ghost on me and alas we have yet another failed head and shoulders pattern and a new high. Sigh. The last move up from high to high was 27 points, if that holds we should top near 2219. But, that is a very loose guide and we could see a reversal anytime, but we will likely find support on that new short-term trend line that was broken once.

A very strong day yesterday on the RUT, but a pretty decent reversal candle today. The 20 ma appears to still be heading down, and the RSI is looking to make another lower high.

After yesterday’s complete disregard for my beautiful support at 22.30, The UUP finally screwed its head on straight and move back above it, even though the mkt. was up. Now, for this series of higher lows on the RSI to stay in tact, we will have to continue up from here. I could see us moving up easily from here, but I think we will need to see some v to have that up move, and we sure haven’t seen that for a few days.

All right, I like these set-ups which I call cliff walkers (cliffs for short). If you want to be a little frisky you could short this to support, but the safe play will be the breach of $5. Once it hits there, it will likely bounce a little and then drop through the $5 support. I have an alert on it already.

Another cliff play on JCP. A near bearish engulfing filling a mini bear flag. If support is broke look for good short entry, with 29.50 as stop. Note the slight v increase today 2 days after earnings. Also look at the widening of the bbs.

I like this as a short because the v is decreasing, the RSI seems to be turning, it is outside the top bb, and a similar pattern emerged not too long ago, and it seemed to work out well as a short. If it does drop, then I would use the top of the range, then the gaps as my stops along the way. I will be watching this one closely tomorrow.

Are picking up a theme? I am seeing a lot of divergence charts out there people, and although you cannot tell how long they will last, the are definitely a sign that the current move is coming to an end. It also helps when you have a possible exhaustion gap followed by a hammer and hang man on resistance. The only knock is that the RSI is still heading up.

In closing: Perhaps all we need is for the bloody SPX to hit 1120 so I can see if that is what is causing this rally. I know it is not the economy, because it is in shambles and getting worse, no matter what you hear on T.V. The dollar is slowly gaining strength, money is flowing into treasuries and yet the mkt. rises on low v. I am suspicious, but I also know that these three days leading into 3f can be brutal and manipulated, so although I want badly to buy some more shorts, I shall be patient until I see confirmation ( what fun is that? ) . Trade well and let’s cheer the SPX on to 1120!

By ASHLEY BROWNE

Only in Melbourne can the news about who will be calling the football create as much interest as in the game itself.

But Tuesday’s shake-up at both 3AW and Triple M is notable on a few fronts.

Brian Taylor crosses from Triple M to head up AW’s Friday night and Saturday afternoon team, replacing Rex Hunt, who in turn will join Triple M on Saturday afternoons.

Hunt leaves AW after 20 years as the lead caller on the Friday, Saturday afternoon and Sunday calls. Sunday afternoons were still his on AW if he wanted, but having sniffed the wind, he decided to move on altogether.

Hunt had plenty of fans, but also plenty of detractors, with a colorful call in which his idea of humour often took priority over mundane, but important matters such as the score, the time and roughly where the ball was on the ground.

Colour and humour are also part of Taylor’s calling arsenal but the important stuff – time, score and where the ball is – is never forgotten.

Longevity has always been a feature at AW. Norman Banks was the chief caller for more than a quarter of a century, Harry Beitzel chalked up 17 years, while Hunt was in the chair for 20 years. But with football being such a key part of the station’s DNA, AW has never been afraid to pull the trigger and institute some sort of generational change with respect to its calling team.

And it has certainly done that, replacing Hunt with Taylor in the hope he will bring with him some of the younger, blokier Triple M audience.

Indeed, AW’s Saturday line-up sounds most appealing with Taylor and Denis Cometti calling the play, Leigh Matthews on special comments and Mike Sheahan part of the pre-game coverage.

Triple M has also enjoyed a harder edge to its pre-game show with plenty of news, but that’s never been Hunt’s shtick and how that all plays out will be a challenge for its footy department. It is also interesting to note that Eddie McGuire, Triple M’s new breakfast host, has so far not been mentioned in any discussion about the station’s 2010 football plans.

Nor has SEN talked much about its plans for next season, although The Age says it might make a play for Tim Lane, which is a smart move. The all-sport station might be the place for us tragics to get their 24-hour footy fix during the week, but when it comes to weekend match commentary, it still runs a distant fourth, which in some respects is a shame. SEN’s 11am Saturday show, Crunch Time, might be the best footy radio show of them all.

There are plenty of ad dollars at stake in the battle between AW and Triple M hence the news on Tuesday, but both stations need to lift their games to regain the title as Melbourne’s no.1 footy station, which by the end of 2009 belonged to the ABC.

And in our opinion, most deservedly so.

Hudson Wright took everyone’s favourite did naughtiness but regretted it model Joseph Sayers to the Mojave desert for YVY magazine.

Various rugby and Aussie Rules players in varying states of undress, Michael Witt and his ball, Andrew Welsh, plus Daniel Conn, umm Daniel Conn, and his ball, and bulge, ummm Daniel Conn.

And the rather pretty Canadian actor Corey Montieth started out in bad horror films in which he showed some flesh, and based on these rather revealing screencaps from the film Bloody Mary, he’s sticking with what he knows.

Little over a minute worth of video from last Saturday’s AFL main event, Carlos Brooks vs Mike Johnson. Have to admit, best commentary I’ve heard from a GFL event in quite a while. AFL’s next show is in December.

The hottest name going this fall was that of Oakland A’s prospect Grant Desme. Desme played three years of college split between San Diego State and Cal Poly. He did nothing of consequence the first two seasons hitting a whopping .280 (84-for-300) with nine home runs and 50 RBIs. You can hit .280 in the majors and make millions of dollars. Heck, even .280 in the minors will at least garner some attention if you’re the right age or below for the class you’re in. But .280 in college is utter trash. It’s like .280 in softball.

His final year of college got him drafted. He nearly doubled his power (from eight to 15 home runs in the same 195 at-bat sample), raised his average 118 points to .405 and struck out less while walking more (from 2.6 to 1.4 in K:BB rate). He was drafted in the second round (74th overall) by the A’s. He played a bit in short season that year, but then lost almost the entire 2008 season to injury after just two games. It was a combination of shoulder and wrist injuries that felled him. So basically 2009 served as the team’s first real look at their second round pick. Splitting time between A and A+, Desme had a solid season hitting .288/.365/.568 with 31 home runs, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases. But he was also 23 years old so he was a man amongst boys.

As I mentioned earlier, he’s now tearing up the AFL hitting .344/.438/.740 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs. The question is where will he start 2010? Will he skip AA completely and go to AAA? For now, I would temper my expectations for Desme as all of his big time production has come in very favorable surroundings. I want to see how he performs when he isn’t in an extreme hitter’s league or when he isn’t the oldest of the bunch. In the meantime, I hope he keeps hitting home runs.

He is a quick breakdown of him swinging and missing badly at a pitch before bouncing back within the at-bat and getting a base hit.

The following Asylum Fight League XXIII results are official and confirmed by the NJSACB. Fights were held at Club Abyss in Sayersville, NJ.

Keith Patterson, Chris Wagner and Donnie Carolei were the judges, while Dave Tirelli, Ricky Vera, Steve Weisfeld and Tom Olson judged from cage side. Fred Blumstein was the timekeeper.

Fight 1
Phil Mazzurco defeats John Xavier (Unanimous Decision/30-27 all cards)

Fight 2
Adam Que defeats Damon Alfau (Submission/Armbar) @ :49 R1

Fight 3
Aaron Freedman defeats Keith Knudsen (Submission/Guillotine) @ 1:06 R3

Fight 4
Scott Krampetz defeats Jay Mitchener (Submission/Arm Triangle) @ 1:46 R1

Fight 5
Juan Cabrera defeats Sean McDonald (Submission/Mata Leao) @ 2:04 R1

Fight 6
Abel Ekonomakos defeats John Passantino (Submission/Triangle Choke) @ 1:53 R2

Fight 7
Greg Quarantello defeats Kareem Mathieu (KO) @ 1:30 R3
Mathieu: 30 day medical suspension

Fight 8
Omar Sandoval draws Jim Contrino
Sandoval deducted 1 pt in R2, illegal elbow
Judges score: Tirelli – 29-27 Sandoval, Vera – 29-27 Contrino, Weisfeld 28-28

Fight 9
Sal Veccia defeats Victor Mabin (Submission/ Mata Leao) :56 R3

Fight 10
Steve Tyrrell defeats Anthony Cruz (KO) @ 1:12 R1
Cruz: 30 day medical suspension

Fight 11
Pete De Yonker defeats Ken Rivera (Submission/Armbar) @ :26 R1

Fight 12
Trever Baney defeats Allen Cozze (Unanimous Decision/29-28 all cards)

Fight 13
Mike Benoit defeats Doug Miller (KO) @ 1:49 R1
Miller: 30 day medical suspension

Looks like another excellent night from Carl & Co at AFL. The next Asylum event is scheduled for December 11th in Raritan, NJ.

TULSA – O escritório administrativo da AF1 anunciou na tarde desta quarta-feira 11 de Novembro que fez uma oferta formal de ativos da Arena Football League (AFL) – Chapter 11 da lei de falências, atualmente pendente no US Bankruptcy Court em Northern District of Illinois.

A liga busca a aprovação do Tribunal para se tornar o licitante para os ativos. Se aprovado a proposta da liga no valor de $2.5 milhões para todos os ativos da AFL, vai definir o valor mínimo para o processo de licitação do leilão que irá ocorrer na quarta-feira 25 de Novembro de 2009.

“Os ativos têm pouco ou nenhum valor inerente, a menos que estejam dispostos a investir o capital necessário para desenvolver e utilizar esses recursos em um negócio ativo” disse Dan Newman, presidente do Conselho de Administração da Arena Football One, LLC.

AF1 stá comprometida em trazer a emoção de Arena de Futebol para os fãs depois de mais de um ano de ausência nos mercados da AFL. O último jogo da AFL foi o ArenaBowl XXII em julho de 2008. Em Dezembro de 2008, a AFL cancelou a temporada 2009 e , em seguida, anunciou a suspensão por tempo indeterminado das operações em Agosto de 2009.

“Nós sentimos que era essencial jogar a temporada 2010 e estamos empenhados em tornar isso uma realidade sob a bandeira da Arena Football One,” disse Jerry Kurz. “O jogo de Arena Football será disputado nos mercados em todo o país e as nossas equipes continuarão oferecendo aos fãs uma experiência imensamente divertido.”

Rapidinhas do Universo ARENA FOOTBAL – Novembro 2009

• AF1 – Comissário da liga Jerry Kurtz informou em 06/11/09 que até 14/11/09 a liga irá anunciar as equipes que irão participar da temporada 2010 e as que não irão.
  A expectativa é de 11 equipes irão figurar na “upper tier”, uma espécie de 1a divisão da AF1. Provavelmente será formado da seguinte maneira: Norte – Spokane, Utah, Milwaukee, Chicago e Iowa. Sul – Arizona, Tulsa, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Orlando e Jacksonville.
  Com relação à “lower tier”, 2a divisão da liga, estão confirmados até o momento seis equipes, ex-membros da af2: Tri-Cities, Central Valley, Bossier-Shreveport, Oklahoma City, Arkansas e Tennessee Valley.
• AF1 – Os jogadores irão ganhar USD400,00 por jogo e as equipes poderão assinar 3 jogadores especiais (showcase players) que irão ganhar USD1.000,00 por jogo. A posição de QB é uma das posições que figura os jogadores especiais, ao lado de WR e MDB (middle defensive back).
• AF1 – O prazo para o anúncio de todas as equipes, além das 16 originais, era dia 09 de Outubro e foi prorrogado para o dia 16 onde até o momento não houve anúncio oficial. O comissário da liga informou que até 14 de Novembro será divulgado a lista de todas as equipes que irão participar da temporada 2010.
• AFL – A extinta Arena Football League ainda sonha em retornar as atividades em um futuro próximo.
  Atualmente a liga encontra-se na proteção da lei de falências e está recebendo lances para o leilão que ocorrerá em 14 de novembro. O intuito do leilão é conseguir novos proprietários que possam vir a ajudar a reestruturar a liga! O grande problema é com a enorme dívida que a liga possui com os atuais credores! Algumas equipes ainda estão empenhadas para o retorno da liga.
• San Jose Sabercats (AFL) – Uma das mais brilhantes equipes da Arena Football League (AFL) até o momento não confirmou sua participação na AF1.
  O time era cogitado como um dos primeiros nomes a aparecer na lista da AF1, mas o futuro da franquia ainda está incerto e os fãs sempre fiéis aguardam uma decisão sobre o futuro do Sabercats. P.S.: Desde que a AFL suspendeu suas operações indefinidamente, o SJ Sabercats sempre estiveram com alguma atividade na tentativa de manter vivo a gloriosa franquia.
• Philadelphia Soul (AFL) – Campeão do último ArenaBowl, a equipe de Jon Bon Jovi não se manifestou sobre uma possível filiação na nova Arena Football League (AF1).
  Desde o “fim” da AFL, a equipe liberou todo o grupo administrativo, jogadores e técnicos. Jon Bon Jovi, co-proprietário, em diversas entrevistas sempre mostrou o amor que tem pelo jogo “football”, seu desejo pelo retorno da AFL, mas nunca mencionou algo sobre o retorno desta equipe que brilhou na última temporada da AFL!
• Manchester Wolves (af2) encerra operações! – Forte candidato a participar da AF1, o Manchester Wolves anunciou em 04/11 o encerramento de suas atividades.
• Toledo Bullfrogs – Temporada ainda incerta para a equipe que iria estrear em 2010 na af2!
  De acordo com fontes internas da nova Arena Football League (AF1), o Toledo Bullfrogs não fará parte da liga na temporada 2010. Após 2 dias de reuniões com os proprietários da franquias, foi decidido que Toledo e Kent, Washington (suburbio de Seattle) não iriam entrar na liga para a temporada inaugural, mas provavelmente iriam fazer parte da temporada de 2011.
  O Bullfrogs estavam agendados para começar suas operações na temporada 2010 da arenafootball2 (af2), mas a liga encerrou suas operações e uma nova liga, a AF1, foi formada com 16 equipes e Toledo é uma das oito equipes adicionais que tentam um lugar na nova liga.
  “Uma decisão será tomada nesta semana, se a liga irá comportar mais equipes ou não. Então temos que analisar se é melhor assinarmos mais equipes ou começar a liga com as 16 equipes originais e as demais esperarem 1 ano para poderem participar. Mas os proprietários que estão na liga e que ajudaram na fundação da liga é que darão a decisão final.” Disse Jerry Kurz, comissário da AF1.
  ATUALIZAÇÃO 13/11/09: Toledo Bullfrogs não irão jogar em 2010! Anúncio oficial veio nesta sexta-feira 13 de Novembro! De acordo com o grupo gestor, a equipe irá avaliar as oportunidades para jogar em 2011!
• Spokane Shock (af2) - Campeão do ArenaCup 2009, começa a montar sua equipe para a temporada 2010 da AF1, mas não contará com o QB Nick Davila que assinou com o Arizona Rattlerzs. Mesmo sem a equipe campeã do ArenaCup 2009, o Spokane Shock chega na AF1 como uma das equipes favoritas na luta pelo título!
• Stockton Lightning (af2) – Desde o anúncio do fim da af2 e do surgimento da AF1, nenhum anúncio oficial foi divulgado pelo Stockton Lightning sobre a possível adesão à nova liga de Futebol Americano de Arena. Bilhetes para a temporada 2010 estão sendo vendidos e a equipe afirma que irá jogar em 2010, mas a pergunta é: ONDE?
  Nota: De acordo com informações do blog do Fã clube ‘Stockton’s 9th man’, a equipe não irá fazer parte da AF1 na temporada 2010 mas afirma que jogará em 2010 em alguma liga ‘indoor’. Uma fonte do clube acrescentou que a temporada de hockey (Stockton Thunder) está muito movimentada e por conta disso o Futebol Americano de Arena foi colocado em 2o plano! Ruim para os fãs, pois a AF1 seria muito interessante para a franquia e pros fãs! O rival Central Valley Coyotes de Fresno, Ca, está na AF1!
• Green Bay Blizzard (af2) filia-se à IFL – Indoor Football League!
• Amarillo Dusters (af2) filia-se à IFL – Indoor Football League!
• Peoria Pirates (af2) ficou de fora da temporada 2010 da IFL – Indoor Football League!
  Após o “fim” da af2, Peoria não conseguiu investidores suficientes para aderir à IFL, mas a liga informou que irá continuar os esforços para ter uma nova franquia em Peoria para 2011.
• Kentucky Horsemen (af2) Uma das 16 franquias oficiais para a 1a temporada da AF1 anunciou em 26/10 o encerramento de suas operações devido a questões financeiras.
  De acordo com o anúncio oficial, a franquia não teria condições de levantar a quantia pedida pela nova liga como garantia de direitos trabalhistas e de operações. Com esta decisão, o número de equipes oficiais para a temporada 2010 caiu de 16 para 15 equipes!
• Rio Grande Valley Dorados (af2) – Proprietários decidiram que não irão jogar em 2010! Anúncio oficial veio em 09/11/09.
  O grupo gestor optou por analisar a melhor opção para transferir a franquia e irão avaliar em qual liga Indoor o Dorados irá participar em 2011.
• AFL QB’s – Por onde andam os grandes QB’s da AFL? Tony Graziani (Philadelphia Soul) - free agent, Mark Grieb (San Jose Sabercats) - free agent, Matt D’Orazio (Philadelphia Soul) - free agent  e Adrian McPherson (Grand Rapids Rampage) - Montreal Alouettes da Canadian Football League.

Headed into the weekend, I want to start sharing the AFL videos I’ve promised more of since posting the one of Tanner Scheppers. Today, let’s look at Boston’s Dustin Richardson. Richardson is a 25 year old (turns 26 in early January) lefty with a very live arm. As is often the case with huge arms in the minors, he also struggles with his control. He was a reliever when he first got to the Red Sox organization in A-Short Season before moving to the rotation for all of 2007 and 2008. Despite a better than 9.0 K rate, he was destroyed once he left the comfort of A-ball, posting a 6.33 ERA in 22 starts at AA-Portland.

This facilitated a move to the bullpen in 2009 where he pitched 74 innings, 63 of which came at AA-Portland. With Portland, he struck out 11.4 per nine innings while walking 5.7. He held a 2.70 ERA, but his WHIP was 1.30 because of all of the walks. He got a quick stint in AAA-Pawtucket where he continued to blow batters away (13.5 K/9) and cut his walk rate down to 1.7 BB/9. Of course, a 10-inning stint tells us next to nothing so I wouldn’t put a lot stock in it. Walks have been the culprit in his 10-inning stint in the Arizona Fall League, as well. He has 14 strikeouts against seven walks resulting in a 6.52 ERA and 1.97 WHIP.

Check out his interesting delivery:

We know our Premier is not the most popular guy among the labour movement, but our neighbours to the east don’t have a superstar leader either:

Premier ties jobs to ‘attitude’

The president of Alberta’s largest labour union is blasting Premier Ed Stelmach’s suggestion that some victims of the recession need to change their attitudes.

During a lunchtime address to the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Stelmach said Alberta is poised to rebound from the economic turmoil and will benefit from a deep labour pool, but only for those with the right outlook.

“The A and B Crews are working and the C Crew is at home until they change their attitude,” he said, during prepared remarks.

“This is the new reality in a time of recession.”

But Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan said workers who found themselves unemployed through no fault of their own deserve a better fate than to have their attitudes questioned by their leader.

“This is a disturbing comment coming from the premier in a time of recession — he seems to be blaming the unemployed for being unemployed,” he said.

“To suggest these people are unemployed because they’ve chosen to be or are lazy is frankly ridiculous and disrespectful.”

The AFL represents 29 different Alberta unions and McGowan said the construction industry, in particular, has been hard hit in the recession, leaving many skilled workers on the hunt for only a handful of jobs.

Tom Olsen, a spokesman for the premier’s office, clarified Stelmach’s remarks, noting he was referring to an overabundance of unskilled workers who benefited from the boom a few years earlier, securing high-paying jobs without any real training.

He said the premier’s suggestion was aimed at those who lost their jobs because they didn’t have the appropriate training, and believes they need to take the time to boost their skills while the economy has cooled.

“Basically, what (Stelmach) was saying was you need skills to get work and if your attitude is you don’t want to go out and get those skills and get trained, then you’re going to be out of luck,” Olsen said.

“There have been many people laid off through no fault of their own, but there are others who sit back when they were making $80,000 a year with no training and are grousing about the fact that they’re out of work.”

According to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada, Alberta’s employment rate has fallen 3.3% or 68,000 workers since October 2008, the sharpest decline in Canada.

Last month alone, 15,000 jobs were lost, pushing the current unemployment rate to 7.5%.

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Nesta quinta-feira o conselho de arbitragem na SANZAR, formado por dois especialistas neozelandeses, anunciaram a vitória da candidatura da cidade australiana de Melbourne para a nova expansão do Super Rugby. Em 2011, o Super 14 virará Super 15, e o novo time será da Austrália!

Após longos meses de negociações e candidaturas mal-sucedidas, a SANZAR anunciou dois candidatos finalistas para receberem o 15º time do futuro Super 15. Southern Kings, da África do Sul, e Melbourne, da Austrália, foram os dois finalistas. A impossibilidade de dar a vitória para um dos dois lados – já a ARU apoiava Melbourne e a SARU os Kings – levaram a SANZAR, órgão diretivo do Super Rugby, a deixar a decisão para a arbitragem de dois especialistas neozelandeses considerados imparciais na escolha – o ex-All Black David Kirk e David Paterson, do Tribunal Desportivo do país.

Os Southern Kings são herdeiros da antiga candidatura de 2005 dos Southern Spears. A equipe representava as uniões do Eastern Cape (Mighty Elephants), Border (Bulldogs) e South West Districts (Eagles), e teria sede na cidade de Port Elizabeth, no novo Nelson Mandela Stadium. A bandeira da franquia era formar um time todo composto por jogadores negros, o que lhes dava apoio do governo e do parlamento sul-africano. Contudo, o fato de a equipe ter que jogar no grupo australiano – já que o Super 15 terá 3 grupos com 5 equipes cada – não era bem visto pelos organizadores do torneio.

Já Melbourne era, a princípio, a escolha mais desejável. Uma grande cidade com um mercado consumidor que, mesmo sendo completamente dominado pelo futebol australiano, não deixava de ser interessante. O rugby union entrar e crescer dentro do coração do futebol australiano é um dos grandes objetivos da ARU. A perda da candidatura de 2005, para o Western Force, ainda era sentida por muitos dos entusiastas do rugby union no estado de Victoria, e dar a nova franquia à Melbourne seria acertar as contas com o passado. O novo estádio, exclusivo para rugby e futebol está sendo construído, o Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, com capacidade para 30,000 pessoas, será a casa do Super 15 na cidade. O nome a ser adotado poderá ser Melbourne (nome da cidade) ou Victoria (nome do estado) Rebels, dando continuidade à equipe do antigo Australian Rugby Championship. Outro fator considerável à favor de Melbourne (Victoria) é a rivalidade esportiva intensa com Sydney (Nova Gales do Sul). Apesar de todos os atrativos, a candidatura aussie vinha sofrendo para dar as devidas garantias financeiras à SANZAR.

Levando todos os fatores que citei em consideração, a arbitragem dos especialistas da SANZAR escolheu Melbourne como a nova franquia. O motivo são as novas perspectivas econômicas e a nova dimensão que o Super Rugby ganhará na Austrália com a nova equipe. Grandes jogadores deverão assinar com a equipe, como Rocky Elsom. O técnico dos Wallabies, Robbie Deans, destacou a importância da escolha de Melbourne no desenvolvimento do rugby union na Austrália. A inclusão do time deverá fortalecer a competição em um país onde ela vive à sombra das duas ligas mais fortes e populares: a AFL (futebol australiano) e a NRL (rugby league).

Que venham os Rebels!

By ASHLEY BROWNE

Matthew Richardson has retired from footy and tonight (Thursday), it feels like someone close to us has died.

Why is is this so?

Richo wasn’t the greatest player of the past 15 years. Indeed, a close examination of his career would reveal a few flaws. He was a poor kick for goal for a full-forward and his on-field petulance smacked of a “me-first attitude”, which would have been eradicated from his game long ago had he been playing at a half-decent club.

But they’re the only negatives you’ll find about Richo here.

Pretty much from the time he debuted for the Tigers in 1993, Richo was the Richmond Football Club. A second-generation Tiger player, his joy at playing AFL footy was all the greater because he was running around for the same club as his father. He was a Richmond fan who happened to play for the Tigers, and the club’s lack of success anguished him as much as did the perennials who sit behind the Punt Road goals.

He was charismatic, athletic and brave. His was a unique mix of height, strength, speed and speed that made him a handful for any type of key defender. And while Terry Wallace didn’t do a whole lot right in his time as Richmond coach, he did release Richardson into the midfield and so successful was that move in 2008 that he nearly pinched a Brownlow Medal. The entire room at the Crown Palladium was riding him home that particular night.

The sad part for Richo was that his entire career yielded just two years in the finals – 1995 and 2001 – and while the annual struggles of the Richmond Football Club provide great comedy for many of us, even the most churlish would not have begrudged Richo the opportunity to play finals on a few more occasions, Showmen of his ilk deserved to play more frequently on the biggest stage.

For several years, footy scribes would throw up his name for trade because he was considered to be the sort of player who could turn a contending team into a premiership winner. Yet now that his career is done, who isn’t glad that he was a one-club player. Richo wearing navy blue and white, or red and black? Unthinkable.

His retirement also brings to an end the decorated ‘Class of ‘93′. Can any year boast a better group of Rising Star nominees? Names such as Peter Everitt, Shane Crawford, Scott West, David Neitz, Nathan Buckley, James Hird, Dustin Fletcher, Glenn Archer, Sav Rocca, Mark Ricciuto, Leigh Colbert and Richo would suggest not.

Matthew Richardson now starts a well-earned retirement. As one of the best blokes ever to play the game, he deserves the fondest of farewells from the Tiger faithful before the first game next year and from the football public in general before next year’s grand final.

And he will certainly get them.

Asylum Fight League doesn’t take too much time off, and the AFL is already back in action with a fight this weekend in South Amboy, NJ. Unfortunately, for the second week in a row, the AFL is going head-to-head with a national televised fight card. Last week it was against Fedor vs Rogers. This week its UFC’s Couture vs Vera. The AFL has developed a very strong following in Jersey, so I doubt UFC 105 will have any tangible affect on attendance, but I would like for one week to be able to focus on Carl Mascarenhas’s handiwork.
In
Now, AFL 23 is an all amateur card with all fights scheduled for 3 x 3minutes. There is one title fight, featuring two time AFL veteran Mike Benoit and four time AFL fighter Doug Miller. Since the main event fight is still listing one fighter TBD, we’ll take a look at the title fight sitting in the shotgun seat.

Mike Benoit (3-0) is a Bellmore Kickboxing Academy fighter, Phil Baroni got his start at BKA. In the video I was able to find of Benoit, he looks like a strong stand up fighter. Has good posture, did a good job keeping his chin tucked. In his fight with Wes Claytor, Claytor immediately pulled guard, and gave Benoit fits from the bottom. Benoit handled him with ground and pound, but Clayotor had him exposed a couple times, and had him in trouble with an ankle lock. Benoit did come back and win that fight via unanimous decision.

New York San Da’s Doug Miller (5-2) is also a kickboxer. The only two videos of Miller available are two minutes of his last match, a frist round TKO loss to Aaron Hicks, and a Fight Nerd review of a kick pad called The Shield.

Knowing that both fighters are kickboxers by trade, conventional wisdom is that this will be a stand up fight. First fighter to take a shot is going to be the one who’s striking game isn’t working. Since there isn’t much video available on either guy, picking the favorite is going to come down to experience and strength of opponent. That being said, Benoit’s opponents are a collective 0-4. Doug Miller, on the other hand, has a better record at 5-2 with losses to Aaron Hicks (2-0) and Julio Arce (7-0). Neither guy are stoppers. Benoit has an arm bar submission, and Miller’s wins have all come from the judges’ table.

I believe that a loss to a good fighter is worth more as a win over a weak fighter. Ring experience and strength of opponent goes to Miller. With not much else to go on, and 6-4 record of my own to improve on, I’m putting the money on Miller to win. If your twisting my arm, I’ll give it to him on the score cards, but only because I’m a big fan of tradition.

The Problem:

It’s full of all the things she loves – drama, intrigue, blood and passion. Are we talking a night at the opera? Nup. We’re talking sport. And she hates it. But don’t fret. She just doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. It’s up to you to convince her that sport is more than just a game. It’s life.

What’s the solution?

I’m glad you asked about that. Try these five tips below and watching the big game on Sunday just may become a lot more easier.

1. Explain the game
The best way to learn a sport is to play it. That’s easy if you’re talking tennis or touch football, but trickier if your passion is baseball or cricket. Invite her to watch you play on the weekend or take her to see a professional game because watching some sporting heroes (like you) in the flesh may pique her interest.

2. Teach her appreciation
It might look easy when Matthew Hayden hits a six, but today’s professionals train hard to stay at the top of their game. Encourage her to have a go herself so she’ll realise just how hard it is to put bat on ball.

3. Talk the players up
Avoid scandals like Brendan Fevola’s antics at the Brownlow’s, even if you’re only making a joke. Instead, talk up some players’ positive attributes, like David Beckham being the loving father to his boys and John Eales cooking for his mum.

4. Answer all her questions
In an effort to understand what’s going on, many stupid questions will be asked. Answer every one patiently and in good humour, even if she asks why the umpire has just given a batsman the finger, why players in the AFL don’t wear padding, and why league players run into defenders, while their union counterparts tend to run around them.

5. If all else fails, barter
This is the last resort. Tell her that you’ll do something she likes if she’ll watch the game with you; it might mean enduring a chick flick, but after all, compromise is the key to a long and harmonious relationship.

Leave a comment with your best piece of advice.

I didn’t know a lot about Chris Heisey when I reached Arizona a week ago. I had heard the name a bit before and knew he was something of a prospect for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds outfield prospect I was always most interested in was Texas Longhorn Drew Stubbs. And since Heisey never turned up ahead of Stubbs on prospects lists, I assumed he wasn’t anything to write home about.

In fact, a scan of the preseason prospect lists for Cincinnati shows Heisey rated rather low, if at all:

Baseball Prospectus – unranked
Redlegs Baseball Blog – unranked (listed in the Notables)
John Sickels – 14th
Baseball-Intellect – 14th

Heisey’s biggest assets were his ability to hit for a solid average and a strong batting eye, the latter obviously helping the former. In 2008, he hit .291/.375/.447 in 515 at-bats acquired mostly in High-A with nine home runs and 32 stolen bases. He walked 60 times while striking out just 84. I guess the lack of power and the fact that at 23, he might’ve been a bit old for High-A were what kept him from drawing much attention on the prospect lists.

In 2009, he obliterated AA with a .347/.426/.572 line including 13 home runs, 13 stolen bases and even 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (34 each) in 314 at-bats. That earned him a promotion to AAA where he fell off of his AA pace, but still hit .278/.323/.465 in 271 at-bats. The power held up though as he had 27 extra-base hits (nine of which were home runs). That just about equals the pace he had in AA (33 XBH in 314 at-bats), he just had a few more doubles than home runs after the move up.

His 2009 season coupled with his hot AFL performance will likely move him up on Reds prospects lists. Not to mention the graduation of other players who were on the lists this year. I only saw him for two games so I’m not going to make sweeping judgments, but he did hit a pair of bombs when I saw him and I really like his approach at the plate. He’s been projected as a 4th outfielder in most of what I’ve read, but I think he can be an everyday big leaguer with his all-around tools.

Slow-motion look at his All Star game home run: