Worse than Fitzroy! - The University Football Club!

"You're worse than Fitzroy!"
It's a familiar refrain that has been levelled at several battling clubs in recent years, from Damien Hardwick's Richmond side in 2010 to an inept Melbourne fighting to find its feet under Mark Neeld in 2012.
The introduction of expansion clubs Gold Coast and GWS were accompanied by fears - since proven unfounded - that the Suns and Giants would be perennial strugglers as they pumped their talented teenagers full of senior experience.

But the stricken Fitzroy team that limped through its final season in 1996, stripped of talent and hope, was a long way from being the worst team to grace the VFL/AFL's long and colourful history.
That honour sits comfortably with the University sides of 1913-14. They remain one of the few teams to go winless through an entire season - and they did it twice in a row. Only St Kilda, in its first three years from 1897, has a worse record. Even Fitzroy die-hards got to sing the song once in their final year, celebrating a 31-point victory over Fremantle at the Whitten Oval.
And like Fitzroy, University's failings were not entirely of their own doing - although the Students, as they were known, contributed significantly more to their own demise than the luckless Lions, condemned to a merger by a league administration hell bent on expansion.
University's chief trouble was its restrictive eligibility clause. To represent the Students, prospective players had to hold a matriculation certificate (i.e. have completed their secondary education) or a higher degree. Indeed, many of Melbourne's finest future doctors and lawyers turned out in the blue and black.

University might well have been the smartest Australian football side ever fielded but that didn't help them when it came to actually putting players on the park.
Still, the Students fared better than fellow expansion club Richmond upon their simultaneous entry to the VFL in 1908. They finished above the Tigers in each of their first three seasons in the league, with a best result of sixth in their debut year with eight wins from 18 games.
However, the wheels quickly fell off the University bandwagon.
The combined pressure of exam schedules, term holidays and a chronically unstable line-up meant the club battled to compete with the established powers of the time - Carlton, Essendon and Collingwood.
In their final season, the Students finished with a percentage of just 47. A 15-point loss to South Melbourne at the Lake Oval was their best result; losses by 84 and 89 points to reigning premier Fitzroy were their worst.

The Great War was the final blow for the ailing club. Many of its players were also members of the University regiment and when war was declared it became clear the club could not go on.
But like the Lions in their final days, there were figures of hope. In Roy Park, the Students boasted the league's most prolific goalkicker in 1913. Park booted 53 of University's 123 goals that season despite the club failing to win a game.
Both Park and teammate Bert Hartkopf played Test cricket for Australia while Ted Cordner Sr - the father of the famous Melbourne quartet from the 1940s and '50s - was among the club's very best players.
No one player managed to represent the club in all of its seven VFL seasons but centreman Bert Hurrey went closest, playing 101 of a possible 126 games for the Students. He captained the club in 1913 and earned state selection against South Australia, where he was described as a "king in the centre".
And in its own way, the story of University provides a constant source of hope for supporters of struggling teams today. In an era of unprecedented professionalism for a league flush with funds, fans can rest assured that no matter how bad their team gets, they'll never have it as bad as University.

By Michael Rogers - Bigpond Sport 22/6/12

Olympic Softball Remains Don Porter's Quest!

The rain drizzled and the air chilled on that dreary night of Aug. 21, 2008, in Beijing.

It was the end of something that had had such a nice beginning. It was a night when sadness was understandable, even while a group of Japanese women deliriously celebrated what they had just achieved.

Through the mist and gloom, Don Porter saw the glass half full, as usual.

In sports significance and popularity, what happened on this Olympian night didn't even make the scale of 1 to 10. This wasn't about a dream team, just a dream. This didn't have them buzzing at the water cooler back home — unless home was in Japan. Nobody was measuring network TV ratings or scrambling to get one of the stars on the "Today" show.

It was women's softball, the Olympic gold-medal game, the U.S. juggernaut versus Japan. It was played at Fengtai, a half-hour taxi ride from the heart of Beijing. The stadium seated 10,000 and it was filled. Bobby Valentine was there. So were more than the usual handful of International Olympic Committee officials. Some were there to support the show, others just to be the show.

In his office under the stands, Porter scurried and worried. It was a grand moment, the fourth gold-medal game over which he had presided as president of the International Softball Federation.

It was also his darkest time, because the fourth would be the last. At least for the foreseeable future.

Starting in 1996 in Atlanta, the Olympics had given Porter's sport a nice blip for two weeks, once every four years. They had created stars, who had created interest and role models for little girls. They had validated the hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours Porter had spent shaking hands, writing letters, doing interviews and hoping for exactly what had eventually happened.

On the field were the stars, watching in shocked disbelief as the Japanese and their pitching hero, Yukiko Ueno, celebrated. The runners-up were the women who had defined the game for the world while Team USA was going 32-5 in Olympic softball and winning the first three gold medals offered — in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. Their names were Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Natasha Watley, Stacey Nuveman, Jessica Mendoza and Crystl Bustos, among others. Watching, undoubtedly, was UCLA's own Lisa Fernandez, who had retired from the gold-medal pursuit after leading her team to three of them. After Athens, the greatest female softball player ever got married and had a baby.

This group had won 22 Olympic games in a row until Ueno beat it that night, 3-1. She had pitched through the losers' bracket and a semifinal before beating the unbeatable. Her workload totaled 28 innings over two days, and nobody was yanking her out because of a pitch count.

Who needs testosterone? This was really true grit.

The drizzle and the mist hung overhead as Porter hovered nearby. IOC officials were presenting medals. Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles was there. So was Dick Pound of Canada. Both were friends of softball. Also on hand was Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC and not so much a friend. His appearance at softball that night was either ceremonial necessity or chutzpah.

As far back as 2003, Rogge had led a movement to rid the Olympics of baseball and softball. Speculation as to his reasons included that these sports were all too much American and all too little European. Other kinder theories were that he and his backers were simply looking for more variety.

In one of the endless meetings and conclaves that the IOC has, the idea of dropping baseball and softball came to a vote and Rogge was defeated. The sports were retained, at least through Beijing. Rogge then broadened the concept by announcing that all Olympic sports would be reviewed. One can only imagine the fear and anxiety piercing the gymnastics federation.

Through it all, Porter lobbied, shook hands and worked the room at every IOC gathering. He is more politically savvy than confrontational. He disdains rants for logic.

In 2005 in Singapore, the IOC voted again. This time, softball lost, 52-52. Beijing would be its last hurrah. One more vote and Fernandez might be answering to "Coach" now and Bustos would be dreaming about how to crank one of her tape-measure homers off Ueno in London. Instead, as Finch called it the night of the final, softball took "a knife to the heart."

Porter says he never has learned who voted how. The IOC made the vote secret.

"The IOC was 112 members then," he says, "but some left the meeting early, some abstained and some recused themselves."

Softball tried again in Turin, Italy, in 2006 and lost, 47-43. Its next chance is in 2013 at meetings in Buenos Aires, for a return to eligibility in 2020. Porter says he will be there, fighting the good fight.

He is 81, born and raised in the Valley and a product of San Fernando and Canoga Park high schools. He played football for an undefeated team at East Los Angeles College that lost a spot in the Junior Rose Bowl when promoters opted for a Compton College team starring some guy named Hugh McElhenny. Porter went into the service, played military baseball in Korea, and was in a game against a group of traveling major leaguers that included Joe DiMaggio.

While he was starting a career in softball administration that has spanned nearly 50 years, Porter worked as an official for Big Eight Conference football and, for four years, the NFL.

"I remember working in one Rams game," he says, "and I got blindsided along the sidelines. I was out and when I came to, there was George Allen, telling me to get up, that they had a drive going."

The silver lining Porter saw that night in Beijing was that, if nothing else, the Japanese victory proved that Olympic softball was not merely a U.S. sport.

Mike Candrea, Team USA's coach, saw the same thing that night. More than an hour after perhaps his biggest professional disappointment, he stood in a dark, wet parking lot, surrounded by reporters, and keynoted the hope that might come from his despair.

"If this is what it takes to bring it back," he says, "then so be it."

These days, when Porter isn't traveling, he sits in his office at softball federation headquarters in Plant City, Fla., and occasionally glances at a box he keeps nearby. In it are printouts of more than 500 emails he has received since softball was cut from the Olympics. Most of them, he says, are from young girls who say their dream was taken away. Many ask him to keep fighting.

"We will," Porter says.

Article by Bill Dwyre - Los Angeles Times 2012

Cal Ripken's 2131 Night - The Night That Saved Baseball

Many things intrigue players and fans about the game of baseball they enjoy so much. One of these things is a record. A record in sports is defined as the known history of performance, activities, or achievement.
Many athletes say that records are "things that are made to be broken". However, one record in sports stands the test of time. A record so laborious that men in this day-in-age have a hard time imaging it.
A man by the name of Lou Gehrig set a record for the most consecutive games played in Major League Baseball at 2,130 games. Like many athletes say, records are made to be broken. This record was indeed broken. Broken on a magical night in the confines of Oriole Park in Camden Yards.
The light shined down on the stadium as the night edged into Baltimore on Sept. 6, 1995. A sea of orange and black crowded the seats as the players swarmed onto the field.
As Cal Ripken Jr. stepped onto the turf, the crowd went ablaze. As the sun settled down on the horizon, the fans rose up in their seats to congratulate their own hometown hero. Cal Ripken Jr. had just done what many believed could not be accomplished.
Finally, the last number of "2131" was released from the warehouse seen in the twilight of right field and a new record was set. This record, many have said, can and will never be broken. Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive games streak may be one of the hardest to grasp in all of sports.
Just imagine playing everyday for 2,632 straight games (that's the new record). That is tiring enough. In order to accomplish this task, you must do everything right. Avoiding injuries, always being prepared, and always going out with your heart in the game.
It's something that each and every one of us should stop and think about, because it's pretty extraordinary to say the least.
As a 15-year-old sports writer, I was not able to fully grasp the night back when I was just about to turn three. Now I look back at not only how it helped the Baltimore area, but also how it helped Major League Baseball as a whole.
For that night would live in the glory of the game and would never be forgotten by any baseball fan in our modern day society.
Back in 1994, the MLB was going through a tough stretch. A 232-day strike, which lasted from August 12, 1994 to April 2, 1995. This strike led to the cancellation of 931-948 games overall, including the postseason and World Series.
The Players Union continued to this until its final days, ruining the baseball world for a period of time. Because of this, attendance went down dramatically in stadiums throughout the nation (this would eventually lead to the Expos leaving Montreal).
However, during Cal's consecutive games streak, Camden Yards began to see more faces come out to the ballpark. His streak attracted attention throughout the baseball world and Ripken would soon recognize it.
He stated, "The streak has become my identity; it's who I've become."
From then on baseball slowly began to change. Some even go on to say that the streak was one of the things that saved baseball. Ripken's streak was not only one for himself, it was one for the city of Baltimore.
It was one for baseball.

By Lawrence Barreca (Bleacherreport.com) 2008

Sportsmanship: Is It Officially Dead??

Let’s be clear: Alex Rodriguez knew exactly what he was doing when he crossed Dallas Braden’s pitching mound during a Yankees/A’s game last week. Anyone who has played organized baseball at an eighth-grade level or beyond knows there are certain unwritten rules you don’t break without repercussion, and walking across the pitcher's mound when trotting back to first base after a foul ball is one of them.

And A-Rod’s repercussion is coming -- count on it.

But the Yankee slugger’s latest ego-trip outside the rules for mere mortals raises more important questions than just how arrogant one of MLB’s top stars really is. Sportsmanship: Is it dead? What is the point of these so-called unwritten rules? They exist in every sport, but why?

Sportsmanship: What happened to it?

Like it or not, the traditional notions of respect for the game (including the opponent) are dying. Perhaps they’re being replaced by subtler versions of equal value, but we’d say every absurd arrest, ostentatious celebration and NBA superstar barking on all fours argues otherwise.

Ever since big money started creating bigger reservoirs of self-regard, “me” has become the focus for a growing number of athletes. Less energy can be spared worrying about the team and even less for any concern requiring greater depth of thought.

The fall of sportsmanship: NFL and NBA already casualties

Both the NFL and NBA are faster paced, more emotionally charged leagues than MLB. It drives their popularity, but the visceral nature is a double-edged sword. The competitive juices sometimes get too hot and in their wake are some of our most egregious examples of sportsmanship’s demise. Combined, these leagues have given us the Ron Artest melee, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter, and the list goes on.

Off the field, the story is even more gruesome yet -- for all his Draconian countermeasures, even Roger Goodell has been powerless to stop the decay. But what about the unwritten enforcers?

Their unwritten rules are different

These two more violent bedfellows do have some unwritten rules. The NBA’s unwritten rules say never pad your stats, don’t use full-court presses in blowouts, no threes once the margin gets too big, and others. Nevertheless, these are more like unwritten encouragements (i.e. the worst you’d get for breaking one is a little trash-talk), so who really cares?

The NFL’s oral agreements are more numerous, but they’re aimed at keeping players physically safe rather than the more trivial interests of congeniality and mutual respect. The one standard seems to be don’t run up the score, which encompasses stuff like don’t pass in a blowout, don’t go for two when the game is in hand, etc. Here again, however, we find an enforcement mechanism that lacks any serious teeth.

Baseball’s unwritten rules

For all its steroid warts and complaints about tepid action, professional baseball has an obvious and massive edge on its two most powerful competitors with regards to pastoral splendor. Much of the advantage can be attributed to the paramount importance its athletes place on sportsmanship and respect for the game.

The reverence isn’t innate; ballplayers don’t simply arrive in the Big Leagues with it intact.

That’s where its litany of traditional no-nos comes in to play and there are tons. A sample includes no sign-stealing; no excessive celebrating unless you’ve earned it (even then, it better be limited); no breaking up a no-hitter with a bunt unless situationally appropriate; no talking about a no-hitter after the fifth inning; no calling time-out in the middle of a pitcher’s windup; and no yelling at infielders trying to catch a pop-up.

Of course, the glue that holds it all together is the beanball, which is an acceptable form of retribution so long as it isn't at the head (which is never OK unless it’s return fire for the same offense).

Sportsmanship is about respect

Former player, manager and current broadcaster Bob Brenly once described baseball’s unwritten code as being about three things: “respect your teammates, respect your opponents and respect the game.”

You can see those strains running through almost every one of its unwritten rules.

And if you don’t agree, you’ll see 108 stitches coming at you.

Apparently, that’s more persuasive than a fine.

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Congratulations to my Softball team, Glen Eira Saints!! Premiers 2011/12

It's not often that we give a blatent plug to particular teams (Apart from the SEMR team) but I have to congratulate my Glen Eira Saints womens team on winning the SEMR competition plate Grand Final today (31/3/12)
A fantastic team effort by all the girls and a well deserved win. Topped off by our pitcher, Keira, winning the best Grand Final players and then during the presentations, Kirby, was awarded the overall MVP for the season!! A brilliant effort!!!!!

Fantastic Effort Girls!! You all did Glen Eira very proud!!!!

Does Softball's Olympic Return Hinge on MLB?

Jennie Finch is a wife, a mother of two and a successful businesswoman. Since retiring from softball she's run the New York City marathon, written a book and launched an online store.
In other words, she's busy. But until her voice no longer resonates on the international stage, she will always make time to campaign to get softball reinstated onto the Olympic program.
Which is why she didn't just accept an award at the recent IOC World Conference on Women and Sport in Los Angeles, she used the opportunity to deliver an impassioned, emotional speech to some of the same IOC members who had voted her sport out of the Olympics in 2005.
"Honestly, I wish there was more I could do," Finch said after delivering the rousing speech. "I didn't really know if this was the right place to do this, but I figured I might not have a better opportunity to be in front of all these IOC members so it was now or never."

Finch's conclusion was a logical one. Softball was dropped from the Olympic program when it failed to garner a majority of the 105 votes cast. The final vote: 52-52 with one abstention was heartbreakingly close. One vote cost softball its spot on the Olympic program. And when you hear many of those IOC members mistakenly thought of softball as women's baseball, it's even sadder.
"A lot of the IOC members, for whatever reasons, kept seeing us as women's baseball," said Don Porter, the head of the International Softball Federation. "We tried to do everything we could to dispel that. Our sport is similar to baseball in a lot of ways, but it's also very different. To people that are not real familiar with it, sometimes they don't see that difference."
Baseball's problems were plentiful: performance-enhancing drug use, the refusal of Major League Baseball owners to allow their players to compete and even the length of the games.
OK, so education has to be the answer, right?
Explain the differences between softball and baseball to the IOC, show them how much passion there is for the sport, use celebrities such as Finch or ESPN commentator Jessica Mendoza to raise the visibility of the cause. That would be the play, right?

Not necessarily. Not at all, actually.
No, the IOC members Finch so eloquently and passionately pleaded with a few weeks ago in Los Angeles are not the people who need convincing.
The only group with enough clout to get softball back on the Olympic program? The 30 owners of major league baseball franchises and baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Neither softball nor baseball is getting back onto the Olympic program until major league baseball decides it's willing to create a 10-day break in its schedule to allow its players to compete in the Olympics -- as the NHL does with hockey and the NBA and WNBA with basketball.
Softball's fate is tied to baseball, so the two sports need to present a united front in their effort to re-enter the Olympic program.
"The feeling is that it might be good to combine if it's going to be advantageous to both of us," Porter said. "The problem is, if major league baseball doesn't participate, then that's not going to be advantageous."
Why is it so important for major league baseball to allow its players to participate?

We like to think of the Olympics as the last bastion of amateur sports. But that hasn't been true for decades. The leaders of the Olympic movement care about the same things major league baseball owners do: profits, popularity, corporate sponsorships and television rights fees and ratings.
Just look at the two sports that were added to the program for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro: golf and rugby. In other words, two sports that boast some of the most popular professional athletes on the planet. And those athletes will not only compete but walk in the Opening Ceremonies, boost television ratings and draw in new corporate sponsors.
"I think the IOC was also working towards looking at something different in the program," Porter said, diplomatically. "Different types of sports. Sports that they think would be more popular, for television, more sponsor interest."
Finch and Mendoza are probably the only softball players with any kind of Q-rating, and they have both retired from the national team. So talk of softball "going it alone" is somewhat naive in a world where the IOC has clearly put an emphasis on adding sports that would bring the world's most popular, marketable athletes to the Olympics.

It also doesn't fit with the IOC's guidelines, which recommend that each sport have a male and female competition -- a key reason women's boxing was added to the 2012 games.
"Unless they develop men's softball, they'll have to combine with baseball," said Ching-Kuo Wu, an IOC member from Taiwan who said he voted to retain softball in 2005.
"But baseball doesn't have women's baseball and softball doesn't have men's softball. So that's why the IOC recommended they go together in the first place. Support each other so they can become one sport. But it's not easy when you have two organizations."
No, the only way for softball to get back on the program is to partner with baseball and for the best baseball players in the world -- major league baseball players -- to participate in the summer games.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon.
"We remain committed to working alongside the International Baseball Federation to get baseball back into the Olympics as it should be," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney wrote in an e-mail.

"While the timing of the MLB schedule and the Summer Olympic program schedule has not been conducive to MLB players participating, MLB organizations have been very cooperative with non-major league roster players (vast pool of minor league and even 40-man players from each of the 30 Clubs) and will make every effort to cooperate in all ways feasible moving forward.
Riccardo Schiroli, a spokesman for the IBAF, also points out that many future major leaguers have competed in the Olympics.
"Team USA won their gold medal with Ben Sheets throwing a complete game in the championship game against Cuba. Team USA had Doug Mientkiewicz at first and at the time of the Games he had already played over 100 games in the big leagues," Schiroli said. "In those games Dave Nilsson was on Australia's roster and Sydney featured a few players who made it to the Majors in a matter of months: Daisuke Matsuzaka played for Japan, [Jose] Contreras was the ace on Cuba pitching staff and Jason Simontacchi represented Italy.
"Also, consider that professional players are not only the ones under contract with MLB organizations. NPB in Japan and KBO in South Korea provide pretty good competition. I would say that the fact these two teams competed for the trophy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic final is something we cannot forget."
All of these are good points. And all of them are especially valid considering the fact that soccer, by far the world's most popular sport, does not have its best players in the Olympics either. The men's Olympic soccer tournament is mostly an under-23 affair, with just three "over-age" players allowed on each roster.
The problem? It's a lot harder to get invited back onto the Olympic program than to stay there once you're in. It takes a simple majority to stay but two-thirds to get back in.

"There's this whole mechanism that you have to follow, but it's not impossible," said Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC member from Aruba. "But I think we have to fight and continue making the efforts to fight and get softball back on the program."
There are a lot of people willing to take up that fight. Finch is ready and willing. So is Mendoza. Porter has been at it for seven years already. Softball-friendly IOC delegates like Wu and Hoevertsz will continue their support.
But it's time to consider whether the fight is being waged on the wrong battlefield. Or rather, on the wrong ball field.
Softball may have been dropped from the Olympic program because it was unfairly associated with baseball and its problems. But it might not be able to get back in without them.

By Ramona Shelbourne - ESPN March 14 2012

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The World Mourns The Loss Of Jim Stynes!

WONDERFUL. An inspiration. Sorely missed. An icon. A legend. A decent man and a mate.
From the thousands of tributes to Jim Stynes who died yesterday at the age of 45, many reiterated those words above yet each carried the individual impression of a person touched by a true great, not just in football but in life.
Stynes was that kind of person, many said. A man who made a big impact on individuals in private but also someone with a vision so grand that mastering a foreign football code became achievable, as did setting up a youth organisation called the Reach Foundation to help others fulfil their potential.
Kevin Sheedy, who has often described the Stynes story as the best in the indigenous code's 153-year history, stressed his admiration for the 1991 Brownlow medallist who strung together a record 244 consecutive games and later rescued the Melbourne Football Club from the brink of disaster after he became president.
"A superb person who has made an outstanding contribution to Australia and will be sorely missed," Sheedy said.

Yet Stynes, who was awarded an Order of Australia and thrice named Victorian of the Year, would be certain to stress his story was no more extraordinary than the challenges overcome by Liam Jurrah, the young Demon who now faces his own battle.
"I saw him first-hand in Yuendumu when we went up there in the Northern Territory to visit Liam Jurrah's family," former Essendon star Tim Watson said.
"I saw him for a couple of days there and he was struggling with his health and I was just amazed by the bravery and the courage he displayed up there."
Former teammate David Schwarz said it was Stynes's work with disadvantaged youth, more than his football ability, that set him apart.
"It was something that he was passionate about and it probably sums up the whole Jim Stynes story in that it was not about him, it was about all the people he could help," Schwarz said.
"It was amazing the effect that he had on lives that were normally just forgotten about or destroyed. He saved them, he resurrected the lives of many of these young kids who now, some of them we see as just beautiful people who have been given a second opportunity, all thanks to Jim Stynes."
Those street kids are not the only ones hurting. Melbourne's joint captains Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove are barely men and stood shattered yesterday at the MCG.

"He saved the Melbourne Football Club. He's definitely the most inspirational person I have ever met and probably ever will meet," Trengove said.
"You just assume (because of) how much of a fighter he is that he would be around, so you never thought this day would ever come.
"He had an impact on so many people and me personally, being able to speak to him and learn off him and realise how much of an impact he has had."
Julia Gillard expressed her sadness, as did the man she replaced as Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. Don McLardy, who assumed the Melbourne presidency from Stynes when he stepped down last month, penned a heartfelt tribute.
Robert DiPierdimenco, another Brownlow medallist, talked of being introduced to a then 14-year-old Stynes by Ron Barassi on a trip to Ireland and talked of his distress when he hugged him for the last time a week ago.
Sportsmen from around the globe expressed their dismay, Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong and Shane Warne among them.
The despair was also evident in his homeland. Paul Clarke, who captained Stynes in Gaelic football, told the Irish Examiner he would be remembered forever.

"We had heard he wasn't well in recent months but you just thought . . . that he was bulletproof," Clarke said.
Among the beautifully written and voiced tributes, it was AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou who delivered a line that best assesses the life of Stynes.
"It is an incredible story that if you wrote it, you couldn't believe it was anything other than fiction, yet all of it is true," he said.
"We are all the better for knowing Jim Stynes."
Stynes is survived by his wife, Samantha, and children Matisse and Tiernan.

Story by: Courtney Walsh - The Australian March 21, 2012

RIP JIMMY!!! A TRUE LEGEND AS A FOOTBALLER AND AN INSPIRATION AS A MAN!!!

YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

Liam Jurrah - A tale of two conflicting cultures

LIAM Jurrah is cause for enormous pride among his people of Yuendumu. Nothing about his recent arrest will change that. It only reinforces that Jurrah’s tribal beliefs remain strong and inviolate.

The Northern Territory has produced many fine footballers. Maurice Rioli and Michael Long, who belong to the Tiwi Islands, just north of Darwin, are the obvious names. And there are many more.
But no central Australian tribal Aborigine from the bush has ever played in the AFL apart from Brisbane’s Daryl White, who was not strictly a bush boy.

Pulling a bush kid to the national game was a breakthrough, not for central Australian Aborigines, who always knew their boys were up to it, but for the AFL.
The AFL always knew that these boys who sometimes played bootless on red-dirt grounds were different. They instinctively knew that tribal matters - which is really just another way of saying “extended family” - ran deep.
It wasn’t just about the homesickness the players felt. It ran deeper. It was about the responsibility and worries an initiated young man such as Jurrah felt about leaving his family unprotected to the jealousies and rivalries of other clans in these small and sometimes vicious towns.   Those jealousies and rivalries are a 60,000-year-old tradition.  

Jurrah's recruitment to Melbourne became the source of great celebration to the people of Yuendumu - whether or not they supported the Melbourne Football Club. Whether or not they were part of Jurrah’s clan.
This community, some 300km north-west of Alice Springs, has been wracked with issues, from governance problems to the petrol sniffing which caused such terrible problems from the 1980s on.
Yuendumu is dirt poor. There is no private land ownership. Many of the citizens live in real hovels. There is no alcohol allowed, but it still gets in. Tension is real. But Liam Jurrah was - and is - proof that this AFL-mad, far-flung community has something to say, something to offer.

Whatever the white court system might say about him, Jurrah’s “tribal voice”, as Yothu Yindi once put it, is more telling than the lights of the MCG.
No matter the outcome of his prosecution, no matter the ugliness of this tribal dispute, there is one thing that Liam Jurrah’s arrest tells us: Aboriginal culture is still alive.
Lawyers have for decades been arguing that Aboriginal law, which is our country’s first law, should receive some recognition on our statutes. All the talk has come to nothing.
Now that we have a true star facing court, for tribal reasons, perhaps we’ll think again what it means to drag a tribal person to a white court.

By Paul Toohey - Herald Sun 9/3/12

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Bee swarm delays game between D-backs & Giants

By Steve Henson, Yahoo Sports! 5/3/2012

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Bees and baseball don’t mix. Sure, the Salt Lake City Bees and Burlington Bees are minor-league teams. But a swarm of bees flying into a stadium during a ballgame will certainly halt the action, sending players scurrying for the dugout and fans from their seats.
Talk about a buzzy story. The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants were in the top of the second inning of an exhibition game Sunday afternoon when the bees arrived en masse, entering the field over the right center-field wall, flying directly over the infield and settling in the Giants’ dugout.
Fire officials were summoned, and it took 41 minutes to clear out the bees and get on with the ballgame. The incident took place in the most deluxe spring-training stadium, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The facility opened a year ago and is shared by the Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies

The Diamondbacks and Rockies were involved in the last game delayed by bees, before the teams moved to Scottsdale from spring training sites in Tucson, Ariz. In 2005, a game at Tucson Electric Park was delayed 20 minutes. A bee delay also occurred at the same stadium in 2003.
Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy was pitching when the bees disrupted play. The Giants had runners on second and third and Freddy Sanchez was at the plate with one out. Rarely has a rally been halted in such a strange fashion.
As the swarm moved slowly over the outfield with most fans unaware of the situation, Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young began making a, er, beeline for the dugout.
“I heard it before I saw it,” Young said. “It’s not the first time it’s happened, so somehow I knew what was going on.”
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was confused when he saw Young running off the field. Then he looked to his right and understood. He immediately sought safety.
“I was trying to get away as fast as I could without looking too scared,” Goldschmidt said.
Fans above the Giants’ dugout evacuated their seats, and a message on the scoreboard explained the reason for the delay. Officials say it did not appear that anyone was stung or injured.
“When you have how many millions of bees swarming around, it’s not fun,” Diamondbacks shortstop Willie Bloomquist said. “Get out of the way and let the authorities take over.”
The game resumed 41 minutes later and apparently the Diamondbacks were the more shaken of the two teams: The Giants went on to win 11-1.

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Why do we have to be racist????

THE same racial stereotypes that dogged Yao Ming early in his NBA career are now being cast upon Harvard educated, New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin.

American sports network ESPN was forced to apologise on Saturday for an anti-Asian slur directed at Chinese-American Lin that appeared in a story about the point guard following the Knicks 89-85 loss on Friday night.
The headline "Chink in the Armour" was included in an online story about Lin's role in the game that ended New York's seven-game winning streak.
ESPN said in a statement it was "conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologise for this mistake."
ESPN claimed that the headline appeared to only mobile browsers for a 35-minute period but long enough for scores of people to see it.

The Knicks have been on a magical run since former part-time player Lin was called upon with two starters missing and answered with the most points of any NBA player in his first five starts since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976.
Lin's fairy-tale story is further enhanced because he was cut by two clubs, including Yao's former team the Houston Rockets, before the season started.
While the majority of Americans are captivated by the "Lin-sanity" phenomenon, others like US African-American boxer Floyd Mayweather are not.
"Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise," Mayweather said in a posting on his Twitter microblogging website.
Like Lin, retired eight-time NBA all-star Yao had to face taunts and ethnic slurs when he broke into the league in 2002.
Former Detroit Piston Ben Wallace said the then 21-year-old Yao would receive a rude welcome the first time China's national team played the United States in August 2002 in Oakland, California.
"We are going to beat him up. We are going to beat him up pretty bad," Wallace said. "Welcome to the league, welcome to our country. This is our playground."
Yao also had to deal with ethnic slurs from former Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O'Neal who once mockingly told a television reporter, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh'."
The 23-year-old Lin said on Wednesday he hopes to change outlooks and stereotypes regarding Asians and Asian-American NBA players.
"I think there are definitely (Asian) stereotypes," he said.
"There are a lot of them. The more we can do to break those down every day the better we will become.
"Hopefully in the near future we will see a lot more Asians and Asian-Americans playing in the NBA."
ESPN has fired an employee and suspended an anchor for using "offensive and inappropriate comments" about NBA phenomenon Jeremy Lin.

The moves come after ESPN apologised for its "Chink in The Armour" headline that appeared on ESPN.com's mobile website following the New York Knicks' 89-85 loss to the hapless New Orleans Hornets Friday.
The phrase, which carries obvious racial overtones when used in reference to a person of Asian descent, appeared on the site for more than 30 minutes before being removed.

The expression was also used by ESPN anchor Max Bretos on Wednesday when he asked a question about Lin's weaknesses during an interview with Hall-of-Fame Knicks guard Walt Frazier.
The network announced today that it had fired the employee responsible for the headline and was suspending an anchor for 30 days for "offensive and inappropriate comments" used during its coverage of Lin. The anchor is reportedly Bretos.
ESPN also said it had learned a similar phrase was used by ESPN Radio New York. ESPN said that it had not taken action for the radio incident because the commentator was not an ESPN employee.
"We again apologise, especially to Mr Lin," ESPN said in a statement.
"His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN.
“Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future."
Lin, the first Asian-American to start an NBA game and an adopted hero in China, committed nine turnovers in the Knicks' surprise 89-85 loss to the Hornets at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. Lin, however, still showed flashes of brilliance in the game, scoring 26 points and dishing out five assists.
The defeat snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Knicks with the previously-unheralded Harvard graduate, who emerged in spectacular fashion with a run of elite performances to lay claim to the team's starting point guard spot and garner global acclaim.

The 10 Best Things About Being An A's Fan!

1. Unexpected years of contention: Baltimore, Kansas City and Pittsburgh? I just don't know how you do it. Sure, the A's are constantly in a state of roster flux, and I don't know if any team has a shorter average player tenure than the A's. But what I've learned and enjoyed over the years is that no franchise holds the ability to randomly compete in a year in which they're deemed to be irrelevant as a playoff contender.
The 1999, 2005 and perhaps even the 2002 team from "Moneyball" were all squads that didn't really have any business north of .500. Even when the A's are deemed to be in rebuilding mode, we're able to dream that the onset of highly touted prospects, and some veteran throwaways could somehow combine to form a 90-win team. On paper, the team we're fielding this year should be terrible, but perhaps the stars will align again. There's always hope.

2. We have a legitimate reason to hate Bud Selig: A's fans in the East Bay don't want them to move to San Jose. But fans to the south and the city of San Jose are all for it. Regardless of your take on the relocation, MLB's nearly three-year decision process is not only a huge abomination in leadership gone wrong, but a massive hindrance to allowing the A's to increasing their payroll and bolstering their roster.

Selig is a guy who is often begrudged by baseball fans. When pressed as to why the stodgy, awkward-looking commissioner can be public enemy No. 1 to baseball fans, all too often the case to condone his stewardship of MLB is very flimsy. However, after yet another winter of dismantling what looked to be a contending team and spending another year in relocation purgatory, there just isn't any excuse or explanation of why such a pivotal decision should take this long.

3. The best bang for your buck in all of MLB: Compared to their rivals across the bay, the A's are lacking on a lot of fronts on the game-day experience. There is no neighborhood or watering holes around the stadium, the stadium itself is one of the worst in the league, and the local businesses and residents just don't fill up the stadium like across the bay.

With that in mind, I'm unaware of any team that goes to the lengths of the A's in terms of special promotions to get fans to the park. Free parking Tuesdays! Dollar hot dogs! Two-dollar ticket Wednesdays! Beerfest! Tickets with all-you-can-eat food included in the ticket!

Plus, promos that include a handful of awesome bobbleheads, fireworks nights you can watch while sitting on the field, root beer floats served by the players, and (OMG!!) Coco Crisp Chia-Pet day. Outside of actually paying me to go to a game, the A's do more to solicit my business than perhaps even McDonald's when the McRib is back.

4. The Battle of the Bay: For six days a year, the Bay Area is a great place as a sports fan. Not particularly known as a haven of sports zealousness, those six games bring out a passion, competitiveness and excitement level that is rarely seen in the Golden State. The crowds are lively, the bars are packed, fans on both sides are chirping, and for just a quick minute, it feels like that magical October in 1989.

Unlike other rivalries pitting teams from the same geographic area against each other, the cultural and social economical divide between the fans of these two teams is great. That said, these games, while competitive and significant, typically don't erode into an unfriendly environment, as both fan bases seem to mesh well in both ballparks and are usually treated to some very competitive baseball.

5. You can get away with anything: Are you a mischievous rabble rouser? Well, Oakland just might be your place. A certain team across the bay will charge you $80 to tailgate as they require an additional parking space and even still, you're not really given the liberty to stretch out and descend into debauchery.

Not in Oakland, where the parking spaces to cars ratio is about 12:1 meaning you can setup whatever drinking game or slosh-ball field your heart desires. Need to relieve yourself? Having drastically reduced the number of porta-potties and locations they're located at in 2006, parking lot etiquette has evolved (or devolved, if you will) to allow a more organic way of relieving yourself, if so inclined.

With Oakland's close proximity to Hamsterdam and Berkeley, it seems as if the parking lot and the stadium itself have been annexed as a ganja-friendly destination. It's common place that on a trip to the Coliseum you're likely to see a higher amount of people hitting the green than players in green getting hits off the other team.

Even if you're not a big trouble-maker, the ability to sit wherever you want is a nice perk. The stadium is usually half empty and fans are late to arrive and early to leave, in addition to a good chunk of fans spending their time at the various watering holes the stadium has to offer. Out of the last two dozen or so games I've attended, I have only sat where my ticket was only a handful of times. There is something uniquely rewarding in spending $10 for a ticket and sitting in a $50 seat or even finagling your way into a luxury box.

6. "Moneyball": You're probably a tad bitter. We didn't really win anything, yet we had a best-selling book penned about one of the most memorable years in our history. Hollywood then double-downed on the book with an awesome movie. Who knows if we'll ever win another World Series in my lifetime, but for two hours, I can mentally escape the drain of being a fan and celebrate what was truly one of the more remarkable sports stories to take place in my lifetime. Have fun watching "Angels in the Outfield," Anaheim.

7. Close games: We may not win a lot, but rarely do the A's really get pummeled. With a philosophical preference for starting pitching, a strong bullpen and patient hitters, the A's are almost perennially a team that finds themselves in close, low-scoring games. In fact, last year through 47 games, more than 1/4 of the A's games ended up going extra innings, which is by no means good for your health. It's a blessing and a curse, as the A's are usually leading by just enough to blow it late or within striking distance for some late-game heroics that often never come.

8. We've Got Characters: Who is this foxy former A's ball girl below? Why that's none other than Mrs. Fields, who perfected her craft of baking delicious cookies during her time in Oakland, where she baked for those hard to bribe umpires.

MC Hammer worked in our press box growing up, the guy who invented propeller hats drunkenly walks the stadium known as Banjo Man (often mistakenly believed to be a hobo), and Tom Hanks sold soda in the bleachers back in the day.

There is nothing wrong with being a bit eccentric in Oakland as evidenced by the likes of Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, Bill King and Barry Zito. I wouldn't have it any other way.

9. The upside of Yoenis Cespedes: Starting in 2003, the A's have only had one player reach 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, and that was back in 2006 with Frank Thomas. Since then, the middle of the A's lineup has been an abyss, featuring the likes of unfulfilled potential like Jack Cust, or washed-up veterans like Mike Piazza, Nomar Garciaparra and Hideki Matsui. Outside of some speed at the top of the lineup, there really hasn't been much offensively to get excited about or sell any tickets.

Enter the unexpected addition of Cespedes, who depending on who you trust, will either be as bad of an investment as Dell in the mid-2000s or could end up being the masher needed to contend with higher payroll clubs in the division.

I'm not going to pretend that I have the answer here, but it's been so long since I've been able to drink the Kool-Aid of an A's power hitting star. I'll certainly drink up (with irrational exuberance) that Cespedes is the next Vladimir Guerrero.

10. 20 straight wins will likely never happen again: Yes, I am well aware that our 20 wins did not occur in October. That said, I'll always have those memories. Especially being in attendance at games 18 and 20, which were won with remarkable walk off home runs. After the first 10 wins, it seemed that the bubble was just due to be popped. Game by game, the narrative of the winning streak grew with more momentum and significance, and culminated in what was one of the most remarkable sporting moments I've ever seen.

Only one team wins it all each year, but perhaps in 2002, A's fans were allowed to experience the height of that emotion as it certainly felt like we achieved something of similar significance. We'll always have those memories and that unique perspective. The odds are nobody else will have that experience, and if they do, I highly doubt they'll reach 20 with as much style and fireworks as the 2002 A's did.

Taken from "Big League Stew" blog, Feb 15th 2012

What About Corruption In Sport??

Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone appeared in a German court this week as a witness in the biggest corruption trial the country has seen in over 60 years.

He's not in the dock, but he is accused of paying £27.5 million to an executive working for a state-owned bank. Ecclestone originally denied making the payment, but now says he was being blackmailed.

The man on trial for accepting the payment is Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former chief risk officer with the BayernLB bank. He's also charged with breach of trust and tax evasion over his part in the 2005 sale of the bank's £526 million stake in Formula 1 to private equity group CVC.

It's alleged that Ecclestone wanted the CVC deal to go through because that would enable him to stay in firm control of the sport. Ecclestone says he did pay Gribkowsky the money, but only because he was worried the bank executive would tell the Inland Revenue that Ecclestone was really in charge of an offshore family trust called Bambino, which is controlled by his wife Slavika.

Ecclestone says that allegation is false, but it would have sparked an expensive tax investigation. Gribkowsky denies blackmailing Ecclestone, saying the fees he received were for legitimate consultancy. The court also heard that Gribkowsy had authorised the payment of £26 million to Ecclestone as commission for easing the F1 sale – a payment that was totally above board.

Pakistani cricket scandal

It's yet another tale which is causing many to question how much sport remains sport. This year we've seen three Pakistani cricket internationals jailed for spot-fixing, something which shook the sport even more than the revelations of match-fixing 11 years ago by South Africa captain Hansie Cronje.

In 2006, Italian football giants Juventus were stripped of two league titles and relegated from the top division after taped conversations of club officials influencing referees were released. AC Milan and Fiorentina also had points deductions imposed as the investigation unveiled more corruption.

In Turkey, an ongoing investigation into match fixing, bribery, corruption, extortion and intimidation in football has seen 61 people arrested and put the results of at least 19 matches under the spotlight. Fenerbahçe, the club at the heart of the scandal, has been banned from playing in the Champions League.

In England, despite whispers over the years, there's no evidence of serious corruption of the sort that has disfigured football in Italy and Turkey. But with vast amounts of money at stake, and greater profits to be made, the temptation is surely there.

Ben Johnson

What does all this do for sport, and our enjoyment of sport? For sport to really work, spectators have to believe that what they are seeing is fair competition. Otherwise the spectacle is spoiled. It took me years to enjoy athletics again after watching Ben Johnson's amazing 9.79 second gold medal-winning 100m victory at the 1988 Olympics, only to find that his performance was aided by steroids.

Sport is certainly a business now and, at root, there's a fundamental clash between successful business and successful sport. In business, you need to guarantee success as much as possible. In sport, the more success is guaranteed, the less sporting the spectacle becomes. We have to believe we are watching real competition.

That's why sport is increasingly covered as entertainment, the thing itself becoming secondary to the narrative of character and confected controversy. Writing in the latest issue of football journal The Blizzard, Telegraph journalist Rob Smith refers to the headlines the morning after Barcelona's exceptional Champions League victory last year.

They were all about Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complaining that striker Robin van Persi had been sent off. "The beauty of Barcelona was relegated to second billing behind the whisper of illusory controversy," he says. The sport has become secondary to the story.

Football bubble

While I don't see much evidence of the pull of sport diminishing seriously just yet, and certainly not of the long-predicted bursting of the football bubble, there is an underlying worry that sport is not what is was or what it could be. It is a great money-spinner because of the passion and affection it inspires, and there is some evidence that passion and affection are being tested by what sport is becoming.

Perhaps ironically, it was the founding father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre du Coubertain, who turned the phrase that is at the heart of people's affection for sport. He said "the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not the winning, but the taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

That concept of fair play and honest effort is central to sport's attraction, and to why businesses want to be associated with sport. As sports turn themselves every more into businesses, they need to retain the ability to strike a balance between business and sporting values. Otherwise the whole house comes tumbling down.

Ricky Ponting - Never Underestimate a True Champion!!!

You should never underestimate a true champion!! Ricky Ponting has been a champion for over 10 years but in recent years has struggled to find consistant form. This has led to him standing down as Australian Captain and many in the media writing him off and suggesting his career is over. But Ricky has had the last say and made many people eat their words!!!

Ricky Ponting hit his second century in three matches and became the third batsman to score 13,000 Test runs before laughing off suggestions he might be about to retire.

The 37-year-old was unbeaten on 137 at the close on the first day of the fourth Test against India having rescued Australia's innings with a stand of 251 for the fourth wicket with his successor as captain Michael Clarke.
His effusive celebration of the century sparked conjecture that he might be about to retire, but the gritty Tasmanian dismissed the idea with a wry smile.
"How did I know I'd come here and get asked questions about retirement?" he said at a news conference.
"It was a celebration mate, I usually do a similar celebration when I score a Test match hundred.
"I won't be retiring at the end of this Test match."
Ponting has revived his career in the India series, scoring his first century in two years in the second Test in Sydney, where he shared a 288-run stand with Clarke, before his more fluent effort at the Adelaide Oval.
"I felt I played better today than I did in Sydney, it was probably a better wicket to bat on today, there wasn't much in it for any of the Indian bowlers," he said.
"It's Michael and my responsibility to make sure we start well tomorrow and see where that takes us.
"But I'm not going to be satisfied with where I am at. You go through too many ups and downs in your career to let moments like this slip."
Ponting's century was his fourth in four Test matches against India at Adelaide, including a 242 in a losing cause in 2003.

13,000 and counting

Before notching up his 41st Test century - the former Australian captain who made his debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1995 - hit his 13,000th run.
The only two men to have scored more Test runs than Ponting, India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,432) and Rahul Dravid (13,262), were both fielding on Tuesday.
Despite his long career, Ponting said he was as motivated - and as nervous - as he had always been.
"It's never been about making 13,000 runs or 14,000 runs," he said.
"It's about doing what I can when it's required of me to get my team through a certain situation in a game. That's what motivates me.

"It's never been about making 13,000 runs or 14,000 runs. It's about doing what I can when it's required of me to get my team through a certain situation in a game."

Ricky Ponting

"Winning Test matches and winning games of cricket for Australia is what motivates me to keep playing.
"I still get nervous before every innings. If the day comes when I'm sitting in the dressing room and haven't got sweaty palms, it probably means that it doesn't mean enough to me."
Australia resumes at 3 for 335 on Wednesday's second day in Adelaide and Ponting warned Australia would need to tread a fine line between batting India out of the fourth Test and killing the match.
Ponting said he and Clarke would seek to build their unbroken 251-run partnership, but they would have to balance the run scoring with a desire to push for victory on a batter-friendly Adelaide Oval pitch.

"You have to be careful not to bat too long. It will be a tough wicket to take 20 wickets if you want to win this game," he said.
"We need to make sure we're not killing too much time. We'll be nice and positive, hopefully we'll score our runs in a reasonable slick and see how we go."

Well done Punter!!! It's great to see you back and proving all your critics completely wrong!!!!

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