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Topics - Mav

16
Ladies Lounge / Membership boost from women's team?
Greg Denham said on SEN that Trigg told him last year that females made up only around 27% of our membership.  That was well below the AFL average and Trigg and the club were well aware of this deficit and were working to address it.  Apparently, it's now up to 35%.  I wonder whether this issue was one reason (no doubt one of many) behind our bid for a women's team.  Will the new team drive up female membership?

Trigg will be on KB's show later and presumably this issue will be raised.
17
The Sports Desk / RIP Max 'Tangles' Walker
FoxSports reports his death at age 68.  What a character he was!

He even had a Carlton link.  He did a TV ad for Aerogard and a little boy in cricket whites and a mess of red hair said something like 'av a good day, Mr Walker'.  Years later, that boy ended up playing for us - Jim Plunkett.
18
Blah-Blah Bar / Jake King in bed with Toby Mitchell
Jake King deflected the Tigers' attempts at getting him to distance himself from Toby Mitchell by saying they were just lifelong friends. Now, they are partners in a tattoo shop and King will be running it while Mitchell serves 20 months for cocaine and meth offences: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/jake-king-to-run-toby-mitchells-south-melbourne-tattoo-parlour/news-story/5394acbee70ef93655fa38ee04a0d990, Hun.

Yes, King loves tattoos and so does Toby Mitchell.  But bikies aren't necessarily besotted with tattoo parlours because they love getting tattoos.  Tattoo parlours and carwash businesses are cash businesses which have low material expenses.  That makes them perfect for money laundering.  Drug money can go into the till and then can be declared to the ATO.  It is then legit and can be deposited in a bank.  As long as the business buys an appropriate amount of ink and retains enough tattoo artists to match the money going in to the till, the police and the ATO can't catch them out. Even better, henchmen can be hired as tattoo artists and paid a legit wage.  It's similar to the scenes in The Sopranos when Tony's crew would sit on folding chairs inside a building site to justify pulling down a wage.

If King were just a tattoo artist, he could well work inside a tattoo parlour without being tainted with that parlour's more dubious activities.  But being a partner in one with a bikie who is serving time for drug offences and running it in his absence?  Hmmmm.  But it has to be said that there is no evidence that King is involved with Mitchell's offending.

Imagine having King and Cousins in the same team.  Given the concerns the AFL has about drug traffickers targetting cashed-up young footballers, King's association with Mitchell was clearly problematic even in the absence of any proof of complicity.  Didak's ride with Hell's Angel Hudson before he shot 2 people in the city probably hastened Didak's demise but the Tigers took their sweet time before delisting King.
19
Blah-Blah Bar / Spy mattress
Interesting selling point for this mattress:
[flash=200,200]https://youtu.be/CWP4n4BfAYo[/flash]
21
The Sports Desk / Amazing end to Packers v Seahawks
Late in the last quarter (with less than 4 minutes on the clock IIRC), GB was up by 13 points.  Russell Wilson had been pretty ineffective The Seahawks did have a touchdown to their credit, but it was thrown by the kicker, Ryan, on a field goal fake.

The Seahawks then marched down the field and scored a touchdown to get within 6 points with 2 minutes and change to go. 

Naturally enough, the Seahawks went for the onside kick.  It went straight to a Packers Tight-end who tried to catch it in front of his face.  Incredibly, it was a falcon as he failed to bring his hands together or set his thumbs.  The Seahawks recovered and subsequently Lynch ran it in for a touchdown with 1 min 25 left. 

Being 1 point up, the Seahawks went for the 2 point conversion.  The pass rush flushed Wilson out of the pocket and he was forced to retreat.  In desperation, he threw up a Hail Mary that didn't even reach the end zone, albeit only by a yard or so.  The Seahawk who was under it had a guy on him, Clinton-Dix, who inexplicably failed to read it completely, allowing an uncontested reception and allowing his opponent into the End zone.

From there, the Packers scored a field goal to take it into overtime but then gave up a touchdown on the first drive via a deep throw down the middle. 

Wow, what a choke!
23
The Sports Desk / Mitch Johnson, the Destroyer
Wow, Mitch Johnson is doing damage everywhere.  We know he hit a massive six which smashed the window on the commentary box recently.  Now, he's broken the arm of Ryan McLaren (SA allrounder).  Yes, it was a hairline fracture and McLaren kept batting, but, as the following article points out, McLaren is entitled to be scared of facing Mitch again given that 6 months ago Mitch hit him in the side of his helmet causing him to bleed from his ear.

http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/cricket/mitchell-johnson-breaks-ryan-mclarens-arm-20140904-10c5p7.html
24
The Sports Desk / Michael Schumacher in a coma
Michael Schumacher suffers head injury in skiing accident, The Age, 30/12.

And after avoiding such serious injury during years of F1 racing when that sport can be lethal despite all of the effort devoted to minimising risk (as Senna's fate illustrates).  But skiing is hardly a safe sport.  I have known people who died after colliding with trees.  Liam Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, died after suffering a knock to the head while skiing - she suffered a subdural haematoma but didn't know it, and she went home and died in bed.  My sister almost died in the same way, but her injury occurred during a massage, of all things. 

By far the most tragic aspect of the story is that the accident occurred in the presence of his 14 year old son.  I hope that for both of them, the story has a happy ending. 
25
Robert Heatley Stand / Yarran over a fit of the blues: The Age
Yarran over a fit of the blues, The Age, 20/10.

Admits he cracked it at times and regrets doing so. 

Quote
''I found myself frustrated coming back from injury. It was totally my fault that it happened. It's not something that I want to dwell on too much. Mick is a fantastic coach and has been fantastic for us,'' he said, pointing out he has enjoyed Malthouse' direct feedback.
Says that he finds it difficult to be as vocal as MM wants him to be, is sad to see Eddie go but says that this was the best thing all round as the 3 Amigos were squeezing into 2 spots as they didn't have the stamina for midfield and that's where games are now won.

Seems he's maturing (though we'll have to wait until next year to see if words translate into action), and it's good that he'll be back next year.
27
Robert Heatley Stand / SNF review of Carlton's year
Click HERE.

The outs the author suggests are: one of the 3 Amigos, Andrew Collins, David Ellard, Marcus Davies, Aaron Joseph, Jeremy Laidler, Nick Duigan and Kane Lucas.

A suggestion for a trade is Jesse White from Sydney along with, of course, Daisy.
28
The Sports Desk / NFL starts tomorrow!
The season opener pits the Broncos against the Superbowl winner, Baltimore Ravens.  Peyton Manning's boys are red-hot favourites. 

For me, this season will be much more enjoyable.  Last year, although some games were broadcast on OneHD (as they will be this year too), problems with reception meant I had to try various ways of putting tension on the antenna cable to get things working, and often I'd have to give up altogether when the scores were tight at the end of the game.  This year, I have Fox and I can IQ ESPN.

One tip I picked up from a US sports journo is that you have to temper your enthusiasm for sides with 2nd-year QBs such as Colin Kapernick, Andrew Luck and RG3.  He pointed out that Cam Newton had a great first year, but he didn't follow it up well.  The reasons behind this US version of 2nd-year blues are:
  • Coaches tend to keep things very simple for 1st-year QBs, but then they tend to throw the whole playbook at them in the offseason and they find it difficult to cope.
  • Opponents have seen much more of these rookies and know what they want to do on big plays, meaning they're much better at negating them.
He did, however, suggest that Andrew Luck is a football genius and isn't likely to be overawed. 

This guy also suggested that there's a strong trend to do away with huddles after each play and the hurry-up offence is more common, meaning more plays throughout the game.
29
The Sports Desk / Time for Fed-Ex to retire?
Hmmm ... Federer was beaten in straight sets by Tommy Robredo.  This is the first time in 10 years that he hasn't made the 4th round of the US Open.  Prior to this match, Federer had a 10-0 record against Robredo who is 31 years old and is ranked no. 22 in the world (with an all-time high ranking of No. 5).  Not looking good for Roger.   
30
Robert Heatley Stand / Judd apparently has hand up for finals
SEN reports that Judd is back in light training and has declared that he'll be good to go for the elimination final, if we get there of course.  That fits in with previous suggestions that the injury wasn't as bad as first thought.