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1
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Cricket thread
Last post by Professer E -
Young spinners are marginalised at club level and don't develop. Cue the Vic spinner missing the last test in Sydney. Every weekend I see club sides crumble against spin but it's so hard for such kids to continue without support.
Our T20 side is made up of average players and over the hill types...for example, Stoinis hasn't delivered when it matters for a long, long time. Our T20 stalwarts are big players in a small pond and get shown up on the bigger stage.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by LP -
Quote from: crashlander – on
I know this thread is for test cricket (mostly), but today's T20 performances against Zimbabwe was unbelievably poor. Losing to these guys is unacceptable on any deck.
Mind you, we seem to playing all of our games on low turners.
What does it say about our ability o play spin? You don't need to be a genius to guess what I think.
I was thinking about the outrage such a pitch would cause here, the top tier have become prima donnas. They rated the MCG pitch poor and that pitch good!
3
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Cricket thread
Last post by DJC -
It’s the cricket thread now Crash 🙂

I think that T20 encourages the adoption of set approaches to batting that may not cope with a deviation from the usual bowling attack.  I suspect that under age T20 competitions are more formulaic and teams are more susceptible to something different.
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The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by crashlander -
I know this thread is for test cricket (mostly), but today's T20 performances against Zimbabwe was unbelievably poor. Losing to these guys is unacceptable on any deck.
Mind you, we seem to playing all of our games on low turners.
What does it say about our ability o play spin? You don't need to be a genius to guess what I think.
5
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Last post by crashlander -
My father used to know a number of politicians back in the day, some from his school (he went to Richmond Tech until his father died), some from his business dealings. It did colour the way he voted. He found Labour almost impossible to vote for after that.
My Uncle was the dux at Camberwell Grammar, and knew some people on the other side of politics. His tales were interesting, but ultimately didn't effect the way he voted.
Some of my voting behaviour comes from my time teaching. At some schools I was told not to attend when a strike was going on, or "I would know about it". That made sure I didn't go on strike.
Similarly, I was extremely unimpressed by the changes in education that eventually became the VCE. (Thankfully, many of my issues were eventually addressed, but it took a long time for sense to prevail.) I wanted us to strike over the idiocy, but we were told we were not allowed to strike, because a Labour government was in power.
Similarly, when the schools were being closed back in the day, we were told to strike when Kennett was in power. When we were not happy when the next Labour government continued the policy (just not making it public), we were informed that we couldn't strike.

I have never appreciated hypocrisy and have never liked it being thrust in my face.
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Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Last post by DJC -
Quote from: Baggers – on
Without wanting to blow sunshine up your dot, David...

Your post is an astute and exemplary example of critical thinking, objectivity and cold hard facts with an intelligent conclusion. Great read old son. A lot better than any mainstream journalistic offering I've read.

Thanks Shane but you're a much easier marker than my year 12 politics teacher!

I worked in the system for a long time and with Labor, Liberal and Nationals Ministers.  Regardless of party or ideological leanings, some were good, some were ordinary and some were awful, but only one ever had a whiff of corruption about him.  He's still in Parliament and is a shadow minister.

Thinking back about those days reminded me of a story Hugh Delahunty told me.  Hugh was the National Party MP for Wimmera and Lowan for about 15 years from the turn of last century and he was a good bloke ... for an Essendon footballer.  Hugh's sister is Mary Delahunty aka "Scary Mary", former ALP Minister for the Arts, Planning, Education and Women's Affairs.  She was elected at the same time as Hugh but only lasted until 2006.  I dealt with her in her capacity as Minister for the Arts and she was very scary ... and borderline incompetent.  Hugh and Mary's father was a farmer at Murtoa, a staunch National Party member, and not all that impressed with his daughter's political views.  Mary was back in Murtoa for a visit and went to the pub for dinner.  Hugh thought he'd stir their father and told him that the boys in the pub were giving Mary a hard time over her politics.  Their father said, "Right Hugh, were going down to the pub to sort these bastards out!"  Hugh had to fess up but I think that the story is a good example of how most Australians are able to compartmentalise politics and put it to one side, particularly for family.

Another example is Albo and Dutton who remain great mates despite the barbs they cast at each other in political life.
9
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Shawny’s concerns about Victorian and Australian Governments
Last post by Baggers -
Quote from: DJC – on
Quote from: shawny – on


Nice try at deflecting.

How people accept this absolute bloody disgrace corrupt bunch of criminals that just happens to be in charge of running our state - running it into the ground astounds me.

And my comparsion to US politics and the obsession with everything that happens on the other side of the world is very relevant and if comparing that to the corrupt government we have here just happens to trigger you well so be it.

Im fking triggered at the corrupt spending of 15 BILLION dollars of OUR money.

15 billion in case you didnt know is 15 thousand MILLION and yet not one comment about your thoughts on this situation.

i wonder why that is ?😏

I'm still waiting for you to have a crack at Chris Minns for the scumbag who kinghit Peter Dean being dealt with under the Young Offenders Act  ::)

If you're triggered by headlines, you probably should delve a little deeper, and I don't mean listening to influencer podcasts.

First of all the Allan Government doesn't "just happen to be in charge", they were democratically elected and, when you consider the rabble that's supposed to be the opposition, it's easy to see why.  The opposition at national level is worse, if anything, and Malcolm Turnbull's description of their incoming leader as the “best qualified idiot” is spot on.  It's funny how politicians often make more sense after they retire.

Secondly, the allegations, and that's all they are at this stage, were set out in a draft report by barrister Geoffrey Watson SC.  The draft report detailed the results of an investigation into CFMEU criminality and corruption commissioned by CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC.  As I'm sure you know, Irving was appointed by the Commonwealth Government to clean up the CFMEU.  The report isn't a public document and is the property of the CFMEU.  When Irving read the draft, he directed Watson to delete two sections alleging that the Allan government knew of the CFMEU aggression and corruption, that Watson estimated cost Victorian taxpayers $15 billion, because he (Irving) was “not satisfied that they were well-founded or properly tested”.  That's the opinion of a King's Council and one of the most senior and respected industrial relations lawyers in the country, not a half-baked politician or shock jock.

Watson is p1ssed off that his allegations have been discarded but he recently said the government “would be mad to get rid of Mark Irving" and “I’ve worked for Irving for two years now, and I’ve never met a more honest or decent man … I can tell you, everything he did was opposed to corruption and was in favour of fixing the CFMEU.”

I think that scuttles any suggestion that Irving's rejection of the $15 billion corruption allegations was politically motivated or in any way intended to protect politicians or CFMEU operatives.

It's possible that the CFMEU did cost Victorian taxpayers $15 billion, or perhaps even $30 billion.  Heads should roll if the CFMEU cost Victorian taxpayers any funds above and beyond legitimate construction costs, and I don't just mean Allan and the relevant Ministers.  There's a raft of people - bureaucrats, police, regulators, auditors, union officials, opposition leader, shadow ministers, etc - who should be taking action at the slightest whiff of misuse of public funds and union corruption.

For the record, I don't think much of our democratically elected State Government; they're tired, short on talent, running out of ideas and money and desperately need a spell in opposition.  Sadly for Victoria and Victorians, the alternative government is no better after such a promising start by John Pesutto.  While I admire him for taking on the fascists, he wasn't very smart in the way that he went about it.

Without wanting to blow sunshine up your dot, David...

Your post is an astute and exemplary example of critical thinking, objectivity and cold hard facts with an intelligent conclusion. Great read old son. A lot better than any mainstream journalistic offering I've read.
10
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by LP -
If you want to know what the real America is like, pick and stay at a Holiday In in a remote southern location, sleep in before attending for a late breakfast.

Just after the travellers and business types have left the restaurant will be a ghost town, you can sit there alone at 9:30am and all of a sudden out of the kitchen will roll tray after tray full of bacon, scrambled eggs, tomatoes and breakfast sausages, jugs of watered down orange and melon juice, stacks of white bread and trays of croissants piled high. The staff will man the doors as the first RVs roll into the car park, it's like Boxing Day sale stampede where every shopper is 30 stone, but it is the 10am all you can eat breakfast buffet.

The staff had given me a polite warning of the pending doom, is was just a simple question not wanting to be rude, "Do you really want to sit here?" I ignored it, I should have taken the hint, now I know why!

Never again!