Nearpost Football: Media Anti-football awards

Showing posts with label Media Anti-football awards. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Media Anti-football awards. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 February 2011

News Ltd arrogance- Co-ordinated social media campaign required to take em on.

Hamish fan of Brisbane Roar wrote a comment to my earlier post re:anti football media conspiring to talk football down again and again and again.

It deserved it's own post so twitter and facebook fans would get to see it!

From Hamish:

More good thought Eamonn. I can feel your frustration.

Speaking of Muslims though, maybe we need to learn from the Arab nations' uprisings. We can outflank the coroporate interested media with social media.

From a Brisbane point of view, where Brisbane Roar are clearly THE news headline, it's become absurd. The 'football violence' shit in Melbourne has also been absurd.

We're actually in a position to expose News Limited sports news as the massive corporate PR exercise that it is, seeking allies in games like basketball, athletics and ALL women's sport.

I'm rambling, but in short I think we can use News Limited's arrogance as a weapon for round ball.

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Football the winner as wankers surface.

What a fantastic game of football at AAMI Stadium last night. Brisbane Roar 2-0 up soon to be pulled back to 2-2 only for Robbie Kruse to sneak a winner. Or so we thought.

Then Michael Theoklitos grabs the ball outside his area in the last minute - or less - and the Roar go down and score with everyone from Melbourne in disarray.

Kevin Muscat lashed out and hit a Roar Official - nine weeks anyone - although in Melbourne, in AFL you get knighted for such behaviour. Muscat should walk.

The surface helps football - and most of the best games in the A-League have been played at AAMI Stadium.

Last night was no different. Great football from two great Aussie attacking football sides.

And of course while this game took some of the World Cup pain away, it showed we have an awful lot to like about football in Australia.

Even if we are still surrounded by wankers.

And they are out and about this weekend.

Wanker no 1.

Alan Kohler, ABC, and Eureka Business Report wrote this:

Qatar

"Australia Loses World Cup Bid to Qatar" blared the headlines yesterday. Actually that's not quite accurate. Australia lost to everybody; we came last. Or rather, we were the first to be eliminated, with one vote in the first round. Oh the humiliation, the burning shame of it. All of the frantic sucking up to FIFA by Frank Lowy, Mark Arbib, and the rest, all the money that was spent, the cartoon kangaroo with Julia Gillard, the arguments with the AFL over stadium usage – all came to nought.

It's easy for us AFL fans to sneer at the soccer carry-on, but it's apparently quite a popular game for some reason. Lots of people like to go and let off flares and punch each other, but more importantly a lot of people around the world like to watch it on TV. As a result, the World Cup has become a big broadcasting event like the Olympics, attracting large dollops of cash from advertisers. At a time when television is under threat from pay TV and the internet, live events – like MasterChef – have become its lifeblood.

So the hosting of the events has itself become a sport. Training, preparation, money … then the big race, and … "WE WIN! Hooray!" Or in our case the devastation of loss, lying on the track weeping and gasping for breath, followed, of course, by: "WE WUZ ROBBED". Or rather, "We was lied to". Or perhaps: "We paid off the wrong corrupt official". Maybe it was like the movie Pulp Fiction, in which Bruce Willis takes the money for throwing the fight and then wins, before later killing the bad guys.

Qatar is a nation of 1.7 million people on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf. Basically it's Perth, if you include Bunbury and Margaret River, except it's stinking hot, an absolute monarchy and rich beyond the dreams of avarice because of the accident of sitting on top of a lot of oil and gas, a legacy of the desert around there having been a jungle long ago.

And so the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa as-Thani, and his wife, were able to promise to spend $US50 billion on new airconditioned stadiums (it's 46 degrees) in which to play soccer in 2022, which would then be dismantled and shipped off to Third World countries, presumably complete with the massive airconditioners. In other words the 2022 World Cup will be played in porta-stadiums. It was a masterstroke. Why didn't we think of that? Permanent footy fields like the MCG are totally yesterday. Knock 'em up and then whack 'em on the back of a truck so they can sit empty somewhere else. Frank, you're an idiot. Sell Westfield.

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Aussie football media losing the plot

First SBS commentator Craig Foster calls for Coach Pim Verbeek to announce his team and strategy to 2 or 3 former Aussie Captains for approval before each game!

Now what Coach of a team would ever agree to that, at any time?

I admire Craig and his thoughts..a lot..but this is crazy stuff. Which particular three did he have in mind?

Himself, Mark Viduka and Paul Okon?

And then there's Mike Cockerill. He's lost the plot.

Critical of Harry Kewell, very short-sighted, I'd argue unprofessional as well, given Kewells' efforts for the team across the Qualifiers and of course not his fault if he's not picked to play. Aussie fans remember Kewells contribution in getting us to South Africa.

And couldn't Harry play midfield for another four years for the Socceroos a la Ryan Giggs. With his ability I reckon Harry could re-invent himself yet.

As for Mike Cockerill well he's dug his own hole this time it seems. And no help from me either!

Never mind the team what is happening to our football media? They've completely lost and misjudged this one.

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Wow, that's ugly man..smell the fear!

Jon Green they call him and he wrote about the Australia New Zealand game for the ABC. So now even the ABC get to bag the game of football.

Interesting to me is the age of this seemingly long line of sports writers simply looking to bag the game. Dinosaur anyone?

This is what the Green man wrote; and he works for the ABC. Aussie journalism at it's best once more. And note the pathetic references, to AFL, the great and brave Barry Hall, now theres a coward on an Aussie sports field if ever I saw one, boring, new game...dear old Jon. Guess you won't need your passport for this weekends AFL round eh!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/25/2908494.htm?site=news

As the great Australian poet Les Murray once mused, "I like the World Cup, it cheers me up". Well no he didn't actually; maybe it was the other one.

But here, apparently, we go again. Australia against the wide footballing world. Will we like this World Cup? Probably not.

If last night's spiteful snorefest from the MCG was any guide, the Australian campaign will be a short one marked by the sort of ugly studs-up, shin-gouging violence that is the last resort of the desperate and the outgunned.

Unable to better the tall, disciplined New Zealanders we resorted to hacking them down. We won, thanks to a cruel deflection and a late lucky strike that came from the depths of dead time, after a second half that was so ring-a-rosey with substitutions it was more like a training run than anything worthy of keeping 50,000 sitting in the soft, cold rain.

But it was the yellow-carded hacking of the first half that set the tone. Unlike an enraged Barry Hall headlock, soccer's violence is something gutless that comes cold-bloodedly from behind. It's typical of the code's overwhelming sense of calculation and accurate finesse. Nasty for its cool intent.

But that's soccer. Watching last night on the telly -- action so limp even the commentary team gave up on it for long silent pauses - was like seeing a Fremantle possession drill extended to occupy 90 minutes. And then broadcast in 3D. Apparently.

What a sublime consummation that must have been, lame sport viewed through silly glasses... oh brave new world that has such wonders in it.

Last time round there seemed some sense of urgent feistiness about the Socceroo campaign to take on the world. There was an appealing freshness, a wonder at the revelation of this new game. They exceeded expectations, had an unlikely run against the house in the biggest lottery on the planet. It ended in tears of course, but somehow that just added a touch of under-dogged lustre.

This time round? The same bunch of guys slopes off to a sudden death in South Africa, expectations are low, interest lower. And last night was the perfect send off. Ill-tempered. Boring. Wet.

Monday, 24 May 2010

All aboard toot toot! Mark Stevens number one!

Will Mark Stevens ever get to write about anything other than an AFL game from Etihad or a training session from Geelong. Nice one Mark, bring it on...and put away your passport you'll never need it.

Why would you mention football unless as you say the AFL game was "hardly full of highlights" surely not a boring game Mark, so boring that all you can talk about is one man who stood up and then sat down.

Mark Stevens wrote:
This is what he wrote, in a national newspaper, I kid you not!

BRACE yourself for an onslaught of artificial passion.

Everyone is about to become an expert. The Socceroos are about to play in a World Cup. Everyone is about to become an expert.

Those who could not give a toss about Australia's best soccer players for months on end suddenly will become flag-waving fans.

There are genuine supporters out there, of course, but the bandwagon will be full of part-timers.

It is all about national pride, agreed. But it is a matter of life or death for most? No.

Passion can not be turned on at the flick of a switch. It takes years to build, on a week-by-week basis.

It is precisely why club sports, built on tribal rivalries, produce the real emotion.

One scene on the siren at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night said it all.

A middle-aged North Melbourne fan sprang from his seat on the outer wing, punched the air and then slumped back in total relief. It was so animated, so joyous, you could not miss it even from the press box on the opposite wing.

North had stumbled home after running out of gas. It was hardly a game full of highlights but, for the bloke in blue and white, it was as sweet as it comes.

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Football (still) having to fight in Oz

No Free-To-Air football so little reason for news channels and newspapers to report football games and events.

Why else would the biggest sporting event on the weekend in one of our major cities, Sydney be ignored by the Daily Telegraph in the lead up to the game?

It still amazes me how many Rebecca Wilson's Peter FitzSimons and the like we have in the media, and why football still gets poor coverage.

Les Murray says.

In this respect the behaviour of the Sydney media, in particular the Murdoch press, was an utter disgrace.

On that Sunday the Sydney-Melbourne showdown was the biggest sporting event in Sydney by any measure. Yet on the day before the game the Daily Telegraph, Sydney’s biggest selling daily (I’m not sure why), gave less than a tenth of its sports space to the game, burying it, while it dedicated 60 per cent of its allotment to the NRL, which was not due to kick off for another week.

The sleazy, grubby and calculated media resistance to football, five years after Johnny Warren’s death, is alive and well.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Sydney FC stick it to Rebecca Wilson

Nearpost takes a huge delight in seeing one of the decreasing band of anti-football Australia sports journo being given a bit of her own.

Rebecca Wilson renowned for joining Peter FitzSimons, Patrick Smith, AFL Chief Andrew Dimitriou, John Bermingham, Paul Kent and too many others to mention for trashing Australian football or soccer as they like to say.

Well Edwin Lugt CEO Sydney FC made her look like the true professional she aspires to be.

Basically it went roughly like this:

Rebecca: Disappointing crowds for the A-League.
Edwin: Hello Rebecca I remember your article after Adelaide played in the Champions League Final...

At this point my shoulder chip bounced....hmmmn this "German" Aussie Sports Administrator knew exactly who she was and what she wrote even before, if my memory serves me right, he was in the country. I'm interested.

Edwin then fired a question:
Do you know how A-League crowds rank across the football leagues of the World?

Rebecca: Stumbled something like...."They are not as big as the English Premier League!"

Here was one of the small member of the anti-football brigade but apparently a PAID journalist for News Ltd getting her facts....so correct.

I was rolling.

So the A-League, salary cap $2.5mill, five years in the making, doesn't get as many people to games to a country where football is the national sport, has been for 100 years, has money to burn and about ten papers producing ten pages of football "news" every day. Nice one Rebecca.

For the record Australia is 17th for football crowds across the World. Pretty impressive after five years in my view...not Rebeccca.

And guess what Rebecca, we're behind Germany as well!
I can't do it justice, watch it here.
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/offsiders/content/2010/s2819059.htm

On behalf of the football community I'm sure we all salute Edwin Lugt. Professional, intelligent and driving one into the pathetic journo anti-football club.

We may not be the biggest code, who cares, but anyone who tries to keep us down, as Wilson and co do...deserve to be challenged.

Nice one Edwin, nice one son, nice one Edwin lets have another one.....who's next?

And Rebecca we know you'll use you media access to get back at Edwin or the game because that's the sort of "professional" journo you are....we're watching!

Sunday, 23 August 2009

Phil Gould: Were you drunk when you wrote that?

If it's not Pete FitzSimons writing rubbish about Union and having a dig at football, (why do journos in this country feel the need) in the Sydney Morning Herald every week, we now have Phil Gould trying to tell us that Jarryd Haynes is the greatest footballer in any code in Australia.

Phil wrote this in his article on Rugby League in the Sun Herald today.

RIGHT at this moment, Jarryd Hayne is the best player in any code of football in Australia.

He is without doubt the most dominant rugby league player in the world.

Now I've no idea if this bloke is any good, he must be I guess, but why Phil has to try and suggest he's better than Kofi Danning, Kevin Muscat, Ljubo Milicevic, Archie Thompson, and or course Jason Culina I've no idea.

Haynes is only 21 and played just 79 games in the local Eastern State Rugby League.

Culina played Champions League Football, ran around with PSV Eindhoven no less, and I'd suggest getting a gig in the Dutch League at that level is a tad harder than playing for your local professional suburban club in Sydney, and by sheer weight of numbers playing you have to be a better player to get a game don't you.

After all football is a World game where you compete against everyone else to get a contract at a Champions League Club.

And of course Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Lucas Neill, Harry Kewell and Mar Schwarzer are a few who have gone a tad higher and harder than the great Jarrod Haynes.

Come on Phil, whichever way you look at Haynes might be a brilliant League player but to suggest he's the best of any code. Haynes only has to outshine a few local lads playing the game to get a contract and then step up to the best of that pack, not such a great achievement is it?

Do you even know what Jason Culina, Tim Cahill, and Mark Schwarzer have achieved for their clubs in the previous 12 months and they ain't playing for a suburban Sydney club or Suburban Sydney wages are they?

As for Haynes being the Best in the World?

No Haynes might be the Best in the Eastern States or North of England but that hardly makes a World Clas athlete does it?

Thursday, 18 June 2009

Stathi: Goose loose in Melbourne

World Cup fever grabs another Aussie Sports Journalist.

Stathi Paxinos, chief rugby league correspondent, The Age, wrote this...ha ha he really did

There are valid reasons for withdrawing Harry Kewell from Australia's game against Japan tonight at the MCG. But one that cannot be justified is the one that Verbeek has actually come out with - that Harry needed a rest after playing in two games in the past month.

and then he said..

Anyone who seriously believes that should take a moment to watch what some of the top National Rugby League stars put themselves through at this time of the year.

While not wishing to join Stathi's attack on another code, Stathi if you are going to talk about football get it right.

Does Stathi know that Harry plays for Galatasary in Turkey when he isn't resting with the Socceroos? Does Stathi know anything about Harry's age, injuries, career or what is ahead of him in South Africa.

It would be like the Kangaroos taking on the 20 or so teams who are better than them, but of course that ain't possible is it!

Melbourne has a Rugby League writer that caused me a chuckle, and a Chief one at that. And guess what the "Chief" is writing about football! Twaddle.

Stathi can join Sydney's Daily Twaddle mob and Rebecca Wilson and a host of others who feel the only thing they can write about football is negative twaddle.

Aussie media continue to attack the Socceroos, football, and anyone and anything they can get their hands on. Give it a break.

One million people play the game but still they attack. No brains, no wonder newspapers ain't making money these days.

But one thing for sure there is more to come.

Bring the clowns on!

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Daily Telegraph kicking football: But why?

What are News Limited afraid of? Some very strange articles are appearing out of that newspaper regarding football.

They, clearly, are deliberately running the game down, using non-football language and generally abusing anything non-Australia.

Pim is un-Australian, the Bahrainians players names are mocked...what is going on..and why?

Yesterday we had an article criticising the crowd predicted for last nights game despite it being bigger than League Centenary Test, Union Baa Baas game and all AFL games played in Sydney this year.

And today we have an article basically taking the mick out of the Socceroos, Bahrain and the game of football. Nick Wilkshire might be a writer but his language suggests he hates the game and knows little about it. And of course lets all laugh at the names of the Bahrainians, shades of the Footy Shows Nick!

Nick eloquent and on top of the language of his subject says:

Learn to love these Aussies the hard way, by going some 53 minutes without a point being scored at ANZ Stadium last night.

And, sure, it's painful. Because drawing nudes is intriguing . . . drawing soccer matches is not.

But what about the joy when Australia finally goaled - twice?

Apparently his namesake Luke Wilkshire missed a penalty...he meant a free-kick. And you're a Sports Editor Nick..ha ha pure gold mate.

And then we've got Phil Rothfield telling us how Pim is holding the game back. Phil clearly doesn't understand the game, International football or indeed the depth of the Australian squad...or lack of. How many players play Champions League football?

Poor old Phil says

this man (Pim) is destroying soccer’s one golden opportunity to challenge rugby league and AFL.

Just quietly Phil you are probably more likely to do that than Pim or anyone involved in the game. You and your paper's continued attacks on the game. News Limited must be terrified of the games potential.

The achievements should be acknowledged for what they are. We're going to the World Cup and we have a chance to improve along the way.

But why don't one of Australia's biggest selling papers support the game, in anyway?

What other Aussie sport has to take this sort of journalistic rubbish from Sydney's major paper. One wonders why?

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

Ben English: First up goose.

Socceroos have qualified for the third time at the biggest tournment in World sport and the Daily Telegraph's Ben English is criticising the attendance at tonights game.

Now that is a bigger crowd than the League Centenary test, promoted just a tad, bigger than the Wallabies v Baa Baa's, promoted widely with SBW and co, and bigger than the AFL v Ireland, but the guy wants to have a go.

50,000 re: Bahrain is a great crowd for any sport, but for a football code still on the rise it's even better.

If the FTA channels covered Aussie football with any sort of fairness to reflect the interest of the game, or the Telegraph gave the sport more than half a page a day....then the game would probably be packed tonight.

When will the media give the sport more airspace? And when is the tipping point, or is the country's sports media just to locked in to other codes.

Either way Ben will have his pathetic paper full of pull-outs come World Cup won't he.

For me Australia playing game after game across Asia, qualifying for World Cups...we've only just begun...but Ben you'd know that being a Sports Editor wouldn't you!

Monday, 17 November 2008

Socceroos World Cup Qualifier Wednesday

The Socceroos take on Bahrain 2pm AEST Thursday morning Canberra time.

We're top of the group, Bahrain have four of their first picks out and it'll be a cool 24 degrees come match time.

So no excuses.

And it's vital we get a win, okay a point will do, but given we go to Tokyo next, where it's conceivable we could lose, although I doubt it...we need to take 4 points from these two away games to build on our fantastic start.

Brett Emerton, Vinny Grella, Craig Moore, Chris Coyne Scott Chipperfield and Scott McDonald are all unfit.

Carl Valeri is back, so is Harry Kewell and Marco Bresciano. With Tim Cahill in the mix this side should be strong enough in attack.

Luke Wikshire, Lucas Neill Jade North and David Carney across the backline

Expect Carl Valeri and Jason Culina in the midfield with Bresciano, Cahill and maybe Kewell upfront. Still leaves room for one more, I'm going with Brett Holman although Pim may go with Jacob Burns and push Culina wide right.

We'll see but I reckon Australia will get three points...here's hoping we take another huge step to South Africa and give Rebecca Wilson something positive to write about for once.

And well done the FFA CEO Ben Buckley for putting a statement out to counter the trash from Wilson. You can see it on the FFA website.

Some say he shouldn't get involved. I say we have market power now to start throwing our economic weight around. We don't have to take this drivel in Australia anymore or ever again no matter how successful or otherwise our teams, at club or national level.

We all like to criticise but Wilson's sort of Australian sports journalism of yore needs to be challenged at every corner from now on.

She'll be thinking twice before she writes anything so stupid about football as will some of her other cronies.

To think she's labelled a journalist....

Socceroos to win by 1. Wilson to be on the first media plane to South Africa:)

Saturday, 15 November 2008

Rebecca Wilson: Football in Crises:)

Rebecca Wilson thinks football in Australia is in crises.

Rebecca Wilson says,

"Either the game does surgery on itself here or soccer faces a future that is very bleak indeed.

Soccer is in crisis and Adelaide United's horrendous two losses proved once and for all that something has to be done to fix it.

See her full article, and yes she got paid to write it!!! Has she followed the game in the last 15 years? Anyway here's my two cents.

Dear Rebecca,

If Adelaide hadn't got to the ACL final by beating Chinese, Japanese and Koreans sides
If we had no juniors playing the game
If we weren't heading to South Africa
If our first real TV deal wasn't expected to grow
If more clubs weren't dying to get into the league
If the FFA weren't making a profit
If the Wilson's of this world weren't writing this crap
If Club Sponsors and Memberships weren't continuing to increase
If we weren't in Asia
If the A-League wasn't 5 times faster than the old NSL
If we didn't have a Women's League..on National TV

If Adelaide had beaten Gamba Osaka

We might be in crises..as it is we have a standard to aspire to, and a whole heap of reasons to be positive

Indeed Rebecca, if this is a crises, then bring it on baby:)

Tuesday, 23 September 2008

Daily Telly's Gary Linnell

is hardly a journalist worthy of the label.

His latest effort, got into the paper, why is anybody's guess, and his bitter little rant included football in his list. Was he supposed to be funny? Heard it all before Gary.

For the record a dull-scoring game goes for 90 minutes Gary, a dull cricket draw goes for 5 days!! Work it out yourself Gary.

Here's what Gary the Goose had to say....

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24385271-5017479,00.html

Name: Soccer fans.
Crime: Pretentiousness, false and misleading conduct.
The Court says: Despite claims their sport is the true "world game'', will soon become Australia's premier sporting competition and should only be referred to as "football'', indisputable evidence proves soccer has duller draws than cricket and more players who fall to the ground feigning injury than the entire cast of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Sentence: Writing on the blackboard no less than 100 times: "The A-League is nothing more than a dressed-up backwater suburban competition.''

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Anti-football media awards..another 2008 entry...yawn!

The Socceroos Qatar game is SOLD OUT. Union, League even AFL would love to get such a crowd to an International game against a team ranked 100!

But in Melbourne TREVOR GRANT can't resist writing a rather tame,

lame piece about the state of the local game.

Hey Trevor, record crowds mate, great young players, and a World Game that ensures players can head off to Europe or wherever to improve themselves.

Does any Australian believe the $1.8mill salary capped A-League is better than the money crazed EPL or European leagues....no, maybe just people like Trevor who don't seem to have been in touch with the sport for 32 years as he says.

You don't just produce a World Cup qualifing side after 32 years, it takes time to produce players, a National Soccer League and commitment from players, officials and fans.

Australia has a long history of football, football knowledge. Just people like TREVOR hasn't realised it.

And yes Trevor is from Melbourne, here's his really positive piece on the eve of the Socceroos game.

Well done Trevor how do you spell

fear!

or should that be smell:)

Tuesday, 29 January 2008

Anti-football media awards..another 2008 entry...yawn!

Courier Mail's Mike Coleman: Talks rubbish!

Poor Mike Coleman. A journalist, a sports journalist with the Courier Mail.

Guess with all the footall stories from the Socceroos, to the A-League, and the Roar in the finals, he's been told to write something about football.

And it's crass it really is.

So Mike you are another entry in the 2008 Anti-football media awards.

You can read his full post below and my ten cents worth. Will have to put you on the radio show in January's entries. Sorry mate you give me no choice.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23112566-10389,00.html

I RECEIVED some news this week that I must admit was a little worrying.

Not content with a good showing at the last World Cup, 30,000-plus crowds at A-League matches and blanket media coverage, the geniuses who run soccer in this country have had to reinvent the wheel.

I am reliably informed that from next season junior matches will no longer be played on a cut-down version of full-length fields so that kids can emulate their heroes.

Starting with matches up to under-8s and then extending to under-12s in coming seasons, they will be played five-a-side on tiny grounds with portable pop-up goals. And no goalies.

Now apart from the fact that youngsters like to feel they are playing the same game they see on TV, I believe the "no goalie" edict could lead to huge problems later in life when the kids leave the junior ranks and even make it to the A-League.

They will think they can score goals.

Anyone who watched Friday night's semi-final between the Queensland Roar and Sydney FC will know that simply isn't the case.

Seems to me anyone who went through the A-League this season betting solely on 0-0 draws could retire to the Bahamas.

Not that this means the games were dull, sleep-inducing bores – well not all of them anyway. Friday night's game was very entertaining, if for no other reason than to see if Reinaldo could finally put a sitter into the back of the net.

Now I don't want to pick on the guy because he obviously has completion problems, but if I read one more time how he's going to play for the Socceroos or how clubs from Botswana to Brazil are lining up for his signature, I'll take up the game myself. It's obviously an easy way to make a buck.

Still, for once, the Brazilian Bomber wasn't the worst offender. How about Alex Brosque? Three times the goal yawned at him like the gate at Luna Park and three times he came up short.

That's not to downplay the effort of young Queensland keeper Griffin McMaster, who had a blinder, but if Brosque is the best finisher in the A-League, no wonder Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek is looking offshore for talent.

I couldn't believe the outcry when Verbeek said a training run in Europe was worth more than a game in the A-League. Anyone who was insulted should invest in Fox Sports and open their eyes.

For what it is, in its third year of existence, the A-League is sensational. It provides fans with local teams to follow and gives up-and- comers like Michael Zullo, Robbie Kruse and Tahj Minniecon the chance to showcase their skills and hopefully earn a ticket to Europe.

But as a direct route to the World Cup, forget it.

Verbeek was spot-on with what he said, and it didn't come lightly. He has spent weeks looking at A-League matches through the eyes of experience, leaving the rose-coloured glasses to the fans.

He is certainly not going to gamble Australia's World Cup chances – and his job and reputation – on the boot of a Brosque or Reinaldo. Or at least a Brosque or Reinaldo who hasn't been hardened by top-level football.

Imagine what the score would have been on Friday night if Harry Kewell or Mark Viduka had been playing for either side. Imagine how many of those chances John Aloisi would have put in the net.

Even closer to home, imagine where the Roar would have finished if Craig Moore hadn't brought his talent and experience back home to Queensland.

Hard as it is for some to admit, some of our most over-hyped A-League players still have a lot of work to do. Either that or they should find a five-a-side league with pop-up goals. And no goalies.

What a load of dross Mike. No-one expects Alex Brosque to be the same as Viduka or Kewell.

Money talks in all sport, and for a salary cap of $1.8 mill could you afford one Viduka never mind a whole team.

As for kids playing with no goalies, and small sided games. You're article is an embarrassment to parents, kids and football players everywhere. Do you have any idea what you are talking about.

And sure Alex Brosque may not be the next Kewell or Viduka, but what price a Bruce Djite, or James Holland.

Methinks you have spoken too soon, and besides that stick to what you do know. It's clearly not football.

Monday, 14 January 2008

What a Pell of a man: And he's a Bishop:)

2008 First nomination for the Channel Seven anti-football award: National Section.

And it's a Bishop, yer man Pell.

Full article here

The Bishop, I'm no fan let's get that bias out straight away, goes on about the behaviour of cricket and the gentleman's game as he calls it. Don't make me laugh. Like this stuff never happened years ago under Steve Waugh or even Allan Border's teams.

Many, many much bigger fans of cricket than me, have been criticising the behaviour of the Australian cricket team for years. And that's just the Aussie fans.

But yer man Pell, a hell of a guy:), starts discussing cricket, the game, it's ethics and the like. Fair enough. He wouldn't want to talk about the ethics of the priesthood in his weekly article would he?

And at the end of the 500 word article, he nicely diverts to soccer and gets a nice dig in there. No mention of Rugby League, Union or AFL and the problems those codes and their super heroes have.

No mention of Australian football, where until now the Socceroos, Matildas and A-League Clubs have hardly done anything to enable the likes of Ben Cousins, Ricky Ponting, Wendell Sailor and others opportunities to say, "but what about the footballers."

No Pell the Bishop, has a noice wee dig at Soccer in the midst of his beloved cricket.

Our crowds are up, our games are making headlines in the cricket season, cricket is introducing mickey mouse twenty twenty stuff, cricket is grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reason, but Pell has to have a dig.

On yer Bish. How about you say something positive about the growing acceptance in the country and positive influence of the game of football on men and women in our community.

His sentiment about soccer doesn't go unsupported here. It's just why say something about soccer at all.

Here's what our man of the cloth had to say towards the end of his article:

It is inevitable that cricket changes with the times, but Test teams should not make things worse among the youngsters who admire them.

Modesty in victory, dignity in defeat, traditional courtesies are lessons worth learning.

Racing around the field doing high jinks would not be tolerated in children, even if rich, spoilt soccer stars perform like that for the T.V.

Ponting and Kumble need to lead their teams away from the brink. Too much off and on the field in Sydney wasn't cricket.

Monday, 31 December 2007

Channel 7 anti-football award nomination 2007

Nominee: John Coomber....review of the year...guess who forgot Women's football, the Matilda's.

Don't know who I'm laughing with more, John Coombers year in review, or Spiros Zavos' description of the so-called brilliant round-up.

Matilda's boys! Women's football at the women's World Cup in China 2007. The biggest women's sporting tournament of the year. Bigger than the Netball, the Swimming put together, but then brilliant superb sports journo's like yourself would know that!

Over 35,000 crowd average at every game. Huge interest in Australia and in countries across the globe. Best achievement by the Matilda's ever.....and surprise surprise the boys didn't think it was worth a mention.

So I've nominated John for the www.nearpost.blogspot.com 2007 media anti-football awards of the year. Awarded to the Aussie journo who does his best to ignore the game.

Don't worry John you've no chance of winning, you've too much competition, but Spiros you could sneak up the list:)

Carry on lads!

Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Canberra Media Anti-Football Award Nominee

Who is your nominee for the Australian and Canberra anti-football awards.

Updated entry 12.12.07

There are two awards, The National Channel 7 award and the Channel 7 Canberra award to be handed out at the end of the year.

Get your entries in!

1. The National Channel 7 award goes to The Australian journalist who writes, talks the best anti-football stuff. Nominees are now open.

Channel 7 bought the rights to the old NSL ,but in the sentiment of a recent Court Case, "with the intention of killing the game, by not showing the games!"

2. The Channel 7 Canberra award.

Of course all nominees have the opportunity to come and discuss their nominee on-air on the Nearpost radio show.

And just wondering about how I should present the awards:)...Chaser style I suppose:)

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