The Sport Thread

[RelentlessOblivion]

it's legal IF the attempted mark (catch of the ball) is reasonable (I think I know the part you mean) if not a free kick will be payed against him, AFL can be a bit of a complicated game to follow at first but when you're watching a good game the action can be so engrossing knowing the rules doesn't seem to matter as much. it's a shame AFL isn't televised in the UK as watching a full game is much better then just highlights, if I can find them (and if you're interested, sorry I tend to really get excited when it comes to AFL) I might PM you two full games, the 2005 and 2006 AFL Grand Finals, regarded by almost every AFL fan as the two best games of AFL ever played.

[RelentlessOblivion]

this is pure agony, my boys Port Adelaide led West Coast at three quarter time but the game is in Alice Springs and not being televised so I have to rely on updates through the PAFC facebook page for the score, fifteen minutes to go, I don't know who's winning but my lads are putting in a herculean effort. We finished 14th on the AFL ladder last year with five wins, one draw and 16 losses, against a team that finished fifth on the ladder and narrowly lost to Collingwood in the AFL semi-finals

[RelentlessOblivion]

the wait is over and now it's time to celebrate because Port Adelaide WON!!! I gotta tell you as a sports fan there is no better feeling then going into a game as the underdog, with all the odds stacked against you, and having your team pull off the win. I just wish the game had been televised because it sounds like it was a cracker

[RelentlessOblivion]

oh great first the Australian wicketkeeper sprains his ankle and now Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson are on a plane back to Australia to face disciplinary charges leaving Australia with a squad of ten players who are available for selection for the third test against India, we may have to forfeit.

[satan 59]

Now this is a real sport, I love and play it. -5xkMNIt-5k

[KremniushkA]

I play table tennis..)) omg..I remembered a series of South Park about sarcastaball.. Has anyone seen this?

[The Strategos]

No, I don't see much South Park though it is hillarious.

[RelentlessOblivion]

further developments in the Australian Cricket Team drama, Shane Watson told his cricketing career is over, Mitchell Johnson told his is in doubt and the other two told one more slip up and their careers will be over before they really start.

[RelentlessOblivion]

and Satan how's this for a hit? xi2ebezpADs

[The Strategos]

further developments in the Australian Cricket Team drama' date=' Shane Watson told his cricketing career is over, Mitchell Johnson told his is in doubt and the other two told one more slip up and their careers will be over before they really start.[/quote'] Whoa, what's happened?!? I appear to have completely missed all this.

[RelentlessOblivion]

repeated breaches of multiple player rules of conduct by Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja culminating in their failure to arrive for training on time and failure to complete a review of the teams recent catastrophic failure in the second test against India. All four players were sent back to Australia, Watson has launched a scathing attack against fitness coach Pat Howard for voicing his support for head coach Mickey Arthur and captain Michael Clarke's decision to take the drastic action of suspending all four players.

[The Strategos]

Oh dear, this is not the build up to the ashes series anybody wanted .

[RelentlessOblivion]

most certainly not, and I have to say given the form currently being displayed by Australia the Ashes won't be much of a contest, with the exception of Michael Clarke our batting lineup is lacklustre and our bowling lineup is impotent at best, when you go an entire day in India without taking a wicket on a turning pitch having played two spinners it's a sure sign you can't win a test match with those bowlers, unfortunately that is the best Australia can produce, there is however a positive in all of this, Australia may well be bowled out under 200 in every innings of the Ashes but Michael Clarke will score a century in every one of those games

[satan 59]

and Satan how's this for a hit? xi2ebezpADs

Nice but I think a little illegal. Aren't they supposed to go for the ball. lol 3WKAY7BETEg

[RelentlessOblivion]

that's not a punch, THIS is a punch 9wm9WEfXq-w

[RelentlessOblivion]

once again it's tense waiting to see if my team, the mighty Port Adelaide Power can pull off the win against reigning AFL premiers Sydney, hate not being able to watch the game

[satan 59]

So are there any unwritten rules of engagement in the AFL? In hockey you don't ever use your stick, you don't touch the goalie (if you do you will get punched). Once your opponent is down you don't hit them any more.

[RelentlessOblivion]

unwritten rules seem to be not touching a player when he's down, other then that in the brawls anything goes, sadly the brawls are becoming less frequent you only really see them now at Adelaide vs Port Adelaide, Fremantle vs West Coast or Hawthorn vs Essendon games oh I forgot one other unwritten rule, if you know a player is injured target the injury at every opportunity

[RelentlessOblivion]

and on the subject of AFL my team, Port Adelaide, won yesterday against Sydney by 30 points, final score 102-72, so in the last two weeks Port have beaten West Coast, who made it to the semi-finals last year before losing to Collingwood, and Sydney, who are the reigning AFL premiers having defeated Hawthorn in the Grand Final, Port last year finished 14th with just 5 wins, 1 draw and 16 losses

[satan 59]

Fecking English weather. Was going over to Sheffield today for the last away game of the regular season only for it to snow. All roads across the Pennies are closed apart from the motorway which is gridlocked. Last home game of the season on Sunday then the race to the play offs, tickets bought for the play offs even if we don't make it. Weekend away in Coventry, beer hockey and no wife. Going to be messy as I don't drink.

[RelentlessOblivion]

back to AFL, Adelaide vs Essendon last night in what's been officially dubbed the Lance Armstrong Cup (by Port Adelaide supporters anyway)

[The Strategos]

LOL what happened?

[RelentlessOblivion]

well Adelaide deliberately cheated the AFL Salary Cap by 250,000 dollars (all on one player by the name of Kurt Tippet) and Essendon are under investigation by the AFL Integrity of the Game commission, the ACC (Australian Crime Commission) and ASADA (Australian Sports Anti Doping Agency) for performance enhancing drugs and illegal supplements, there were more cheaters on the field Friday night then you'd find at a whorehouse

[Zapfogldorf]

I follow the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL and the Toronto Blue Jays in MLB. I used to watch hockey but it just started to get too annoying. Started watching some Lacrosse too which is pretty cool. Haven't seen to much of it though so I don't completely understand all the rules. I like watching it though.

[RelentlessOblivion]

oh I can't help but laugh at the way sport, particularly AFL is reported in my state, I've been over this before I think but in the AFL there are 10 teams from Victoria (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond St. Kilda and Western Bulldogs) there are then two teams from Western Australia (Fremantle and West Coast), two teams from New South Wales (Sydney and Greater Western Sydney), two teams from Queensland (Brisbane and Gold Coast) and two teams from my state of South Australia (Adelaide and Port Adelaide). In each of the other states the media is largely unbiased and generally neutral although the Victorian media are typically prejudicial against South Australian teams. In SA the media are incredibly biased against Port Adelaide and have been since they entered the AFL in 1997 writing almost universally negative articles about the club, recently however this has started to change and more positive articles are being written about them. Adelaide had a good season last year although many non-Adelaide supporters attribute this largely to a very easy draw so it's fascinating to see that after Adelaide lost the first game of this season at home against Essendon the media has turned on them quite viciously attacking the head coach who they championed last season and all of a sudden all the Adelaide supporters are up in arms talking about how disappointed they are in the club and how their coach should remember what happened to his predecessor when the club performed poorly in 2011, some even going so far as to say that (this is paraphrased with some insertions that are being implied but not expressed by their supporters who in general despise Port Adelaide, a feeling which is mutual I can assure you) if Adelaide finish near the "scum" from Alberton (where Port Adelaide are based) the coach should step down at season's end.