In The Crowd
14th March 2011
with Miserable Mikey
Back from the brink
It’s great to be back after a few weeks off. Well, not really- Mikey would rather be on holiday, in all honesty.
We saw one of the most amazing comebacks on Sunday when Brisbane Roar came from the dead to beat the Mariners. Justice ultimately was done, as the Roar was easily the best team all season.
But Central Coast Mariners are fast becoming the chokers of the league. Three Grand Finals and three losses. And how on Earth do you throw away a two goal lead with four minutes left? Still, the Mariners seem untouchable when it comes to criticism from the media. Imagine the outcry if Sydney FC threw away such a lead. Instead, expect to hear or read about how gallant the Mariners were in defeat rather than how they disgracefully threw away a championship.
Mariners goalkeeper Matt Ryan had a good game, earning player-of-the match honours. Though it would have been a great game had he not been at fault with the Roar goals. He should have saved the rather ordinary shot from Henrique that was well within his grasp. And he should have come off the line and attack the ball that came from the corner kick which was headed in for the equalizer. The six-yard box should always be the domain of the keeper. So before everyone starts making world-class predictions about Ryan, we should all settle down a bit. Sure he made plenty of good saves. But many of these involved a fair bit of luck, with the ball being hit straight at his body, as opposed to some real world-class saves. On the other hand, we saw a world-class display by his opposite number Michael Theoklitos during the penalty shootout. And in the end, that was the difference in the final.
Heading south?
Super coach Ange Postecoglou has probably coached his final game for the Roar.
Mikey reckons he will romp into politics following his comments regarding the rumour surrounding the Melbourne Victory job. Not once did he deny that coaching Victory next season was on the cards. Instead, we were treated to a game called “avoiding the question”. Forget the talk of creating a dynasty at the Roar. They can’t even survive as a club without FFA backing, so the doubts as to the future are there. So now that Ange’s stocks are sky high, he will never have a better opportunity to get the dream role as coach of his hometown club Melbourne Victory. And when it comes to controversially accepting coaching appointments , Ange certainly has form. Remember last year when previous Roar coach, Frank Farina, had his issues when caught drink-driving? Well,at the time, Ange, in his role as a panellist on Fox Sports FC, took the stand that Farina, “a good friend of mine” ,needs to pay the price for his indiscretion. With friends like that…..
Within two weeks, Farina got his marching orders and we know who ended up getting the Roar gig. Obviously the rest is history, and you can’t argue with the new coach’s results.
By the way, sportsplanet.com.au predicted Ernie Merrick’s demise as Victory coach a few weeks ago.
AFL week off
Get ready for scandal week in the AFL. How many times during the fortnight break between the preseason final and round one of the real season have we seen dramas happening? Remember Wayne Carey in the 2002 preseason? Top bloke.
Why the week off? Let’s get stuck into the real thing, now that the glorified bs that is the NAB Cup,is done and dusted. And while on that, Demetriou surely was having a lend of us when proclaiming that this year’s NAB cup was the best ever. Looks like the big dollars are either clouding his judgement, or he really does think the fans are a bunch of twits.
(Ok, there is no shortage of twits amongst AFL fans, but seriously..)
Still a backwater
Over in Adelaide, they had a public holiday for the Adelaide Cup race. Fair enough. A holiday is always good, even if some of those wan#$@s within the big business fraternity lament the loss of productivity with so many public holidays. (Of course it’s ok for them to get paid way over the odds so they can enjoy as many holidays as they want – but for me and you, get back to work, as the economy needs us to be slaves to these “captains of industry”).
Notwithstanding the above, there is no denying the fact that with the Adelaide Cup being a Group 2 race, Adelaide is a backwater city (or town) when it comes to racing.
And the madness continues....
Still in Adelaide, many a bogan converge this week as the Clipsal 500 takes place. Boring. You see one lap, you’ve seen them all. Where’s the excitement in that?
Just an excuse for a pee-up and some loud music from various bands which, in most cases, are equally bogan.
Though it looks like, based on the latest opinion polls, not even this diversion will save Media Mike from a totally-deserved permanent holiday from his position as premier.
Taking a punt
Lastly, what about the lucky punter in England who won over 2 million on a two-pound sports bet? Good luck to him. With sports betting, you are always a chance, no matter how small it is, as you can punt on an event that still has to happen, and there is an element of skill. On the other hand, those one-armed bandits aka poker machines in effect don’t involve any skill. And yet, the best you can do on those, even if you overcome the enormous odds and have a big win, is $10,000.
Hilarious.
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