Harvs Eaten By Lyon

First things first: The way Freo went about sacking Harvs was disgraceful. The bloke's done a good job since he took over from Chris Connolly in 2007 and deserved to be treated with a lot more respect by the club. He can hardly be blamed for the number of injuries this year.

Having said this, I do believe Ross Lyon is a better coach and the right person to take our talented list to the next level. He needs to set a very early standard of excellence and make it clear that no crap is going to be tolerated. There are some players on the list *cough* Michael Johnson *cough* with huge amounts of talent but consistently under-perform and hopefully Lyon can start turning their performances around.

Make no mistake, Ross Lyon has a massive amount of pressure on his shoulders. No full time coach appointed by Freo has ever left voluntarily and unless the club has sustained success from next season Lyon will join that group.

So,

To Mark Harvey: Thanks for all you've done. As a foundation member I appreciate your work and the way you've built a talented, young list and wish you all the best for the future.

To Ross Lyon: Welcome. I'm expecting huge things from you and the club next year and have faith that you'll deliver.

To the members threatening to hand in their memberships: Jump ship if you want but don't come crawling back later. I don't like what was done to Harvs but I've been a member for 17 years because I'm a passionate Freo supporter... not a passionate supporter of individuals at the club. If that were the case I'd have handed back my membership after Neesham was sacked at the end of 1998. I'll be renewing my membership for 2012 and sitting in my same seat as I always do giving the club my full support. It's what being a supporter is all about.

Go Freo!!!

Australian Story - David Hicks

Thoughts on Australian Story tonight:

Watching the special edition of Australian Story on David Hicks tonight leaves me seething with anger and frustration at how such an injustice and abuse of power can be perpetrated and how there's nothing that we can do about it. That is was done by the USA and supported by Australia, nations which claim to value freedom and justice is all the more galling.

There are definitely holes in his story which appear to be him trying to whitewash some of his actions but there's nothing he's documented as doing which justifies what was done to him. The key things I took away from the programme are that:

* He was legally in Afghanistan at the time of invasion and that, following the invasion, he did not actively fight with the Taliban against the invading western forces.

* He was not captured as part of a fighting force but rather unarmed in the back of a truck by a warlord and then sold by his captors to the US army.

* He was physically and mentally tortured and sexually assaulted by the US army during his years of imprisonment.

* The 'crimes' he finally confessed to as part of his plea deal to gain release were not actually illegal at the time he was captured but were made illegal some years later.

* The Australian government of the day were content to let him rot in Guantanamo until it became politically expedient for them to pressure the US government to finalise his case.

* The US Supreme Court ruled that the Military Commissions being used to try the accused were illegal under the US constitution and the Geneva Convention. Rather than abide by this ruling, the court jester of a President, George Bush Jnr, signed a new act designed to get around this.

I realise many people would prefer to ignore the facts and argue based on emotion that he got everything he deserved but the facts of the case do not support this opinion. The above points have not been contradicted. To see Alexander Downer and Philip Ruddock continue arguing that what was done to him was fair and acceptable was disgraceful and an insult to all Australians who value freedom and justice. I'm glad that we're finally beginning to hear the other side of the story rather than the line pushed by the media for so long.

JJJ Hottest 100 Aussie Albums

Ok... disclaimer: There are far more Aussie albums I've not heard than ones I have so of course my votes aren't necessarily for the 'best' albums but simply for my favourites of the ones I have heard. So, having said that, the ten albums I voted for are (in no particular order):

Goanna - Spirit of Place
Jebediah - Slightly Odway
Midnight Oil - Head Injuries
My Friend The Chocolate Cake - Brood
Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls - Gossip
Regurgitator - Unit
Sleepy Jackson, The - Lovers
Triffids, The - Born Sandy Devotional
Weddings Parties Anything - Roaring Days
Things of Stone and Wood - The Yearning

It was a very hard task to narrow the many Aussie albums I love down to a final ten. But there they are. Some of the final ones that just missed the cut were INXS - The Swing, The Spazzy's - Aloha! Go Bananas, silverchair - Frogstomp, Tim Rogers & The Twin Set - What Rhymes With Cars and Girls, and You Am I - Hourly Daily.

Bali Pt 1

Ok, back to the beginning..

I flew out on Wednesday which was the worst flight I’ve ever been on. It was no fault of Air Asia who were as good as ever but rather due to me being really crook. I’d had a very sore through, swollen glands and aching joints for a couple of days but the hot and cold flushes had set in earlier in the arvo and by the time my flight was due for boarding I was in a very poor way. When I boarded the flight I was freezing cold but it wasn’t long before I started alternating to boiling hot. Eventually it reached the point where I was felt I was only semi conscious and was burning up and dripping with sweat. Additionally my chest felt like it was going to explode in a wild panic. Although it was one of the shortest flights I’ve been on it certainly felt like the longest. I arrived at about 12.30pm and was thankful that I was being picked up from the airport as I didn’t feel in any state to arrange my own transport. I hit the sack and fell into a grateful slumber.

In hindsight the bad turn on the plane was the worst of things as when I woke the next morning my joints were far less achy although my throat was still very sore and my glands very swollen. I’d already decided to have a very easy day to let my body recover so after breaky I grabbed a towel and staked my claim on a poolside deckchair where I spent the rest of the day reading and snoozing.. and also had an hour long massage. Yeah baby. Still, I wasn’t well so after wandering along the beach to find somewhere to have tea it was back to my room for an early night.

Friday morning I felt much better although the sore throat and swollen glands were still annoying me. I decided to go for a walk along the beach to Kuta thinking that it wouldn’t take too long. Naturally I stopped along the way for a massage for an hour before continuing my journey. The walk was taking much longer than I thought it should but it wasn’t until I saw a jet plane on a runway jutting out into the ocean that I realised I’d walked right past Kuta and down to Tuban. I headed back to Kuta and stopped for a cold beer at one of the beachside stalls which was lovely although the flock of people demanding I buy things from them ensured it wasn’t too peaceful. After the beer I headed into downtown Kuta. Now this was more like I expected with lots of traffic and people shouting out to me as I passed their shops. I even allowed myself to be stopped by a bloke on the footpath who was ‘advertising’ a new hotel in Nusa Dua and part of the promotion was a kind of lottery. I couldn’t believe my luck as when I opened my card I’d won a choice of a stay at the hotel, USD$500 or a handycam. Wow. All I had to do was hop in a car with this complete stranger and go back to his head office to collect my prize. I must be incredibly ungrateful or maybe just morbidly suspicious as I made my apologies and exited stage left. After heading back to the resort and having a quick swim in the pool and a cold beer I showered and went out for some tea. The plan had been to catch the second half of the Hawthorn vs Pt Adelaide game but the downpours started whilst I was eating and continued on and off for a while so I settled on a quiet night in my room watching a movie (The King’s Speech... great flick!) and some snoozetime.

Yesterday will go down as the lost day on my holiday. I didn’t wake until just after 9.30am which meant a rush for breaky as the restaurant closes service at 10am. After that it was off for a 2 hour massage. It was nearly 1pm by the time that was finished so I headed out to a pub with a big screen and settled in for an arvo of watching footy. The Sydney vs Footscray game was on so I caught most of the second half. It was a cracking game and I was happy to see Sydney get up. Next was the main attraction which was the Freo vs Richmond game. What a disappointment. It was a good tussle up until 3/4 time but the last quarter was a massacre. We’d better get our act together before the derby next week as I couldn’t bear us losing to the slime up the road. Although I was feeling much better by this stage, apart from a hacking cough, I was still very tired. I’m not sure if it was a hangover from being ill or just my body relaxing on the first holiday in 18 months. Either way I got back to my room just before 5pm and thought I’d have a rest for an hour before going out to get some tea and then going bogan spotting in Kuta at night. Neither of those things happened as I promptly dropped off to sleep and didn’t wake until just after 2am. I went back to sleep and eventually woke at 9.30 for another rushed breaky. It’s now nearly midday as I write so I suppose I should go walkabout again and wander some of the gangs to see what is around.

Open Letter To The WAFL

Dear WAFL

On Saturday I attended the East Fremantle vs Claremont game at Shark Park. As you're fully aware, Daniel 'Wayne' Kerr was making a comeback from injury and playing his first senior game for East Freo. In the course of the match he made a cowardly strike on Luke Blackwell with his elbow while Blackwell was on his back and defenseless on the ground. This strike was clearly captured by Channel 7 cameras and has now been shown nationwide.

Claremont have followed traditional footy etiquette and decided to leave on the field what happened there but as the body running football in this state you have a higher responsibility. You have the power to choose to open an investigation into Kerr's actions but have chosen not to. Instead you've taken the soft option and hidden behind Claremont's decision and used it as a shield for your own inaction. This is unacceptable.

The footage of Kerr striking Blackwell has been shown nationwide on news and football programmes and your inaction is bringing our proud state competition into disrepute.

I realise you are under extreme pressure from the West Coast Eagles to ignore Kerr's actions but it is time for the WAFL to do the right thing, even if it does upset the 2010 wooden spooners. I challenge you to either bring Kerr before the tribunal or explain why you choose not to.

I await your response.

Regards

Dave

* In the interests of full disclosure I declare that I have been a Claremont Football Club member since 1988

American Hypocrisy

In the news today is an article about espionage charges the Cuban government have brought against US 'contractor' Alan Gross. I have no idea if the man is guilty or not and I guess time will tell but what really caught my eye was a statement from US State Department spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet. He said:

"We deplore the Cuban government's announcement that Cuban prosecutors intend to seek a 20-year sentence against Mr Gross... He has been held without charges for more than a year, contrary to all international human rights obligations and commitments regarding justice and due process."

Yes, this is a spokesman for the government which imprisoned people at Guantanamo Bay without charge for years at a time; which tortured and degraded people in prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay; which kidnapped people and flew them to 'black sites'; and which has members of congress demanding Julian Assange be tried for treason (even though he's not an American) and executed for merely bringing the truth to light. And now a spokesman for this corrupt, malignant government has the audacity to condemn Cuba for holding an accused spy without charge for "... more than a year". HYPOCRITES!

For the record, I am also outraged that someone could be held in prison without charge for such an unreasonable length of time but the American government is the last group that should be opening their mouths about this.

Robert McLeod: Scum Personified

The next time Oxford put together a pictorial dictionary, they should use this picture to show the definition of scum. Robert McCleod is lower than a snake's belly.

For those not in the know, this dog and his equally canine sons were involved in a brawl in Joondalup in February 2008 which the police had to attend. Whilst trying to break up the fight, Constable Matt Butcher was attacked from behind by the incredibly gutless Barry McLeod and has been left partly paralysed. Recently Butcher was awarded a $3.3 million payment from the state as compensation which is a pretty poor substitute for being able to live a normal life. So what does this opportunistic mongrel McLeod do? Yep, you guessed it.. he's suing Matt Butcher to try and get some of that money for himself. Wow.. and to think I'd thought he and his family had already sunk as low as it's possible to get. When this mob hit rock bottom they just keep on digging.

Anyone who knows me can testify that I have no problem with immigration and am quite happy for people to move to Australia from other countries. What really annoys me is that people get all up in arms over refugees being allowed to stay but say nothing about this dog. As far as I'm concerned he and his family should be deported back to Scotland immediately.

julian lassange - an aussie hero

all people in a free society have the right to know what their government's doing in their name. anyone who values our freedom of information should thank julian lassange for putting his balls on the line by running his wikileaks website in an attempt to (to paraphrase the original aim of the australian democrats) keep the bastards honest. that populist forces in the US government are so determined to portray him as some sort of terrorist just shows what a good job he is doing. lassange is no terrorist. he's not even a very naughty boy. he's just someone who believes our governments should be held accountable and is actually doing something about it. the way he has been demonised by governments which claim to value freedom is obscene. the 'commitment' of these governments to freedom and truth has been exposed as nothing more than lip service and i'm personally thankful there are people such as assange prepared to risk everything to hold our corrupt governments accountable.

a perspective

what an incredibly powerful programme on four corners tonight. most of the time we only hear the spin and propaganda of the government when it comes to the topic of the invasions of afghanistan and iraq. i think most people know what we have done is wrong; some just hide this knowledge deeper than others. it's all too easy to see things from a parochial, blinkered perspective; it's what we are spoon-fed by the tabloid media that makes up commercial television and the print media in this country. thankfully the abc still has some journalistic integrity and is prepared to report the truth. still, regardless of one's perspective, none of us wants to see aussie servicemen killed and i, as much as anyone, mourn their tragic loss and the devastation it wreaks on their families.

what i find gives me perspective is to think of how i would react if circumstances were different. for example:

a group of nations have decided they have a common hatred for the australian government and, despite our government being largely impotent, disseminate a story that it poses a danger to the international community. they band together and launch a coordinated invasion of our country and overthrow our government. they then occupy our country, kill our women and children and torture australian citizens in makeshift prisons. they humiliate our people and desecrate our places of importance.

so, what do we do? do we welcome them as liberators? some of us will. some will see an opportunity to take positions of power with the invaders backing them. more importantly, what would i do?

i honestly believe i would fight for my country: in today's parlance, become an insurgent. say what you will about the insurgents in iraq and afghanistan, but if my country was invaded and occupied i'd be the first to volunteer to fight in any way necessary to defend it. as much as i hate to see aussies killed in foreign countries, i know that if foreign powers invaded australia i'd be targeting them. and if they came with far superior technology, i'd be using anything available to me to combat that. some may consider IED's to be dirty warfare but if that was all that was available to me to even up the odds a bit, i'd be using them. furthermore, i'd question the patriotism of anyone who wouldn't stand and fight.

i hate to see our troops die abroad but they shouldn't have been there in the first place. howard, bush, blair and the other leaders have a lot to answer for.

interesting ABC geography

i was watching the ABC news tonight when they had a story about the toxic mud slide in hungary and showed a map of europe. now, unless there's been some major world events going on in europe that i am unaware of, slovakia is to the north of hungary but the map showed ukraine as being there. i'd expect channel 7's tabloid 'news' service to make basic errors like this but not the ABC.

how could they get it so wrong??

i'm flabbergasted. i'm flummoxed. i'm furious.

football clubs are built on tradition and for 16 years the freo footy club has done a great job of building traditions. the annual len hall game is a perfect example of how well this club can do it. today's announcement that our traditional guernsey is to be abandoned is a perfect example of how badly a club can get it wrong. anyone who's played the game knows that you play for your teammates and for the jumper. it's what you put your body on the line for. for our club to so casually throw this aside beggars belief.

if i wanted to barrack for a soulless club with no respect for tradition i'd be a west coast fan. they've changed their guernsey so many times i've lost count. they don't even wear their premiership jumper anymore. no, i want to barrack for a club with depth. a club that doesn't bow to ephemeral fashions and fads. a club that isn't guided by focus groups and shallow marketing 'gurus'. i still believe that deep down freo is that club but the people we trust with running it have lost their way. a footy club isn't about the president or the board. it's isn't about chairmen or CEOs. a footy club is about the players, the members and the supporters. that's it.

the people running our club have taken this course of action and it infuriates me and breaks my heart. still, i remain a loyal and steadfast member... one who'll continue to wear the legendary guernsey worn by kickett, mcmanus, parker, cook, bell, waterhouse and the other greats of our past.

female sporting fans from around the world

portugal:

usa:

korea:

germany:

brazil:

italy:

and, of course....

collingwood:

2010 wafl grand final

ok, it's been a few days now so i guess it's time to speak of the devastating disappointment of sunday's grand final loss to the inbred hillbillies. a one point loss always throws up "what if's". what if the best full forward in the league had not torn his hamstring? what if the most courageous captain in the competition hadn't had his jaw shattered in a gutless behind the play attack? could either of these players have made that one point difference? the past two meetings between these sides would suggest that it would have tipped the balance in our favour but ultimately it's irrelevant as the history books will show that swans were the better side on the day and ended up 2010 premiers.

nonetheless, i remain so proud of all my boys have achieved this year. this time last year we'd finished second bottom on the ladder and narrowly missed the wooden spoon. still, i was optimistic that we'd challenge for a spot in the top four as i thought we had some good young players and we'd appointed simon mcphee as coach. as it turned out, we did so much more than just make the top four. we dominated the competition and only lost two games for the season. sadly our third loss was in the only game that really matters.

so, onto the grand final. it clearly wasn't our best game for the year and there were some boys who will be a bit embarrassed by their performance but there were also some pretty good performances. rory walton played a ripper, as did brandon franz. 'franger' had a tough time early but ended up dominating ashley 'the big albino' hansen. schammer and blackwell both played good games through the midfield and crawford was a good target up forward. i thought 'ninja' looked a bit overawed early on but got better as the game went. ian richardson never gives in and tried hard all match. i've probably left some out as it's been a few days but they're the fellas who stick in my mind.

so this year was a great success in jumping from second last to minor premiers and next year promises even more. i can't wait.

filthy dirty mongrel

whilst yesterday's humiliation of swan districts in the 2nd semi final was wonderful, to lose our captain to a cheap shot by a gutless hillbilly was heartbreaking. clancy rudeforth is as tough as they come and leads by example. he thoroughly deserved to have the opportunity to hold the premiership trophy aloft in two week's time but instead he's having his shattered jaw put back together and will watch the grand final from the sidelines. having seen the incident live and subsequently watched the footage, there was no excuse for luke pratt lifting his elbow to hit a bloke coming in for a shepherd. it was a dog act by a dirty player. for pratt to have labelled ian richardson a dirty player a few weeks ago simply beggars belief. richo is as far from a dirty player as they come whilst pratt has shown his true colours on the weekend. if there's any justice he'll be rubbed out by the tribunal for a long time.

great weekend of footy

wow.. what a brilliant weekend of footy. it's hard to believe that last season freo finished 3rd bottom and claremont 2nd bottom. on saturday freo went into our first final in 4 years as a huge underdog but emerged supremely victorious. considering hawthorn beat our reserves side by 116 points two weeks ago, it was a remarkable turnaround. yet again the young players really stood up and played outstanding footy. hill and morabito were excellent and exciting whilst broughton was unstoppable in defence. matt de boer was as hard as nails and when he straightens up in front of goal will be an even better player. as for the older players, i reckon mcpharlin was BOG as he completely humiliated buddy franklin. mcphee was also brilliant on hodge.

i have to admit i couldn't understand why harvey kept playing mcphee early in the season as i thought he was awful. i guess that's why harvey's a senior coach at the top level and i'm not because he's been proved right as mcphee is now a crucial part of the side.

and then yesterday my mighty tigers absolutely destroyed swan districts who finished second on the ladder. despite us missing chad jones who is the best full forward in the competition and schammer who has been a key midfielder throughout the season, swans still weren't able to put up any sort of a challenge. so now we're though to our fourth grand final in seven years. unfortunately we've been like geelong of the early 90s when they made a number of grand finals without winning any so it's vital we go the final step this year. i'm still stinging from us losing the 2007 grand final after finishing top of the ladder and would be devastated for it to happen again. thankfully i don't believe it will.

so go you mighty dockers on friday night an eat 'em alive tigers in two week's time.

thanks hase

so paul hasleby announced his retirement from the afl today. hase has long been one of my favourite freo players and it's sad to see his career come to a premature end. it's also sad he experienced so few finals campaigns but he's certainly in elite company with that given champions such as robbie flower and bob skilton also went through their careers with clubs mostly anchored to the bottom of the ladder. the pride and passion hase showed for the freo footy club was inspirational and i've no doubt he'll still be around the club post-retirement.

good luck with your future endeavours hase and also with your impending fatherhood. i've really appreciated all you've done and the pleasure you've given me over the years.

the power of music

i'm watching rage at the moment and once again the power of music to pull me back to particular places in time has astounded me. listening to certain songs is like a time machine. they just showed the clip for joe jackson's "steppin' out" which always takes me back to the trampoline and putt putt centre in augusta (around the corner from the colour patch general store) where we'd go as kids in 1983. they played a compilation cassette over and over and the songs that i most remember from it were steppin' out and UB40's cover of red red wine. every time i hear either of those songs i'm immediately back there.

next they played 'smooth operator' by sade and suddenly i'm a 14yo year 9 student at scarborough high school waiting for stephen buhlman to bring me a tape-2-tape copy of a compilation cassette with that song on it.

it's the same when i hear 'last chance on the stairway' by duran duran off their incredible 'rio' album. it always takes me back to kalbarri in 1986 when brett arnott came on holiday with us. i'd only just bought 'rio' (4 years after it's release) and this was the only track i hadn't heard before so it stuck in my mind.

now comes on 'superfreak' by rick james. this always takes me back to the mid 90s and into adam brown's flat in vic park with the como bapo youth group as it was the first time i heard this song. yep... i heard mc hammer's sample before i heard the original.

another song that always takes me back is the rather awful '(i've just had) the time of my life' from the dirty dancing soundtrack. it pulls me back to 1988 and the school bus on the way back from our year 12 camp at club capricorn just outside of yanchep. for some unknown reason the girls loved the dirty dancing soundtrack and inflicted it on us as we headed back from camp.

i could keep going on but i won't. the point is that music has a stunning ability to transport one back to a certain place and time. it does it better than any other medium and the sensory feelings it brings are undeniable. i don't know how it affects others but for me, i grieve deeply for my lost youth. i guess that says a lot.

western derby XXXII

well, what can i say about sunday's wonderful western derby. i clearly remember a time when freo were crap and i'd turn up to each derby with a dream that we'd win but knowing it was pretty unlikely. at the time i regularly said to people who queried why i stuck by freo that the hard times would just make the good times all that much sweeter. now i know just how right i was. the really great thing about watching freo this year has been seeing the young fellas playing good hard footy and playing with an intensity we've not had in the past. i really hope this is something we'll see a lot of in years to come and that the club's culture of accepting mediocrity is being permanently changed now. we had a false dawn in 2006 and i'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that history doesn't repeat itself.

of course, the flip side to the great enjoyment of watching freo heading towards the finals is the schadenfreude of watching the weagles wallowing at the bottom of the ladder. i didn't hear until after the game that harvs and pav had asked freo members not to bring wooden spoons but i doubt it would've stopped me. part of the great sporting rivalries is taking joy in your bitter rivals doing it tough. i've sat through many derbies when we've been belted and taken the jibes of the weagles fans on the chin (and never left the game early - take note weagle fans) so it's only fair they take some of their own medicine now. what i didn't expect was to for a photo of me to grace the media! ahh... it's all a bit of fun.

the other significant thing that happened at the derby was that i finally fulfilled my end of the bet and wore a weagles jumper for the whole game. for those not in the know, in late 2003 i made a bet with doc munners that freo would win a premiership before the weagles won another. at the time it was a reasonable view given we'd just finished the home & away season in 5th place and had dominated the weagles during the year. history shows we got smashed by essendon in the elimination final and didn't play finals again until 2006 whereas the weagles developed a brilliant midfield, played in a number of finals series and won a premiership. the terms of the bet was that the loser had to wear the opposition guernsey to a derby and it's taken me a while but i've now done it. thank goodness i don't have to it again!!

wilson tuckey = scumbag

how low can wilson tuckey sink? his attempts to politicise the tragic deaths of the aussie mining execs in africa by trying to link them to the resources super profits tax demonstrates yet again what a despicable person he is with not a shred of decency or dignity. he's simply pathetic and unworthy of the powerful position he holds. the people who continue to vote for this embarrassment should be ashamed of themselves

homeopathy on trial

homeopathy is a load of crap but, for the most part, a rather harmless waste of money. sadly the danger of 'alternative' medicine is sometimes highlighted in a most tragic way. the story of penelope dingle and her slow and painful death from cancer is a case in point. mrs dingle's diaries record that her homeopath told her homeopathy would cure her cancer and she should avoid conventional medicine, including pain relief. rather than undergo surgery to remove the cancer and follow this up with appropriate real medical care, mrs dingle chose to treat her cancer through a strict diet and regular homeopathy treatments. rather predictably her cancer didn't retreat but instead spread and eventually ended her life. suddenly what usually passes as a harmless pseudoscience is exposed as a malevolent and deadly con which should, at the very least, be strongly regulated but preferably ended. any other fraudulent treatment which results in death would be and there's no doubt that homeopathy is a deadly fraudulent treatment.