Quote from: DuffMan on March 30, 2025, 03:59:06 PMLast time the Johnnies and Scots met was my junior yet, and I just turned 44. 

I went to a Johnnie v Scots game way back when @ Mac. Bud Grant was there.

4-0. The last time hawthorn started 4-0?  2014 and the fantastic Grand Final victory over Sydney.

This game was played in a wind storm against GWS, another premiership favourite. A good, hard fought victory. A grind.

https://youtu.be/sH3Bac0P4Zo?si=OTJEJ4iKU0tTJArp

Three in a row as we prevail in a very high pressure contest against Carlton.  In the last ten seasons where Hawthorn has started 3-0, they have won the premiership seven times, lost in the Grand Final once and in the Preliminary Final (the last before the Granny) twice.

This could be a very good year.

https://youtu.be/aDmDBnBtEs8?si=vBpdisRl3koAvOnN

Ah, glorious victory. This Hawks team is good. If they can maintain focus and avoid season ending injuries, they'll have a very good year.  They smoked Essendon in the first quarter and then just kept them away after that.

https://youtu.be/_YNuc5dz4jQ?si=8xKpPw-7nF9dSyaS

Ah, game day against the old enemy Essendon.  90k are expected at the MCG tonight.  Man, I hope we smash these guys.



(The older pictures are of Dermott Brereton on the left who brawled with Essendon in the 80's, and Campbell Brown on the right who famously brawled with them in '04 (the glorious Line in the Sand game) and '09)

Quote from: SagatagSam on March 12, 2025, 11:31:40 AMHere are the Durenberger Trophy standings as we close the winter sports season and enter the home stretch:

It's gonna be neck and neck. What's left?  Tennis (Gusyies), baseball (Johnnies?), Outdoor T&F (Johnnies?), Cross Country (Gusties).

Is that right?

Quote from: BDB on March 11, 2025, 03:02:41 PMThe Minnesota State Tournament All Hockey Hair Team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvUpFidZ7M8

Kudus to the STA boys.  They may not have flow, but they look like the sort of good Catholic boys that don't cause the father of Catholic girls nightmares.

(Of course, I know I'm fooling myself but a little cognitive dissonance does wonders for the blood pressure)

Annnnnnnnd the season is off!

The Hawks opened the AFL season with a big Friday night game against Sydney up in the Harbour City.  A cracking game to open the year and great win by Hawthorn.  The last time the Hawks opened the season was 1991, a very good year for the Premiership winning Hawkers.

https://youtu.be/2TW-fJYkHOE?si=4I6DmXFQyKTkpaGP

Bartch signed a one-year contract with the 49ers.  If he can win the starting job, he'll be up for a big fat free-agency deal.  What a great opportunity.  Good luck to him.

Quote from: hazzben on February 10, 2025, 02:32:14 PM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on February 05, 2025, 06:11:11 PMSo, the NFL is coming to Melbourne.  It looks like the Rams will host the Eagles at the MCG in a week one contest that will fall in the bye week before the AFL Grand Final.

My mates are very excited and already planning to go.  I'll go with them, I guess, but the MCG is huge, and we'll be soooo far from the action.  Anyways, we'll see.

Saw this and thought of you Oz. But now that you say the field stuff that makes sense. Sorta like watching football games in baseball stadiums, there can be some really weird seats that are 30+ yds from the sideline.

Someone has photoshopped it up.  It will be interesting to see how they lay out the field on the day.

Click to embiggen.

@duffman. Jet Strickenberger?

https://youtube.com/shorts/49zJrUetkGc?si=7OxtLQY_5RugVTjt

Quote from: hazzben on February 10, 2025, 02:32:14 PM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on February 05, 2025, 06:11:11 PMSo, the NFL is coming to Melbourne.  It looks like the Rams will host the Eagles at the MCG in a week one contest that will fall in the bye week before the AFL Grand Final.

My mates are very excited and already planning to go.  I'll go with them, I guess, but the MCG is huge, and we'll be soooo far from the action.  Anyways, we'll see.

Saw this and thought of you Oz. But now that you say the field stuff that makes sense. Sorta like watching football games in baseball stadiums, there can be some really weird seats that are 30+ yds from the sideline.

Yeah, my friends are pretty hyped about it.  We'll see if that lasts but it looks like I'll be going.

I see a lot of people are complaining about the halftime show sucking and then pointing out shows which didn't suck.  I didn't see this year's show as I ran out to the shops to buy dog food during the halftime break, so I don't know if (or how bad) it actually did suck.

Contrary to that vibe, though, I think a lame halftime show is best for the Super Bowl.  A rock band that is well-practiced at blowing the roof off open air stadiums would have massively outshone that contest.  If AC/DC, for example, had knocked out four mega hits and had the fans going nuts in the stands then they would have been all the talk right now.

It's important that the biggest event on the day is the game itself.  I'm not saying the halftime show should suck, but it should always come a distant second to the main event.  And that means you have a good chance that a lot of people think the show sucks or is at best boring.

—-

Man, just thinking of a four-hit set for AC/DC to play... It's tough to go four.

* Highway to Hell is a dead set pick.  The open for sure.
* Or maybe open with For Those About to Rock and then go Highway to Hell.
* Thunderstuck, right?
* Close with You Shook Me All Night Long?

I mean, you get those old boys doing those four songs during today's halftime and no one out side of the Philly riot squads would even remember the score.

—-

Nah.

Highway to Hell
Back in Black
Thunderstruck
You Shook Me All Night Long

That's the billion dollar set.

Quote from: BDB on February 09, 2025, 03:30:14 PMSome Philadelphia fan just did the Eagles cheer on the pre game show:

E-A-G-E-L  EAGLES!

Heh.  And then the game got less interesting from there.  What a dud game.

Obviously state elections are on the way as the govt is dropping cash on shiny objects like Kim Kardashian buying botox.  Now the NBA is coming to Melbourne to play a series of games in October, details yet to be released.  The NBA in Oct, the NFL around the same time, and the AFL Grand Final wedged in.  And the Melbourne Cup horse race in the first week of Nov.

Elections aren't on a set schedule here.  There is a range of 3-4 years and the election must be 'called' no later than that last year.  Governments will try to time it to suit them best.  So... second week of Nov?  Third week?

The suspense is killing me.  I can't wait to see how those political freeloaders keep their jobs.