Tonight on Not the Footy Show – 25 Nov 2009

Tonight’s show is all about endurance as we catch up with three Western Australians who give the word stamina, a new meaning. I’m glad that our show is only 2-hours long.

As usual we promise to continue covering topics that are not necessarily run of the mill and tonight we talk to two men in their 60’s who put a lot of us to shame.

This day in sport – 25 November 2000

Australia equals cricket wins

Australia equalled the record if 11 successive Test wins set by the West Indies in 1984 when they beat the Windies in the 1st Test in Brisbane. It was the start of a five-test sweep. The Windies were thrashed by an innings and 126 runs after scoring just 82 and 124. Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath returned astonishing match figures of 10 for 27, with 4 for 10 and 6 for 17.

Spirit of the game?

Fortunate to play in a corporate gold day this week, and as is the norm, it was a great day on the course, even though I spent more time exploring the flora and fauna alongside the fairway.

Is that not the idea of corporate days, to enjoy the camaraderie and meet new people?

This particular day saw one team come in 7 under par playing four ball ambrose, with all of them having handicaps of 27. One hell of a performance wouldn’t you say? It then transpired that two or three of them play two or three times every week, but on public courses so do not have official handicaps. This is of course within the rules to then give your handicap as the maximum 27.

One gentleman became very hot under the collar about the whole issue, saying that this made a mockery of the day. He too had a point.

Surely if you play as much as these gentlemen, you may not have an official handicap, but it is embarrassing to put down 27 and play to under 20? Does winning mean that much at a corporate golf day?

Then as for the guy who was so upset, again, a corporate day is surely not about winning. If you get a prize it is simply a bonus to a day out, one that is better than being stuck in an office?

Or have we misunderstood the spirit of the game?

Clark’s Omission a mistake?

Has Stuart Clark done something to offend? It seems incredible that the man who burst onto the test arena and showed the consistency of Glen McGrath has been left out of the first test against the West Indies.

He was only selected in two test matchs during the Ashes series in England although admittedly in the second innings the Australian attack was pretty impotent. Whereas one has to wonder had he been selected earlier would the Ashes be back in England.

With 94 wickets at an average of 23.86 and a bowler who has proved he can tie batsmen down, you would have thought that he would be the sort of bowler the selectors would be knocking down his door to have him out on the pitch. His age 34, could be one factor that goes against him, as they try to rebuild, but experience counts for a great deal and as long as he is fit why not play him, especially if he is the best or one of the best options available.

Many have questioned the selections of Messer’s Hilditch, Merv Hughes, David Boon and Jamie Cox, and this would appear to be another strange one. In terms of experience these are all, with the exception of Hilditch youngish men to be given the task of selecting the best team, and they seem to lack the knowledge and experience of selectors of the past in working out how to blend a team and bring talented individuals together and maintain a winning formula. The team does not appear balanced, to be the one the captain wants, or a happy one.

One wonders if the intellectual Clark who is studying for a Masters in Commerce is a little too highbrow for the dressing room, and the selectors, hence his non-selection. After all Bob Willis admitted that when he was captain of England he preferred not to have talented left arm spinner and Cambridge university educated Phil Edmonds in the side, as he found his caustic wit too much to cope with.

Surely this is not the real reason behind Clark not being selected?

Whatever the reason he may look forward to taking his frustration out on WA in the Sheffield Shield.

Kurt and the Kokoda – Two Legends in one place.

Congratulations to paralympian Kurt Fearnley for his remarkable effort pulling himself along the Kokoda trail for Movember and Beyond Blue. (Charities for Prostate Cancer and combating depression)

This was a phenomenal effort, and shows the strength of spirit that some athletes with a disability have. He is a credit to everyone he chooses to associate himself with.

Able-bodied people struggle on the Kokoda Trail and he has crawled it. A real inspiration to all.

Kurt words do not do your efforts justice.One in particular is overused and often misused, but you are truly a legend!

Fair Play – Time for a Decision FIFA

For several years now FIFA has been pushing its Fair Play programme around the world. So much so that we even see players in the state league shake hands prior to a game. But this whole program is now in the balance thanks to Thierry Henry’s handball in the World Cup Qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

What are FIFA to do? If they replay the game it will open doors for games the world over to be replayed when players admit foul play and officials miss the incident.

If they allow France to get away with such blatant cheating then their Fair Play programme is in tatters.

Not only that should France – which is highly unlikely – win the World Cup in South Africa next year it will tarnish the tournament, as everyone knows that they do not deserve to be there in the first place.

What is the right thing to do?

Will FIFA make a stand and set a precedent, and simply hand victory to the Irish? That would be a bold move, especially when it was in fact two Frenchmen who invented the World Cup.

Something has to be done and it has to be done quickly, in other words in the next 24hours or the game will be made to look foolish.

If they do replay it, will the English request a replay of the Argentina v England game in 1986 which saw Maradona’s infamous ‘hand of God’ goal assist in securing victory for the Argentines who then won the World Cup?

In pole position

Since winning the National title, WA’s pole dancing champion Allegra has been in high demand to showcase her sport. Take a look at her latest clip:

Tonight on Not the Footy Show – 18 Nov 09

Tonight’s show has a family feel about its as we look at two son’s emulating their fathers, and two brothers enjoying sibling rivalry of a far more serious nature.

Plus we urge you to get on your bike for a good cause, and take part in or sponsor someone taking part in the Perth Great Bike Ride this Sunday. Find out how on the show tonight.

 

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Football
Ricki Herbert, has worked wonders as the All Whites coach and has steered the New Zealand team to their second World Cup finals, their first since 1982 when he was a player. We will catch up with the man who swung in the corner that saw Rory Fallon – whose dad was assistant coach in 1982 – score the decisive goal, Leo Bertos.

Hockey
Another sportsman following in his father’s footsteps is Brent Dancer who has been selected for the Kookaburras as they contest the Champion’s Trophy in Melbourne at the end of the month. Brent’s father also steered the Kookaburras to Olympic Gold in Athens in 2004 as national coach.

Boxing
The State boxing titles were held over the weekend and although there was no father and son connections we did witness two brothers fight each other for the state title. Boxing’s Head of Development at WAIS Geoff Peterson joins us to review the weekend.

Cycling
Last year WA’s Great Bike Ride raised over $250,000, this year’s event gets under way this Sunday, and individuals can still register. We will talk to Vicki Rasmussen Fundraising Director of the Heart Foundation about this year’s event and the target in terms of fundraising.

A-league Football
The Perth Glory have had a week off due to international commitments, and tonight we catch up with Captain Jacob Burns as they amazingly prepare to take on Sydney FC for the first time this season on Sunday at ME Bank Stadium.

Floorball
The Australian Women’s Floorball team are heading off to the World Floorball Championships in Sweden this weekend. We will catch up with coach Juerg Kihm to gauge Australia’s expectations.

Basketball
Perth Lynx finally managed to secure a win in the Women’s National Basketball league and we will catch up with caretaker coach Vlad Alava to hear how the girls plan to build on this.


This day in sport: 18 November 1998

First golf slam for Woods

Tiger Woods beat Vijay Singh of Fiji 2-up in the final match to capture his first PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course on Kauai, Hawaii. The 22-year old Woods became the youngest winner of the event. He was an alternate in the field due to his good friend Mark O’Meara winning both the Masters and British Open. It was the first time the prestigious event was contested in match play.

Justification – But did we Really Need it?

If ever there was proof that there was a place for a show such as “Not The Footy Show” it was confirmed this week. A journalist for one of the web based newspapers was advised by their editor not to file stories on sports that were not featured in the menu bar on their website, as they would not be run.

Need we say more? That is a very sad state of affairs for some sports and potentially damaging to future generations playing those sports. We have to also ask if the editor is upholding their public duty?