Basketball
NBL - Round 15
            Two straight weeks of basketball with no further developments in Sydney collapsing, Cairns going into debt and the new league…
South Dragons 117 def Gold Coast 87
Perth 97 def Townsville 76
Wollongong 121 def Sydney Spirit 117
Melbourne 91 lost to Adelaide 109
            Hasn’t Adelaide had the up and down season so far? Horrific losses, huge wins… from last to actually going towards the finals… And if there is one team that exemplifies what is wrong with the league it is the Adelaide 36ers. Why? Well, simple, really. A few years ago I was performing at half time for the 36ers. The arena was packed! The noise was deafening, and it was awesome! Now they struggle to get half-full stadia. And for a team to be so erratic and up-and-down and inconsistent and yet still be a finals contender indicates just how poor the other teams are as well. The new league cannot come long soon enough for the well-being of this sport…
WNBL
Having a Christmas break means that the best basketball in town is not on again until January.

Soccer
A-League Round 17
An interesting week in soccer, with Newcastle and the Central Coast involved in an on-field altercation which could see both teams sanctioned by the FFA, while Melbourne striker Danny Allsopp got away with dropping the shoulder deliberately into Sydney coach John Kosmina on the sidelines. Yep, he lined up an opposition coach, took him out, threatened to do it again, and got away with it. This says two things: (1) Kosmina really is hated by the FFA, and (2) Melbourne are the protected species in the FFA with the FFA trying desperately to have them win everything. Nothing else actually makes sense here, no matter the spin put on it. It’s on YouTube somewhere, watch it and see - it was a deliberate tackle and he escaped even a warning.
Queensland Roar 3 def Wellington Phoenix 2
Melbourne Victory 3 def Sydney 2
Perth Glory 0 lost to Adelaide United 1
Newcastle Jets 1 lost to Central Coast Mariners 2
            And soccer is back into the regular mode, with Adelaide capitalising on the experience gained in the World Club Cup to sit once more atop the A-League ladder.
W-League Round 10
Central Coast 2 def Melbourne 0
Sydney 3 def Adelaide 2
Canberra 1 drew with Queensland 1
Perth 0 drew with Newcastle 0

Yachting
Sydney-Hobart Race
This is Australia’s premier ocean-racing event, having been occurring for 64 years now. Starting in Sydney Harbour, the 100 boats sail down the coast, then across Bass Strait. This is one of the most treacherous bodies of water, with waves as high as houses and the ever-present sun fish (incredibly large, round fish that have knocked more vessels out of the race that you would believe) or other marine animals, then around the coast of Tasmania to the southern part of the island and Hobart. A long, non-stop race, starting on Boxing Day. Quite the event. There are 2 winners - the line honours winner, or first past the post, and handicap honours. This is often decided up to two weeks later as the small vessel sail their way around to Hobart.
            So we have the line honours winner:
            First - Wild Oats XI. This is the fourth year in a row it has taken line honours, just beating Skandia. Four times in a row is a new record. And a very impressive one, too.

Cricket
International Cricket
Second Test
Australia 394 & 247; South Africa 459 & 1/183 - South Africa won by 9 wickets
            South Africa were dead in the water at the start of day three… and ended up with a 60+ run lead. Australia’s bowlers just could not cut it. Okay, Brett Lee was out injured and Andrew Symonds was reduced to bowling his off-spinners with a bad knee, but, still. South Africa’s tail just wagged and kept on wagging. And then they took apart Australia’s batsmen (apart from Ricky Ponting) in the second innings, and cruised to a comfortable win, which could have been worse but Smith was out on 75 to a dodgy decision. This gives South Africa an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, their first series win in Australia ever. And Australia have lost 4 of their past 8 tests.
            A lot of the blame has to go on the captain in this case. I think Ponting should be retained as our number 3 as his scores even in the face of a crumbling rest of the team warrant his selection. But his defensive attitude, his lack of taking any personal responsibility for his side’s performances and his attitude (his vice-captain did over half the media oppress conferences) indicate that maybe the top job has got on top of him. In Australia it is not traditional for some-one to be dropped as captain and retained in the side, but it happens in India (who beat Australia) and England all the time. In fact, when England beat Australia for the Ashes, there were 4 captains / ex-captains on the field and this conferencing and use of knowledge must have helped them overcome the Australians. So drop Ponting to a batsman / fielder, promote Clarke to the captaincy. This way Clarke can learn on the job and have Ponting there as back-up, we get some young blood into leadership. Also dump the older players, suffer through a few years of losses, but build a core group of young guys around whom the team can be based for the decades afterwards, as happened when Border was captain, leading to 20+ years of domination. They need to take a chance and do it again. And yet, even for the third dead rubber test starting in Sydney on January 3, the only mooted changes look likely to be done in order to replace injured players…
            So these so-called protectors and leaders of the sport won’t do anything because, in general, Australian administrators are gutless and only care about tomorrow, not next year, and only look after their own jobs, not the future of their sports.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Competition is in abeyance until after the Twenty20 Big Bash competition in January.
One-Day
Western Australia 8/177 (44 overs); New South Wales 5/137 (29 overs) - NSW won by 5 wickets.
            Rain and the Duckworth-Lewis system on calculation served to make this result another in the never-ending confusing line of results. I only have university level maths; I don’t understand it.
            This is the last of these until mid-January as well.
Twenty20 Big Bash
This is the cricket on the domestic scene from now until mid-January. Get used to it.
            And why is it called the Big Bash? I think it has something to do with the KFC sponsorship that is so pervasive in the sport this year. Or it could be the fact that those in charge realise that this is all just a joke of a concept for cricket. But I have no real idea, so don’t ask.
            For those unsure and querying my antagonism towards this form of cricket, Twenty20 is when each side bowls and bats for 20 overs. It takes away a lot of the tactics and is just an excuse for lots of ridiculous hitting out. An attempt to make cricket for the MTV generation, and to gain mainstream media support in the United States. And, sure, it’s entertaining. But think of it as Baseball played over 3 innings with only designated hitters at bat and you’ll get why traditionalists are up in arms about it.
            However, I enjoy watching it. I just don’t take it too seriously, despite the squillions of dollars being thrown at it in India at the moment.
Queensland 7/161; New South Wales 5/162 (19.4 overs) - NSW won by 5 wickets
Victoria 5/203; Tasmania 168 (18.3 overs) - Vic won by 35 runs
South Australia 182 (19.2 overs); Western Australia 6/121 (17 overs) - SA won using the Duckworth - Lewis system by 35 runs

Tennis
Just before the season hots up, here’s a joke:
            Australian news reporter: “Tragedy struck the tennis world today when the top 100 male and female players were tragically killed in an airliner accident while jetting to the latest Middle East rich guy tennis tournament. No Australians were injured in the accident.”

Closing Paragraph
I’m off on holiday in early January and not due back until mid-January, so there will be a slight break in these. For the several dozen of you who have indicated that you read this, I am sorry, but I will be back in the new year, and will attempt to catch up when I return. As to why I won’t be doing it while I’m on holidays - well, it’s a holiday! Screw you! No, really, in Australia we have the lousiest broadband system in the Western world (made worse now because our beloved Federal government is attempting to adopt compulsory national filters that you can only bypass by going off-shore, making us slightly worse in this regard than North Korea) and where I am going they do not yet have broadband! And, I’m sorry, but a dial-up modem in order to get my fix of Internet sports is not going to work. So you have two weeks break from my whining and belly-aching.
            Have a good New Year, everyone, and celebrate this arbitrary change of dates wisely. Catch y’all in 2009!

So that’s the final view from down here for 2008!

Basketball
NBL - Round 14
            Wow! Basketball just played ball this week! No new crises! No stupid owners! Just some good, close games!
New Zealand 114 def Sydney Spirit 70
Adelaide 107 def Gold Coast 104
Perth 94 lost to New Zealand 118
South Dragons 88 def Townsville 84
Melbourne 128 def Wollongong 101
Sydney Spirit 101 def Townsville 90
WNBL - Round 10
Adelaide 90 def Sydney 76
Townsville 87 def Bendigo 57
Bulleen 81 def Dandenong 57
Dandenong 58 lost to Canberra 63
Logan 67 def by Bendigo 85

Soccer
A-League Round 15
What a round! World Cup hero Aloisi booed by his own fans after missing the simplest goal possible, but even this has been overshadowed by the betting scandal enveloping the Melbourne club, embroiling even its captain. They bet on soccer matches! Only one bet on his own tam (which I can see as a big no-no), but the others were still punished for betting on other teams. Wow. Sport as a metaphor for life in Australia obviously involves no gambling, no getting drunk, no recreational drugs and no fun. Just like life everywhere in the Western world, I guess… if you’re a head-up-your-arse sports official with no sense of the real world.
Wellington Phoenix FC 1 def Central Coast Mariners FC 0
Newcastle Jets FC 4 def Melbourne Victory FC 2
Sydney FC 1 lost to Perth Glory FC 4
Melbourne Victory FC against Adelaide United FC is to be held Wednesday
FIFA World Club Cup
Adelaide United FC 1 def Al Ahly (Egypt) 0
This win put Adelaide into fifth place in the Club World Cup, equally Sydney’s 2005 placing, but Adelaide did it with two wins, which Sydney had not managed. A stunning result… despite the fact that the local Football Federation and the other clubs get the bulk of the money they won, leaving Adelaide in the red. Gotta love the politics of sport!
W-League Round 9
My numbering of the rounds has been bad… and that has purely to do with laziness on my behalf.
Adelaide United 1 lost to Perth Glory 3
Newcastle Jets 2 def Sydney FC 0
Queensland Roar 2 def Central Coast Mariners 0
Canberra United 3 def Melbourne Victory 2

AFL
Quick note - Cousins was indeed picked up by Richmond, and has been welcomed at Punt Road as a conquering hero after just one training session. He looks good and fit, and is under the most ridiculously stringent testing regime for any one (why one rule for one player who was not even caught by the league’s so-called comprehensive testing, and one rule for everyone else?) and now has the weight of the Richmond faithful upon his tattooed shoulders.

            Good luck, Ben!
            On a media-related note - the football season is still months away and yet the national code has dominated headlines, taking away from cricket, soccer and basketball, all of which have deserved headlines of their own. The national media’s obsession with a local sport played nowhere else in the world to any great degree is actually quite amusing… and also really, really nauseating.

Cricket
International Cricket
Australia 375 & 319; South Africa 281 & 4/414 - South Africa won by 6 wickets
            Yes, South Africa won, defeating Australia on home soil with the second-highest fourth innings run chase in cricket history (serious!). They played very well, and Australia played okay. But to read the media reports and listen to the radio and television pundits, apparently this is the complete and utter death of Australian cricket. Yes, Aus cricket has been in a decline for some time, and South Africa just wanted it more, but the death? I don’t think so. I have been critical of Australia’s attitude towards cricket of late, especially captain Ricky Ponting, but while we may no longer be number one if South Africa wins the series, we are still a powerful cricketing nation. IU just think our captain should shoulder a lot more of the blame than he does. And it looks like bowler Brett Lee will bear the brunt of the loss, not out of form Matthew Hayden, or whingeing captain Ponting.
            Having said that, Mitchell Johnston bowled well for Australia with 11 wickets for the match and De Villiers with a half century and century was the match-winner for the Proteas.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Western Australia 211 & 140; Victoria 296 & 2/58 - Vic won by 8 wickets (Vic - 6 pts)
Tasmania v Queensland at Hobart - Dec 16-19, 2008

Queensland 230 & 93; Tasmania 214 & 4/111 - Tas won by 6 wickets (Tas - 6 pts)
            Weird match, this one. Queensland had a collective brain fart in the second innings.
New South Wales 6/483 (dec) & 2/120 (dec); South Australia 3/304 (dec) & 224 - NSW won by 75 runs (NSW - 6 pts)
            At least these two teams went out to try for the result, even if the final result means South Australia is back on the bottom of the Shield table…
One-Day
South Australia 5/285; New South Wales 112 (30.3 overs) - S.Aust won comprehensively by 173 runs
Western Australia 198 (47.3 overs); Victoria 6/199 (45.2 overs) - Vic won by 4 wickets

Tennis
The Australian International tennis season is getting close to beginning with the first of the major tournaments leading up to the Australian Open. And first result is Australian again Jelena Dokic - a former world number 4 who was a naturalised Australian, then went with her slightly out of control father off back to wherever he came from, and is now Australian again - getting a wild card for the Oz Open. Considering the dearth of Australian women who are genuine contenders at this stage (Casey Dellaqua notwithstanding), this is a positive for the sport in this country. And the really sad thing? Some of our junior women are awesome players. I’ve watched some under-age events and have been astounded at the shot-making and the dedication. So where do they go? Why don’t they continue on into the higher ranks? What part of Tennis Australia’s system is failing them? We’ll never know because, like every other sporting organisation in this country, they blame everything else and don’t look at the internal, intrinsic problems that beset the sport. They have good times, think these will go on forever, and when things go bad, they don’t understand because all they did was sit on their hands and let the world pass them by. Only swimming seems to actually be pro-active, and even then it’s a handful of swimmers who make a difference, not the whole swimming fraternity…
            I seem to have gone off track a little here. Oh well…

Closing Paragraph
Christmas is fast approaching, like that cancerous growth that the doctors can’t cut out because it will kill the patient to have his lungs, kidneys, spleen and brain removed. Sucking money from parents, with endless advertisements (of course, a $3500 fridge IS the perfect Christmas gift!!) and meaningless messages. Decorations went up in October, and will come down before New Year’s Eve is upon us. Sales that really don’t reduce prices, angry shoppers who feel their children’s lives will not be complete without the Hilary Cyrus Wii obnoxious brat attachment game, stressed shop assistants who man the check-outs and have no idea why the company has the Christmas lights for sale in the baby wear department… What a joke of a time of year. The message has well and truly been lost in a morass of crass commercialism and never-ending raw human emotion, like greed, anger and disappointment.
            And to make it worse, my birthday is on Dec 25, and so I am reminded quite starkly of my advancing age and, hence, my own mortality.

And that’s the view from down here!

Soccer
A-League Round 15
Melbourne Victory FC v Adelaide United FC
            Due to Adelaide’s involvement in the FIFA world club championship, this match has been postponed
Wellington Phoenix FC 1 drew with Perth Glory FC 1
Central Coast Mariners FC 2 def Sydney FC 1
Queensland Roar FC 2 def Newcastle Jets FC 1
FIFA World Club Cup
Poor Adelaide. Thrown to the lions to show just how laughable the standard of our domestic soccer league really is. And Soccer Australia thinks it will get better next year with Central Coast in the firing line!
Adelaide United FC 2 def Waitakere United 1
            And it could easily have gone the other way…
Gamba Osaka 1 def Adelaide United FC 0
            Much closer than their last 2 encounters, showing Adelaide at least is learning from this international adventure.
W-League Round 6
Melbourne Victory 1 lost to Queensland Roar 3
Sydney FC 0 def by Perth Glory 1
Central Coast Mariners 0 creamed by Canberra United 3
Newcastle Jets 2 def Adelaide United 1

AFL
Just before this week’s pre-season draft, news has come out that embattled football bad boy Ben Cousins looks set to continue his playing career with Richmond after looking like no club was going to risk signing him. Now, look, Ben has done some stupid things - drugs, partying, etc - but he was never caught by the AFL… and the league still says their drug policy is working! Morons. Anyway, he never failed a drug test, and he is a proven match-winner with a premiership under his belt. For clubs not to take at least a one year punt on him is foolish, but the stigma attached to him was probably what pout them off. It is also good for Ben he is in Melbourne playing now instead of one of the other states as he is not going to be under the intense media scrutiny as he was previously. There are 9 clubs in Melbourne plus another in nearby Geelong so he can be a little more anonymous there which can only help his recovery. Now, I’m not saying that what he did was not wrong, because it was and he was damn stupid, and his first steps at recovery were laughable. But he has paid a price for it, and looks determined to come back into the sport. Good on Richmond for taking a punt and the AFL needs to seriously look yet again at its anti-drug policy… but it won’t. Because it is being run by a group of ignorant bureaucrats who really only care about money and not the game or anything else.

Cricket
International Cricket
South Africa 2/185; Western Australia 4/215 - WA won by 7 wickets [one day match]
            A slow first match for South Africa, played until the full 50 overs were bowled for both teams, hence the rather bizarre result. But South Africa were happy with their batsmen in this one, losing only 2 wickets in their 50 overs.
South Africa 8/320 (dec); Western Australia 280 - match drawn
            A one-day and then a 2-day match as a hit-out for the visiting international team? Seems a little brief, but the South Africans claim to be happy with their first and only serious hit-out on this tour of Australia. Their bowlers look to be in good form and deVilliers hitting a century shows he is in touch with the bat as well. Should be a good series, made all the more interesting with Stuart Clark ruled out of the Australian side with an elbow injury.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Next match starts Monday 17th, our time, giving the players a little break… and strangely coinciding with the start of the South African tour…
One-Day
Tasmania 8/291 (50 overs); New South Wales 7/291 (50 overs) - game a tie!
            First, a tie! Rare result. Not a draw, but a legitimate tie! Second, NSW batsman Davis Warner fell just short of scoring the fastest domestic cricket one-day century. He scored 97 runs from 54 balls (15 fours and 2 sixes), and needed just 2 more balls to score the 3 runs needed before falling to an lbw decision.
Tasmania 5/310; South Australia 4/313 (48.4 ov) - SA won by 6 wickets
Queensland 6/238 (50 ov); Tasmania 197 (48 ov) - Qld won by 41 runs
            Poor Tasmania! 3 one day matches this week, and none others being played! Maybe Cricket Australia should look at their programming a little more closely… but considering it did not affect NSW, Qld or Vic, what do the powers that be care?

Golf
John Daly was the human headline again. He missed the cut again. He demonstrated absolutely boorish behaviour again. This time he smashed a camera of some-one taking his picture. Now, I understand photography is not illegal at golfing events, so why did he do this? Why does he do anything? But all this does mean that the golfing fraternity in this country got exactly what they wanted - they got media coverage for themselves. Maybe not the type they were hoping for, but any publicity is clearly good publicity in this case.
2008 Australian Open
Tim Clark -9 (won after playoff)
            Congratulations to the South African who says he does not feel appreciate din his own home-land. Australian golf fans took to him and he seems like a nice enough guy.
Mathew Goggin -9
Robert Allenby -8
David Smail -8
Stephen Dartnell -8
Steven Conran -7
Andre Stolz -7
Geoff Ogilvy -7
Chris Gaunt -7

Closing Paragraph
My own training is about to go into decline for a few weeks. Our club closed on Saturday and the performance troop I am in (Gymwits - check us out on YouTube!) has done a full weekend of shows, with one more to come. It will be good to sort out those niggling injuries and rest the more chronic ones. So I am about to hit a brief lazy mode for a few weeks (we resume on Jan 18), and I hope it doesn’t result in the same weight gain as last year… Okay, this has been totally irrelevant but just thought I’d share before saying something like:

That’s this week’s view from down here!

Soccer
A-League Round 14
Adelaide 6 mercilessly hammered Wellington Phoenix 1
            Not so much a game as a slaughter, and completely dominated by the home side. Almost a training drill before the heavy workout of the world club championships. Harsh, but that was how it looked - and one-sided affairs like this are never good for the sport.
Perth Glory FC 3 def Melbourne Victory FC 1
Newcastle Jets FC 1 lost to Sydney FC 2
Central Coast Mariners FC 1 drew with Queensland Roar FC 1
W-League Round 7
Adelaide 0 crushed and humiliated by Central Coast 6
            6-zip! That’s not a soccer score, that’s an MMA win-loss record! Only this was more violent! Wow! And what a reversal between Adelaide’s men and women… And I’ll say it again, this is not a good promotion for the sport.
Canberra 1 drew with Sydney 1
Melbourne 1 def Newcastle 0
Perth 3 lost to Queensland 5
            Perth must be spewing. To score 3 goals and still lose the match? High scoring affair, which is exactly what the sport needs to be promoted well in this country.

Cricket
International Cricket
The world cricket rankings are out and Australia is still number one (and by a considerable margin as well), but South Africa have overtaken India to jump to number 2. Australia’s only real blemish has been the series loss in India, but they are not playing like world-beaters and the upcoming South African tour could be very interesting. The ranking order is as follows: (1) Australia; (2) South Africa; (3) India; (4) Sri Lanka; (5) England; (6) Pakistan; (7) West Indies; (8) New Zealand; (9) Bangladesh. Now reading this, there are two things I feel I should explain: First, yes, only 9 countries play test match cricket, or “have been granted test status” in the world. I thought Zimbabwe had as well, but was wrong. So there you are. Second, Pakistan are getting the raw deal here, as no-one wants to go play with them any more. Yes, there are nasty bombings going on (like in India and England), unruly crowds (like India and Australia) and uncertain political stability (like Sri Lanka), but Pakistan are bearing the brunt of it. That’s politics, I suppose, but it doesn’t mean it’s right.
            The one day rankings are much closer, with South Africa and India both on 119 points, but the South Africans just ahead on fractions. There are many more countries involved in one day Internationals, and so the current top ten are: (1) Australia; (2) South Africa; (3) India; (4) Pakistan; (5) New Zealand; (6) England; (7) Sri Lanka; (8) Bangladesh; (9) Ireland; (10) Zimbabwe.
            In both cases, though, please note the position of England. The country which invented the game. Sixth. Just thought I’d point that out.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
New South Wales 172 & 173; Tasmania 127 & 7/221 - Tas won by 3 wickets (Tas - 6 points)
            Considering the calibre of the batsmen on display, a surprisingly low scoring game here, with Tasmania saved by Tim Paine (again; he saved them against SA as well - the guy is proving a real dab hand at this whole rescuing his side thing!) and journeyman Dan Marsh. Tasmania looked out of it, but twin half centuries from these two saved the game for the Apple Islanders.
One-Day
South Australia 205 (45.3 overs); Queensland 163/3 (30 overs) - Queensland won by 59 runs (don’t ask)
            A rain-affected match, with the decision calculated by the Duckworth-Lewis system (and no, don’t ask me how that works; I don’t have a degree in 4-dimensional mathematics)

Golf
Okay, all right, shut-up, here are the results of the Australian PGA tournament:
2008 Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship
Geoff Ogilvy -14 (outright winner)
Mathew Goggin -12
Peter Senior -11
            Good to see Mr Senior still doing well.
Scott Strange -11
Rod Pampling -11
Wayne Perske -10
John Senden -10
Brett Rumford -10
Wade Ormsby -10
Chris Gaunt -10
            Geoff Ogilvy finally won a big one on home soil. Good on him; he seems a genuinely nice bloke. Ranked no 8 in the world is no mean feat, but for it to take this long to break through in Australia shows just how much pressure the golfing public here puts on these home-grown stars. The media, the interested public and the sponsors maybe need to look at how they address this pressure or else more and more of our top golfers are going to forsake their own country’s big tournaments, which will only further push the sport into its seemingly never-ending downward spiral here.

A Book:
I just finished a rather interesting book: Alan Weisman’s ‘The World Without Us’. Looking at the possibilities for the world if humans disappeared overnight, taking into consideration all the damage human beings have done to it, mixed in with anecdotes from people on the coal-face of ecological destruction, it offers hope but is also immensely depressing. While I personally have looked at a lot of the arguments on both sides and have come to the conclusion that climate change is part of the natural cycle of the world, but also that humans through their behaviours since the Industrial Revolution have sped up and exaggerated this change.
            Some of the sections - the one on the Panama Canal especially - really do offer hope and make it seem like the world is quite good at healing itself. But then there are sections about dioxins that may never leave the eco-systems they have infected. It is also rather intriguing to think that the Channel Tunnel may well be one of the last human-made things to disappear.
            The descriptions of how the plants eventually make their way back, how the introduced species will create new niches, everything. However, it is a little dry in parts, and one or two elements of the conjecture were hard to find in peer-reviewed journals. Apart from those minor quibbles, this is a fine, educational and actually entertaining read.
            However, one word of warning, it is not going to change anyone’s mind. It is not going to make a believer out of a climate change denier. But if you want some new arguments to beef yourself up on this side of the coin, then this book is probably for you. Recommended.

And that’s this week’s view.

Basketball
NBL - Round 11
Townsville 113 def. Melbourne 105
South Dragons 102 def. Cairns 64
New Zealand 108 def. Perth 94
Adelaide 101 def. Wollongong 96
Perth 95 def by Melbourne 108
Sydney Spirit 103 def. South Dragons 94
Cairns 90 lost to Townsville 94
Gold Coast 88 def by New Zealand 110
WNBL - Round 9
AIS 59 def by Sydney 62
Adelaide 93 def Canberra 77
Logan 51 lost to Dandenong 67
Bendigo 80 def Bulleen 71
Townsville 64 def Dandenong 60
Perth 56 def by Canberra 91

Soccer
A-League Round 13
Newcastle Jets FC 1 drew with Adelaide United FC 1
Perth Glory FC 2 drew with Central Coast Mariners FC 2
Wellington Phoenix FC 2 def Melbourne Victory FC 1
Sydney FC 1 drew with Queensland Roar FC 1
W-League Round 6
Adelaide 0 hammered by Melbourne 3
Queensland 3 hammered Sydney 0
Central Coast 2 lost to Newcastle 4
Perth 2 drew with Canberra 2

Cricket
New Zealand Tour
Second Test - New Zealand 270 & 203; Australia 535; Australia won by an innings and 62 runs
Australia claimed they were going to kill New Zealand here. And a win in 4 days looks like a slaughter, but not the way Australia played. New Zealand have a lot of talent, but it just isn’t being fully realised, and Australia have talent that is living off its reputation. Against South Africa in a few weeks time, Australia had better watch out because this sort of pedestrian effort - even though an emphatic win - will not be enough.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Queensland 352 & 392; South Australia 441 & 7/334 - SA won by 3 wickets (SA- 6 pts)
            South Australia’s first win for the season, and a strong one, with a high-scoring, fast-paced game against an equally good Queensland. Good standard of cricket, too.
One-Day
Tasmania 246 (43 overs); NSW 1/250 (34.4 overs); NSW won by 9 wickets.
            A magnificent century (165 off 112 balls) by young David Warner helped NSW cruise to a comfortable victory. Magnificent stroke play, this guy will be one to watch in future.

Rugby Union
Spring Tour
Wales 21 def Australia 18
            The first win by a northern hemisphere team on this tour! A good, tight test match, which puts Wales into 4th ranking place and Australia into 3rd.
England 6 killed by New Zealand 32
            English rugby really does look down and out, doesn’t it?

Professional Wrestling
Yes, time for another pro wrestling show, the last for the year:
RCW - Battle For Supremacy, November 29 2008
            First, this was a lo-o-ong show. 3 hours of wrestling plus an intermission. The crowd grew a little restless near the end, but it was not a bad show. Unfortunately, it was also not the blow-away show to end what has been a phenomenal year of wrestling from the young promotion.
            Second, the main event of Damon Matthews vs Mimic was changed due to Matthews’ injury situation, which has forced him to retire from the sport. So a non-title match between Mimic and a Victorian Tommy Hellfire was scheduled, followed by a Gauntlet match-up featuring every wrestler on the roster. This was expanded to include the women as well after Savannah Summers and Miami came out to complain.
            Match 1 - Qualifying match for tournament in March. Adrenaline v Voodoo. An okay match with a couple of missed spots, but good intensity. Adrenaline won with the Adrenaline Rush (a sit-out, pump-handle piledriver).
            Match 2 - Luke Santamaria v Del Taurino. Taurino is a rookie making his in-ring debut here. A lot of offence from the larger Taurino, giving him an impressive first appearance. Luke won with a F-U out of nowhere.
            Match 3 - Savannah Summers (with Miami) v Vixsin. A re-match from a few months ago, and a better match-up this time round. We even got to see air Vixsin as she flew through the ropes and onto Miami and Summers. Summers won with a roll-up after Miami distracted Vixsin.
            Match 4 - Qualifying match for tournament in March. TJ Rush v ‘Giant’ Dregan Grimm. Grimm jump-started the match and they worked a deliberate match, which sort of foreshadowed the result. More than half the match was spent with TJ outside and Grimm working him over, but TJ showing resilience and determination to keep on going and never giving up. The end was a no contest after a 20 minute time limit draw.
            Match 5 - Brad Smyth v Furious Fuzion. Special guest referee is Luke Santamaria. Some good psychology working on Fuzion’s arm, but he still managed to pull out strength moves with it with little hindrance. Fuzion won with a chokeslam. After the match Fuzion came in and told the two others this was all a test, and then Brad turned on Luke and joined Fuzion as his Igor to Fuzion’s Frankenstein.
            Match 6 - Mimic v Tommy Hellfire. Tommy and Mimic put on a strong, even match. With the title not on the line, the crowd was really having trouble getting into it at first, but as it went on, they warmed to it. This was a very strong match, a very good match, and Mimic pulled out the win with his 450 splash.
            Match 7 - The Gauntlet.
A random drawing during the intermission has seen the entrants order of entry decided. Most of the combatants have already fought this evening, so previous injuries and weariness play a factor here:
(a) Adrenaline v Luke: Some good leg psychology, but Luke got the surprise win with a roll-up.
(b) Luke v Brad: Nasty start (as in vicious), some missed moves, but Brad wins with the help of the ropes.
(c) Brad v Miami: First of our female entrants, and Miami looks impressive, but Brad wins with a roll-up and the ropes again.
(d) Brad v Savannah: Miami stays out to cheer Savannah on, and she stopped Brad getting the rope-assisted win, allowing Savannah to get the pin with a chokeslam.
(e) Savannah v Vixsin: Again, a good match from these two, which Savannah won with a surfboard submission.
(f) Savannah v Grimm: Following on from last show’s demolition, but Grimm wins in quick order with the cut-throat driver.
(g) Grimm v Del Taurino: And in less time than it takes me to type this, Grimm wins with a nasty curb stomp.
(h) Grimm v Tommy Hellfire: Wow, talk a bout a torn crowd! They did not know who to cheer for or, more specifically, who to boo. Good match, as Grimm won with a back senton off the top rope.
(i) Grimm v Voodoo: Grimm won with the curb stomp.
(j) Grimm v TJ Rush: TJ won by reversing the cut-throat driver to a schoolboy roll-up.
(k) TJ Rush v Fuzion (with taped shoulder and Brad at ringside): Another good match, using psychology well. The ending came when Brad distracted the ref after TJ executed what is possibly the best shooting star press in Australian wrestling onto Fuzion, and when TJ went to deck Brad, Fuzion got the roll-up (again!!).
            Long show. Match of the night was Mimic v Hellfire, with special mention of Brad v Fuzion. The Gauntlet showed that there are potentially half a dozen great match-ups we haven’t seen yet and which have now been previewed, and all up 2009 looks to continue on where 2008 left off - with good wrestling, entertaining shows and fun.

And that’s this week’s view.

Basketball
NBL - Round 10
Melbourne 99 def. Cairns 98
New Zealand 112 def. South Dragons 98
Sydney Spirit 110 def. Adelaide 108
Adelaide 100 lost to South Dragons 106
Cairns 85 def by Perth 101
Townsville 121 def Wollongong 113
WNBL - Round 8
AIS 49 hammered by Adelaide 73
Townsville 89 def Bulleen 63
Sydney 82 def by Canberra 89
Bendigo 107 def Perth 76
Logan 67 def by Bulleen 73
Dandenong 80 def Perth 56

Soccer
World Cup Qualifying
Australia 1 def Bahrain 0
Bahrain were all over Australia, but against all the odds (to quote the typically over-the-top commentator) in the dying seconds Australia broke the deadlock and scored a miracle and incredibly lucky goal to steal the victory. But if Australia want to go further in next year’s World Cup in South Africa, then it is going to have to play one hell of a lot better than the insipid display they offered during this match. This sort of game is not a good advertisement for the sport, and just reinforces the stereotype of a dull, defensive game.
A-League Round 12
Adelaide United FC 2 def Sydney FC 0
Queensland Roar FC 4 slaughtered Perth Glory FC 1
Wellington Phoenix FC 2 def Newcastle Jets FC 0
Melbourne Victory FC 2 def Central Coast Mariners FC 1
W-League Round 5
Canberra 0 drew with Adelaide 0
Queensland 2 def Melbourne 0
Sydney 2 def Central Coast 0
Newcastle 4 killed Perth 1

Cricket
New Zealand Tour
First Test - Australia 214 & 268; New Zealand 156 & 177 - Australia won by 149 runs
            Wow! What a… a bizarre test! More wickets fell in the first three days than almost the whole India tour! Only Katich from Australia showed any form with the bat, and the bowlers were dominant. Okay, it may have to do with the ‘Gabba pitch being hammered by violent tropical weather leading up to the match making it a bowler’s paradise, but this… this was insipid batting from both sides. Australia cannot in all rights still call itself the number one test playing nation in the world after this pathetic performance. While it was vastly entertaining to watch wicket after wicket fall with monotonous regularity, it underscored the fact that both teams just do not appear to have quality batsmen any longer. And that’s a shame in Australia’s case because our Sheffield Shield competition is brimming with exciting batsmen from all over the country! Enough of this rant… It was still a damn fun game to watch. You couldn’t leave the couch for more than five minutes or else you’d miss another wicket! But still, a test match over in a little over three days? Bizarre…
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Victoria 484 & 0/35; Tasmania 218 & 300 - Vic win by 10 wickets (Vic - 6 points)
New South Wales 210 & 262; Queensland 354 & 0/119 - Qld won by 10 wickets (Qld - 6 pts)
Western Australia 239 & 8/404 (dec); Victoria 326 & 4/321 - Vic won by 6 wickets (Vic - 6 pts)
One-Day
NSW 153 (44.3 overs); Queensland 177 (47.2 overs) - QLD win by 24 runs

Rugby Union
Spring Tour
Wales 9 lost to New Zealand 29
England 6 killed by South Africa 42
France 13 edged out by Australia 18
The southern hemisphere teams won again, although France were very close to Australia. But it does show the widening gap in world rugby which will become an issue as the game tries to garner more footholds in the rest of the world.

Rugby League
World Cup
Grand Final
Australia 20 lost to New Zealand 34
Sport as she should be played. I loved watching this game. It was brilliant, high scoring and hard-hitting. Some critics have said it was not as good as should have been, but maybe they are just shocked by the surprise result - Australia losing a world rugby league cup after winning the last 7. And despite the fact the world cup of Rugby League is pretty well meaningless, this was a fine match that could really actually convert people to the cause. It could, of course, have been the fact that so many of the previous matches were not that good, but I enjoyed this one.

Closing Comment
Politics again. Sorry…
APEC has been and gone. It barely touched the radar in most countries, but in Australia it was held up as some sort of indication - no matter how small - that Australia might mean something in the world. From the way George W. Bush didn’t give eye contact or shake the hand of our prime minister to the position he was in, in the “group photo in embarrassing ponchos” event. Trying to indicate our position in the world. Not realising that a country of 20 million people does not really matter in the world. Not really. But Australians in general are so insecure about their place that they need to look at things like this like Pavlov’s dogs, salivating at the merest hint of acknowledgement. Pathetic. I like being ignored… It’s safer to be inconspicuous, especially with so many nations out to get so many others. But I’m in the minority down here. Sad, isn’t it?

And that’s this week’s view.

Soccer
Asian Champions League
Gamba Osaka 2 def Adelaide United FC 0
Adelaide were outclassed. Now, while Adelaide’s result is a good thing for Australian soccer, showing that the sport in this country has actually improved somewhat, it is still not a brilliant result. To lose on aggregate 5-0 to the Japanese champions means that when it comes to the world club championships (which Adelaide has qualified for) they are potentially going to be humiliated. There is some truth to the saying that even the experience will be good, but if the results are as one-sided as is feared, it could end up being quite detrimental to the sport, shattering the confidence and self-belief that has infected soccer officials since qualifying for the last World Cup. I hope I’m wrong (despite not being in any sense of the word a fan of soccer), but it could have been worse. And next year, with Central Coast making it to the ACL it will be.
A-League Round 11
Central Coast Mariners FC 3 def Adelaide United FC 0
This was the delayed match because of the ACL final, and it shows just how exhausted Adelaide are, although eastern states media says it shows how undeserving Adelaide were to be there. Well, I guess we’ll see when Central Coast are humiliated next year in the ACL, won’t we?
W-League Round 4
Sydney 1 drew with Newcastle 1
Perth 3 def Adelaide 2
Central Coast 0 humiliated by Queensland 5
Melbourne 0 lost to Canberra 1

Cricket
New Zealand Tour
New Zealand  266 & 256; New South Wales 361 & 4/162 - NSW won by 6 wickets
Not a good start for the Black Caps, losing their only warm-up match before the first test against Australia. And that against an under-manned NSW side.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
South Australia v Western Australia
WA 309 & 6/247; SA 9 dec. for 479 - match drawn (SA - 2 points)
One-Day
South Australia 6/270 (50 overs); Western Australia 5/272 (47.2 overs) - WA won by 5 wickets
Twenty-20:
Australia 139 lost to the All-Stars 4/203.
While this charity fundraiser held no actual official status as a match, it still showed that Australia is reeling after its recent tour of India, to go down to what was essentially a 2nd XI side so comprehensively. The only shining light was the form of the returning wayward traveller Andrew Symonds. But this still does not bode well for the upcoming series against New Zealand, with both teams apparently out of form.

Rugby Union
Spring Tour
Scotland 10 lost to South Africa 14
Ireland 3 defeated by New Zealand 22
England 14 lost to Australia 28
All three southern hemisphere teams won. Which is a surprise considering the northern hemisphere referees generally hammer our sides because heaven forbid rugby should be free-flowing and exciting to watch. No, much better it be as dull as ditch-water.

Rugby League
World Cup
New Zealand 32 def England 22 (first semi-final).
New Zealand through, no great surprise there.
Australia 52 slaughtered Fiji 0 (second semi-final)
Australia through, another lack of surprise.
Australia v New Zealand in the final is going to be a good match, I feel.

Boxing
Sakio Bika, originally from Cameroon, defeated American Peter Manfredo Jr to claim the vacant IBO super-middleweight title. Now, I know that there seem to be more international boxing promotions than there are Starbucks coffee stores, but for an Australian this is something. Although Bika is already known somewhat through his winning the third season of ‘The Contender’, this is still something good for boxing in this country (and I still recommend Drane’s ‘Fighters By Trade’).

Closing Comment
Not much to say, really. I think I’ve waffled on enough already this week. But I will reply to an email here. Steve from Illinois asked about the rules of cricket. Well, to put it quite simply, the rules of cricket are long and complex, and putting them in a column like this would require more bandwidth than Inside Pulse actually have. But, to be more specific and to answer the second part of your e-mail, the way the winners are decided (by wickets or runs) essentially comes down to if the winner bowls or bats second. If they bat last, they win by wickets; if they bowl last they win by runs. And LBW means ‘leg before wicket’, meaning you get out if the ball hits your leg and would have hit the wicket if your leg hadn’t been in the way. I hope that helps.

And that’s the rather boring view from down here.

Soccer
Asian Champions League
Gamba Osaka 3 def Adelaide United FC 0
            Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, but Adelaide were just outplayed by the best of Japan. They now need a 4-0 win at the home leg to win, a next-to-impossible task. Still, Adelaide exceeded all expectations even getting this far, and so credit and pride is extended to them.
A-League Round 11
News in this week that next season the A-League will most likely expand with two Queensland teams - one from the north, one from the Gold Coast - and the following season they are hoping for 2 more again from… wherever. This will take it to 14 teams. The real issue here is whether this will severely stretch a depleted talent pool. Our biggest and brightest are chasing the big money in Japan, Europe and, to a lesser extent, the USA, leaving the relatively low pay of the A-League for what amount to second-stringers. To expand in this direction is going to take a lot of financial clout to make it attractive for players to stay in Australia.
Perth Glory FC 2 drew with Newcastle Jets FC 2
Queensland Roar FC 0 lost to Melbourne Victory FC 1
Sydney FC 1 lost to Wellington Phoenix FC 2
(Because of the ACL game, Adelaide v Central Coast has been postponed.)
W-League Round 3
W-League? Also known as the Westfield W-League (sponsored by a major chain of shopping centres… go figure), this is Australia’s premier women’s soccer league. It is getting a bit of mainstream attention - which is great for women’s sport - and their style of play is actually faster and more fun to watch than the men.
Melbourne 3 def Perth 0
Newcastle 0 lost to Queensland 2
Adelaide 3 def Sydney 2
Canberra 1 def by Central Coast 2

Cricket
Australia v India - Fourth Test
Well, thank goodness this is over. Dull cricket played by two teams who were more out for petty point scoring than any advancement of the sport or to entertain the people who, you know, pay their salaries. I have grown to think very poorly of the Indians and almost cringe every time I see an Australian player near a microphone. Now bring on New Zealand and let some decent cricket start without the tactics of third-graders.
India - 441 & 295; Australia 355 & 209 - India won by 173 runs.
            So India won the series 2-0 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Good on them, but they did not play in the spirit of the game and the wins will be tainted by their behaviour as spoilt brats and school-boy bullies. Not that the Australians were angels, nor that they deserved to win (they didn’t), and their own behaviour was deplorable, with Ricky Ponting more worried about repercussions for bowling his team like a turtle with a limp. His captaincy was again put in sharp relief when he did not bowl the front-line bowlers because he can’t seem to be able to get the game going at a pace required for modern cricket. India were the better team at the game; in every other aspect both teams were appalling.
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Tasmania 252 & 7/184; South Australia 232 & 200 - Tasmania won by 3 wickets (Tas - 6 pts)
NSW 261 & 8/340; Victoria 440 - match drawn (Vic - 2 pts)
Twenty-20:
Western Australia 5/157; Queensland 7/140 - WA won by 17 runs

Rugby Union
Italy 20 done by Australia 30
The first leg of a European jaunt (the Spring Tour) by a few teams. Not a brilliant match, and the Aussies had to work damn hard all match against a skilled opponent, but it should help get Australia into the swing of things for more challenging opponents later on.

Horse Racing
Melbourne Cup
Every state in Australia has its own capital city cup, and that state gets a public holiday so horses can run around in circles for a week-day. Somehow, over the course of the past century-plus, the Melbourne Cup has taken on an almost mythical aura, and is classified the richest race and the best race. Well, the Cox Plate is probably a better race, but the Melbourne Cup has now developed its own sense of itself, and the national does seem to stop while people with no interest for 364 other days of the year pay attention to silk-clad midgets whipping the hell out of animals. Why doesn’t PETA do something about horse-racing? Probably the same reason they use drugs developed from animal experimentation - they’re hypocrites, and they’re afraid of the big money involved. Putting fear and self-interest above their principles, like that’s going to make the rest of us believe in them. I’m not going to pretend I like the idea of horse-racing, or indeed any sport that involves animals, but I like the idea of PETA even less. But many do, and the Melbourne Cup was run, so here are the results.
1st Viewed (This was Bart Cummings’ 12th Cup victory as a trainer, which is quite an achievement, especially with a horse no-one seriously had pegged beforehand.)
2nd Bauer
3rd C’est La Guerre

Rugby League
World Cup
Ireland 34 def Samoa 16
Scotland 18 def Fiji 16
France 10 lost to Samoa 42 (semi-final)
Fiji 30 beat Ireland 14 (semi-final)
Papua New Guinea 6 lost to Australia 46
            Despite the score-line, it was a hard hit-out and a fine match. Australia had to work hard for the well-deserved win against an opponent that looked formidable, if not on the score board.
England 24 lost to New Zealand 36
            This match entertained the hell out of me. Catch a replay of it if you can.
Scotland 0 absolutely creamed by Tonga 48 (semi-final)

Closing Comment
Nope, nothing about the US Election; I mean, how much more Internet space can be wasted on what is effectively the decision by less than half of a nation to decide their new leader, and, by extension, the so-called leader of the free world? And not a rant about horse-racing and other forms of animal abuse. No, this is something different. I had the misfortune of catching the US version of Australian sitcom ‘Kath And Kim’. In Australia, the original was a huge success, being about the most stereotypical Australians you could imagine ramped up and put into actually realistic situations. The US version was watered down and lost a lot of the appeal of the original because the United States is very different to Australia. It just did not work, and I don’t think the comedy translated well across to the US. Australians have a definitely different sense of humour. Our jokes do not have to be obvious (although they can be), and we probably share a lot of our humour with the UK. The only sitcom I’ve seen translate even vaguely well to the US from another country has been ‘The Office’, even thought the US version is not a patch on the British original. Why don’t they just show the original and let it go at that? And why don’t the networks, if they are so keen on a show, just plug the money into the original to keep it running? Surely this would also make economic sense and they would be guaranteed of at least one overseas market. Okay, rant over…

And that’s the televised view from down here.

Soccer
A-League Round 10
Newcastle Jets FC 1 lost to Queensland Roar FC 2
Perth Glory FC 2 def Wellington Phoenix FC 0
Sydney FC 3 drew Central Coast Mariners FC 3
Adelaide United FC 2 lost to Melbourne Victory FC 3
            The Adelaide coach said this loss would be good to get the team refocused for the ACL grand final, and for once I agree that a loss is a good thing in this case. It might make the team work that little harder to actually win the games against Japan, make them realise they are not invincible.

Cricket
Australia v India - Third Test
The test series between Australia and India always tend to get nasty. India, more by money than anything else, has become the power-holder in world cricket, and are bending the rules to suit their every whim, including allowing their rule-breaking players to get away with it. (Example in this match - an Australian was fined for a mid-wicket confrontation, while an Indian player was suspended; the Indians are fighting the very conclusive video evidence saying it is somehow flawed and that their player is being picked on…) Illegal bookmaking in India runs rampant and how many players and officials are touched by the scandal will never be known because they don’t want to implicate themselves in this. Australia, on the other hand, for the past two decades has been the power player in world cricket. They may not have won everything, but their unique playing style has changed the way test cricket is played, making it more accessible to crowds, and the way one-day cricket is manned. And a part of this is their arrogant, take no prisoners attitude which rubs many up the wrong way, being seen as not the way cricket should be played. But with this has come a genuine arrogance that they are above the law themselves, and can do whatever they feel like because they are the pace-setters. And so when two egos who think they know it all and can do whatever they like clash, we get fireworks, bad blood and recriminations. All in all, what it boils down to, is that some good cricket is being overshadowed by pathetic petty politics. I’m growing to dislike cricket at the moment…
            India 7/613 dec & 5/208 dec; Australia 577 & 0/31 - match drawn
Australian Domestic
Sheffield Shield:
Western Australia 206 & 196; Queensland 208 & 8/321 dec - Queensland won by 127 runs
One day:
Tasmania 8/286 dec (47 overs) def South Australia 182 (46.4 overs)
NSW 6/275 (50.0 overs); Victoria 5/277 (45.5 overs); Victoria won by 5 wickets

Australian Rules Football
International Rules II
Ireland 4.8.9 (57) def Australia 3.8.11 (53)
I think I said all I needed to say about this sport last week, but, again, it was a good, fast-paced, hard-hitting game. I enjoyed watching it, I enjoyed the spectacle, and I enjoyed the uniqueness. But I still say this is not the way to promote Australian Rules football to a wider international audience.

Rugby League
World Cup
Australia 52 HUMILIATED England 4
Fiji 42 def France 6
New Zealand 48 slaughtered Papua New Guinea 6
Samoa 20 def Tonga 12

Rugby Union
Australia 14 lost to New Zealand 19
            While a loss is never a good thing, to take New Zealand so close is. They are still the team to beat in world rugby, and Australia, with a bit more experience, might actually be able to match them sooner rather than later.

Boxing
Australian Vic Darchinyan surprised many, including the US press who had written him off, by knocking out Mexican Cristian Mijares in Los Angeles during the ninth round, in the super flyweight world title unification bout. Darchinyan was the International Boxing Federation champion and Mijares was the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association title holder. Now the Australian holds all three titles. This is good for the sport in Australia, giving us a title holder who is known more for his boxing than his mouth. And again, I still recommend Robert Drane’s ‘Fighters By Trade’ as a damn fine read on Australian boxing history (http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=165525).

Professional Wrestling
RCW - Powertrip (November 1, 2008)
Again I shall indulge my love for things wrasslin’.
            Match 1: Damon Matthews def Voodoo. Good, fast-paced opener, which Matthews won with a pair of superkicks and his feet on the ropes. But it felt short and slightly rushed.
            Match 2: “Giant” Dregan Grimm def Marvel.
            Match 3: Brad Smyth & Luke Santamaria vs Furious Fuzion and a partner of his choice. He chose himself, making this a handicap match. And Smyth attacked from the start and Fuzion beat two shades of shite out of him. But every hot tag to Luke resulted in Smyth tagging himself back in, making him look quite selfish. They got onto the same page for a while and then Smyth cost them the match. Yes, Fuzion beat both rookies. And seeds of discontent were thus sown between said youngsters.
            Match 4: Dienamic def TJ Rush. This match was not what I expected, being a lot more technical and mat based than I would have thought. But they did it well. Dienamic worked Rush’s leg and TJ sold it like an absolute hero. He went up for the shootinbg star press, the leg gave way and he couldn’t do it. And Dienamic got the submission with a leg bar. YES! Finally some Australian wrestlers working on a body part, and that leads directly to the win! No stupid comebacks! And TJ sold the leg injury all the way to the back… Match of the night for me.
            Match 5: Savannah Summers vs Miami. Miami’s debut… but not for long as Grimm came out and caused a no-contest. And so Savannah, after months of abuse at his hands… challenged him!? WTF?!
            Ah-hem, let’s try again.
            Match 5: Savannah Summers slaughtered by GD Grimm. Some hope spots were good, but the result was never in any doubt, especially after a flap-jack a good 2 1/2 metres UP! I am in two minds about this one, because they told a good story, did a good, safe match, and made it look real… but man on woman violence does nothing for me. Sorry.
            Match 6: Mimic retained the RCW title against Adrenaline. Mimic was off his game having just watched his brother decimate his girlfriend, but still a good, long match between these two. The ending came when Matthews tried to salt Mimic, but got Adrenaline (seriously, apart from Wrestlemania IX has that ever worked?), and Adrenaline spiked Matthews in return before being caught by the 450 from Mimic.
            And then the fun started. Fuzion, Grimm and Dienamic came out to help Adrenaline and Matthews lay the boots into Mimic. So out came Voodoo, Smyth, Santamaria and TJ Rush to even things up. They were separated, and then they went at it, all 10 men spilling to the outside, and then all 10 went into the crowd at various points. No matter where you were, you had two men pummelling each other nearby. Just awesome. Finally some order was restored as Matthews challenged Mimic, one-on-one for the title at the next show.
            Not a blow-away show, but a good one just the same. And special mention ref Dave Morgan, flying solo for the night… and suffering a painful wrist injury before half-time but continuing on to do the rest of the show.

Motor Racing
Mark Skaife has announced his retirement from the closed wheel version of the sport, at least as a fulltime competitor. Citing a lack of enjoyment in the sport at the moment, there is still a chance he will make occasional appearances at Bathurst (where he is a five time winner), but the sport will be poorer for losing him. Good luck in the future, Mr Skaife.

Something Else (Sports Related and Vaguely Personal)
I have to say that I have received the odd bit of e-mail from these postings here at The Pulse. Not a huge amount, but enough to make me think some-one reads this. And a question I received the other day I think needs an answer. I’ve made veiled mentions of training, and even mentioned that I used to box, maybe even that I used to do professional wrestling. But in answer to the questions about training and what-not, I have to confess: nowadays I am a performance gymnast. And how do I perform? Well, I’m the fat one with the knee braces, beard and balding. Have a look. Go on… And feedback is appreciated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCf23qrrrb0 (I tried embedding it, but it didn’t work… sorry…)
Yes, I know I posted this over on the Pulse forums, and yes I know it’s over a year old now… I don’t care. This is about as personal as I’m going to get, so I hope y’all enjoy!

And that’s the view from down here and on YouTube!