R15: The End of the World Cup as we know it

It's about this time each 4 years you realise Australia is not REALLY a part of the World.
Lets face they don't want us around and we're really not much chop anyway.
As the Dalai once said to me "You know Dick, there's wanting to be a Mermaid and then there's actually BEING a Mermaid. Just saying".

I'm glad the Socceroos are leaving the soccer countries to lap at their Cup. I'm also glad AFL is apparently not the only code that can't handle video reviews. I was flipping between AFL,  Soccer and Rugby (father-in law over) for a while on Thursday night and all 3 games in each of the codes were marred by comical VARs or whatever.
Closer to home I'm glad the byes are bygone, but the footy week starting on a Thursday night still takes a bit of getting my head around.
I'm not glad the Dons are winning, and totally pissed off the Roos and Pies are doing likewise.

Hats off, however, to Lloydy who was one of the few to back his Bombers in W.A. and has thusly jumped Phil and grabbed back the lead. Otherwise not a  huge amount of movement over the past fortnight.
Last year's champ Brenna is the biggest climber, up 6 and the biggest slider is Franco SKN, down 7.

Prepare yourself for the mid-yearish catch-up. 3 weeks off and no idea where at this stage.

R13: Halfway Hotel, I could use a beer or two.

Yep the Dees lost to the Pies, but now you can share the pain. Halfway Hotel.

Halfway through the season and a good time for a breather.
After last week's hoopla and Ice Caspades this is one of those boring, not particularly chatty weeks.
I've just popped back from a Demons planning camp where they've started grafting Neville Jetta's torso onto Sam Frost's shoulders in hopeful anticipation of playing finals and meeting 7 foot 100 inch Mason Cox again. He should be banned.
Otherwise did anything else happen last weekend, can't remember cos apparently this weekend started last night and everything's gone blank.

Phil Smith has jumped Lloydy to take a decisive lead in the Drunk. Last week's best was Coxy, up 10 with a perfect score, 6 outa 6 and zero points margin. Biggest Loser was Garth, slip-sliding away, down 12.

R12: Rance auditions for World Cup, Queen's Birthday Party and lots and lots of ice.

Queen's Birthday (Party)*, Shivery ice-slide. A stretch maybe, but if you'd thought this was any more than a self-indulgent, self-serving playlist of favourites you're kidding yourself.

* Yes, I know...  I saw Boys Next Door doing this at Macy's in Toorak Rd, Feb 3 1980. Had a TABLE at the front of a room the size of my bedroom, about 80 people there... Hang on, what are all these people doing in my room. (Thanks Frank).

A smorgasbord of footy this past and up-coming week. Champion divers, Brownlow favourites rubbed out, a round of lop-sided games, a couple of interesting results. A week coming of Queen's Birthdays, AFL on Ice and season-defining games.
Beanies off to Neale Daniher. Grand man at my club.
Screen goes wobbly... I'm back in 1998 at the Demon's season launch lunch. Stavros and I were doing the Demons membership stuff and Jamie Shanahan had just joined. Saints Stav and Frankie Materia made a bee-line for Shana's to give him a small piece of their minds (it was all they had). Quick as a flash ND read the play beautifully and laid a lovely shepherd.  I would have shirt-fronted the both of them personally.

The week in Drunk... largely stasis.
Hero: Dickwad. Zeros: Kurts and BobCatter.

R10: We salute Sheeds. Player, coach, actor. Legend.

Hats off to the AFL's mad genius. And let's bring back the lace-up jumper.

Umpire, strike back.

My 7 y.o. lives on a diet of Star Wars and Scooby Doo. Both wise choices, they teach a lot about how the world really works.

Scooby Doo shows invariably end with the line "...and I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids". Star Wars, as we know, prepares us for a world ruled by Evil Empires.

Meddling. Evil. This of course brings me to the AFL and their relationship with their goal umpires.

Why do the evil AFL emperors always feel the need to meddle in what works naturally as a near-perfect organism? How can you review a goal that's been called a goal, watch the review, see that it IS in fact a goal and call it a point? And why are they constantly threatening our galaxy with twilight Grand Finals?

The Dalai told me once over a few Coopers', "Dick, a train is a train and a plane isn't. If you want a plane go to the airport". I'm not sure what he meant by that, we were both a bit shickered by then.

If you want to meddle AFL, take Carlton's 4 snore-fest Friday night games off them and give them to teams who want to, and can play. In case you were wondering, the Dees have had a total of about 3 Friday night games over the past 4 years.

And us Drunks? We have our 3rd leader in 3 weeks now. Lloydy, buoyed by his Dons' resurgence, has stealthed his way to the top this week and we're starting to see some worrying separation between the leaders and the rest of us.
B.O.G. this week were Franco SKN and BobCatter Sam, both up 8, and this week's witches hat was Blue Bolter Rob, down 8.