Teams are winning - including me (sometimes)

For the first time in a few months, both the teams I am following are winning!

The Boston Celtics recently beat the Chicago Bulls, and the Melbourne Victory beat the Central Coast Mariners. The former teams play in the NBA, and the later teams play in the A-League. What makes both teams interesting to watch at the moment is they are both quality teams on paper, but are not really producing winning results (until recently). And while the Celtics are currently above a 50% win-loss ratio, the Victory are struggling to have wins on the board, having more matches end in draws than anything else.

GO CELTICS!!
GO VICTORY!!

Other than that, I have been playing in the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) prerelease tournament for Dark Ascension and in the MTG League at Games Laboratory. While I am not ruling the game, I am starting to win a few matches here and there. It feel better than just loosing every single game, but then again, I do not put as much effort into this game as I would like.

With the introduction of the new set for Dark Ascension, I have already seen some new ideas for my to add to my infinite copies of tokens deck which is powered by the Splinter Twin / Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combo. While it does not affect the main deck very much, the new mechanics from the latest set will definitely change what I believe should go into my sideboard. Cards that I believe will need to be considered in my sideboard are:

• Faithless Looting
• Grafdigger's Cage
• Ancient Grudge (from the Innistrad set - but any previous version is also fine)
• Dismember
• Flame Slash
• Sleight of Hand

The exact quantities of the ones mentioned here is something I need to work on, as well as possibly including some duplicate of the spells in my main deck into my sideboard - up to the maximum of 4 of any card.

This leads me to the psychology of how people feel things based on how much control we have over the aspects in front of us. When it comes to cheering about a sporting team, no matter how much I cheer or oppose a team, it does not affect their final outcome. It comes down to those sports people and how they play, as to what results are achieved. It also comes down to their opponents and how well their opponents play as well. In summary to this situation, I am not too upset when a team I support looses, just somewhat annoyed.

When it comes down to a card game that I have some (perceived) "control" over, it does get a little bit beyond annoying if I had a possible win, and did not make the correct decisions, or choose the right elements at hand to bring forth a winning result. If I play against a deck that my opponent has tuned, play tested a lot, and I loose to it - I do not feel very bad. I noticed in the MTG League that most of my opponents have at least one, if not two, mythic rare cards. While some of those cards are awful to use, some (in the correct circumstances) are game changers. Loosing to those decks do not upset me. Winning to those decks is always a pleasant surprise, as I do not have any mythic rare cards in any of my MTG League decks. The only time I am upset is if through a mistake of my own, I loose to a deck that is underpowered or is on the same level as mine. Luckily, it has not happened much.

Back into the grind for 2012

As 2012 starts up, I'm back at work, along with all my work colleagues and the interesting challenges still face me. Even though it is a new year, it still has not changed much to the type of work I am doing - which makes you think that the whole new year celebration, while fun, does not actually alter too much in the day to day lives of people.

In Australia, we do not end the financial (fiscal) year with end of the calendar year, but with the middle of the year. There is no "clean slate" feeling of coming into the new year. The only thing I do have to be concerned about is car registration, and the expectation of another mouth to feed soon. More news when that happens.

I hope you all have a happy, safe, and prosperous 2012. And hopefully my teams will start winning.

GO CELTICS!!
GO VICTORY!!

Victory broken by Heart

Tonight, KittyKat and I went to our first away game of the Melbourne Victory. Fortunately, it was in Melbourne as the opponent was the Melbourne Heart. The result was not in Victory's favour, ending up with a 3-2 loss against the Heart, but it also provided a glimpse of what football can be and should be in Australia.

Victory scored first, but should have scored sooner from the penalty spot if it was not for the brilliant block from the Heart's keeper. Heart came back with the next 3 goals, and Victory scored one in the 92nd minute.

While it was a loss, with the Heart's second goal being one that could have been caused by a handball (albeit an unintentional one), it was a great match in front of 26000+ spectators. Victory could have defended far better, and their attacks were self-dismantled with poor passing. The scores could have been divided even further with goals going either way. Heart won. Victory (and their fans) need to acknowledge that, and move on.

A lot has been written by people and the media on the rivalry that exists with the Melbourne Derby. I for one do not buy into it at this stage. I did not really notice it in the stands where KittyKat and I were sitting. I am guessing the only people that act this way are the hardcore fans who are looking to cause trouble - something the media loves to vilify. The supporters in the area I was sitting in were all in appreciation of the game in front of them. I appreciated the fact that there is a healthy environment for football in Melbourne, and I hope that all games have high crowd attendance like the one I saw tonight. It was a fantastic atmosphere for football, and one that would have only been made better if Victory had won.

Victory and Heart meet up again on the 4th Feb 2012, and I hope the results go the Victory's way!

GO VICTORY!!

Victory rises from the ashes against the Phoenix

It may have been poor form of me, but I could not resist writing the title. In what turned out to be an exciting Sunday afternoon of football, the Melbourne Victory beat the Wellington Phoenix 3 goals to 1.

When it comes to football, I did not want to sit through an entire season of frustrations when the Melbourne Victory played their home games. Their current records is 3 wins, 6 draws, and 2 losses. The more draws they get, the higher the level of frustration, as I have seen on several occasions that they have obtained the lead, only to draw when the final whistle is blown.

One of those occasions this year where a draw was achieved was when the Victory played the Brisbane Roar for a 2-2 draw. The Victory started well, but ended up drawing. What was exceptional about this performance was that the Victory was reduced to 9 men - 2 men short of the full team's roster - due to tough referee decisions. Now to Brisbane Roar appear to be going through a minor slump, after their long streak of no losses, with a 3 game streak of defeats.

Football is a strange game at times. You can be the best team on paper, but not produce the results. You can be awful at times, and still come up with a win, even though the team did not play well or even have the majority of possession in the game.

I look forward to the next game the Victory have against the Melbourne Heart, and I urge all Melbourne Victory supporters to go to the "away" game at AAMI Park this Friday to support the Victory in the Melbourne derby. Fill the stadium with blue. KittyKat and I should be there to cheer the boys on!

GO VICTORY!!

Victory and Celtics

With much happiness, I am pleased to have attended my first home game of this A-League season (2011-2012) where the Melbourne Victory have actually won the game. In what appeared to be a close game after Melbourne lost a 2-0 lead to the Gold Coast team, Carlos Hernández headed in the winning goal for the Melbourne Victory in the final 10 minutes to win the game 3-2. Hernández also scored the second goal, with the initial goal being scored by Harry Kewell.

GO VICTORY!!

On other news, it appears the NBA is coming back with a shortened season of only 66 games. The first games will be on Christmas day, and it includes the Boston Celtics against the New York Knicks.

GO CELTICS!!

My sports watching is back to normal!

World Cup ball is amazing

With the World Cup of 2010 in South Africa drawing to a close, and the final between Spain and the Netherlands about to start, I went out to the local park today with the KittyKat, to have a kick around with the World Cup ball from Adidas. It has been called Jabulani, and it has had much criticism, especially from the goalkeepers in the World Cup tournament. It is apparently the most spherical ball ever made for a World Cup. It dips and rises when it is kicked into the air, and Jabulani is considered to be supernatural.


Upon commencement of using the ball, I found it to be just like every other football I have ever used. You kicked it, and it would move. You kicked it straight, and it went straight. Then I kicked it with the inside of my right foot, and put spin on the ball as it floated through the air. What surprised me was that it actually curved in the air. I have never been able to achieve that feat before with a regular football. I do not know what exactly has contributed to this. It could be the grooves on the ball, or the fact that it is very round. KittyKat was also able to make the ball dip and swerve while in the air - but I do not know if she did that on purpose. It is truly an incredible (if not supernatural) ball. I do not claim to be a professional footballer, and I am sure a footballer with some proper skills would be able to make the ball do far more unpredictable flights.

The Jabulani ball can still be obtained in stores. I believe at the Adidas store in Bourke Street sells it for around $200 (in Australian Dollars). Shopping around, you could probably pick it up for around $150. I got my ball off ebay for $55 (which eventually cost under $80 including delivery). The only advice I can offer is that if you want one, shop around!

Secondly, with the finals, I am truly looking forward to this one. Spain and Netherlands have never won a World Cup. This gives me hope, as I can picture Australia one day climbing the heights to the finals of the World Cup. It may not happen in Brazil 2014, but it may happen after. With power teams like Italy and France crashing out in this World Cup, but being the first and second team of Germany 2006, anything is possible.

Streaming images of the World Cup via Optus

Well done to Optus for offering matches of the World Cup for free on their 3G service. The image quality is not too bad either:
The streaming was done on the Nokia N900 after some difficulty and inconsistency from Optus. Still, well done for offering a service.

Football and Basketball in 2010

There is one thing that all sports fans need to come to terms with when supporting their teams at a distance - NOTHING you do will affect the outcome of the results of a game. I have experienced this first hand in two separate scenarios on the same day.

Firstly, the Socceroos were handed a 4-0 loss against Germany in the World Cup. While it was upsetting to witness this, as well as the red card handed to Tim Cahill for a soft, but "from behind" tackle, I have hope for Socceroos to come back from this situation. I base it on two things I notice about the Australian line-up.

1. At least two key strikers did not enter the game against Germany - Harry Kewell and Joshua Kennedy. Both men are able to alter the game. Harry is able to dribble and control the ball well, opening up opportunities for himself as well as other players, while Joshua has the advantage of height - leading to aerial control of cross kicks.
   
2. Tim Cahill played out of position, as well as possibly some other Australian team members in the formation against Germany.

If coach Verbeek is able to address those two issue in the team, the Socceroos should be able to provide a better opponent against Ghana and Serbia in Group D. While I had ever hope that Australia would either be lucky enough for a win, or at least hold on for a draw, I did not think it would come to a 4-0 loss.

Secondly, I really want the Boston Celtics to beat the L.A. Lakers. I have supported the Celtics from the 1980s when I witnessed Larry Bird lead the team to wins over the Lakers as well as the Rockets. In 2008, I was filled with nostalgia, as I witnessed the Celtics beat the Lakers in 6 games. Now, it looks like they have a good chance of repeating that, with a 3-2 lead in the current 2010 NBA Finals series.

Going back to the first point I was making, no matter what my intentions are for either team, it is the actual players of those team that produce the results - not me. No matter how much I hope, pray, will, or wish - none of that affects the final result. It does not matter how loud I yell at the television, or at some streaming over the internet, it does not make my team score, and hold back the opponent from scoring.

Saying that...

GO CELTICS!!
GO SOCCEROOS!!!

Optus World Cup streaming works - sometimes

I can verify that the Optus free streaming of the World Cup works on the Nokia N900. It works out that the streaming is about 15 seconds behind the broadcast on television.

Optus Free Streaming World Cup Website on the N900

Media Player on N900 receiving stream

Nokia N900 multi-tasking the World Cup

The links on the Optus page opens up the N900's media player, and the image and sound is good, but definitely not as clear as on the television. If you're after the link to the Optus page, see my previous post, or this.

3G streaming of the 2010 World Cup on Optus

I've been hunting around the internet for the URL to stream World Cup 2010 games to my 3G mobile, as I have SMSed "World Cup" to 966 to find I get nothing back. After some searching, I've found the following URLS:

• Optus Moblie – http://optuszero.miaccess.com/worldcup/
• Optus iPhone – http://optuszero.miaccess.com/wc2010/

You'll need to be an Optus customer for this to work, and you'll need to register with their OptusZoo service. Hopefully this may assist some other people looking for similar information.

Lastly, well done to France in securing a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, and good luck to the Australian Socceroos in their match against Germany.

World Cup free streaming and Celtics in the finals...

It appears that Optus (phone company) is allowing its customers to stream the World Cup games to their mobile phone in for free. I'm an Optus customer, and I'm pleased they are offering this service. Saying that, I'll probably end up watching most of the games on television, as it's much easier to watch the matches on a big screen than on the N900.

I love football (or soccer for other people) - and I really appreciate watching the world cup. Last time it happened in Germany was in 2006, and I took the whole month off work to watch the games. I probably should have found a way to go to South Africa this year, but other things happened in the past few years, and I'm in the process of fixing up things...

GO SOCCEROOS!!!
Allez Les Bleus!!

Kitty Kat would like to add:

GO GREECE!
GO ITALY!

Maybe this year, Italy won't win on dubious actions. Their skill in football is only overshadowed by their skill in acting / simulation. From Germany 2006, they have proven that while having some talent, they will resort to anything to give them an advantage to win - whether that be fair or unfair in the spirit of the game.

Lastly, it's been a fantastic from the Boston Celtics to dismiss the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Orlando Magic to go to the 2010 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. In doing that, the Celtics have come from the fourth seeded team in the East to beat the top two teams in the NBA, and now face the Lakers for the second time in 3 years in an attempt to win the championship. While they have lost the first game of a seven game series, I believe they can easily come back and win the rest of the series - in a similar way to how they beat Cleveland.

GO CELTICS!!
Beat L.A.!!

Why does it have to end with a penalty shootout?

I was apart of the crowd that witnessed the A-League's Grand Final for 2010 between the Melbourne Victory and the Sydney FC. Sydney played a very brutal game. It was a tactic that worked for them. After 12 minutes, Archie Thompson was sent off on a stretcher, and will most likely be missing 12 months with an ACL injury (saying that, Kitty Kat had ACL surgery done on both of her knees). Sydney were not visiting Melbourne for a haircut - they wanted to win the game, and do the Premier / Championship double - which was first done by Melbourne. They wanted to take the trophy back to Sydney. They did it.

After the first 45 minutes, the score was still 0-0. After 90 minutes, it was 1-1. After extra time, it was still 1-1. This is the part I hate the most. Why does it have to go to a penalty shootout? I think it facilitates a quicker result to a game, but if it is the final game of the tournament, they why does it have to end quickly? The final should be the exception, and implement the "golden goal" rule - keep playing until someone scores. First team to make a mistake, or first team to overcome fatigue wins.

It's a horrible way to loose a championship, but I don't think it's a great way to win a championship either. It really is based on luck - and when I say luck, I mean confidence of the goalkeeper and the penalty kick taker.

Well done to the Melbourne Victory for a great season of 2009 - 2010! I look forward to seeing you more often in the next season.

GO VICTORY!!

Well done to the Victory!

Well done to the Melbourne Victory for their 2009 Grand Final win over the Adelaide United with the score of 1-0. In what looked like a very controversial game from a refereeing point of view, Tom Pondeljak in the 59th minute scored the winning goal.

GO VICTORY!!

My teams are winning...

I was down in Melbourne for the Australia Day weekend. On the Friday night, I was fortunate enough to witness Melbourne Victory win 2-0 over the Wellington Phoenix, and secure the top spot of the A-League ladder for the 2008-09 season. To add to that, the Boston Celtics have started winning again after their 4 game loosing slump, which included a loss at home as well. And it was good to catch up with my bro4Life, Jay, who is now a Celtics follower!

Jay and ric_man

GO VICTORY!

GO CELTICS!

Down in Melbourne for Xmas break

I was down in Melbourne for the Christmas break that most of Australia takes. I'm not a big believer in Christmas, as any meaning behind it appears to have been diluted by the commercial side of marketing and selling of goods and services around this time of year.

So, Christmas day was a nice long drive down from Canberra to Melbourne. Not much traffic on the road, but there were a few speeders. Luckily, they were apprehended by police, which means the police were busy doing what they do. Does anyone else have the belief that in rural areas, if you see a police car pull over a vehicle (for one reason or another), that there will not be another police vehicle for a 5km radius? Maybe it's just me...

I caught up with Jarvo on the 26th after visiting some Boxing Day sales. I think it gets worse every year. The stores are much busier, and this goes back to me thinking of the commercial aspect of this time of year. People buy gifts for the 25th, and then go out and spend again on the 26th. Why not take notes from the Greek Orthodox faith, and celebrate Christmas on the 5th of January (or so), and therefore take advantage of any Boxing Day sales?

27th was lunch at Grizzly's, followed by watching the Melbourne Victory come back from 2 goals down after 5 minutes to eventually winning the game 3-2. Jarvo came along with me, and it was his first time he had seen A-League live. It really is like the slogan suggest - "90 Minutes, 90 Emotions". His friends were initially "giving me grief" over the lack of defence that Melbourne showed in the first 5 minutes, but left happy with the result that the Victory turned the results around into a win.

GO VICTORY!

28th was having breakfast with Jay, and then jumping in the car and driving back to Canberra. We are planning on heading up to Sydney for New Year's Eve with pappaD. Should be a good time...

Well done Melbourne Victory and Boston Celtics!

Great weekend for me from a sports front! Melbourne Victory had a great win over Adelaide FC in Adelaide (3-2), and the Celtics have won both home games (against Cleveland, and against Chicago) of their new season.

For the moment, Victory are on top of the A-League ladder, and Celtics are undefeated in their division!

GO VICTORY!
GO CELTICS!

Canberra, and the current A-League...

There's so much I want to write about at the moment, but I can't. I think I started this blog to document some of my thoughts about Canberra, and IT. I know of recent that I've been using it to play a blog photo game (I am still the master of the game), as well as jot down other thoughts with what's happening around me (especially after finding out I was no longer required by my ex-wife). Things should be better in the next week or so, and blogging will resume regular service.

I've only got 1 week left on my work contract. People at work (and I guess others around me) have started to notice that. I think I am speaking more of what is on my mind, and not holding back as much. My boss mentions that this is how it should have been from the start, not with 2 weeks to go - and now it's only one week left. Who knows what will happen, but I guess I will need to deal with the fall out if I do and don't get renewed. There are some people hoping I will get renewed. I'm sure there are some people that will hope I don't. I feel like I am in the middle. As I mentioned to someone over dinner last night - "If they want me to stay and keep helping, I will - if they don't, then I will go away; either way is OK."

I'm also finding myself being tutored, but at a more artistic musical level. Thanks to NutMeg, I am now listening to the lyrics of some of the skate songs that I had previously only just listened to for the rhythm and beats.

Lastly, one thing I can blog about is the state of the A-League. I've only been following it off and on, since I spend some time up here in Canberra, and do not have much reason to go back to Melbourne. It's round 8, and Melbourne Victory are hanging onto the top of the ladder - but just (while I write this Perth is playing Sydney, with Perth in front 2-1). The Victory have had great games (round 3 and 7), and some disappointments (round 8). I need to organise to get down there and support the guys!

GO VICTORY!

Socceroos on track to World Cup 2010

The Socceroos, this morning, beat Uzbekistan 1-0. I wasn't awake for the match (and it was on a channel I don't receive anyway). One step closer!! I did see the highlights on the news as I was getting up. Lovely header from Scott Chipperfield!

This leads me to think about Josh Kennedy as a striker. While I like Josh playing the position he plays, he needs to bulk up. He appears to get pushed out of the way by defending teams. He does have the height, but by the time the lob pass is made, he may be muscled out of position. I think that was the value that Mark Viduka gave the Socceroos. He wasn't the quickest or smartest of all the strikers, but he could single handedly tie up two defenders - thus freeing others.

Good luck against Qatar!

GO SOCCEROOS!

Drinking in Canberra, and well done Socceroos (vs the Dutch)

Went out last night and caught up with a work colleagues partner's 50th birthday. Really nice couple, and it was a good social gathering. Anyhoo... after that I caught up with Jarvo, who was celebrating another birthday of someone else. Had a drink at the Phoenix Bar - which in my opinion is the BEST bar in the whole of Canberra. It has the most character and reminds me so much of bars in Melbourne I frequented a long time ago - long before I was with my ex-wife. I have been to a few of the establishments here that cater for "younger" people, but I feel they are a very plastic - both the establishment and the people that go there. People that go to those places are living in the "now", and while they may look appeasing to the eye, they do not appear to have much substance in character (yes, this is a stereo-type, and I have been privileged to meet many exceptions to this rule). And the places are generally too loud, and therefore you cannot chat to anyone. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the music, and with enough liquid encouragement can "move", but really do not find them pleasant to go to - I'm actually listening to Pendulum's Coma and Yakuza's Cocaine as I've been writing this:

"Hug me till you drug me honey; Kiss me till I'm in a coma"
-- Coma (Pendulum - 1997)

I eventually came back to where I'm staying, and I go to bed, but somehow leave the TV on. I don't know what I was watching when I went to sleep, but it was obviously some sports channel, because I get woken up pleasantly to the Socceroos playing the Dutch. And the Socceroos won: 2 - 1. The Dutch weren't a push-over side either. They're ranked #4 in the world!

GO SOCCEROOS!!

It's a good start to the rest of the World Cup 2010 qualifier in the Asian Football Confederation standings. Only a pity I was in a beta state of lucidity - being half awake and half asleep while watching the football game. At times I dreamt I was actually on the field watching the events unfold. Then I'd wake up and watch a few more minutes. Good game overall, and it was a pity it was marred with a red card - therefore not really testing 11 Australians against the 10 Dutch. Hope the Socceroos do well in their next game against Uzbekistan!

Socceroos one step closer to South Africa 2010

With the win in the early morning (my time) over Qatar (with the final score being 3-1), the Socceroos have secured a place in the 4th round of the AFC qualification campaign for South Africa 2010. The reassuring aspect about being in the position is that the result of Australia's next match against China does not affect their qualification. Of course it would be better if they won, but with Qatar and Iraq both currently on 7 points, and playing each other next, the best they can do is to equal the points Australia is currently on - and only one of them will advance.

As long as the Socceroos do not "fall asleep at the wheel", there is a good chance they will qualify for South Africa 2010. Currently, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC - which Australia is now apart of), has 4.5 spots at the next World Cup. The reason for the 0.5 place is that the 3rd place teams from the 4th round of qualification (in the AFC) will compete against each other to challenge the champion of qualification of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC - which Australia used to be apart of). The place from the APC-OFC play-off will not be determined until November 2009.

This leads me to ask - why is there an OFC at all? It's always been very difficult to qualify from the region, as the competition has been low, and the first real taste of competition is when the OFC champion competes against the "best of the losers" from some other confederation. Australia was talented and lucky enough to beat Uruguay in 2005 (via penalty shoot-out) to qualify for Germany 2006, but I don't understand why it has to be that way. The team coming out of the OFC will always be under prepared compared to any other teams coming out of the AFC or Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL - South American Football Confederation). My suggestion is to merge the OFC into the AFC. Then the AOFC could be allocated the 5th place at the World Cup qualifications going forward.

GO SOCCEROOS!