Football and wrestling, wrestling and football.
Come on, did you expect my life to revolve around anything else?
It’s been one of those dull weekends. I did my homework (yes, I’m back studying again, even at my age) and helped look after my kids and that was about it. Oh, I went to our local zoo last week with my son and we saw the giant pandas we have on display. Is it just me, or are they seriously over-rated as animals? But there were heaps of people there just to see the balls of fluff, so I suppose some people like them.
Oh, and in case you did not know, Australia is due to soon have the most restrictive internet censoring laws outside of China and North Korea. This means that, I believe, Inside Pulse may not be able to be viewed in this country. Or WWE.com. Or anything else vaguely interesting. They claim they are doing it to stop kiddie porn, but it’s also to stop any opposing views from getting seen in this country, and to molly-coddle us into a false sense of security. We already can’t get certain video games because of their content.
But that’s the problem when we have an apathetic nation and a government run by the fanatical, zealot, fundamentalist religious nutters that are destroying the world, even if out government is supposed to be Left and Socialist. Maybe that’s the issue – we’re run by Commie scum.
Here’s the sport.
Australian Rules Football
AFL Round 3
St Kilda 10.9 (69) def Collingwood 4.17 (41)
As can be seen by the score, poor kicking killed Collingwood in this one… that and a severe attitude problem. The Saints looked stronger all night, and the Magpies made their job worse when their coach called an opposing player a f****g rapist. Seriously. He apologised, but so what? He said it. Of course, during the week Collingwood whinged long and hard about Adelaide and its two teams and their supporters, forgetting that Collingwood’s supporters have been the worst in the league for decades, and that the AFL’s draw has so favoured Collingwood again this season (18 games in their home city!?) that if they don’t win the flag this year I’ll bet the bosses at AFL HQ will just five them the 2011 flag for the hell of it. Collingwood – hate them or loathe them, you can’t like them.
North Melbourne 17.14 (116) def West Coast 13.13 (91)
West Coast are now winless, and it’s good to see the Kangaroos bounce back from recent losses. This was by no means a great match, but it was hard fought. However, I stand by it that neither team will make the finals this year.
Port Adelaide 11.15 (81) def by Brisbane 16.12 (108)
Port lost to a strong Brisbane outfit, looking stronger all the time. But for a change Port weren’t disgraced in their loss; they outscored Brisbane at the end where last year they would have rolled over and died. There’s still work to do, but Port are actually showing something this year that’s been lacking recently. Brisbane, on the other hand, are showing that their recruiting policy in the off-season has paid off in spades. This team is going to be hard to beat.
Carlton 10.15 (75) def by Essendon 13.17 (95)
Nothing great, just a standard, run-of-the-mill match really. Essendon dominated everything all night, but seemed to just do enough to stay ahead and get the win. Carlton are also now winless after three rounds, and things are not looking good in Blues-land.
Sydney 16.15 (111) def Richmond 7.14 (56)
A one-sided affair, with Richmond made to look decidedly second-rate. This was not a good match, and then to make matters worse, four players have been internally suspended by Richmond after some sort of indiscretion at the team hotel after the match. One of them was Ben Cousins. Now while this means nothing, it seems sometimes that trouble follows that man.
Melbourne 7.15 (57) def Adelaide 5.11 (41)
This was a terrible game. Melbourne, who weren’t suppose to win anything this year, beat Adelaide, making the Crows also winless so far, a team that many so-called experts had in their top 8. But this match showed that neither team has “it”. Having said that, Adelaide’s horror run with injuries struck again with four more out. They may not have enough fit men to field a full team after next week if this keeps up. While that’s not an excuse, it could well have some bearing on their terrible start to the season.
Western Bulldogs 14.16 (100) def Hawthorn 12.12 (84)
An entertaining game marred by injuries to both sides. It was close until the last quarter when the Bulldogs kicked away from the Hawks. The Bulldogs really are looking like contenders this year, especially when the next match is taken into consideration…
Fremantle 18.17 (125) def Geelong 17.16 (118)
What!? Check that score again… Yep, the AFL’s perennial whipping boys defeated last year’s premiers. This was a great game to watch, and Fremantle did it! Geelong were made to look a little tired and maybe a little old, but that should take nothing away from the determination of the Dockers. It was a see-sawing match, but with the Cats ahead by more than 2 goals at three quarter time, the result looked beyond doubt. This was great and all these results this week have shown one thing – this is going to be one of the closest seasons since the AFL was created at the end of last century…
Bring on the football!!
SANFL – Round 3
Woodville-West Torrens 8.9 (57) def Norwood 5.9 (39)
Low scoring game, and Norwood are not looking like the team of the past few seasons so far this year. Disappointing spectacle.
Central Districts 13.13 (91) def West Adelaide 10.4 (64)
West Adelaide’s first big test and they came up wanting. Centrals took care of them easily. It is early in the season, and I’m willing to bet that West Adelaide will learn from this encounter and next time the result will be a much closer one.
Sturt 16.16 (112) def Glenelg 11.7 (73)
Glenelg’s first loss this year and it was a surprising one against a Sturt team that have looked out of sorts over the first two rounds. Be interesting to see how this affects both teams.
Porrt Adelaide 7.5 (47) def by North Adelaide 6.14 (50)
Ugly, ugly match, nut North earned its win and Port’s slide ever downwards continues unabated.
Bye: South Adelaide
Rugby League
NRL – Round 5
St George Illawarra 34 def Brisbane 16
Gold Coast 20 def Melbourne 16
Upset here. It seemed as though Melbourne took them lightly. Gold Coast could surprise many this year.
South Sydney 28 def Newcastle 10
This is what we expect from the Rabnbitohs! More wins! (Okay, I’m biased… there’s money riding on them this year!)
Canterbury-Bankstown 24 def by Warriors 30
North Queensland 16 def by Wests Tigers 23
Manly 40 hammered Cronulla 12
Manly winning was not a surprise; Manly dominating the game like this was.
Penrith 28 killed Sydney Roosters 6
Parramatta 14 def by Canberra 24
Rugby Union
Super 14 Round 9
Chiefs 19 def by Bulls 33
Highlanders 27 def by Force 41
Blues 21 def by Stormers 33
Crusaders 20 def Waratahs 13
Brumbies 61 humiliated Cheetahs 15
Wow. This was a complete embarrassment by the ACT team. They dominated from start to stop and the Cheetahs had no answer anywhere.
Lions 26 def by Reds 41
Netball
ANZ Championships
Round 4
This was the annual rivalry round where New Zealand and Australian teams were matched against one another, and the country with the highest aggregate score at the end of the five games wins. Not the most wins, the highest score. Cool concepot, and it made every match worth something extra.
WBOP Magic 55 def Fever 50
Swifts 50 def Pulse 36
Thunderbirds 53 def Steel 36
Tactix 49 def by Vixens 64
Firebirds 71 hammered Mystics 54
So Australia won 288-220, taking the rivalry round for the second year in a row.
Soccer
International
Asian Champions League
Resumes later this week.
Professional Wrestling
Transgression 2010
This is a short review as, to be quite blunt, I was marking out like a school kid throughout the show. First, the crowd was a good one – not quite a sell-out, however – but they were quiet in portions and I think this made for a weird atmosphere. It also made for the workers trying harder than usual to pull the crowd in.
(1) Blue Blood v Brad Smyth
Good opener. Blue Blood is starting to adapt well to the RCW style, and this was the best match I’ve seen him in in any promotion. And this was a hot opener. Fast-paced and high flying. Brad won with a swinging DDT after Savannah Summers distracted the referee.
(2) Luke Santamaria v Furious Fuzion
Luke’s improvement this year had been phenomenal. He has a new lease on life, and against some-one as intense as Fuzion, this match was one of his best as well. And, to make matters better for him, Luke won clean after his new finisher resulted in a three-count.
(3) Mimic v Del Taurino (with El Presidente)
The moves these two delivered on each other (German suplex on the outside!?), the punches they delivered on one another, this was stiff, almost uncomfortably so, wrestling. And I mean that in a good way. Just a solid match all round. The ending came when Mimic was outside the ring and El Presidente hit him with his shoe to ensure the count-out victory for Taurino. And the ending had a payoff later!
(4) Sway & Miami v Savannah Summers and partner.
Savannah announces that her partner is Brad, the commissioner gets upset about a male in a women’s match, but Miami and Sway say to bring it and it is on. The start looked uncomfortable and a little strange in parts as they tried to inject some comedy, but once it got going this match shows just what female wrestlers can do given the right encouragement. This is what TNA should be delivering every week and what WWE hasn’t delivered in years. Sway is also adapting to RCW’s style. Solid match by the end, and the crowd was amazing at the end. When Savannah used a chair to give the DQ win to Miami and Sway the crowd exploded, but then Brad and Savannah worked over Miami’s knee with the chair, leaving her literally crying. The crowd was ready to kill. They were so into the match. Wow.
(5) Marvel (with El Presidente) v Voodoo
This was the match of the night. The amount of submissions and reversal of submissions and holds and moves these two performed was awe inspiring. They had wrestled a number of times before, and so countered one another well, and anticipated moves, so the offence had to be different. And the ending came when El Presidente’s shoe once more got involved and Marvel hit a sweet Falcon Arrow from the top rope. But after Marvel’s win Del Taurino came out and the three of them beat down on Voodoo (although the shoe shots looked weak) until Mimic came out, but he was also set upon. And then the commissioner came out and set up next show Voodoo and Mimic v Del Taurino and Marvel in a “Mexican rules” tag team match!
(6) TJ Rush & Jacko Lantern v GD Grimm & Tommy Hellfire
Non-stop action, with Hellfire and Grimm not working together brilliantly but Jacko and Rush in matching colours. TJ was still selling the leg injury form last show, with a brace on the knee. Back and forth match with good, old fashioned tag team face/heel dynamics throughout until the end when Grimm complained about the brace being a weapon and TJ taking it off, and so falling to the clipped knee. But then Jacko did the famous mist into Tommy’s face before holding back Grimm while Rush hit the shooting star press onto Hellfire for the win. I’ve just made the match seem dull, but this was seriously non-stop action from bell to bell for more than 20 minutes. And after it was all over, TJ reminded Grimm that next month he has his Strength Tournament win-mandated title shot.
In General: Not one bad match tonight. Another great show. 6 matches, more than 2 and a half hours of actual wrestling in-ring action. The ADHD WWE-generation may not like it, but this is wrestling! The consistency of this company is staggering, and they have a dozen or so rookies at the training facility waiting for the chance to step up as well. Bring on May and the next show!
And that’s that. Football and wrestling… welcome to my winter. But to finish with here’s something for y’all – if there is anything about Australian sport you want to see covered, leave a comment. I have some ideas, but we’re fast approaching 100 of these babies and I think it might be time to change things up a little. So let us know.
And that’s this view – Apr 6 through 12.
