Pssst
The Sunday Age
Sunday August 2, 2009
Saints happy to waitETIHAD Stadium management has commissioned a series of plaques to recognise the AFL clubs which play at the Docklands, but the amazing form of St Kilda in 2009 has meant a postponement of the unveiling. Essendon and the Saints are the first two to be done, but the powers that be - understandably - don't want St Kilda's to be out of date so soon after it is struck if the Saints, in eight weeks, happen to win only their second flag. The stadium's communications manager Bill Lane said they were also still to decide on a position at the ground for the plaques, and that St Kilda's would not be completed until its season was finished. "Each plaque will have 300 words of text on the history of the club and feature three legends of that club, with 100 words on each legend," Lane explained. "The three for Essendon are Dick Reynolds, John Coleman and Kevin Sheedy, and the three for St Kilda will be Darrel Baldock, Allan Jeans and Robert Harvey." No word yet as to which club will next be acknowledged.No love from customsREPORTS have filtered back from America that a colourful former AFL identity didn't receive much love from customs officials when trying to enter the US at Los Angeles International Airport a few weeks ago. Having declared his spicy past, a 45-minute interrogation followed, with our man adamant that despite his transgressions he'd "never been incarcerated". He was eventually allowed to enter the land of the free and the home of the brave, and Pssst hears that since his return to Australia, the travel bug has bitten, with him this weekend on the Sunshine Coast spending time with another ex-AFL larrikin.Round-ball Ron GIVEN Australia's experience in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, a veritable who's who from Down Under can be expected to make the trip to South Africa next June to support the Socceroos in our tilt at glory in the greatest sporting event on the planet. Pssst has learnt that reigning Victorian of the Year Ron Barassi is one such celebrity, sharing with people close to him that he'll be ''swapping codes'' for a few weeks next winter and heading to South Africa to cheer on our boys. We doubt he'll be signing soccer balls though. Security squash Egan THERE was a certain degree of angst among some members of the football media at the start of the year when it was discovered that bottles of water and soft drink had been replaced by plastic cups and a dispenser in the MCG media centre. However, few thought it would - or could - lead to a dispute between security at the ground and an ex-star who played his best football on the hallowed turf. Former Richmond utility Phil Egan, who played 125 games for the Tigers between 1982 and 1990, signed off from his radio special comments duties at 5.30pm last Sunday after the Essendon-Richmond game, and poured himself a cup of lemon squash as he headed for the exit. After taking the lift to the ground level he proceeded to walk out of gate three, only to be stopped by a security guard and ordered to leave the drink behind, or finish it inside the ground, because "it might be alcoholic". Despite Egan's incredulity - and protests - the security guard wouldn't budge; he'd made sure the stragglers and seagulls outside the stadium were protected from any trouble Egan and his lemon squash may have caused.Phantoms of the commentary boxCELEBRATIONS at the football-broadcasting radio stations last Wednesday, with the AFL announcing a new agreement for the next two seasons involving all of the incumbents - the main news being that 3AW and Triple M will now be able to broadcast two matches on a Sunday. However, nervous times ahead for the lower-ranked callers at SEN, after Nathan Thompson and Luke Darcy were spied doing a phantom call of the St Kilda-Western Bulldogs game last Saturday night in the SEN commentary box at Etihad Stadium. Both already have on-air roles at the station, but must by eyeing off potential openings in the play-by-play team for 2010. Ryan Goorjian AS A name, face and voice, Brian Goorjian is one of the most recognised in Australian sport, but it seems in China - where he is currently the assistant coach for the men's national basketball team - the sporting fraternity is taking a little longer to catch on. With the Chinese team preparing for the FIBA Asia Championship, which tips off on Thursday, many media outlets are whipping themselves into a frenzy, including the popular basketball website, asia-basket.com. Trouble is, Goorjian is constantly referred to as 'Coach Ryan' on the website - an alias we're not sure the former Boomers head coach is even aware of.Dan's our new manMARK Webber has finally become a grand prix winner and even a formula one world title contender, but he turns 33 later this month and his days in motor racing's main game may be numbered beyond his recent contract extension to the end of next year. So is there an Australian successor to Webber on the F1 grid? Pssst hears one is indeed emerging - and (pardon the pun) rapidly. He's Daniel Ricciardo, just turned 20, from Perth and little known even in Australian motor racing circles. Ricciardo won 15 Formula Renault races and a series title in Europe last year, and, as reported in The Sunday Age last week, this year has chalked up four wins in the British Formula Three Championship, which he leads by 37 points with just three rounds remaining. The British F3 title has propelled many drivers into F1, including the legendary Ayrton Senna. Our snout points out that the winner of last year's British F3 crown, Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, made his GP debut in Hungary last weekend, becoming the youngest F1 driver in history at 19 years and 126 days. And, like Webber and Alguersuari, Ricciardo has huge backing from Red Bull, which is currently pouring rivers of money into F1.Hanging aroundAS Adam Simpson hangs up his boots (and, as our picture shows even his gloves) after 306 games for North Melbourne, perhaps it's worth recalling the first match in his 15-season journey. In a missive that landed on Pssst's desk last week. The author would have us believe that the popular ''Simmo'' accidentally stayed with the senior squad at training in the first week of August 1995, and therefore inadvertently impressed coach Denis Pagan with his self-belief that he was ready for his debut (against West Coast at Princes Park). When this scenario was put to Simpson, he laughed heartedly and said there was "an element of truth" to the story but that "a fair bit of mayo" had been added. "I'd been told at the start of the week that I was close, but before training on the Thursday Denis said, 'We're not going to go with you this week'," Simpson recalled. "I trained pretty well and another guy trained poorly, so by the end of training I was in and he'd trained himself out of the side. Denis actually rang me and said, 'You've trained yourself into the side'." And the rest, as they say, is history.numbers up23rd August will mark the return of Michael Schumacher to Grand Prix racing for the first time since 2006.96 years after black American boxer Jack Johnson was imprisoned because of his romantic ties with a white woman, the US Congress approved a resolution urging a presidential pardon.2003 was the year in which more than 100 major league baseball stars tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, the New York Times reported this week.in the zoneTalk about America's Cup challenges these days and you'll soon be heading to a zone where only the lawyers get rich. In the latest New York court ruling over the yacht race that Australians inexplicably went mad about in the 1980s, yachts will be able to use engines to trim sails and shift water ballast between hulls. Radical! The decision was seen as a victory for two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland, over litigious US challenger Oracle. The rivals will meet in February for a best-of-three match up in large multi-hull boats, with a venue to be announced on Thursday.separated at birthOne is facing a longer-term future as a director of coaching, the other is a film director. That's Mick Malthouse on the right of Baz Luhrmann. Thanks to Anne Stonehouse for picking the likeness. If you have a separated at birth suggestion email: sundaysport@theage.com.aucorporate claptrap''With the World Cup next year and a new stadium under construction, the sport will continue to flourish and stake its place on the landscape.''- ABC 774 media release announcing it will broadcast Melbourne Victory home games. COMPILED BY ANDREW TATETriviaCOMPILED BY JANELLE WARDQuestions1. The Western Bulldogs' Brad Johnson yesterday went to the top of the club list for games played and to 11th on the AFL list of all-times games played. Name the Bulldog champion whose overall tally is 350?2. Name the AFL official who made tea for poached NRL star Karmichael Hunt and his girlfriend during the ''wooing'' stage.3. The Essendon-Hawthorn rivalry ramped up off-field earlier in the week with Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson labelling his CEO a traitor. Why?4. Last week's AFL rivalry round clash between Melbourne and Sydney at Manuka Oval in Canberra produced a stat that was on the nose at AFL House. Please explain.5. Is Graham Manou a) the latest Cronulla Sharks player to offend, b) an Aussie snowboarder on the verge of a world title or c) an Australian Test cricketer?6. The race for the Melbourne Jockeys' Premiership went down to the last race of the metropolitan season on Wednesday and was won by whom?7. German Paul Biedermann, wearing a polyurethane suit, broke Ian Thorpe's 400 metres freestyle record by 0.01 seconds on Monday. Since failing to make the final at the Beijing Olympics last year, he has lowered his personal best for the event by a) 4 seconds, b) 6.8s or c) 7.5s?8. Greg Norman led going into the final round of the Senior British Open at Sunningdale last weekend, and was still in the match until the 17th when he a) hit into water, b) carded a bogey, or c) carded a double bogey?9. John Daly's current attempts to turn his life around are the subject of a reality show being filmed by the Golf Channel, true or false?10. New riding rules came into effect at Caulfield yesterday, restricting jockeys' use of the new padded whip to a) three consecutive strokes in the final 200 metres, b) 12 strokes in the straight or c) a flourish at the winning post?THE QUOTE''My relationship with Lance [Armstrong] is non-existent. Even if he is a great champion, I have never had admiration for him and I never will.'' Tour de France winner Alberto Contador speaking in Paris at the end of the tour that saw his Astana teammate finish third in his comeback race.ANSWERS1. Doug Hawkins [329 for the Dogs and 21 for Fitzroy]; 2. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou; 3. CEO Ian Robson had announced he was leaving to take up the ceo job at Windy Hill; 4. the game drew the lowest crowd this season - 7311; 5. Australia's 411th Test cricketer who was called up late to replace Brad Haddin after the wicketkeeper broke a finger on the opening morning of the third Test; 6. Craig Williams and Damien Oliver - both rode 71 winners; 7. c; 8. c; 9. True; 10. a.
© 2009 The Sunday Age