Thanks, all.  These 58-year-old bones are looking forward to the challenge.  Singapore is a good town.  Clean.  Cosmopolitan.  With a tax rate that makes me feel like a victor from the Boston Tea Party.  Less than half what I have paid these many years in Australia.

But the job will be hard work.  They'll make me earn it.  A person shouldn't complain about hard work, I guess, but a couple hundred million dollar lottery win wold be nice.

Well, this will be my last season of listening to games for a while.  I'm moving to Singapore on Dec 1.  Game time will be 2 am Sunday mornings, and there ain't no way these creaky old bones will cope with that schedule.  Suddenly, I have become a huge supporter of night games.  Let's delay kickoff by six hours.  That I can take.

Quote from: Redtooth on October 19, 2026, 03:48:30 PMI would love to see replay in the MIAC to improve the calls made/missed on field, but can assure anyone hoping for replay that the version we would get would not be worth it.  The lack of quality equipment and personnel would make it functionally useless.  When I was a replay official for an FCS team we had 16-24 cameras all staffed by professionals with 4 of us up in the booth working with a TV production truck to get what we needed and sometimes that wasn't enough.  Certainly no one in the MIAC has the production capability to make it worthwhile.

I suspect this is the real issue that prevents it.  The equipment upgrade at probably half the schools to make it minimally functional is likely an expense that none of them wants to undertake for a negligible impact on the program's quality.  If they had that sort of money lying around then they would probably spend it on new blocking sleds or whatever.

Well, my early thoughts on what may be our Achilles heel this year are penalties.  We're racking them up at nearly double our opponents' rate.  In fact, the penalty yardage has nearly tripled over the last three games.  Personal foul discipline in particular has been trending worse as the season progresses.

Normally, it is chronic turnovers that plague us in the postseason.  But this year, the Jays have been really good at retaining possession.

Discipline.  We've got a relatively easy schedule to run out the MAIC now.  I hope we see the intensity remain, but the discipline improves.

Well, it's a challenging run for the Johnnies in concentration from here on out.  No one should challenge them in the conference but a few can definitely surprise them.  They'll need to work hard to maintain concentration and not slip like they did today.  And if it's all too easy on the run home, they'll have the challenge of not being sharp in the playoff and getting caught out.  We've seen that story a few times.  I hope this squad hits their best when they need it, as they have the chance to be very, very good.

Not an easy win, this one. The Johnnies had to grind. And I almost feel sorry for the Cobbers. Yet again they are in a winning position only to see it slip away at the finish.

Dang. Cobbers are playing out of their skin and earning this game. Time for Magic.

Man, I'm glad I missed the first half.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on October 15, 2026, 11:24:22 PMI don't usually play but my fiancee likes it chilly. We expect to turn heat on tomorrow morning. 64 in the house today but my office is usually a little warmer.

Fiancee?  Talk about burying the lede.  Congratulations!

Well, the free agent/trade session just closed for the AFL, and the Hawks picked up two fantastic, A-grade players who go straight into the starting 23.

Essendon's former Captain, consecutive seven-time Essendon best and fairest, and three-time All-Australian midfield/utility, Zach Merrett.

And Coleman medalist (most goals in a season) runner-up, and the most accurate kicking key forward in the league, the Gold Coast's Ben King.

Additionally, we picked up a phenomenally talented runner, Josh Goater, from North Melbourne for a packet of chips.  He's a third-year player who tore his Achilles in his first season and has suffered a string of soft-tissue injuries since then, keeping him out of North's side for the last two years.  If our fitness staff can get him healthy, oh boy.

And, amazingly, we didn't lose a single top-30 player and retained a very strong draft hand.  It's been a masterful session by the Hawthorn list management team.

The Hawks are primed for next season.  I can't believe I need to wait five more months before the season starts.

Are we going to mention the Vikings at some point?  Surely the worst 5-0 team in the history of the league.  I don't even feel any sense of dread about this team disappointing me.  The hammer is coming for them with that offence.  The only question is, how long do they avoid the reckoning?

Quote from: DuffMan on October 10, 2026, 04:43:19 PMI love how we're bitching about a 62-6 game. Sure, it wasn't the prettiest and there are some mistakes to address, but that's still a thorough thrashing, ladies and gents.
This was the best Mac team I've ever seen. Take that for what it's worth.

That's true, duff, but the Jays did have 8 penalties for 71 yards. It was a thrashing and we can't expect the Johnnies to turn up BU sharp every weekend.

The Johnnies have taken this game easy, playing like they are lying in bed early on a Sunday morning listening to the radio like I am.  Fasching was not happy in the halftime interview and I don't think he'll be much happier after the game.  I think the D will be making the rest of the MIAC feel it from now on.

Quote from: Retired Old Rat on October 10, 2026, 02:00:43 PMSo Macalester to have the Jimi Hendrix national anthem pregame.

Heh. Still living in rebellion at Mac. A 50-year-old mainstream classic rock rebellion.