Eddie McGuire

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire isn't alone in being "staggered" by Eddie McGuire suggesting on Triple M Melbourne on Wednesday that perhaps Swans star Adam Goodes should be used to promote King Kong. I'm joining your club, Horse. It was, and still is, a staggering moment.

Shame on you, Eddie. Shame. On. You. Your "slip of the tongue" has become the most talked about sports story in Australia this year, and everything you did on Friday night in the wake of the unfortunate incident where a teenage Collingwood fan called Adam Goodes an "ape" has been for naught. On Friday night, The face of racism was a thirteen-year-old girl. Now, the as we inch towards another Friday night, the face of racism is undoubtedly Australia's most recognisable broadcaster.

I tend to believe McGuire when he says that he isn't a racist, purely and simply because of the look of honest anger that we all saw on Friday night when he stormed into the Sydney rooms, determined to apologise to Adam Goodes after vision of the Collingwood fan being escorted from the ground after taunting the Swans superstar, who was in the process of playing the game of his life, torching Collingwood at the MCG. That wasn't just lip service and it wasn't just for the cameras. Eddie was genuinely distressed.

What Wednesday morning was...well, stupid is a good word to start. Confounding, embarrassing, unthinkable. You have to wonder exactly what Eddie was thinking when he started down the road that had landed him in so much hot water. You could tell that Luke Darcy knew that something was wrong, when he jumped in with, "I wouldn't have thought so," to McGuire's proposition that the Melbourne production of King Kong, who had hung a giant claw from the Eureka Tower, use Adam Goodes to promote the show.

Now Eddie is in the centre of a storm that won't die down anytime soon. Even Harry O'Brien, a Collingwood player, lashed out on Twitter, with some strong words that were backed up by others, including Daniel Wells and Nic Naitanui, throughout the day. It was universal condemnation, of casual racism in Australia and of one man's stupidity, so many around the footy community inclined to believe that McGuire was careless and silly rather than intending to racially vilify anyone. Regardless, it will take a long time for McGuire to escape the shadow of this gaffe. As it should be, and good on the AFL for insisting that Eddie be treated like any other member of it's league. The counseling and community work might encourage Ed to think twice the next time.

They say that Goodes was hurt more by Eddie's comments than by what the girl on Friday said, and for good reason, too. Where the teenager might not have known - and, by all accounts, didn't - know the ramifications of what she was saying, Eddie is well and truly aware. After his work in the Swans dressing room last week, and at other times throughout the weekend, these comments surely can only made the betrayal Adam Goodes must be feeling right now ten times as worse. 

Saturday afternoon and Sydney's clash with Essendon probably can't come quickly enough for No. 37.

The New York Rangers fire Head Coach John Tortorella

The New York Rangers have fired their Head Coach John Tortorella, in what most observers are calling a strange move. I tend to agree. There were no hints of this happening during the break-up interviews following the Rangers admittedly-disappointing exit from the playoffs at the semi final round, outclassed and basically dominated, losing in five games at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

The offense was stagnant at the best of times, and downright MIA at the worst of times. It only got worse on the Power Play, with the Rangers converting only 4 of 44 man advantage opportunities in the playoffs. Key players went missing for long stretches, including superstars Rick Nash and Brad Richards and inspirational team captain Ryan Callahan. It was so bad with Richards that Tortorella had reduced him to fourth line minutes before making him a healthy scratch in the last two games against Boston. And then came the rumours of an amnesty buyout of Richards, rumours that he'd fallen out of favour with Tortorella, a man with whom he'd won the Stanley Cup in Tampa in 2004, and that the fracture was not one that could be mended.

Perhaps Richards will still be on the way out of the Rangers organisation, but not before Tortorella who was let go today. Popular thought is that this was a panicked move from General Manager Glen Sather, and I tend to agree. Sather had, days before, doubtless heard his star goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, sounding decidedly non-committal about signing a long-term deal before his contract, which has a season to run, ends. It emerged today that the Rangers hadn't intended to fire Tortorella. But things change, often with just a few words.

Those words would have sent shivers down the spines of Rangers management, imagining a Blueshirts club without King Henrik in goal. Were his words some sort of flashpoint for the team's management? Did they think they had to pull the trigger? Perhaps. And that's fair enough. Lundqvist in net for someone else would be a disaster. Personally, it's not something I want to consider. 

Now there are stories floating around that Henrik wasn't hugely happy of late. In the scheme that Tortorella ran in New York, the offense had never really gotten rolling, and his gritty, shot-blocking style of play often put the onus on Lundqvist to have huge games, like, every second game. It's okay to expect your goalie to stand on his head once every now and again, but when the offense ahead of you rarely fires, it's understandable that a guy like Lundqvist was getting frustrated. He wants to win a Stanley Cup, and it didn't seem all that likely with Tortorella, not as this season progressed, and went south for the men in red, white and blue.

Tortorella's scheme has certainly marginalised a lot of fast-skating players, and, thus, divided the parochial NYR fan base in a way that few other coaches on Broadway ever have. Guys like Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider were on the outer for most of the season. The worst nightmare for a Rangers fan - aside from Lundqvist going - would be those guys getting traded, blossoming, becoming superstars elsewhere and coming back to taunt Rangers fans for seasons to come.

For a while now, I hadn't been sure what to make of Tortorella. Was the Rangers run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year a flash in the pan, or would they again scale those heights - and go higher, to Mt Stanley Cup - with the benefit of a full season, preceded by training camp? The jury was out, for mine. This year, the team certainly regressed, when they were only supposed to get better with the addition of Rick Nash.

Recently, I was interested by his actions regarding Richards, whom he had, for a time, playing fourth line minutes at something ridiculous like $9milliom. Buying Richie out won't be such a bad idea, for the Rangers undoubtedly need to re-sign guys like Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh this off-season and a King's Ransom - pardon the bad pun, one that you'll likely hear quite often throughout this summer and beyond - for Lundqvist next summer.

The question will be, did the Rangers to the right thing. If the offense prospers under a new coach, and if Lundqvist re-signs long-term, it will be seen as a good move by Sather and his team. Should the opposite happen, then, well, that's when things will get interesting on Broadway...

2013 24 Heures Du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans) Australian TV Guide

Once more in 2013, it's possible to watch every minute of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, plus pre- and post-race coverage. After a few years of One-HD broadcasting the SPEED (US) feed of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it's just been Eurosport's coverage for the last few years, but SPEED Australia steps up to the plate in 2013, broadcasting the bulk of the French enduro classic via simulcast of SPEED in North America. 

If the rumours are to be believed, SPEED will be streaming those hours of the race that aren't being shown on TV, which is early Sunday morning, Australian time.

And, as has been the case in past years, Eurosport have practice and qualifying, plus their magazine show Le Mans 24 Minutes in the week leading up. Now, if only Eurosport was shown in HD...

All times Australian Eastern

Tuesday 18 June

Le Mans 24 Minutes (6.00pm; Eurosport)

Wednesday 19 June

Dempsey Races Le Mans (5.45pm; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (6.00pm; Eurosport)

Thursday 20 June

Le Mans 24 Minutes (1.30am; Eurosport)
Free Practice (2.00am; Eurosport)
Qualifying I (6.00am; Eurosport)

Friday 21 June

Le Mans 24 Minutes (2.30am; Eurosport)
Qualifying II (3.00am; Eurosport)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (5.30am; Eurosport)
Qualifying II (6.00am; Eurosport)

Saturday June 22

Warm-up (5.00pm; Eurosport)
Legends (6.00pm; Eurosport)
Road To Le Mans 2013 (9.30pm; SPEED/SPEED-HD)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (10.15pm; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans (10.30pm; SPEED/SPEED-HD)
24 Hours of Le Mans (10.45pm; Eurosport)

Sunday June 23

24 Hours of Le Mans (5.00am; SPEED/SPEED-HD)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (6.30am; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans (7.00am; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans (7.00am; SPEED/SPEED-HD)
24 Hours of Le Mans (10.30am; SPEED/SPEED-HD) 
24 Hours of Le Mans (1.30pm; SPEED/SPEED-HD)
Le Mans 24 Minutes (5.00pm; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans (5.30pm; Eurosport)
24 Hours of Le Mans (5.30pm; SPEED/SPEED-HD)

2013 Indy 500 - Race Results

97th Indianapolis 500 - Finishing Order

1. Tony Kanaan

2.  Carlos Munoz

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay

4.  Marco Andretti

5. Justin Wilson

6.  Helio Castroneves

7. A.J. Allmendinger

8. Simon Pagenaud

9. Charlie Kimball

10. Ed Carpenter

11. Oriol Servia

12. Ryan Briscoe

13. Takuma Sato

14. Scott Dixon

15. Ana Beatriz

16. Tristan Vautier

17. Simona de Silvestro

18. E.J. Viso

19. Will Power

20. James Jakes

21. James Hinchcliffe

22. Conor Daly

23. Dario Franchitti

24. Alex Tagliani

25. Graham Rahal

26. Katherine Legge

27. Townsend Bell

28. Josef Newgarden

29. Sebastien Bourdais

30. Pippa Mann

31. Buddy Lazier

32. Sebastian Saavedra

33. J.R. Hildebrand

Tony Kanaan Wins the 2013 Indy 500

If you measure the quality of the race by the number of lead changes on the track, and by the way the lead was shared amongst 7 or 8 drivers for the entire race, then the 2013 edition of the Indianapolis 500, the 97th in the fabled history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was perhaps the greatest ever. And if not ever, then certainly in the last twenty or thirty years. 

We thought last year's race had great drama and plenty of on-track action, but it was nothing compared to 2013, when there were more than 65 lead changes, cars shooting into the lead seemingly every second corner, with passes in Turn One, down the back straight, into three, basically everywhere on the track. With very few cautions - just two in the final couple of hundred miles - the race was run at a frenetic pace, the likes of which we hadn't seen at Indianapolis before, and it was a testament to the composition of the cars that there weren't any major malfunctions to speak of. It was a testament to the drivers, too: all thirty-three of them who held their nerves at incredible speed, over and over, two hundred times.

And at the end, as three-time and defending champion Dario Franchitti slid into the Turn One wall - not unlike Takuma Sato, his challenger for the win one year ago, did to end the 2012 Memorial Day Classic - it was Tony Kaanan of Brazil who was at the head of the field after a wild restart a lap before, and whose final lap of the Brickyard, under pace car, took him to double checkers at the flag stand, crossing the bricks at the start/finish line to take a popular victory, his first after eleven years and too much heartache. It was the first for KV Racing Technology, too, the outfit co-owned by driver-turned-owner Jimmy Vasser and Ausralian entrepeneur Kevin Kalkhoven, and as popular a win as there's been at the Speedway in some time.

It was Kanaan's KVR car against three Andretti Autosport machines of defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, third-generation American Marco Andretti and impressive rookie Carlos Munoz. Indeed, it was Hunter-Reay who lead on what turned out to be the final restart, but no one had been able hold the lead on a restart all day. Not with the cars behind having the ability to slingshot to the inside or the outside, which was what Kanaan did, getting around Hunter-Reay, and Munoz did, too, looking very un-rookie like in his first ever Indy Car Series start.

Then Franchitti hit the wall, and there were not enough laps left for a restart - Indy Car does not use the gimmicky Green-White-Checker finish that has become a big part of NASCAR racing - and it was Kanaan in the lead, and Kanaan who cried and drank the milk in Victory Lane, so overcome by emotion, equal parts elated and relieved, it seemed, to have won finally, after so much disaster at Indy, which is as cruel a mistress as any other race track in the world. 

The Andretti Curse continues, with Marco third. His grandfather, Mario, won in 1969 and no other member of the famous racing family has seen Victory Lane at Indianapolis since. Alas, the Curse will last another calendar year. Marco was so very close. So was AJ Allmendinger, the man who was rescued from the fringes of racing by Roger Penske after failing a NASCAR-mandated drug test last year. Penske had faith, and put Dinger in a car for Indy, and AJ might've won it all - he certainly had the speed in his IZOD Penske Chevrolet - had, inexplicably, his seatbelt not come undone, forcing an unscheduled pit stop. It was a freak incident, not unlike the sort of luck that's befallen the Andretti's over the years.

Of course, racing is so much above could've, would've, should've, and Indianapolis has given us more - far, far more - than it's fair share of horror stories and racing tragedies over the years. Nothing is certain until those checkers are waving above you as you cross the line of bricks. It isn't even certain on the final corner of the last lap. Just ask JR Hildebrand about that...

For defending champion Franchitti, and the others who rode with Honda power on this day, it was a slow, frustrating one. Chevrolet were the class of the field, and ending in the wall was somehow fitting of the sort of day Dario had experienced. For a man who knows just about all there is to know about running up front at the Speedway, it must have been an extraordinarily frustrating day to be running mid-pack, and then to have his day end in the outside wall.


At the end of it all, after a race of comers and goers, so many lead changes you couldn't look away for even a second, Brazil's Tony Kanaan stood in victory lane, there to be serenaded by hundreds of thousands of race fans around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That's Kanaan, a great people person and a fan favourite in the truest sense of the word...and now an Indianapolis 500 champion.

Indy Lights Freedom 100 Four-wide Finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indy Lights Series had recently been in the press for all the wrong reasons. It suffers from low car counts - the starting field for today's Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was just eleven cars - and the cars seem to be too slow and with too little power compared to their big brother Indy Cars (which aren't really stocked with horsepower themselves, compared to the old CART days, but that's another issue for another time, and another blog) for the best Lights drivers to jump into the bigger cars and go fast enough to challenge the likes of Dario Franchitti, Will Power and Helio Castroneves on a regular basis.

In fact, there've been only a handful of drivers who have graduated and had real success at IndyCar level - think Ed Carpenter, who sits on the pole for the Indy 500 - but, even then, it's only been fleeting. Common thought is that this feeder series, the top rung of the Mazda Road To Indy program, is at a crossroads now. Unless it can find more cars, and run with a new formula a little closer to IndyCars, it might fold.

None of that mattered today, not as the 40-lap Freedom 100 reached it's final stages. It had been mostly a three-car race since the green flag, and with one tour of the 2.5-mile super speedway left to go, no one could have really imagined



Well, there's your defining moment for the series. Ireland's Peter Dempsey came from further back than nowhere to win that race, snatching it at the last possible moment. It was motor racing's version of grand larceny.

The freeze frame of the cars crossing the finish line tells the tale. As the commentators said, it looked like a staged finish. But it wasn't. It was real racing, a spirited finish, and four cars so close to the line of bricks finish line at IMS that you could've thrown a blanket over them. There hasn't been an Indy Light race at the Brickyard quite like that before. In fact, I'm not sure that there's been a more dramatic end to a race at the Speedway, at least not with four cars still running and off the wall, coming to the checkers. It was breathtaking stuff.

This finish is going to get plenty of air time on Sports Centre and elsewhere, and that's exactly what the Indy Car people needed for their feeder series: a great bit of press ahead of the 97th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Adam Goodes

Update: Goodes has spoken at a Saturday morning press conference, saying that the woman who was ejected, who was actually a thirteen-year-old girl, called him an "ape". Not as bad as what we had feared, but still a comment that has well and truly stepped over the lines - far over - of good taste and decency. I will say again, there is nothing that makes such a comment acceptable. Footy is just a game. A game with a black eye, at the moment.

Quotes from Goodes:

"If she wants to pick up the phone and apologise I'll take that phone call. It's school stuff. I felt like I was in high school again."

"I decided to stand up last night and I'll continue to stand up because racism has no place in our industry ... and in our society."

"Dunno if it's the lowest point in my career but personally I don't think I've ever been more hurt by someone calling me a name."

"To hear a 13yo girl call me an ape...it was shattering. I turned around and I saw it was a young girl I was just like...really?"

"I'm pretty gutted to be honest. The win, the first of its kind in 13 years, to play such a pivotal role just means nothing."

Clearly, Adam Goodes is a better and more level-headed human being than most. Instead of being in a rampaging sort of anger, involving police and whatever else, he's trying to turn this situation into a moment where the AFL, and society in general, can learn a lesson, can try and make sure that this sort of thing never happens again. He deserves all the plaudits and congratulations in the world for that. It proves that he's as good a player on the field as he as a human being off it.

Of great concern to me was the lack of reaction from the fans around this 13-year-old girl at the game last night. Whether they were in such shock that they didn't confront her, didn't think they heard correctly, I don't know, but it was appalling that no one took this girl to task for what she'd said. I don't want to imagine that there were other supporters around who didn't have a problem with her calling Goodes an "ape". That would suggest that, society as a whole, has a very long way to go to stamp out the curse of racism.

Good work by Eddie McGuire, too. I don't usually offer congratulations to the president of the Collingwood Football Club, but he was bang on the mark on this one, and visibly angry about what had happened when shown on Channel 7 cameras going into the Swans dressing room following the game. That he went down there immediately says something about the culture that McGuire is trying to promote at Collingwood - though, on current evidence, failing - and it couldn't have been a happy reminder of Nicky Winmar twenty years ago. 

With the cameras on him, Eddie said some strong stuff, and it wasn't just lip service, I don't think. Rather, he said things that we were all thinking.Watching, I got the sense that he was horribly incensed and disgusted by what was said, and desperately wanted to make amends. Kudos, Ed.

Original Post: Sadly, we must touch on the disheartening story that will, unfortunately, dominate the aftermath of the game: the apparent racial slur directed at Adam Goodes by a young Collingwood fan in the last quarter. Goodes heard it, was obviously appalled, and made security aware of what had happened. We then saw the footage of the fan being escorted from the ground. Suddenly, the result of the game was less important. Goodes left the ground, and didn't return for the final siren or the post-game celebrations. The star of the game not going out onto the field for press commitments? Something obviously very wrong had happened. Goodes doesn't jump at shadows. For him to react like that...you can only imagine what horrible things were yelled over the fence. Senseless, dumb, stupid. Words can not accurately describe this girl's brain fade.

If it was indeed a racial slur, and that is still to be proven, this is a major blight on the game, on a game that has come so far socially, and has worked so hard to eradicate racism from the football community. And it has worked. Their cultural awareness programs are something the League should be mightily proud of. Tonight, it seems, and through no fault of their own, the AFL has taken a giant step backward. 

Let's get one thing straight: There is absolutely no place in footy - or in life - for that sort of behaviour. That it's happened during the AFL's indigenous round is even worse. This is the week, with it's centrepiece Dreamtime at the 'G, where we're highlighting the amazing contribution that indigenous stars like Goodes and Lewis Jetta, Harry O'Brien and Andrew Krakouer, and remembering the great stars of Aboriginal descent who have gone before.

This is going to be a bad week of press, if the worst is confirmed. For Collingwood, in the twenty-year shadow of their supporters villifying Nicky Winmar at Victoria Park, which brought about the St Kilda star's famous jumper-raising moment, this is a travesty. It will do no good for the reputation of Collingwood fans, already not great, and they will surely be in damage control over this. As will the AFL. It was a disgusting act, and a life ban doesn't seem quite enough for a moment that, sadly, will define Indigenous Round in 2013. A shame, because the focus should be on Adam Goodes for his work on the field, which was lifted from the Top Shelf tonight.

Swans Review: Collingwood (24 May 2013)

Swans turn up big-time under the Friday night lights and put a belting on a listless Collingwood!

SYDNEY 4.5 7.9 11.11 15.12 (102) COLLINGWOOD 3.2 3.4 4.5 8.7 (55)
Goals: Sydney: A Goodes 3 B McGlynn 2 D Hannebery 2 M Pyke 2 C Bird J Bolton K Jack L Jetta M Morton S Reid. Collingwood: T Cloke 3 J Elliott 2 J Witts P Seedsman S Dwyer.

Best: Sydney: Goodes, Hannabery, Jack, O'Keefe, Parker, Grundy. Collingwood: O'Brien, Pendlebury, Reid, Clarke, Ball, Elliott.

Umpires: Simon Meredith, Mathew Nicholls, Dean Margetts.
Official Crowd: 65,306 at MCG.


Well, this was a night for the ages. One that most of us won't soon forget. It started weirdly, with the team bus breaking down. Jarrad McVeigh and Dan Hannebery took a cab to the MCG. The rest of the team took advantage of Melbourne's tram service - I hope they had their Myki with them - and it appears that the unconventional game prep actually did the trick. You can imagine that the Swans front office might be considering funding a tram line to every venue they play at, if it's going to reap benefits as it reaped benefits tonight.

Make no mistake, this was a shellacking of the highest order. Yes, the Pies kicked some late goals to bring the game back to around the fifty-point margin, but when the game was on the line, Collingwood went missing. But, for the most part, were slow, listless, hapless, tired, bored. Not really there. The Swans, on fire tonight, played all over them from about halfway through the first period, holding the Pies goalless in the second quarter.

This game was won, the Pies stifled and shut down, thanks to a solid combination of hard running, fierce tackling and an incredible ability, unseen last week at home and two weeks ago at the MCG, ability to move the football from the back line into their attacking zone with relative ease. The scoreboard told the story: 7.6 to 1.3 in the second and third quarter was where the game was won.

The Pies were never really in this. They were second at every contest. Their forward line was impotent, other than Travis Cloke, their defenders run over the top of, their midfield dominated. It was Adam Goodes, now a 400-goal superstar, who had the best game of his season tonight Hannebery fresh off his cab ride to the 'G, Kieran Jack, Jarrad McVeigh, Luke Parker and Ryan O'Keefe, the usual suspects, responsible for the Collingwood midfield stars being neutralised. Dane Swan was barely noticed. So, too, was Scott Pendlebury and Nick Maxwell. The fleet of small Collingwood forwards, Andrew Krakouer amongst them, were ineffective at best, woeful at worst. Lewis Jetta had a return to form, adding another run-and-goal to his ever-growing highlight reel. This highlight effectively won Sydney the game.

It seemed like the Swans had brought their own footy on the tram to the MCG, such was their domination. Most Collingwood raids were snuffed out, Grundy, Malceski and Richards and Rampe patrolled the Swans' back half with relative ease. Cloke was mostly double-teamed, his effectiveness countered by Richards and co getting across, frustrating him, almost worrying him out of the football. Of course, it didn't help that the Pies were so one dimensional in attack. 

This wasn't the same team who knocked Geelong off their perch last Saturday, that's for sure. I must admit a certain amount of nervousness when they kicked two goals straight and looked to have found a spark midway through the fourth quarter. But the score ballooned back out as the Swans, who had possibly taken the foot off the accelerator to some point, jammed it back on, and won by 47 in the end, a result very few saw coming.

A good win, against Collingwood and at the MCG, and the Swans have had trouble doing both in recent times. I wasn't exactly sure it would be a win tonight, and I certainly didn't expect the Bloods to win so handily. But a pleasant surprise, and a warning, perhaps, to the AFL that the Swans can now get it done in Melbourne, and they look in good shape, with the likes of Kurt Tippet, Marty Mattner, Rhyce Shaw and Lewis Roberts-Thomson still to come back. Next week's game against Essendon is a salivating one, and sure to be a belter.

Sadly, now, to the story that will dominate the aftermath of the game: the apparent racial slur directed at Adam Goodes by a young Collingwood fan in the last quarter. Goodes heard it, was obviously appalled, and made security aware of what had happened. We then saw the footage of the fan being escorted from the ground. Suddenly, the result of the game was less important. Goodes left the ground, and didn't return for the final siren or the post-game celebrations. The star of the game not going out onto the field for press commitments? Something obviously very wrong had happened. Goodes doesn't jump at shadows. For him to react like that...you can only imagine what horrible things were yelled over the fence. Senseless, dumb, stupid. Words can not accurately describe this girl's brain fade.

If it was indeed a racial slur, and that is still to be proven, this is a major blight on the game, on a game that has come so far socially, and has worked so hard to eradicate racism from the football community. And it has worked. Their cultural awareness programs are something the League should be mightily proud of. Tonight, it seems, and through no fault of their own, the AFL has taken a giant step backward. 

Let's get one thing straight: There is absolutely no place in footy - or in life - for that sort of behaviour. That it's happened during the AFL's indigenous round is even worse. This is the week, with it's centrepiece Dreamtime at the 'G, where we're highlighting the amazing contribution that indigenous stars like Goodes and Lewis Jetta, Harry O'Brien and Andrew Krakouer, and remembering the great stars of Aboriginal descent who have gone before.

This is going to be a bad week of press, if the worst is confirmed. For Collingwood, in the twenty-year shadow of their supporters villifying Nicky Winmar at Victoria Park, which brought about the St Kilda star's famous jumper-raising moment, this is a travesty. It will do no good for the reputation of Collingwood fans, already not great, and they will surely be in damage control over this. As will the AFL. It was a disgusting act, and a life ban doesn't seem quite enough for a moment that, sadly, will define Indigenous Round in 2013. A shame, because the focus should be on Adam Goodes for his work on the field, which was lifted from the Top Shelf tonight.

Go Bloods.

Review: The Hangover Part III

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha.
Director: Todd Phillips

In a few words...: The Wolfpack is back, and goes back to where it all began: Las Vegas
 
Rating: 4/10

Beware: SPOILERS AHEAD

2009's The Hangover was the breakout comedy that the 2000's hadn't had, and the second installment of what is now a nicely-rounded trilogy, was funny, but there was less excitement than the first, simply because it was almost a carbon copy. In The Hangover, you had no idea what would happen next, except to know that it would be hilarious and outrageous. The Hangover Part II was, at times, predictable. Funny, certainly, but you got a sense that you knew what was coming. The Hangover Part III, however, is just plain tired.

This time around, there are no bachelor parties, no weddings, and not even a freakin' hangover during the 100 minutes of movie just the Wolfpack reuniting on what seems like a straightforward mission: after staging an intervention, they agree to transport Alan (Galifianakis, who steals the show, once again) to a rehab clinic. On the way, somehow, trouble finds the group, and they end up in Mexico on the trail of crazed, cocaine-crazy gangster, Mr Chow (Ken Jeong, the other break-out star of this franchise), doing so at the behest of a crime lord (John Goodman) who has captured Doug (Bartha) and will kill him if the others don't return the gold reserves that Chow stole during a breakout from a Bangkok prison.

The major problem with this film is, basically, it isn't funny. After all the hype, it's a disappointing let down. I was really looking forward to this film, but it fell in a heap early on. Sure, there are some moments that make you laugh pretty hard, but in this film, they're few and far between, and, in those intervening moments, Todd Phillips tries to craft some sort of action film with car chases and armed gunman and John Goodman's barely convincing gangster, tied into the events of the first film in the loosest way possible.

You're not at all surprised when the action shifts to Las Vegas, the scene of the riotous original, for it seems like the right thing to end the trilogy where it began. Actually, it's almost a relied. I found myself hoping that a return to Vegas would signal a return to the comic magic of the first movie. Alas, it doesn't happen that way, instead, we get a bad action-style sequence where Alan and Phil (Cooper, who looks bored in most of this film) imitate James Bond in using towels to scale their way down into Mr Chow's Caesar's Palace penthouse. Heather Graham's appearance as the ex-stripper/ex-wife of Stu, Jade, adds little to the story, too, and Alan's interaction with Jade's four-year-old son - the one from the first film - is downright creepy.

Half the problem, I believe, is that the film focuses most on the characters of Alan and Mr Chow, and the others, Stu and Phil and Doug, are so one-dimensional that they're relegated to the back seat in this film. That would perhaps be okay if Alan and Mr Chow were likeable characters. The thing is, they're not. Alan's a racist creep with a list of indecent exposure charges thicker than Tolstoy's War and Peace - you see it at one point in the film - and Chow is a violent druggie who has no qualms about turning on the people he calls his friends.

All in all, it's a sad end to a franchise that promised so much. Box office takings will be interesting, because all the press buzz has been decidedly negative, and having seen the film, I understand why. It's as though the cast and crew just mailed this one in. Perhaps the best bit is the post-credit sequence, something more remiiscent of the first two films, and it's in there almost as an afterthought, almost an admission that they missed so badly on the stuff between the title screens that it was pushed in there as an apology.

Start the film where the coda ended and they might've been onto another winner. Instead, it's the end of the end, and The Hangover Part III will likely go down in history as as a tired, bored, semi-effort, and, as it should be the last we see of the Wolfpack, it missed a golden opportunity to scrub The Hangover Part II from everyone's memory. Instead, we'll all now remember the second film as the second best one, and probably not bother much with the third.

Disappointing.

AFL Round 9: 3 Games To Watch

 AFL Round Nine - 3 Games To Watch

Sydney vs. Collingwood
Friday May 24
7.50pm; MCG

Collingwood and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, two things that have given the Swans plenty of troubles over the past few years. Their Pies hoodoo, broken in such magnificent circumstances in last year's Preliminary Final at ANZ Stadium has to be in the back of the minds of players on both teams, and the Swans would be very conscious about their uneven performances at the MCG over the past few years. They've been nothing short of terrible, and particularly in their last start against Hawthorn two weeks ago, where they were never really in the game.

The Swans are coming off a bad fade-out that almost cost them four points against Fremantle last Saturday night at the SCG, which resulted in the first draw of the season, thanks to Sam Reid's strong mark on the goal line. On the flip side, Collingwood come off their best win of the season, being the first team to knock Geelong off this year. No mean feat, that one.

Both sides have injuries that are concerns. The Swans are missing defenders Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Rhyce Shaw, and there are question marks over another defender, Marty Mattner. The Pies lost Dale Thomas for the rest of the regular season - and perhaps longer - through the week, and the bad news on the injury front was compounded with news that reigning best-and-fairest Dayne Beams' comeback was delayed.

Alarmingly for the Swans, since 1998, they've played on Friday night at the MCG five times, and have come away with only the one victory, against St Kilda in the 2005 Preliminary Final. A big win for the Swans if they can get it. And they need it after last week's disastrous last quarter. For the Pies, who've won 11 of the last 12 against the Swans, they need another win to prove to the critics that their win against Geelong last week wasn't just a fluke.

Verdict: Swans...just. 

***

St Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs
Saturday 25 May
4.40pm; Etihad Stadium

Not exactly a top of the table blockbuster, but an important game nonetheless for two teams towards the bottom end of the 2013 Toyota AFL Premiership. St Kilda lost by forty to Adelaide last week and didn't really threaten to win, but it was the tale of the Western Bulldogs that provided plenty of media fodder through the week: they had a handy enough lead against the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon, and were blown away by a seven-goal third quarter onslaught from the competition's second-youngest team. The Suns kicked seven straight after the midway point of the third term, and were barely threatened after.

The Bulldogs are in the middle of a rebuilding phase, and should probably be glad of the attention focused on Melbourne this year, because it's turned the spotlight off some dismal performances by the men of Footscray. Meanwhile, the Saints seem uncertain of where their list is going. Nick Reiwoldt is still their Big Gun, and he's having a marvelous season, but they are a one-dimensional attacking football team at the moment, and when Riewoldt isn't firing, they can't kick a winning score.

It must be galling for these teams to see the 4-4 Gold Coast Suns above them on the competition ladder, and while GWS probably has a lock on the Wooden Spoon for 2013, this is an important game for both teams. A win here takes a little of the pressure off the team and the club, and keeps alive the - admittedly faint - hope of a finals appearance. If nothing else, it's a chance to be out of the Melbourne news cycle for the coming week.

Verdict: St Kilda.

***

Richmond vs. Essendon
Saturday 25 May
7.45pm; MCG

Essendon were out-muscled by Brisbane last week, falling to their second straight loss when the under-fire Lions came out and dominated in all the key statistical categories. It is becoming an alarming trend for the Bombers: start out fast, then fade towards the end of the season. It happened last year. Will it happen this year? Has the pressure of the ASADA investigation started to take it's toll, that toll manifesting itself on the field? 

It's a big test on Saturday night in the Dreamtime at the 'G game against Richmond, the centrepiece of the AFL's Indigenous Round. Richmond were pushed all the way by a plucky Melbourne team in a scrappy game on Sunday that really didn't rise to great heights. But it was a win that the Tigers needed, getting their season back on track after their own fast start became a slump. 

Should be a brilliant, mouth-watering battle of two A-grade midfields in this one, and that's probably where it'll be won. Essendon are a tough team to figure out, given that there's indications that there was some "list management" going on last week - like Jobe Watson spending little time in the centre of the park, where he earns all his credits - and the suggestion that, perhaps, they took a weaker Brisbane team too lightly. They won't, or shouldn't, do the same against Richmond. A Bomber loss and there'll be two weeks' worth of press on how they're in big trouble down at Windy Hill. Whoever gets on top in the centre of the ground wins this one, I think, and Essendon might just have more firepower there, if the likes of Watson, Heppel, Goddard, Melksham and Zaharakis get off the chain.

Verdict: Essendon

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Sydney (Allphones Arena) Photo Gallery

They say you really only understand why they call Bruce Springsteen The Boss after you see him live for the first time. 

It's at an E Street Band concert where casual fans become diehards, because there's nothing - absolutely nothing - quite like a three hour rip-roar through some of the greatest rock and roll music that's ever been written, played by a band as good as there is on any stage anywhere in the world, and led by a man whose songwriting is legendary, and whose straight-forward concert, full of sweat, passion, emotion and euphoria, makes every other band you've ever seen play live, even the ones you came away from raving to your friends about, pale into insignificance in comparison. 

It doesn't matter what you've heard or what you've been told. Know this: there is no wall of sound like an E Street Wall of sound.

Sydney got a taste of this - three tastes if you were lucky - on a warm week in March of 2013: Bruce Springsteen the heart-stoppin', booty shakin', love makin', Viagra-takin', history makin', legendary E Street Band.

 Monday night, up in the silver seats. Opened with American Land as a late St Patrick's Day surprise (it was the day after...) and it only got better from there.

Three hours...felt like three minutes. The encore was spectacular: "Thunder Road" "Born to Run" "Dancing in the Dark" "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" Perfection.

To that point, the best concert I had ever seen.

Greeting the faithful on Sydney Night Three

Great round of applause each time Jake played a sax solo!

The E Street Horns

Lights up! The encore featured "Born in the USA" - a hellishly loud version that was simply epic

Here he comes..."Dancing in the Dark"

 

Courtney Cox #1

Extended sax solo as Bruce does the two-step

Courtney Cox #2

Waiting...

Bruce spotted something cool in the Pit

"Rosalita" to end the night

A hundred people around me swore he was pointing at them!

Jake, Bruce & Nils

Final bow - and the end of the greatest concert I've ever seen

Swans Review: Fremantle (18 May 2013)

Swans fade badly late, get out of jail and are a part of the first draw in 2013 against Fremantle in Sydney.

SYDNEY 3.0 7.2 8.3 11.4 (70) FREMANTLE 3.6 3.8 5.12 9.16 (70)

GOALS: Sydney - Hannebery 4, McGlynn 2, Everitt, Bolton, Jack, Jetta, Pyke. Fremantle - Ballantyne 2, Fyfe 2, Mayne, Johnson, Suban, Duffield, Clarke.

BEST: Sydney - Hannebery, Jack, Kennedy, Goodes, Malceski. Fremantle - Fyfe, Barlow, Johnson, Mundy, Duffield.

UMPIRES: Stevic, Rosebury, Ryan.
CROWD: 22,546, at SCG.