Resource Non-AFL General Chat

[Lach72]

Very loosely follow the Bluejays, as they were the first team I watched live. They also had the best hotdogs I’ve ever eaten sold from carts outside the sky dome.

They beat the Mets as I recall.
Also saw the white Sox on that trip in 1998

 

[The Round House Drunk]

I grew up in Wisconsin, so the Brewers have been my team since the early 80's. Apparently I went to the World Series in 82 but I was just a baby, so I don't remember it! lol.

Let me give you some context on the Brewers and Cubs and their fans. The Brewers are the small market team with very passionate fans. Wisconsin is a football state, but Milwaukee is a baseball town. The Brewers fans are winsome and genuine, who prefer to tailgate starting early in the morning so they got a good buzz on by the 7th inning so they can belt out "take me out to the ball game" at full throat. Brewers spent $86million on their 26 man active roster last year.

The Cubs are the "big market team" compared to the Brewers. The Cubs spent $177million on their 26 active man roster last year. So, over double the Brewers. The cubs fans are well known for coming to the Brewers stadium (it's only 60 min away) and getting into fights and acting like the a**holes they are. Here's just one example from this year where a Cubs fan was harassing a 10 year old kid.(https://sports.yahoo.com/article/cubs-fan-dragged-stadium-handcuffs-023720818.html). The Cubs fans call AmFam/Miller park "Wrigley North" because so many of them come up to watch the games. They mock the Brewers fans because there are more Cubs fans at times for a Brewers home game. What they don't understand is that we are AVOIDING THEM. There are 162 games a season. Why would we want to go watch some drunk a**hole get arrested for being a dick? We sell our tickets for secondary to make a buck off those dipsh**s to the south. And that's also why you won't see a lot of Brewers fans at Cubs games. It ain't worth it.

I live in the Chicago area now and honestly the fans are insufferable. Plus Wrigley field is a dump and notoriously smells like urine due to their open trough urinals (google "wrigley field smells like urine"). Here's a guy who covers the Reds take on Wrigley field.
View attachment 2492630

Wrigley was deemed to be the Grossest park in MLB, in 2012! Let me tell you it hasn't gotten better 13 years later. https://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/...igley-is-the-grossest-filthiest-ballpark-ever

It's very historic and beautiful in a "wow, this place has no modern amenities, the views are average, and it's a dump. Wasn't baseball great back in the day?" That's a no from me. You want history? Go to Lambeau Field. I've had Packers season tickets since 1995. There's no stadium like it anywhere. And the fans are fun, kind, love to talk smack (in a good way), and party harder than any fan base in sports. Here's a map of the percent of population that are considered "excessive drinkers" for all counties in the US.

View attachment 2492632

View attachment 2492631

America's Drunkest and Driest Counties

This website shows how your area ranks among America's Drunkest and Driest Counties

intoxistates.com

Notice Wisconsin...they have like 14 of the drunkest counties in the country. In short, we party hard. Like really hard.

Obviously, I'm biased, but that's my take on things. If you want a smaller market underdog team that "punches above their weight" like greatgatsby said, then the Brewers are a great choice. There will be frustrations because of the inequities of MLB (unless they institute a salary cap or floor) but it's a good story to root for. Very Freo-esque. If you want a big market team that underperforms (won one world series in 100 years) despite being 5th in the league in spending and whose fans are avoided on game day because of their behavior, then the Cubs are a good choice.

If you ever come to Chicago, hit me up and I can help direct you to some good places to eat and go to wash off the urine smell after you visit Wrigley. lol.

And the Phillies? Well, their 3rd in the league in spending. Must be hard to win games when you spend a quarter of a BILLION dollars on players. F**k them too.

Thanks Daddoo, I really appreciate the local perspective.

I love an underdog - it’s part of the reason why I switched my support from WCE to Freo as a 12 year old in 1995.

So a small market team with passionate, dedicated and decent fans is a good match for me.

The colours might take some getting used to, though!

And thanks for the offer about Chicago. Next year we’re going to Korea and Japan as my wife is from that part of the world. I’m planning on taking my son to as many ball games as I can when over there.

The US is the goal for 2027 or 2028!

 

[DQ 4EVER]

You support Miami Dolphins as well

Somehow Freo give me less pain atm if that makes sense.

Not sure which of my 4 sporting teams will win a title first.

Freo are probably the closest tbh right now

NRL - Parramatta - Havent won since 1986 (rebuilding on the right track probably 2-3 years & been to 3 GF Losses in my lifetime

NFL - Miami - Havent won since 1973 started following them in 2008 - Yet to win a playoff since 2000

EPL - Fulham - Staying in the Premier League is a victory for me with Fulham

All the best with your teams
My other ones are Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Barcelona & Tottenham Hotspur.
WAFL footy = mighty Bulldogs, South Freo
Can't get into nrl, so good luck to Parameter

 

[Cam Payne]

Liam Henry has signed with the Bears Perth. Let's hope he doesn't like fashion as much as the one we had for a bit.

 

[Spirit Level]

I loved Chicago way more than I thought I would, felt like a more "American" NYC with a more friendly midwestern feel.

Milwaukee Ave between Logan Square and Wicker Park is one of my favourite strips in the US!

 

[King Tenz]

I loved Chicago way more than I thought I would, felt like a more "American" NYC with a more friendly midwestern feel.

Milwaukee Ave between Logan Square and Wicker Park is one of my favourite strips in the US!

Good to hear, I’m hopeful to go there next year.

Always been a bucket list item to catch a Cubs game at Wrigley field.

 

[Paracleet]

Good to hear, I’m hopeful to go there next year.

Always been a bucket list item to catch a Cubs game at Wrigley field.

I falsified my renewal.

 

[Daddoo]

If this isn't the place for this question, then please delete.

I'm curious as to how the social media ban has been received and is rolling out in AUS. I was a high school teacher and am a parent of two teens, so this is very intriguing to me how it will work out. I'm not looking for opinions on whether or not this is a good thing (which would likely deteriorate into two sides bashing each other).

How is it actually rolling out? What do teens think of it? I know it's early, but what impacts have been felt so far? What is the general feeling on whether or not it'll be "successful" or make a difference? TIA.

 

[DQ 4EVER]

If this isn't the place for this question, then please delete.

I'm curious as to how the social media ban has been received and is rolling out in AUS. I was a high school teacher and am a parent of two teens, so this is very intriguing to me how it will work out. I'm not looking for opinions on whether or not this is a good thing (which would likely deteriorate into two sides bashing each other).

How is it actually rolling out? What do teens think of it? I know it's early, but what impacts have been felt so far? What is the general feeling on whether or not it'll be "successful" or make a difference? TIA.

My school is on holidays. (In case you didn't know, our school year fits into a calendar year, so this is our large break & the school year begins late Jan, early Feb), so us educators might have more feedback once the students return.

 

[jusjoshin]

If this isn't the place for this question, then please delete.

I'm curious as to how the social media ban has been received and is rolling out in AUS. I was a high school teacher and am a parent of two teens, so this is very intriguing to me how it will work out. I'm not looking for opinions on whether or not this is a good thing (which would likely deteriorate into two sides bashing each other).

How is it actually rolling out? What do teens think of it? I know it's early, but what impacts have been felt so far? What is the general feeling on whether or not it'll be "successful" or make a difference? TIA.

It is an awful law. Most kids social lives are organised on social media, so it is cutting them off from their friends. It is effectively unenforceable, as kids can bypass it using the family VPN plan, and the worst sites (p0rn sites, bluesky etc) aren't even banned. If they do manage to tighten up on the socials, all it will do is force kids onto the dark web. If you think twitter, reddit and facebook are toxic, go and read the dread forums.

All it will take for kids to get around these bans is one sympathetic tech-savvy friend or relative. The government is already talking about banning VPN's because they invalidate all these stupid legislations, but that will effectively sound the death-knell for business in Australia.

It is pretty hilarious that Julie Inman-Grant has already been summoned to appear before the US congress over this attack on freedom of speech (as she is a US citizen, NOT AUSTRALIAN). This was never really about protecting kids anyway, it was about de-anonymising people on the internet (the only way to actually enforce this law, biometrics and IP-based geolocation are woefully inadequate).

 

[malpaso]

If this isn't the place for this question, then please delete.

I'm curious as to how the social media ban has been received and is rolling out in AUS. I was a high school teacher and am a parent of two teens, so this is very intriguing to me how it will work out. I'm not looking for opinions on whether or not this is a good thing (which would likely deteriorate into two sides bashing each other).

How is it actually rolling out? What do teens think of it? I know it's early, but what impacts have been felt so far? What is the general feeling on whether or not it'll be "successful" or make a difference? TIA.

It's literally been one day?? Not enough time for any type of qualitative answer.

 

[malpaso]

It is an awful law. Most kids social lives are organised on social media, so it is cutting them off from their friends. It is effectively unenforceable, as kids can bypass it using the family VPN plan, and the worst sites (p0rn sites, bluesky etc) aren't even banned. If they do manage to tighten up on the socials, all it will do is force kids onto the dark web. If you think twitter, reddit and facebook are toxic, go and read the dread forums.

All it will take for kids to get around these bans is one sympathetic tech-savvy friend or relative. The government is already talking about banning VPN's because they invalidate all these stupid legislations, but that will effectively sound the death-knell for business in Australia.

It is pretty hilarious that Julie Inman-Grant has already been summoned to appear before the US congress over this attack on freedom of speech (as she is a US citizen, NOT AUSTRALIAN). This was never really about protecting kids anyway, it was about de-anonymising people on the internet (the only way to actually enforce this law, biometrics and IP-based geolocation are woefully inadequate).

pr0n sites aren't social media sites.. Stay on topic. This isn't a law targetting every subjective "bad" platform out there.

Of course it's not highly enforceable but what your missing is that it forces big social media companies to put policies in place which they couldn't give two shits about previously.

It is better than nothing and does make it more inconvenient. "Oh no, I don't have social media how will I contact my friends?" Please...

 

[Cam Payne]

I see the neo-knobhead who got fined for chucking a roman salute is wearing a WC hoodie for his court appearance. Any publicity is good publicity. /s.

 

[jusjoshin]

pr0n sites aren't social media sites.. Stay on topic. This isn't a law targetting every subjective "bad" platform out there.

Of course it's not highly enforceable but what your missing is that it forces big social media companies to put policies in place which they couldn't give two shits about previously.

It is better than nothing and does make it more inconvenient. "Oh no, I don't have social media how will I contact my friends?" Please...

My kids were home-schooled. Most of their friends can only be contacted by social media.

My autistic son doesn't go out much (he struggles around new people) and has trouble making friends. His friend circle has now been effectively reduced to two, and only one of them is close enough to actually visit.


So what does he do? Sit in a room by himself for the next 6 months because the e-safety karen has decided he can't be in a warhammer 40k group on facebook? Or does he use the dirt cheap VPN we have tunneled all of our internet traffic through to appear as if he is in another country to bypass this? I know which one he'll be doing.

 

[Purple Suit]

It is an awful law. Most kids social lives are organised on social media, so it is cutting them off from their friends. It is effectively unenforceable, as kids can bypass it using the family VPN plan, and the worst sites (p0rn sites, bluesky etc) aren't even banned. If they do manage to tighten up on the socials, all it will do is force kids onto the dark web. If you think twitter, reddit and facebook are toxic, go and read the dread forums.

All it will take for kids to get around these bans is one sympathetic tech-savvy friend or relative. The government is already talking about banning VPN's because they invalidate all these stupid legislations, but that will effectively sound the death-knell for business in Australia.

It is pretty hilarious that Julie Inman-Grant has already been summoned to appear before the US congress over this attack on freedom of speech (as she is a US citizen, NOT AUSTRALIAN). This was never really about protecting kids anyway, it was about de-anonymising people on the internet (the only way to actually enforce this law, biometrics and IP-based geolocation are woefully inadequate).

It sucks for the kids just under 16 who have had it for awhile and now it's gone. That cohort of probably only 3-4 years will find it jarring and probably come up with other options as suggested.

I think it will be less of a problem for the primary school kids who haven't had access yet (hopefully). If all their mates don't have access either, everybody waits till they are 16 and the law works fine.

The thing is that the government and law makers won't be able to keep up with the tech who will look for work arounds and grey the area between allowed and banned. Kids will search for it too and soon enough not much will have actually changed.

 

[Paracleet]

It sucks for the kids just under 16 who have had it for awhile and now it's gone. That cohort of probably only 3-4 years will find it jarring and probably come up with other options as suggested.

I think it will be less of a problem for the primary school kids who haven't had access yet (hopefully). If all their mates don't have access either, everybody waits till they are 16 and the law works fine.

The thing is that the government and law makers won't be able to keep up with the tech who will look for work arounds and grey the area between allowed and banned. Kids will search for it too and soon enough not much will have actually changed.

Yeah my oldest doesn't turn 13 for another 2 weeks and two is three years younger. They can't technically miss what they never had. (Didn't stop a semi tearfull tirade on the topic the day before yesterday about how all her friends were signing up at the last minute and subverting the checks).

 

[Nodgey]

My view. Kids need to wait until they're mature enough at 17 to drive, 18 to vote/drink/etc. So it makes similar sense to have them wait until they're a mature enough age to manage SM. Think of it as a delay rather than a 'ban'.

 

[Taylor]

The Australian political system is build on a foundation of disinterested and disengaged mass of middle people. Social media, in order to keep your attention, has been getting more and more extreme political positions thrust into the mainstream, getting young people who are full of hormones and passion without the brain power or experience to comprehend entirely very much into positions that aren't in line with the two choices for government.

Young people are supposed to roll out of school onto the voter roll basically voting on ideals, more interested on the Saturday night plan than voting that morning, influenced by their TV and radio interactions and soundbytes. Ultimately not really caring about which colour tie is talking on TV.

Now they roll out of high school and straight into marching for something well apart of the middle/centre but due to their social media algorithms working to keep them engaged with ever more extreme and validating content - they think it's the widespread social position of the nation.

So social media is pouring an army of fighting aged people into a political system that they are supposed to not care about too much or notice. But they are now noticing and they are expecting more of their politicians.

That's really bad for politicians. Young people are impatient. You think they will cop that the House of Reps sat for 30 days this year post election?

 

[Cesoir]

If there's anyone on here who can remember the world before social media, can you please explain how children managed to interact with one another?

It must have been a horribly bleak and lonely existence. Maybe they even had to gasp go visit each others' homes, meet up outdoors, kick a footy around the park, ride their bikes to the beach...

CIvilisation managed to survive without social media right up until 20 years ago, and if anyone wants to run the argument that it is a better world now because of YouTwitFace etc. then good luck with that.

 

[Barnabus]

I guess as a parent you can now make it hard enough to get access that your kids don't bother. Especially if their friends aren't on socials.

Probably won't work for kids who are already addicted but will hopefully prevent addiction in the future. Similar to the tax on cigarettes.

 

[Paracleet]

If there's anyone on here who can remember the world before social media, can you please explain how children managed to interact with one another?

It must have been a horribly bleak and lonely existence. Maybe they even had to gasp go visit each others' homes, meet up outdoors, kick a footy around the park, ride their bikes to the beach...

CIvilisation managed to survive without social media right up until 20 years ago, and if anyone wants to run the argument that it is a better world now because of YouTwitFace etc. then good luck with that.

Yes

Well, it was actually. But probably not because of the absense or otherwise of social media...

 

[stax on the mull]

I follow a teen on social media who has been covering female sport for about 3 or so years now. She's got a substack page which is under review with age verification, she's currently still on X, but she mentioned her substack page is pending review of the age verification compliance (which she's still under 16yo). Something that could be new in her X profile states: "Account administered by parents".

I know some coverage of junior sport eg: when the Junior Matildas play international tournaments overseas, coverage is only available via youtube link - which if there isn't another set up made available, it would likely mean their friends and younger siblings can't watch them play games.

Bit of a day 1 update here:

Age verification errors, beauty tricks see under-16s still having social media access

It's day one of the social media ban, but dozens of parents have told the ABC their children have already been able to get around the restrictions.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Paracleet]

Something useful* from AI. I had guessed it was likely one of Silvagni's kids who had had their name in the rape trial suppressed from asking it this question last week "List of high profile people from Balwyn North".




On basis that it probably was't John Safran I went with a Silvagni.

*Highly debatable use of the term 'useful'.

 

[The Feeder Club]

Seems like smart politics, it will achieve little but still meet the number one wish of your mainstream Australian voter - I will vote for a guvment that promises to fix every problem in my life.

 

[2big2strom]

Mate, our glorious leader won’t let that happen! This whole World Cup thing has been rigged for years (LIKE THE 2020 ELECTION!) but our supreme leader is now involved and will Make World Cup Great Again (MWCGA!).

daddy doker is that you?