Hammo the hack is at it again.

[Lady Lawrence]

This man should be shot!!!

Here's his latest piece of trash!

"TESTS on the severity of a calf injury to Mal Michael will determine if Lions fans have seen the last of one of the club's favourite sons."

I truly hate this man.

"The chances of "
"and is almost certain "
and of course the obligatory
"It is believed "

 

[beatnik]

agreed

has he ever used direct quotes or attributed a source?

 

[campbell]

At least we aint got our players in the paper like the broncs at the moment.

or the Collingwood goons.

 

[Snuka]

hehe, spot on...read this article a couple of days ago and thought, gee thats a shame and thought I must of missed the article where Mal or the club said he would leave the Lions at the end of this year...then looked again at the penning 'journalist' and then it all became clear.

 

[POBT]

Was reading Inside Footy today (I know, I know but it is better than the Courier Mail for footy news!) and it struck me. Hammo is some evil lovechild of Crackers Keenan. The same "it is believed". The same "sources within the club suggest". The same "it is almost certain".

Incidentally, in his article Crackers pretty much rips into Aker and backs the club/players. Some of his comments were pretty unfair and probably unfounded. I suspect one day we will find out the truth and it will probably fall exactly between Hammo's tripe and Crackers' garbage.

 

[John]

Was reading Inside Footy today (I know, I know but it is better than the Courier Mail for footy news!) and it struck me. Hammo is some evil lovechild of Crackers Keenan. The same "it is believed". The same "sources within the club suggest". The same "it is almost certain".

Incidentally, in his article Crackers pretty much rips into Aker and backs the club/players. Some of his comments were pretty unfair and probably unfounded. I suspect one day we will find out the truth and it will probably fall exactly between Hammo's tripe and Crackers' garbage.

I gave Inside Footy away a few years back. Blame the WWW and great sites like this. Does Jim Main still write for them. I have never forgot his Game Over item after the 3rd glorious win. Classic.

 

[POBT]

I gave Inside Footy away a few years back. Blame the WWW and great sites like this. Does Jim Main still write for them. I have never forgot his Game Over item after the 3rd glorious win. Classic.

Yeah, Jim Main still does his column and the reader questions. There's some aspects I like, such as the retired player interviews, the SANFL, WAFL and VFL reports and just recently they have started giving 1 line reports on each of the listed players who played reserves or local footy on the weekend. Other parts I hate. The Keenan and Schwartz columns are generally pretty ordinary. The writers are all incredibly biased in favour of the teams they support but at least they don't try to hide it.

 

[kimp]

Is the crackers article available online?

 

[POBT]

Is the crackers article available online?

Don't think so. IF is pretty backwards technology wise. I noticed they had a competition this week where you had to post in your entries. No 1902/SMS entries for them! Took me back to Boris's Breakfast Club days!

 

[kimp]

Oh Boris, thse were the days - Go Speed Racer!!

Could you give an outline of what he said then pls. I'd be interested to hear what journalists other than Hammo are saying.

 

[irel]

Could you give an outline of what he said then pls. I'd be interested to hear what journalists other than Hammo are saying.

Journalist? Crackers? High praise indeed!

 

[POBT]

Oh Boris, thse were the days - Go Speed Racer!!

Could you give an outline of what he said then pls. I'd be interested to hear what journalists other than Hammo are saying.

Don't have the article anymore but, IIRC, it was along the lines of Aker was alienated from the playing group after he made it clear that he had no intention of playing with the Lions in 2007. Keenan then went on to criticise Aker and I think said something about it being a mark of the man that all the players had turned on him. I hope I remember it correctly. I'll see if I can track the actual piece down.

I read it and thought that I couldn't see it was representative of the truth. It seemed to read a whole lot into the situation without recognising that Aker has some long time friends at the club who wouldn't "alienate" him. As I said, the truth lies somewhere between Crackers and Hammo IMO.

 

[Snuka]

Some more gold from the legendary journo.

Particularly liked these...

Akermanis continues to be treated with a different set of rules that apply to other Lions.


Justin Leppitsch was given permission to appear on a TV coverage of Lions games earlier this year.


Skipper Michael Voss was also forced to answer questions on why Akermanis had been dropped from the team for revealing he wanted to play elsewhere next year, while Mal Michael, who is also tipped to leave the Lions next year, remains a much-loved and wanted figure inside the club.

You dingbat Hammo! Mal never said in the media that he was going to leave the club.

PS. I am not wanting another Aker argument, but it does say a lot about the role the media has played in this whole saga and others like it.

 

[akermanis02]

Don't have the article anymore but, IIRC, it was along the lines of Aker was alienated from the playing group after he made it clear that he had no intention of playing with the Lions in 2007. Keenan then went on to criticise Aker and I think said something about it being a mark of the man that all the players had turned on him. I hope I remember it correctly. I'll see if I can track the actual piece down.

I read it and thought that I couldn't see it was representative of the truth. It seemed to read a whole lot into the situation without recognising that Aker has some long time friends at the club who wouldn't "alienate" him. As I said, the truth lies somewhere between Crackers and Hammo IMO.

"TEAMMATES MAY PAY OUT ON AKER"

The Jason AKermanis saga just gets better all the time. I was talking to a couple of Brisbane insiders last Saturday night one said that he just doesn't get it. It's all about Aker and nothing else. He told me that ehile Brisbane would be seeking draft choices in exchange for Aker, the club that gets him will also have to make up the difference in salary. Yet there's talk that Akermanis's Lions teammates may even chip in a bit of their own contract money to make sure he leaves. If that is true it is the worst indictment of a footballer I have heard of in the history of the game. Here is a player that has won three premierships medals and a brownlow and his teammates are reportedly prepared to fork out money from their own pockets to turf him out. I think I would retire in sheer embarrassment if I were Aker. It's not uncommon for clubs to pay to move on unwanted goods, bit if players are doing it themselves it is time for Akermanis to give this team game away. I've only met him once but I am starting to think I wouldn't like playing with him.

"The Oval Office with Crackers Keenan" The man who knows everything

 

[Grimreepah]

I've only met him once but I am starting to think I wouldn't like playing with him.

Weren't you claiming to be Rory? See post 295.

No, hang on. I get it. You're quoting Crackers.

 

[John]

Weren't you claiming to be Rory? See post 295.

No, hang on. I get it. You're quoting Crackers.

HAAA HAAA. Very good Grim. You just cheered me up.

 

[Grimreepah]

HAAA HAAA. Very good Grim. You just cheered me up.

Honest mistake John I was wondering what the hell he was going on about.

He should put some quotation marks there, or something.

 

[POBT]

Hammo is at it again. An absolute legend of the game up here and amongst the most decorated footballers of all time announces that he is considering retirement and Hammo focuses on the salary cap issues. Here.

A few points to consider Hammo:

- How has this situation got anything to do with whether we sign Riska? If Voss goes on, we still pay exactly the same wage to him. The $900K (discounted for veteran status) has been budgeted for and accounted for. Don't try and knock our champion with a snide comment that his possible retirement package will mean we lose a youngster. Not even close to being relevant.
- Brad Scott may be asked to take a pay-cut? Everything else points towards Brad being off-contract this year and probably isn't getting paid much for this year anyhow. Sure you don't mean Chris Scott there, Tiger? They look the same, you know. Something about being identical twins. Can't really blame you if you mixed them up...it's not like your job requires you to be knowledgable.
- A delicate tussle? How is it when the club says "We want to pay him what he is entitled to regardless" that there is a tussle? How is it that when the club hasn't even spoken to the AFL that there is a tussle?
- Of course, there is the ubiquitious "it is understood" - goes without saying that there will be an "IIU" in all Hammo articles.

It just made me so angry that Vossy's announcement brought such disappointment amongst the fans but that the chief AFL writer for Queensland's newspaper produces drivel like that. I've got news for you Hammo. You are a dead duck. You have outstayed your welcome with the club, your star is keeping his head down and more people are cottoning onto your agenda. Stay in Brisbane and I reckon you'll end up writing reports on the Aspley Hornets for the Northside Chronicle.

 

[Lady Lawrence]

have you posted your response to the courier mail? You can do so at the bottom of each story. I would write to the editor as well.

 

[POBT]

I have written formally to the editor complaining about the reliance on rumour and innuendo used by its AFL writers. Guess what response I got???

 

[Shani]

"TEAMMATES MAY PAY OUT ON AKER"

The Jason AKermanis saga just gets better all the time. I was talking to a couple of Brisbane insiders last Saturday night one said that he just doesn't get it. It's all about Aker and nothing else. He told me that ehile Brisbane would be seeking draft choices in exchange for Aker, the club that gets him will also have to make up the difference in salary. Yet there's talk that Akermanis's Lions teammates may even chip in a bit of their own contract money to make sure he leaves. If that is true it is the worst indictment of a footballer I have heard of in the history of the game. Here is a player that has won three premierships medals and a brownlow and his teammates are reportedly prepared to fork out money from their own pockets to turf him out. I think I would retire in sheer embarrassment if I were Aker. It's not uncommon for clubs to pay to move on unwanted goods, bit if players are doing it themselves it is time for Akermanis to give this team game away. I've only met him once but I am starting to think I wouldn't like playing with him.

"The Oval Office with Crackers Keenan" The man who knows everything

There,s a small matter of finding the money for Voss next year from what the Herald Sun said these players will be forking out to pay him pluss what they save on Aka

 

[akermanis02]

Weren't you claiming to be Rory? See post 295.

No, hang on. I get it. You're quoting Crackers.

Your a funny, funny man Grim......

 

[Grimreepah]

Your a funny, funny man Grim......

Wasn't meant to be funny. Thought they were your words, realised my mistake, made the correction, and was hoping to move on.

 

[POBT]

Back on the soapbox again......

Yesterday's article regarding Vossy and the salary cap impact was pretty bad in and of itself. But there was also a Hammo "think piece" in the CM which was not available on the website.

Basically it was in response to criticism that the CM did not give the club a fair go in the media. The defence offered was that the departure of Ron McDonald mid-year meant that the club's relationship with the media was not particularly strong. In essence, it blamed this for the failure of the CM to produce many positive reports on the club - an example cited was that a training session was cancelled without the media being notified. The article also said that the club's reluctance to expose its youngsters to the media limited the media's opportunity to write "good news" stories.

For starters, I don't recall at any time this year Andrew Hamilton giving the club a fair run in the paper. Right from the very beginning of the season, the CM has been keen to make the most of any issues that come to the fore. As far as I am aware, this was happening before Ron's departure so it is spurious for the paper to claim that the club's lack of a media manager had anything to do with the CM's constant criticism of the club.

Secondly, the issue with the youngsters is valid - the club isn't going to write stories about Rischitelli, for example, without an interview because the public interest in him is not massive.

But that position neglects two things. Firstly, ignoring or giving only cursory coverage to other good news stories. This includes milestone games, the fact that the club has had so many rising stars and has been great on the recruitment front, really competitive performances against top teams like Adelaide and Melbourne and so on. Secondly, it also neglects the newspaper's inherent desire to look for the controversial and negative angle on all stories. I go back to my original post - why should an announcement by Vossy spark an article on the salary cap? Isn't the better story the probable departure of a legend and what a wonderful contributor he has been over the years?

Those of us who live in Queensland would understand what coverage the CM would give if Darren Lockyer, Chris Latham, Grant Hackett, Libby Lenton etc announced that they were likely to be retiring. There would be articles about the past heroics, articles "rating" them amongst Queensland sporting greats, quotes from significant sportspeople on their careers etc. But when the same happens to Vossy, the paper chooses to take the negative angle.

Forget my dislike for Hamilton. Forget the ongoing feud regarding Aker. As Brisbane Lions supporters, we should all be upset that the possible end of our champion's career is not given the coverage it deserves. If this angers you as much as it does me, I urge you to post a comment on the Courier Mail website.
Comments section at the bottom of the webpage

It would be great if we could present a united front on this issue - to show the newspaper editors and TV producers that the public is interested in more than the controversy.

 

[Grimreepah]

Well put POBT. Excellent post