Mega Thread Port Forum General AFL Thread Part 27

[RussellEbertHandball]

Plan was for 1200mm substrate
As suggested by sports scientists
But thank god our childrens, childrens, childrens will be paying off that debt
Will be a reminder to future generations of our grand follies

1200mm is a lot better, as it allows for worms, soil biology, and heat, rather than none for the 200mm at Docklands.

 

[Handyandy]

1200mm is a lot better, as it allows for worms, soil biology, and heat, rather than none for the 200mm at Docklands.

Design also had had better orientation, alot more natural light, particularly in winter & better natural ventilation so the grass would grow properly/ naturally year round.
But it’s water under the bridge now & plans went into the bin
It was my first bitter experience of politics and left me somewhat saddened at the mass stupidity of people and the media
Even as a labor voter and boy that smith? Bloke was a dumbass. Shocked me how truly stupid some politicians are.
Also worked on the critical evaluation of the new RAH which just made me sadder

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Design also had had better orientation, alot more natural light, particularly in winter & better natural ventilation so the grass would grow properly/ naturally year round.
But it’s water under the bridge now & plans went into the bin
It was my first bitter experience of politics and left me somewhat saddened at the mass stupidity of people and the media
Even as a labor voter and boy that smith? Bloke was a dumbass. Shocked me how truly stupid some politicians are.
Also worked on the critical evaluation of the new RAH which just made me sadder

People whinge that Docklands is the wrong way round ie north/south when it should be east/west like the MCG and that's why the shadows are so bad.

That's BS. Docklands from fence to fence is basically 170m x 140m, (removing the curve component), so then swapping the orientation around, it will make bugger all difference for shadow purposes.

Its the fact that the drip line has 98% of seats undercover that cause the problem, with having such big metal permanent grandstand roofs that go all the way out to the fence, is why you get such big shadows on the playing surface and help cause issues with growing the grass.

The bigger permanent grandstand roof did mean a smaller, and less cost retractable roof surface, compared to most stadiums that don't have a retractable roof aim for a 65% to 70% of seats to be under the drip line.

AO, Kardinia Park, Carrara, SCG, Sydney Showgrounds, Manuka, Hobart, Launceston, Darwin and Alice Springs ovals are north/south ovals like Docklands, and they don't have such huge shadows on the playing surface because the grandstands roofs don't go all the way out to the fence.

I don't know if in 2009/2010 when Hamilton Smith presented his idea for a Docklands over the railway line type stadium, the ETFE clear material was available and affordable back then, but the last decade or so, so many of the new NFL stadiums and other stadiums around the world have used that clear material for a) the permanent roof component, b) the retractable roof component and c) for a full dome roof like the Raiders stadium in Las Vegas and the SoFi Stadium in LA.

I assume you work in architecture or engineer field, or something closely related to it, to have such intimate knowledge of that stadium proposal.

 

[Handyandy]

Yep, architect, shit job/ pay but good travel
Efte clear material all round like a big glasshouse with massive air movement/ cooling and large lightweight clear openable roof
Similar in appearance to bird nest stadium in Beijing
You are right
Sun is a lot lower in winter so little hope of light getting in directly regardless of orientation or layout

We were keen to shoot smith into the sun he did such a poor job selling the idea
I thought after the state bank debacle south Ozzie’s might be a bit more public debt averse but I guess they are content to have a bit of lipstick on the pig & have to deal with saca forever

Anyways, the outcome made me sad personally & sad for the whole state

In Hangzhou atm & boy oh boy the Chinese liquors are strong & the Russian service wenches stunning. The 11th wealthiest city in the world according to Forbes & the city Marko polo lived in, allegedly. Last time I was here I met a bunch of Aussie pro surfers at the pub and wondered wtf they were doing in a landlocked Chinese city 100s kms inland & they invited me out the following morning to chase the silver dragon, by far the most amazing experience in my life. A tad more exotic than Bali/ Indonesia for all of youse Bali bogan boy bashers

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

In Hangzhou atm & boy oh boy the Chinese liquors are strong & the Russian service wenches stunning. The 11th wealthiest city in the world according to Forbes & the city Marko polo lived in, allegedly. Last time I was here I met a bunch of Aussie pro surfers at the pub and wondered wtf they were doing in a landlocked Chinese city 100s kms inland & they invited me out the following morning to chase the silver dragon, by far the most amazing experience in my life. A tad more exotic than Bali/ Indonesia for all of youse Bali bogan boy bashers

I know a bit about Hangzhou and how big and wealthy it is. Home of Jack Ma and Alibaba Group. Your profile says you are in Jinhua, have you moved to Hangzhou, or just travelling with work. Don't know anything about Jinhua, just that wiki says its bigger than Melbourne.

Were you based in China when we played games in Shanghai? Get to any of the 3 games? Or did you get there after 2020?

 

[WillemDaDrew]

Just read that on twitter…. Still laughing.

Is that the big trade play they are planning? The guy has missed more games than played this year due to old man hamstrings.

Dangerfield's body is battered & cooked, so any chance of him going back to the crows would be the equivalent to Erin Phillips for us.
Sitting in the back pocket cleaning up crumbs.

 

[Marmozet]

 

[240volt]

I have contacts at 7
Will let them know
Luke Darcy was the commentator who used to make my blood boil but he seems to have stepped back from game day commentary now
Funny because I thought the world of his family on the west coast
Also worked with Bruce McAvamey once & that guy is a dead set legend. A walking encyclopaedia of sports knowledge
He knew every player intimately
Knew their background, their family stories, their struggles & victories
There is no one remotely of his calibre in afl commentary now

Bruce started off calling the Dogs at Angle park many moons ago.
Very true that he has a great knowledge of sport.
My uncle used to be Operations Manager at the old ADS7, was good friends with Sandy Robert’s who basically knew nothing about sport.
He started off calling the reserves games Saturday morning, he used to hate doing it but was dumped into it.
Just shows even if you don’t like your job it can take you places later on.

 

[Macca19]

Its a shame that people felt the need to mock Bruce towards the end. We’ll never have a commentator as good and unbiased as him again

 

[JimmyBC]

Its a shame that people felt the need to mock Bruce towards the end. We’ll never have a commentator as good and unbiased as him again

He lost his way a bit in the end, the gushing over certain players became weird.

 

[Steve Dore]

Its a shame that people felt the need to mock Bruce towards the end. We’ll never have a commentator as good and unbiased as him again

Bruce was very good, maybe the best, but he did become a parody of himself in his later years of AFL commentary.

 

[Capital Power]

Its a shame that people felt the need to mock Bruce towards the end. We’ll never have a commentator as good and unbiased as him again

I think, like many public figures, he stayed on too long.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

Yeah career-wise he was clearly in the elite group (behind Cometti though for sure), but spent his last few years taking the absolute piss.

 

[Alberton Proud]

Deliiiicious !

 

[Grave Danger]

Bruce was very good, maybe the best, but he did become a parody of himself in his later years of AFL commentary.

So did Dennis, but he was more self aware about it.

 

[240volt]

Its a shame that people felt the need to mock Bruce towards the end. We’ll never have a commentator as good and unbiased as him again

I reckon Bruce was at his best calling Olympic Games track and field.
Very good at horse racing also.
He did go on a bit off in his old age but still better than the trash on tv these days.
Going back in the old days they just called the game, now they jabber jaw because they love the sound of their own voice.

 

[Handyandy]

I know a bit about Hangzhou and how big and wealthy it is. Home of Jack Ma and Alibaba Group. Your profile says you are in Jinhua, have you moved to Hangzhou, or just travelling with work. Don't know anything about Jinhua, just that wiki says its bigger than Melbourne.

Were you based in China when we played games in Shanghai? Get to any of the 3 games? Or did you get there after 2020?

Oops
Proposed stadium for nth tce looked like the water cube aquatic centre up the road from the birds nest, that bubble box thing, to allow for indirect light

I lived in Jinhua a long time ago when I first joined bigfooty as a way to keep up with the footy scene back home. Should probably update my profile. Live in western suburbs of Adelaide now but travel a bit for work. Hotel specialist & have family & business contacts in Zhejiang province so spend time in Yiwu/ Hangzhou now
Yes did go to first Shanghai game

Hangzhou is a stunning city of about 12 million with wealth beyond reckoning. E-commerce, finance & general trade. Yiwu is much smaller but very wealthy also & home to the worlds largest buyers market. If you spent 1 minute at each stall, 24 hours a day it would take 2 months to see them all. Allegedly more luxury cars in Yiwu than all of Aussie combined. Just looking out from my room I can see 5 Porsches parked below, 2 new 911s, 2 Panameras & a taycan judging by the green number plates & people here don’t consider you properly wealthy unless you have a Lear jet & foreign pilot. Bit of an eye opener for a country born Aussie boy.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I reckon Bruce was at his best calling Olympic Games track and field.
Very good at horse racing also.
He did go on a bit off in his old age but still better than the trash on tv these days.
Going back in the old days they just called the game, now they jabber jaw because they love the sound of their own voice.

There isnt a better athletics race caller in the English speaking world over the last 40 years. He has great knowledge but there are a few ex athletes who are better commentators on the sport, but not many.

Its the horse racing background. Australia produces the best horse racing callers because we speak fast and if you get someone who is articulate and accurate they leave the poms and yank and canadian race callers for dead. Kiwi race callers are pretty good. Australians are calling horse racing in USA, UK and Hong Kong.

Bruce's hero was race caller Bill Collins, aka The Accurate One, who also called athletics at the Olympics for 7 and the ABC.

George Grljusich called the trotts and was great on the radio calling the athletics.

When 7 lost the TV rights at the end of 2001, the new 2002 commentators on 9 and those on the old Fox Footy Channel were told to make it more entertaining than the "boring 7 guys" as they had paid a shit load for the rights so that had to increase the audience.

When 7 won back the rights for 2007, Bruce was told to sex it up and be more entertaining like the 9 and Fox Footy Channel guys as 7 had paid even more for the rights. He changed. It lead to him going down hill and the last few years it was over the top, not always, but too often. Plus his commentary at times became just a series of questions, rather than anything incisive.

He never brought that shit to his athletics and horse racing calling.

 

[Festerz]

He did go on a bit off in his old age but still better than the trash on tv these days.
Going back in the old days they just called the game, now they jabber jaw because they love the sound of their own voice.

They 'jabber jaw' because they are lazy and do f-all homework on the game and the sport they are being paid a fortune to comment on to a national audience.

Say what you will about Bruce commentating style but he did his homework and knew what the feck he was talking about when it came to player backgrounds, club history and the rules of the game.

You listen to Brian Taylor and Matthew Richardson commenting on games involving Port or most other teams outside of Victoria and you realise just how pig ignorant they are on the things that matter for supporters of those teams about their club and their players, and history. And don't get me started on Victorian blow ins like Selwood FFS.

I agree that Bruce's flowery preening over certain players and clubs got unbearable to listen to at the end of his AFL commentating career but listening to BT, Brayshaw and 'Richo' on every Friday and Saturday night peak hour AFL game is a thousand times worse.

Bruce got to where he was as a highly respected national AFL commentator purely on hard work and merit - how else could a guy whose footy background peaked when he was playing for the Woodville High School under 15s have got there?

No way he would have made it in today's AFL boys club.

 

[MrMeaner]

I blame Rex Hunt and Triple-M for the decline in football commentary. Almost all of it has become like a parody of early 2000s Triple-M now.

This has been my old man yelling at clouds moment.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I blame Rex Hunt and Triple-M for the decline in football commentary. Almost all of it has become like a parody of early 2000s Triple-M now.

This has been my old man yelling at clouds moment.

As the game became more professional, arguably more borring, less characters get up to high jinx, commentary has become less professional and gone the entertainment route

Another case of follow the money - changing things.

Just another one of life's great conundrums.

 

[Handyandy]

I reckon Bruce was at his best calling Olympic Games track and field.
Very good at horse racing also.
He did go on a bit off in his old age but still better than the trash on tv these days.
Going back in the old days they just called the game, now they jabber jaw because they love the sound of their own voice.

I concur, his Olympic commentary was brilliant, the best sports commentator ever in my opinion. I loved listening to him during the Sydney Olympics & watching the dream in the evenings
And I was struck by what a genuinely lovely person he was & how respected, no revered he was by his co workers
The sort of bloke who would take a genuine interest in the little people & remember it was the sound guys birthday so bring in a cake

 

[Handyandy]

I know a bit about Hangzhou and how big and wealthy it is. Home of Jack Ma and Alibaba Group. Your profile says you are in Jinhua, have you moved to Hangzhou, or just travelling with work. Don't know anything about Jinhua, just that wiki says its bigger than Melbourne.

Were you based in China when we played games in Shanghai? Get to any of the 3 games? Or did you get there after 2020?

Jinhua is a bit of a provincial dump when compared to Yiwu & Hangzhou, but then most cities are. It’s one claim to fame is Jinhua ham as featured on that crazy Japanese MasterChef programme
My wife has actually gone there today to catch up with old friends but apparently the hotels there won’t allow foreigners to stay so decided to give it a miss

 

[OneGreatClub]

Inspired

 

[240volt]

There isnt a better athletics race caller in the English speaking world over the last 40 years. He has great knowledge but there are a few ex athletes who are better commentators on the sport, but not many.

Its the horse racing background. Australia produces the best horse racing callers because we speak fast and if you get someone who is articulate and accurate they leave the poms and yank and canadian race callers for dead. Kiwi race callers are pretty good. Australians are calling horse racing in USA, UK and Hong Kong.

Bruce's hero was race caller Bill Collins, aka The Accurate One, who also called athletics at the Olympics for 7 and the ABC.

George Grljusich called the trotts and was great on the radio calling the athletics.

When 7 lost the TV rights at the end of 2001, the new 2002 commentators on 9 and those on the old Fox Footy Channel were told to make it more entertaining than the "boring 7 guys" as they had paid a s**t load for the rights so that had to increase the audience.

When 7 won back the rights for 2007, Bruce was told to sex it up and be more entertaining like the 9 and Fox Footy Channel guys as 7 had paid even more for the rights. He changed. It lead to him going down hill and the last few years it was over the top, not always, but too often. Plus his commentary at times became just a series of questions, rather than anything incisive.

He never brought that s**t to his athletics and horse racing calling.

Bill Collins call of the Bonecrusher @ Our Waverly Star dog fight in the 86 Cox Plate is still the best call of a horse race ever.
Nearly 40 years on it still hasn’t lost it’s magic.