Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United @ the Telstra Dome.

Attendance: 53,273 (a sellout).

Ben Cousins vs Collingwood Men’s Netball Team @ the very same ground two nights earlier....

Attendance: 37,121 (not a sellout).

I know....one was a Grand Final (Football) and one was a pre-season cup match (AFL)....and that’s exactly why there should never have been any debate.

Thank you and goodnight.

Jackass of the week this week goes to Greg Denham of ‘The Australian’ for his story on how the A-League finals could, via a combination of wins and losses to certain teams in both the A-League finals and the AFL pre-season cup, prevent a debut in front of home fans for the troubled player. It’s too convoluted to explain - have a look at the link.

So what is Mr Denham’s point? That Football is denying AFL fans a chance to see poster boy Cousin’s return?

Although thats implied in the headline, reading a few lines further reveals all:

The (AFL) league yesterday said it would be more profitable to play it at Subiaco Oval, based on a similar attendance figure. In Perth the AFL pays a lower ground rental than at Telstra Dome and has better stadium rights. It has less access to revenue streams at Telstra Dome...

Don’t let a ‘soccer’ bashing headline to grab a readers attention detract from the truth, aye Greg? And what about the inevitable sellout of the Dome by Melbourne Victory fans if they make the football final?

Eee-owwww!

I don’t know why I put myself through it every week...why I even bother watching a show I know is full of afl and rugby league cronies. But I do, and every single time i feel like vomiting on my tv.

It's just as much what they do not say as what they do. I expect to only get a few minutes of A-League coverage - I am used to that - but to not even acknowledge the Olyroos achievements this week, nor give a breath of information about the socceroos kicking ass overseas, let alone preview some freakin HAL matches just beggars belief.

With Barry Cassidy no longer hosting this show to provide even a mild temper to the moronic droning of the afl inbred journos and the tokenistic presence of a nsw old guard rugby league man Roy 'slap me in the face in the dressing room while I am butt naked' Masters, the only reason I would continue to watch the show is to see them keep bickering amongst themselves as to which code is the greatest, whilst the true football grabs a larger and larger foothold in this country.

The only highlights they did show this morning were of Kevin Muscat kicking an ad board whilst the skinny AFL journo (Whattley, or whatever his name is, who, I am told, makes his living pushing the horse racing barrow in Victoria) made some comment about how the crowds have been segregated, then went on to with a sarcastic commentary on the Beckham money spinner as if to infer that his beloved code would never stoop so low.

Problem is they can't reach that high buddy.....Demetriou can only dream about doing what the FFA can do regularly; set up a full house international 'friendly' match that draws over 80k a pop and generates instant $$..........oh wait a minute, thats right, AFL do play the 'test' against the irish...thats no sports marketing gimmick is it? But it is international - pity it's not even the same GAME.

Why in Isaac Newtons name they call the show offsiders is beyond me as, seeing as there is no offside in afl, and as afl is all they seem to talk about they may as well change the name to something a bit more representative of the insular codes that pay their wages. Or at the very least call it the Melbourne Sports Show, so I can turn off on a Sunday morning and go for a walk outside or something.

How do you turn a good news football story into a negative anti-soccer one?

Here is a piece from, where else, the Melbourne Herald Sun, in the 'Soccer' sports section:

Fans switch on for switched-off Socceroos

July 10, 2007 12:00am
AUSTRALIA'S wobbly draw against Oman in its first group game of the Asian Cup attracted an average audience of 345,000, making it one of the biggest sporting events in subscription television history.

The figures don't include those who watched it at pubs and clubs.

......OK thats a great story - a huge TV audience for a game against a relative unknown football nation, and an acknowledgment that many more are watching in clubs and pubs or at Conaldo's place.

This came on top of Seven's coverage of the Essendon-Geelong game which was the highest-rating Friday night home-and-away match in Melbourne (500,000) since Collingwood played Port Adelaide at Telstra Dome in Round 14, 2005 (572,000).

Ummm, what do you mean 'came on top of'...? That game was on free to air, accessible to every Aussie with a TV set...

Watching the soccer got us wondering

here we go.....

about those flares you sometimes see at games.

Noooo? really what a surprise - I wouldnt have expected such a train of thought from you!

Did you know the basic flare costs about $60 and prices can soar to as much as $120 for the rocket variety?

Did you have to look that up on google or ring around a few places to make this story take up an extra few cms on the web page?

So where do kids get the money to let them off at soccer matches? They don't. Most are stolen from boats.

Oh touche, touche - of course they are, and that means that the Pay TV television audience was so big (remember that train of thought?) because....ummmm......the kids who go to football matches steal flares from boats...

RIGHT!

But thats not enough to fill the 'soccer' story quota for our Herald Sun reporter.

A VIETNAMESE man was killed in an accident as he drove his motorbike through Hanoi to celebrate his country's Asian Cup victory against the United Arab Emirates.

The man died yesterday when he crashed into a traffic sign.

Be warned..watching 'soccer' and celebrating a victory can be hazardous to your health, and may cause you to swim in frigid Melbourne waters to steal fireworks out of boats, then drive erratically through the streets of Hanoi without a helmet on.