Samuel's Blog

An email to 2GB’s Andrew Moore and the Continuous Call Team

G’day Andrew,

Well I have to disagree with you. No way that I can tip the Cowboys. Dogs by 11.

As for Elvis songs, my favourite is Moody Blue.

Have a great call, and may you be wrong about a Cowboy victory!

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra

August 14th, 2009 at 07:43pm

Capitalism Wins!

I’ve been offered money to work on Sunday and cover news and sport, including Andrew Demetriou’s ludicrous “Green Round”. Capitalism defeats my objection to the AFL’s cuckoo greenie loopyness, and my boycott is therefore off, and I get to revel in the nuttery of having footballs and umpires which blend in with the grass.

If it weren’t for the fact that the AFL teams are still flying all over the country and games are still being played under lights, I might take it a bit more seriously and continue my boycott…however considering that it’s just a laughable token gesture, I will just write to Andrew Demetriou to express my disgust at his strange “Green Round” instead.

The bottom line on this is, if I can make a profit from some cuckoo bloke’s nuttery, then why wouldn’t I? I’m profiting…the AFL are losing by buying the greatest con of recent times, carbon credits. I win and capitalism wins. I’m much happier now.

Samuel

August 14th, 2009 at 05:23pm

My trips to and from Deniliquin just got faster

I’m looking forward to an improved average speed on my next trip to Deniliquin (which is a mere two weeks away) as those annoying 12 kilometres or so of roadworks near Gundagai have been completed. (I could be sure it was more than 12km of roadworks…but I’ll trust the article for now) No more utter boredom of driving through an 80km/h (or worse) zone thinking “so where are the workers anyway?”…unless it’s a Monday in which case they were there. I never quite understood why a single carriageway road needed to be slowed down to 80km/h on days when roadworks weren’t actually taking place.

THE final 5km section of the Hume Highway duplication between Albury and Woomargama will open to motorists today with little fanfare.

Meanwhile, a ceremony involving NSW Roads Minister Michael Daley and member for Riverina, Kay Hull, will be held further north at Coolac at 11am when the Hume Highway bypass of the village is officially opened.
[..]
The $179 million Coolac bypass involves 12km of dual carriageway between 12km and 24km north of Gundagai and 4km of existing road between the Dog on the Tucker Box and Muttama Creek.

I suppose this means I won’t see the “roadworks next 300km” or similar sign near the Sturt Highway exit either.

(thanks to Trent for the link to the story)

Samuel

August 14th, 2009 at 02:08pm

KXNT Jerk Of The Week Submission August 14, 2009

Your “Jerk of the Week” submission
Andrew Demetriou (CEO of the Australian Football League)

Why should this person be the “Jerk of the Week”?
For having a “green round” to save the AFL from climate change, on the weekend after the Australian Senate voted against the Emissions Trading Scheme (cap and trade).

Your Name (Optional)
Samuel Gordon-Stewart

Jerk Of The Week airs shortly after 11am Canberra time, 6pm Vegas time today on Newsradio 840 KXNT in Las Vegas, and kxnt.com (if the webstream ads don’t get confused and block out the segment). It is also podcasted at kxnt.com a short time after the segment airs.

Samuel

August 14th, 2009 at 10:01am

AFL Boycott

That’s a title I never expected to have to write…but then again, I never really expected them to launch a “green round” either.

The issue of climate change affects us all, the game we all know and love is being severely impacted by climate change
[..]
the footy community from grass roots through to the AFL, the clubs, our corporate partners and the stadiums are banding together and calling in the experts to come up with solutions to save our game and ensure its healthy future

What utter drivel. Need I remind Andrew Demetriou, CEO of the AFL, that global temperatures haven’t risen for the better part of the last decade?

On second thoughts, I won’t waste my breath on the bloke playing with a green football in press photos (yep, green footballs this weekend…and green flags, and umpires in green uniforms, and recycling logos everywhere), instead I’ll just boycott the AFL this weekend.

That’s right Andrew. I will not be watching, listening, commenting or otherwise on the matches this weekend. I won’t even be paying attention to the results. And I will repeat this every time you pull this stunt.

AFL Green Round, Round 20 of 2009, is hereby officially boycotted.

Samuel

August 14th, 2009 at 09:30am

It’s about time: golf now almost an Olympic sport

Golf could resume its rightful status as an Olympic sport as of the 2016 games, depending on the outcome of a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in October.

The board will submit golf and rugby sevens — a faster-paced version of the standard 15-a-side game — for ratification by the full 106-member IOC assembly in Copenhagen in October.

The board also gave final approval to the inclusion of women’s boxing in the 2012 London Olympics. Boxing had been the only summer Olympic sport without women competitors.
[..]
Golf was played at the 1900 Paris Olympics and 1904 St. Louis Games. The sport’s backers say bringing the game back into the Olympics would help it develop worldwide, noting many governments only fund Olympic sports.

Tiger Woods and other top players have indicated they would play in the Olympics if golf gets the nod from the IOC.

“Golf is a truly global sport and it should have been in the Olympics a while ago,” Woods said Tuesday. “If it does get in, it would be great for golf and some of the other small countries that are now emerging in golf.”

Golf proposes a 72-hole stroke-play competition for men and women, with 60 players in each field. The world’s top 15 players would qualify automatically, and all major professional tours would alter tournament schedules to avoid a clash with the Olympics.

Rugby, which was played in four different Olympics between 1900 and 1924 in the full 15-a-side format, proposes the 7-a-side version for both men and women. The International Rugby Board would scrap its Sevens World Cup to ensure the Olympics is the sport’s top event.

Final approval of the two sports will require a simple majority vote by the full IOC in October. It’s unclear whether they will be voted on individually or together.

Rugby I care less about as an Olympic sport, but I do think it should probably be there.

Samuel

August 14th, 2009 at 08:27am