I’ll be honest, I was struggling to come up with a decent alliterative title for this one.
So as we drag on through May, you may have read that today is 25 years since IBM’s Deep Blue, the most evil computer ever built by the hand of man, took on Garry Kasparov in the 6th and final matchup of their epic 1997 rematch series, after Kasparov defeated the machine 4-2 in 1996.
In a sign that Judgement Day was coming and not even Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton could save us, Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in 19 moves to win the series 3.5 to 2.5, marking the first time a World Champion had lost to a computer.
The robots promptly rose up and killed all chess masters of the universe…
However, Magnus Carlsen was spared after the machines mistook him for a fellow robot.
My sister’s birthday is tomorrow
She turns a very elderly 27.
Good for you sis, one year closer to a mid-life crisis.
This news.com.au is just perfect to take out of context
From the Leader’s (Mass) Debate on Sunday evening:
Unruly conduct displayed by Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese during Sunday’s leaders’ debate has been labelled “truly terrible” over upsetting treatment of their host.
On multiple occasions, the Labor and Liberal leader spoke over each other, and refused to stop arguing points despite repeated requests from 60 Minutes host Sarah Abo.
Its a good thing the headline in that story wasn’t “Politicians mistreat Abo”…
Because the reply would’ve been “Yeah, they’ve been doing it for centuries!”
Big Bash all-time leading runscorer Chris Lynn unceremoniously axed from the Brisbane Heat
I totally agree with this move – If there’s one thing the Big Bash needs, it’s fewer entertaining players to give a bit of life to a dying competition.
Apparently the law of averages demands that as another 1990s-2000s cricketer leaves hospital after a major health episode, another one goes straight in
There was the news this morning that former Australian wicketkeeper and inventor of the ramp shot Ryan Campbell left hospital in London after a cardiac arrest in April had him knocking on heaven’s door, with no apparent permanent damage to his ticker, and now former England batter Graham Thorpe has been admitted to an unnamed hospice in a serious condition:
Former England and Surrey batter Graham Thorpe is “seriously ill” in hospital, the Professional Cricketers’ Association has said.
The 52-year-old played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, as well as 82 one-day internationals.
He was previously England men’s batting coach but stepped down from the role in February following their 4-0 Ashes defeat by Australia.
Thorpe was appointed head coach of Afghanistan’s men’s team in March.
A statement from the PCA said: “Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment.
“His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time.
“Our thoughts are with Graham and his family.”
Come on, after what happened to Warnie, surely that was enough?
The Brisbane Lions’ 2022 Indigenous guernsey, designed by Darryl White
In the last two years Brisbane have mastered the art of incorporating heritage guernseys into Indigenous Round guernseys, and they’ve absolutely smashed it out of the park again, as Bears & Lions great Darryl White, via Alice Springs in the lands of the Eastern Arrente peoples, designed the club’s guernsey for Sir Doug Nicholls Round(s):
For context, last year Chris Johnson designed Brisbane’s Indigenous guernsey and incorporated the Fitzroy Lions colours into his story on the guernsey, symbolic as Johnson was the last former Fitzroy player in the AFL when he retired in 2007, having been one of the 8 Fitzroy players sent to Brisbane when the Bears/Lions merger took place in 1996:
And this year, Johnson’s 3-time Premiership teammate White has incorporated what the learned footy fan would instantly recognise as the template of the Brisbane Bears’ last guernsey prior to the merger (White was recruited by the Bears via Alice Springs in 1992), which is the central part of White’s design/story, as 2022 marks 25 years since the merged Lions began playing in the AFL, and there’s also a clever inclusion of the Premiership cup on the design, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Brisbane’s 2002 Premiership, the second part of the epic Threepeat.
For reference, this is what the Bears wore from 1992 to 1996:
Last year’s design could be considered the Indigenous guernsey that Fitzroy never got to wear when they were in the AFL, and this year’s design is akin to the Indigenous guernsey that the Brisbane Bears never got to wear, and if you ask me, the Maroon-base makes it look fantastic.
I think Anthony Maroon was always up against it on the Sunday Sin Bin show on Triple M Sydney, long before James Hooper and Paul Kent borderline bullied him off-air
Point Number One:
– His surname is Maroon
Point Number Two:
– He has a surname of Maroon and he lives and works in New South Wales.
Still, surely with a name like that, you’d have at least expected that his own co-host Gorden Frikkin’ Tallis, the man who is more Maroon than Maroon himself, would’ve offered him a bit more support.
A demonstration on nitpicking time periods to make a point seem amazing
Between Round 1 of 2011 to Round 23 of 2015, the Melbourne Demons recorded 25 wins (And 1 draw) from 110 games.
Since Round 1 of 2021, the Melbourne Demons have recorded 28 wins (And 1 draw) from 33 games.
My point?
Melbourne have won more games in 14 months than they did in 5 years at their lowest ebb.
Scrolling through NRL Twitter and it appears Clint Gutherson is now one of the Wet Bandits from Home Alone
Someone tell Macaulay Culkin to stay the hell away from Western Sydney.
Michael Poy joins the infamous Rhys McLeod Club of misjudging a race distance
So as you may have seen, Monday’s race meeting at Kyneton had a 2828m race for Race 7…
Unfortunately, young Michael Poy, who got a pick-up ride on Dente on Monday morning, obviously thought it was another sprint race and took off 1800m too early for the post, resulting in his horse running a good 20 lengths last.
It all harks back to the infamous Rhys McLeod incident at Moonee Valley in 2002, when he thought a 3000m race on a Friday night was a 1200m race, and after digging himself a huge hole, McLeod got a 2 month holiday, but everyone has obviously moved on because Rhys is still riding strong today, while being reminded of what he did every single day of his life:
Obviously Greg Miles mentions another jockey in Wayne Hokai doing the same thing in the 2002 Hanging Rock Cup, while Queensland jockey Anthony Allen also went one lap too early in a 2400m race at Beaudesert in 2018, and got 6 weeks for incompetent riding:
So as a result of precedent, Poy got a 2 month suspension, which some would claim was harsh, but incompetent riding is a seldom seen charge for a reason.
Melbourne Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes made to apologise for a Mount Druitt sledge from 2020
Another great non-story from the Sydney back pages in the lead-up to the Panthers vs Storm game in Magic Round this weekend, as Jahrome Hughes, after approximately 322 beers in the midst of the Storm’s Grand Final celebrations in 2020, made some comment on video about the notorious suburb of Mount Druitt, the origin of several Penrith players, including Steve Crichton, Jarome Luai and Brian To’o.
Obviously while it wasn’t intended as a sledge, it backfired spectacularly because the Panthers coaches and players saw the video, decided to defend the honour of the Mount, and the next thing you know they gave the Storm a black eye in last year’s Prelim Final to avenge the 2020 Grand Final defeat.
Still, if it’s the stock standard sledging of any crap suburb of an Australian city, like Logan, Frankston, Adelaide and Kwinana, then what Hughes said would almost be a compliment compared to the crap thousands of people have thrown Mount Druitt’s way.
In fact, Season 1 of the TV program Struggle Street, which was set in Mount Druitt and broadcast on the SBS in 2015, was a greater insult to the people of Mount Druitt than anything Hughes said about them.
And finally, I’ll have one last Manning social bowls story by the start of next week
Let’s just say it involves the Great Bowls of Fire, their sponsored T-shirts, and a midweek journey to the North Perth Bowling Club to take on the worst of the best that the North of the River bowling clubs have to offer, in what I would describe as something close to Perth social bowling’s equivalent to the old format of the European Cup.
Categories: AFL, Cricket, Horse Racing, Lawn Bowls, Miscellaneous, NRL
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