Posted by Brad Carr on 2nd September 2010
There was an interesting article in The Weekend Australian on Saturday by Mick Malthouse, in which he looked at the procession of retiring players that can occur at this time of year, the impact on clubs when they lose a core of experience simultaneously, and how different clubs have managed the process.
Significantly, he compared the retirement age of various players that have played much or all of their careers in the country’s south-east (Kirk, McDonald & Akermanis all aged 33) against that of Fremantle’s Paul Haselby, at 29. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: footy travel, player welfare
Posted in General Footy Writing | 5 Comments »
Posted by Brad Carr on 24th February 2010
by Brad Carr
I had an amazing few days at the Olympics. I’m now continuing my ski-trip up in Alaska, but tinged with a little bit of regret that I didn’t schedule myself a longer stint at the Games.
The main thing about the Olympics is the excited, euphoric mood that engulfs it. Forget the whinges that some in the media (eg. particularly those of British origin) have trotted out – their mission in life is to find something to complain about, perhaps with an added motive of preparing more favourable ground for how London 2012 will be received. If Disneyland is ‘the happiest place on Earth’ and if Vegas is ‘Disneyland for adults’, then an Olympic Games is the equivalent for the sports fan. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in General Sportswriting, Winter Olympics | 2 Comments »
Posted by Brad Carr on 14th February 2010
By Brad Carr
I’m writing this in Everett, on the northern outskirts of Seattle. Best known as the site of the Boeing wide-bodied jet factory (which, incidentally, I can thoroughly recommend as a tourist excursion if you’re ever in the area), it’s one of those industrial places on the fringe of a major city that sits somewhere between being its own entity (as locals would like to perceive it) and merely an industrial suburb of the greater metropolis. If you’re in Melbourne, think Werribee, but without the zoo; if you’re in Perth, think Rockingham without the beaches…
The convenience is that the local Amtrak rail route will (touch wood) take me from here to Vancouver tomorrow morning. And after a couple of days there, I then head on to what I consider my ‘home mountain’: Whistler. Indeed, Whistler is probably second only to London when it comes to the ‘rite of passage’ for young Australians – when I worked a season there several years ago, it was generally understood around town that one-third of the workforce were Australians, generally people in their 20s on Working Holiday visas, and I still regard those six months as the ‘worst money but best quality of life’ I’ve enjoyed. It makes these Games perhaps the closest thing Australia will ever get to a ‘home’ Winter Olympics, in terms of both crowd support and where our athletes are likely to have previously competed or trained. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Winter Olympics
Posted in Winter Olympics | 5 Comments »
Posted by Brad Carr on 10th February 2010
By Brad Carr
Many of sport’s moments come down to an element of being ‘in the right place at the right time’. An adage that has proved true for many players, occasionally it holds for a supporter also.
I’ve followed the Los Angeles Lakers since 1988. At that time, when basketball was in its Australian heyday, then-Lakers star (and winner of the NBA’s Best defensive Player award) Michael Cooper visited Perth during the NBA’s off-season to train the Perth Wildcats for a couple of weeks before the NBL play-offs. I adopted the Lakers on the spot, and subsequently learnt of the legends of George Mikan, Jerry west, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, and got to revel in the delights of Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal (for a time) and Kobe Bryant.
However, I’d never seen them play live. I’d got close in 2003 (but for being deprived by dramas with ticketmaster.com), but it’s been purely a TV following. And to be honest, as basketball’s profile has waned in Australia, I’ve generally been content to limit this TV following to the last few minutes of the occasional game. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: NBA
Posted in Basketball | 7 Comments »
Posted by Brad Carr on 24th December 2009
By Brad Carr
I’m an Eagles supporter who lives in Melbourne. The most common question I get asked is, “Why do you barrack for West Coast?”
The conversation normally goes along the following lines:
Local: “Who do you barrack for?”
Me: “West Coast”
Local (contorts face uncomfortably): “Eeeeww (pauses). Are you from over there?”
Me: “Yeah, originally”
Local: (relaxing facial muscles) “Oh, that’s all right then.”
It’s as though following a team from out of town is (initially) abhorrent, but has some credibility attached to it if it’s reflecting a sense of loyalty to one’s origins.
The initial abhorrence is sometimes just interstate parochialism, but sometimes I also think it’s that West Coast, Adelaide and Fremantle are still perceived by many as “artificial” or “made-up” clubs, despite the passing of two decades. We’re considered to lack the proper standing that can only come with time, and (for two of those clubs) to have an insufficient failure-to-premierships ratio to really understand the game. And so, I think a bit of explanation is warranted in our own defence. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: West Coast Eagles
Posted in General Footy Writing | 2 Comments »
