Dear Phatmass Aussies...

[Tony]

I can't watch Australian Rules Football anymore

[cappie]

An ugly win just fine by Swans
By Tim Morrissey
April 16, 2006

SYDNEY coach Paul Roos defended his team's stalling tactics in the dying moments after the premiers were booed off the ground by Carlton supporters following their first win of the season.

Roos said his defenders were only reacting to Carlton's tactics of getting numbers back to protect their own goal in a tight, nerve-wracking final five minutes that led to a final score for the Swans of 12.9 (81) over Carlton 11.8 (74).

Loud jeers from the Blues supporters in the 36,000-plus crowd echoed around the stadium every time Swans full-back Leo Barry, Craig Bolton and Lewis Roberts-Thomson milked the clock by chip kicking between themselves.

"I'm rapped to get booed off the ground by the opposition supporters," Roos said.

"But what do you do if Carlton are flooding back leaving players free and we are only eight points in front?

"We are not going to kick it straight back to them, so I think the tactics Carlton used late in the game worked beautifully to our advantage.

"If there's three players back unmarked you have just got to use them, otherwise you just keep kicking back to two versus one and the ball just goes back over your head again.

"We weren't going that well so it allowed us to basically keep possession of the footy, run down the clock and win the game.

"That's what we came here to do, and we did it."

The Swans staged their own Easter revival to secure their seven-point victory.

Sydney were in control of the game with a 30-point lead midway through the third term before they allowed Carlton back into the contest with a string of critical turnovers.

The Blues kicked seven goals to two from that point to trail the Swans by a point eight minutes into the final quarter before Swans midfielder Jude Bolton blasted a long-range goal.

For the next nine minutes a dire struggle ensued as the premiers grimly held their lead to register their first win of the season.

Barry Hall's only goal of the game came at the 19-minute mark of the final term to give the Swans a 13-point buffer.

However, that was shortlived when Carlton star Brendan Fevola kicked his third goal to cut the difference to a single goal.

Fevola was a vital component of the Blues comeback, but Barry came out on top of their duel, finishing with a game-high 29 possessions and 18 marks.

In the final minutes Sydney played it safe as Carlton stood back, but in the end the win was all that mattered to Roos.

"It was probably a couple of turnovers contributing to Carlton getting back into the game, but our ability to steady like we have done over the last couple of years got us over the line," Roos said.

The Swans went into last night's match under enormous pressure after two inept performances.

However, it was clear from the first bounce that the Swans had a renewed purpose last night.

Their tackling was fierce and Brett Kirk, who had been unusually quiet in the first two games, was inspirational as he picked up 10 of his 24 possessions in the first quarter.

The Sunday Telegraph

Edited April 16, 2006 by cappie

[zealousrap]

I noticed an avatar saying World Youth Day is in Australia in 2008...what would all the phatmass aussies think of the idea of having Phatmass perform at that???




dUSt?? :

[Maria]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Mar 7 2006, 08:50 AM']I wasn't going to point it out as an error. that would be rude.

I just didn't want to hijack the thread with a question about our unusual spelling. But here goes.... Of all the former British colonies, why are we the only ones who spell differently? Was it a deliborate effort? There... whew... now I feel better. Thanks.

Cricket, anyone?
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Yup, it was a deliberate effort to simplify spelling. I think it was Webster who had all sorts of ideas to help spelling make sense, but when he compiled his dictionary he just went with the changes that now distinguish American spelling from the rest of English spelling.
At one point there was a big debate over how things should be spelled, and he was just one of the ones involved. Of course, when spelling was 'invented', it was rather random. Old English was more complicated in that it was very inflected, but it was a lot simpler than modern English in that ever letter had one sound, and words were spelled according to the way it was pronounced. The Norman Conquest was, in a sense, what really gave us our muddled spelling, since, under the French-speaking kings, English broke up into widely varying dialects. Then, when the printing press came along, the editors had to choose between spelling words according to one pronunciation or another. I think it was Shaw who left part of his estate for the development of an alphabet that more accurately represents English pronunciation.

[God Conquers]

"I just didn't want to hijack the thread with a question about our unusual spelling. But here goes.... Of all the former British colonies, why are we the only ones who spell differently? Was it a deliborate effort? There... whew... now I feel better. Thanks."

Because Americans fought off the English and the rest of us politely asked them to stay out of our business.

You guys chose to "simplify" spelling.

Us Canucks, Aussies and Kiwis prefer things to be a bit more [i]colourful[/i].

[Maria]

Ugh! Don' t mention kiwis! I'm allergic to them -- the fruit, not the bird.

[benedictaj]

[quote name='Maria' date='Apr 18 2006, 08:35 AM']Ugh! Don' t mention kiwis! I'm allergic to them -- the fruit, not the bird.
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[/quote]
what about the people?

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='Maria' date='Apr 17 2006, 02:35 PM']Ugh! Don' t mention kiwis! I'm allergic to them -- the fruit, not the bird.
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Maria, cool avatar!

[Maria]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' post='951901' date='Apr 18 2006, 07:18 AM']
Maria, cool avatar!
[/quote]
Oh! Thanks. It's the one I originally used. I put it back because it seems somehow appropriate for Easter. I figure I can take different line-art ones depending on the season...