What I've been in to - August

This month's 'What I'm in to'is being written at North Shore Private hospital. I was admitted this week to have a tumour removed from my brain. The surgery went well. I will spend this coming weekend in hospital to recover.

As I've written elsewhere - I'm so very thankful for our health system, and the people working in it. I'm relieved the operation went well even if feeling a little sore and tired. I'm so very thankful to have so many wonderful people walking along this road with me.

What I've been reading
August has been quite a productive month for reading. I've mostly read non-fiction books:

• Lizzie Marvelly - 'That F Word Growing Up Feminist in Aotearoa' 
• Brene Brown - 'Braving the Wilderness'
• Austin Channing-Brown - 'I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness'
• Kon Karapanagiotidis - The Power of Hope
• William McInnes - Fatherhood
• Richard Glover - Flesh Wounds
• Titus O'Rielly - A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport
• Erin Loechner - Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path
• Rebecca Solnit - The Faraway Nearby

Of the above, the highlights were Kon K's book The Power of Hope, Titus O'Rielly's book on sport, and Lizzie Marvelly's book about growing up feminist in New Zealand.  I recommend everyone reads Kon's book, a really powerful and moving book. Titus O'Reilly's book details the place of sport in Australian society. Lizzie's book details feminsim in New Zealand (and I extrapolate probably Australia too).  It's saddening to read, because it highlights the lived experience of so many women in our world. 

What I've been listening to

On my playlist through August has been Wildness (Snow Patrol) and a collection of Christian songs that we sing at church.  September will see me dig into U2's music, as they are back on the road again. Still sad there is no Australian tour, but can kind of understand why it is difficult to come to Australia/NZ/Africa and Asia.  I'm also digging into Bon Jovi because one of my their best albums 'New Jersey' will turn 30 this year.  I haven't got tickets, but I'm still thinking of seeing Bon Jovi later this year if seats are available. Even though they won't be the same without Richie Sambora they can still write a great tune and out on a great show. 

On the music front, apparently Pearl Jam may have a new album coming out. They're another band I'd love to see. I'm also tempted by Phil Collins who is touring early next year. 

Keen for recommendations too if anyone has some :)

What I've been Watching

Just a few here, even though it has been sad, I've enjoyed watching 'Call the Midwife'. Thanks to Jen Carrick's recommendation I started on Suits. Just the pilot to date, but I might watch more tomorrow (Editor's note, perhaps sleep through rather than watch, can't blame the show though ;))

Sporting shorts no 25

Well we've almost got there - the AFL 'home and away' season finished today - the NRL have one more round next weekend while the AFL use next weekend for their pre-finals bye and has the weekend off.

Onto the football

AFL

• Haven't really be surprised by much this weekend. Yes, I certainly wanted to see the Swans win this weekend, but now they're hosting the Giants in Sydney for a final. I can't help but wonder if playing every week might suit the Swans. That said, I don't think we're good enough to do much damage in the finals. 
• Have to take my hat off to Alistair Clarkson and the work he has done with Hawthorn to get them into top four - and a serious challenger for the title. 
• The first week of the finals sees some mouthwatering matchups - Richmond v Hawthorn; Collingwood v West Coast, Sydney v Giants and Melbourne v Geelong. I'm expecting Richmond, Collingwood, Sydney and Geelong to win. 

NRL

• The Warriors make the final for the first time in seven years. A win next weekend with some fortunate results and they will host a game otherwise they play in Sydney. To be honest I can see them doing much damage in a final, but I that sport is full of surprises
• Was a little stunned to see the Bulldogs big win over the Dragons, and with the Rabbits and Roosters both losing, Melbourne are now in the drivers seat for the minor premiership plate. 
• There's a lot of movement still possible within the eight before we have our finals match-ups
• I agree with Craig Bellamy that more needs to be done to reward clubs who develop and nurture their young players - salary cap concessions seems like a great way to do this. 

Rugby

• Great win by Argentina this morning. Both the BlackFerns and All Blacks had good solid wins against Australia. Barrett really showed his class with a four try performance. There's a week off next weekend before the next tests.
• Hoping that we now see the Women's World Cup awarded to New Zealand and another sell-out final played at Eden Park - but we'll see. 

General

• I'm really looking forward to the final series - and some great football, where I'm not overly invested in the results. I'm looking forward to seeing the Women's Rugby League competition start too. It will be well worth following. 

Sporting shorts - No. 24

Well another really big weekend of football is over. I had planned to watch at least some of it with Hamish. While he decided that other things were more appealing the results were a a healthy reminder to be a gracious winner. He has decided to choose the Wallabies and Giants as teams to support. Can understand both decisions, but it does make it hit home that when my team wins I need to be gracious, and when my team loses not to be too upset or to talk too much about the referees.

All that said, I should get back to the on field action.

Bledisloe Cup

• I’ll begin with the Rugby, it’s the sport which is the most significant to me. 
• It was a pretty impressive performance from the All Blacks. Made slightly easier by the inability of Australia to control their own line out ball. 
• Was so lovely that it was a doubleheader, as the women’s teams played before the men the NZ women won by 33-11. I think that makes sixteen straight wins to New Zealand. 
• The second Bledisloe cup test is in Auckland next week, with a third test to be played during October in Yokohama. 
• In the other Championship game, South Africa defeated Argentina by seven (31-24)

NRL

• The Warriors were defeated by the Bulldogs 26-27 in Sydney. While they will still stay in the eight it’s not the result I hoped for.
• With two games to go, I think the top eight is set. Positions in the eight may change but I can’t see the Tigers sneaking in. 
• Lovely to see Newcastle win, and the result means they’re unlikely to finish with the wooden spoon. 
• Aside from the Warriors, finding it hard to locate a team I want to win the Grand Final.

AFL

• Have to admit, that I was surprised by the Swans win in the derby against the Giants. The result means that the Swans will almost certainly play finals, and a win against Hawthorn next week may mean they will finish the season in the top four.
• I’m not reading too much into the Hawks tough win against St Kilda. They will be up for the game against us, and given our home record this year, I think I’d prefer the game in Melbourne. 
• Richmond are minor premiers, and still my favourite to win the grand final. 
• I guess Sydney could spring a surprise, but I’m not overly confident they will. 
• Awesome to see Melboune make the finals, I read for the first time in twelve years. If we don’t win the flag, I’ll be cheering for them. Or maybe West Coast. 

Soccer

• We’re now two rounds into the new English soccer season. I’m not panicking that Arsenal have lost to both Chelsea and Manchester City in the first two games of the season. Hoping to better results to come. 
• The other exciting thing is that the Spanish League are interested in holding games for points outside Spain, would love it if England did the same thing. 

Davis Cup

• Never really thought I’d be saying this, but I kind of like the changes to the Davis Cup competition. If it means more of the big name players play in the competition, it’s a good thing. 
• I wouldn’t made if they made the teams need to include one male and one female player. 
• I feel that competition will add to the tradition and history of the sport.

Think I’ll leave it here. 

Sporting shorts - No. 23

The seasons are now coming to a close with three rounds to go in the League before the final series and two more in the AFL. It’s meant the quality of football is improving and I think the competitions are really even with no really clear cut favourite. The talk on the League front is mostly about Penrith sacking their coach just before the final series starts and the Panthers haven’t been doing too bad.

AFL

• The Swans had a must win game against Melbourne and for once they managed to pull it of. Feel devasted for Alex Johnson, he has injured his other knee in his second game back after six years out. He deserved better ‘luck’. My gut tells me that if the Swans stay in the eight, they won’t do much damage. 
• It didn’t rate West Coast’s chances at the beginning of the year but they’re sitting second and may be a chance to win the competition. 
• The Giants are still a great chance to win, they are likely to get some key players back over the next few weeks
• Hawthorn are still in the hunt for a top four spot. Well done Clarkson, he has really done well in refreshing their team and players. 
• I think North Melbourne blew their chance to get into the eight. Essendon has games against Richmond and Port Adelaide so I think they’re gone too. After their loss to West Coast it seems Port Adelaide are trying to not play finals. 
• Sydney and Melbourne are the two teams in the most danger of slipping out of the eight. 

NRL

• I’ll start with the Warriors, they had a good win against Newcastle. One of the games they had to win if they want to be considered a chance for the title. I still wouldn’t put money on them to do much in the finals, but it looks like they will finish in the top eight.
• The Dragons are running away from finals football, with a 4-40 loss to the Eels. Have to admit, I really don’t know what’s happened to Eels. They were in my top eight at the start of the year. The Dragons were looking like Premiers in April. Now not so much. 
• Was stoked to see Cronulla beat Melbourne. I have a little soft spot for the Sharkies. They might be one of the dark horses along with the Panthers. 
• At the moment, I think one of the Rabbits, Roosters or Melbourne will win the title. It’d be fitting for Slater to end his career with a premiership. Slater is certainly one of, if not the best fullbacks I’ve seen play the game.

Rugby Union

• Not much happened over the weekend, but the Rugby Championship starts next weekend, with the Wallabies taking on the All Blacks in Sydney, and Argentina travelling to South Africa.
• Still think the Wallabies are a chance this year. 

Other

• Arsenal started the season as I expected, with a 0-2 loss to Manchester City. A little opimistic about Arsenal this year, their first year after Wenger’s retirement. Not optimistic that they will challenge for the title, but hopeful they will qualify for Europe. 
• As always, I’m looking forward to the European football leagues and continental tournaments starting. Don’t think we’re in for much of a surprise though. A team that has won the competition previously will win it again this year. 
• In Cricket, India may not be the challenge they were built into this year. England currently lead the test series 2-0. Apart from Kohli, India just haven't shown up. 
• I think the New Zealand Women’s team is over in Australia later this year, I may try and go to one of the games. 
• Other than that, I’m not sure what sport is on the horizon for the year. Next year has the Women’s Football World Cup and Australia has a realistic chance of winning: and we also have the Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan which will be a fun tournament. 
• I don’t have a team, but the NFL starts early next month. It should be an interesting year, especially seeing I don’t have team I’m cheering for or against. It’s the best part of the season, everybody is 0-0 and the storyline is yet to be written. Anyone can win it. 
• In Baseball, hard to pick a favourite, but the Red Sox have the best record. My baseball team, Toronto’s Blue Jays won’t figure in the playoffs about 17 games out of the wildcard position. 
• The challengers at this point are the reigning champions (Houston Astros) and the Indians (Cleveland). Though I do wonder if there’s a team lurking in the background who will surprise us all. 

Sporting shorts - No 22

Another great weekend of football, as we get closer to the end of the season the games just seem to get better. Listening to interviews with the NRL and AFL CEOs it seems clear to me that Rugby League is in better hands. Gil’s response to Daisy Pearce’s concerns about reducing the length of the Women’s competition was ridiculous. To me, the competition should feature every team playing each other once then the top four playing each other in semi finals. His comparison with the World Cup made no sense to me at all. Not to mention the crazy idea that the game is in trouble and rules need to be played with. But more on that later.

On the other hand, the way Todd Greenberg spoke about scheduling and referees showed he was at least willing to listen to feedback.

AFL

• Well the Swans surprised me with a close and hard fought win against Collingwood. The game was special as it was the first time Alex Johnson played since the 2012 Grand Final. Massive credit to the Magpies, they have an extensive injury list with another player going down during the game. 
• The round is the first in VFL/AFL history to have five games decided by less than a goal. THe whole round’s average will be skewed by the three blowouts in Sunday’s games.
• It’s a shame the Showdown will be remembered for the match winning ‘goal’ kicked by Josh Jenkins rather than the awesome contest. Jenkins will be known as the AFL’s Adam Gilchrist, after he acknowledged he though the ball hit the post. The goal was awarded via the Video review system. Honestly, I’m not a fan of the review system, but if it’s going to stay I think they need to rethink how it works. Each week we seem to be talking about a contentious decision. 
• Back to the on field action, the weekend showed how tight the top eight is, Geelong pushed Richmond all the way but due to the loss finish the weekend outside the eight. Melbourne are in the top four after smashing the Suns. 
• Loved how Brisbane’s coach got alongside his player who sprayed his final kick on the siren.
• Really looking forward to the Hawthorn - Geelong game next weekend, quite possibly the loser of this game will miss out on the finals. 

 NRL

• Another great round and the Warriors surprised me by beating the Dragons in Wollongong. It means the season is still alive. On the other hand, the Dragons who were looking like premiers in April, had a costly loss.
• At the top end of the table, Souths are showing themselves to be a genuine chance to win the competition. They were superb against Melbourne, and next Friday’s game against the Roosters could well be a Grand Final preview. 
• The other big loser this weekend was Cronulla. With the Dragons loss the Sharks could have broken into the top four with a win.
• At the other end of the table, it’s sad that Thurston, one of the legends of the game, may finish his career with a Wooden spoon. 
• Was really saddened to read about Matt Cechin’s retirement. I always thought he was one of the better referees. Just so disappointing that many people threatened not only his life, but the life of his family after they weren’t happy with one of his decisions. 

Super Rugby

• Another video of Scott Robinson breakdancing suggests that the Crusaders won their ninth Super Rugby title, defending their crown. Sad for the Lions, who have been in three straight Finals and have lost them all. 
• I think the Rugby Championship is going to be tighter than people think. 

Onto Cricket. The first test between England and India was awesome. Kohli just failing to win the game for India off his own bat. England winning a close match by 31 runs. 

Next weekend sees the start of the English soccer season. For me, I think it’s hard to go past Manchester City as winners. It will be interesting to see how the World Cup impacts the beginning of the competition. I’ll also tip Liverpool to do really well this year. 

Still on Football, to me the most impressive Australian sports team is the Matildas. While they didn’t end up winning the Tournament of Nations they didn’t lose a game, and are certainly a massive chance to win next years World Cup. In Samantha Kerr they have they best player in the world. 

What I’ve been into July

Here we are at the start of another month. Winter is almost over for another year. Though it never really felt much like winter. The highlights from July were a trip to Canberra during the school holidays. We took the kids to a few spots I hadn’t been to since I wore a School uniform, like the War Memorial, and I went to Old Parliament House for the first time. I really enjoyed eating out at Morks,  a great Thai restaurant on the lake. It was great to do this while off treatment, I certainly had a lot more energy and felt a lot more like myself.

Podcasts
For something different this month, I thought that I’d write about the podcasts I had been enjoying. Given my sporting bent, one of the podcasts I try not to miss is Ladies Who League. The host is league fan Mary K. It’s a great recap of the weekend’s games and the issues within the game. They had a great episode with some referees. I found it awesome to hear their perspective.

The other podcast I’ve been listening too is What She Said. The podcast is hosted by Andy Abey and Polly Butterworth. The podcast features the untold stories of Christian women. The first episode was centred on Queen Elizabeth II, and the most recent one about a few women from the suffragette movement. Really eye opening for me.

Books
I’ve been a little more productive reading wise over the last month. I read Rachel Held Evans book about the bible. Just beautifully written, and thought provoking. If you’re wrestling with how to read and understand the bible you could do worse than using this as a starting point.

I also read James Comey’s book. In some ways it’s a scary read. It highlights Comey’s career and some of the time he spent in Trump’s Whitehouse. His reflections on Obama and his leadership style was fascinating.

I started Jacqui Lambie’s autobiography. A great read so far. I don’t necessarily agree with all of her politics but I loved that she was from a different cloth to most other politicians. I miss her voice from parliament.

TV
Really enjoyed Masterchef this year. Though I still have the final two episodes to look forward to. Can hardly believe the show has been going for ten years.

Music
I’ve been listening to a lot of music. The albums on heavy rotation at the moment are Wildness (Snow Patrol), the live version of Bon Jovi’s This House is not For Sale, and U2s Songs of Experience.

I feel Snow Patrol are incredibly underrated, and this album is their best songwriting to date. Bon Jovi are an old favourite and This House is Not For Sale is their first album without Richie Sambora. I do miss him, but the album still sounds like classic Bon Jovi. I still have Songs of Experience on heavy rotation the lyrics of the albums are so close to what I’m living now, and the feelings I have towards those close to me. It’s hard to listen to without getting emotional. I’m sad they most likely won’t tour it here but am so thankful for the music.

What’s coming up? We have a significant family birthday and will go away to celebrate that. We might go away again in the school holidays. I’m looking forward to the climax of two enthralling football seasons and hope to find a few more books to read.

Sporting shorts, No 21

A little late this week, but here they are.

Super Rugby

• Semi final time, and the Waratahs certainly gave a great account of themselves. Leading the Lions 14-0 before succumbing 26-44. The Lions now play the Crusaders in the final. The Crusaders were way to good for the Hurricanes winning 30-12. I feel the score line flatters the Hurricanes. 
• The Crusaders are red hot favourites to win the title, but the joy of sport is that nothing is certain. 
• I feel the Bledisloe Cup series will be interesting this year. The Wallabies won the last test, and a certainly a chance to repeat the dose. 

NRL

• The theme for the weekend is comebacks, with Souths, Penrith and North Queensland winning after trailing for a significant period of the game. Penrith scored four tries in six minutes to defeated Manly. Manly have their worst point return at round 19 in their history.
• Briefly on the Warriors, given their performance against Gold Coast, it seems the Warriors have found a new way to disappoint their fans. After being in the top four for most of the season, they’re the team most likely to drop out of the eight. The Tigers loss means the gap between the two clubs is two wins. With the two clubs having similar runs home, the Warriors might just hold on. Time will tell. 
• Disappointed with the continued criticism of the referees. I’m not convinced they’ve been that bad. The reality is that they will make mistakes, just like the players. With the continued criticism refereeing isn’t something people want to do and that will only harm the game.

AFL

• I recall the Swans were at one stage 10-3, they’ve since gone 1-4. The last two losses mean they’ve slipped out of the eight. On the last two weeks form, I can’t see them beating Collingwood, Melbourne, GWS or Hawthorn. Yes, a number of key players are out, or out of form, but I still was expecting more. 
• Richmond are at the moment a four or five goal better team than the other contenders. With a number of key ins, I feel their biggest challenge could be the Giants.
• Not surprising, but there are a lot of key games this weekend. Adelaide, Sydney and Essendon have to win or it becomes too hard for them to make the eight. Geelong will strengthen their position with an upset win over the Tigers. 

Other

• Following on from the talk about referees, I wonder if technology has changed the way referees approach making decisions, or not making decisions, if they can send it for review after the play has concluded. Likewise, I wonder how having decisions overturned impacts umpires in Cricket. This is certainly an area which is worth exploring. Especially seeing as technology, for better or worse, is here to stay. 
• I’m getting tired of coaches and fans blaming referee or umpire mistakes for costing their teams the game. It’s part of sport, some days you’ll get the rub of the green, and other days you don’t. Mistakes are part of the human element of sport.