Sports shorts - August 27

AFL

• That was some round, with every game having meaning, and the results making a mockery of my predictions :)  
• Feel for Melbourne, whose loss coupled with a West Coast win meant they missed the finals on percentage (something like 0.5). That along with Geelong's win against GWS mean the first week of the finals looks like this:  Adelaide v GWS (Thursday week); Geelong v Richmond (Friday week); Sydney v Essendon (Saturday week); Port Adelaide v West Coast (Saturday week)

NRL

• After watching an average Parramatta beat the Tigers, I didn't think much of Parramatta.  After their win on Thursday night they sit fourth and are one of the form teams of the competition (along with Melbourne) winning eight from their last ten.
• Next week's round is intriguing. the two ones to watch are Brisbane v North Queensland and Manly v Penrith.  St George will make the eight if they beat the Bulldogs. 

General - AFL, NRL

• I like the idea of starting all of the final round matches at the same time. They do this in English Soccer on the final day of the season.  Given the order of matches this weekend (in the AFL), Adelaide knew that irrespective of the results they would finish first. It would have been different perhaps if Adelaide didn't know the result of the Geelong-GWS game. 
• I'm not sure where I heard or read it, but I also like the idea of playing a full round of matches at one ground. The ground could rotate between country areas and grounds like Suncorp Stadium. 

Other

• I doubt I'm ever going to understand a sport, especially given what we're learning about concussion, where the goal is to knock out an opponent. 
• The UEFA Champions League had their main draws over the past few days. The groups for the Champions League are: 
• Group A: Benfica (POR), Manchester United (ENG), Basel (SUI), CSKA Moskva (RUS)
• Group B: Bayern München (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Anderlecht (BEL), Celtic (SCO)
• Group C: Chelsea (ENG), Atlético Madrid (ESP), Roma (ITA), Qarabağ (AZE)
• Group D: Juventus (ITA), Barcelona (ESP), Olympiacos (GRE), Sporting CP (POR)
• Group E: Spartak Moskva (RUS), Sevilla (ESP), Liverpool (ENG), Maribor (SVN)
• Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Manchester City (ENG), Napoli (ITA), Feyenoord (NED)
• Group G: Monaco (FRA), Porto (POR), Beşiktaş (TUR), RB Leipzig (GER)
• Group H: Real Madrid (ESP, holders), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), APOEL (CYP)
• There's some tough groups there, but I think Group H might be the toughest. Can't wait for the competition to start. 
• Australia started their series against Bangladesh, at stumps on day one, Australia were 3/18 in reply to Bangladesh's 260.