Sports Biz - All Sports, All Access, All The Time
A roundup of all things sports from around the world with stats, insight, fun and hilarity
Sports Biz - All Sports, All Access, All The Time
#030 - Umpiring going wrong, where are the F1 champions hiding and is footy truly getting softer.
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This week John and Martin ask the questions of where have the F1 champs gone, are footy rules too soft and what makes a great rivalry. Some historic sports moments and so many international competitions reaching their climax.
Join us for episode 30
Welcome to SportsBiz episode number 30. 30 with more frivolity, fun and pheromones with Mr. Martin Winnell, aka the dog. And Feeling 30. You feeling 30. And myself, John Briggs or Briggsy, as some of you prefer to call me. The only podcast you'll ever need in your life because we hit all those open cracks in all the sports, all the time, because sport is life and life is sport. What is happening, Martin? Oh, John, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna head out with Snooker. Okay. Not really. I just figured there was something happening in it, and you'd love to talk about it. Well that's coming in and one. So we'll have to talk about Snooker. Indeed. We've got big roundups of AFL, NFL, MBA, Formula Ones back. It's actually racing again, which is great. We've got some A-League results. We've got uh some we're gonna take we're gonna keep on the European animal theme. Oh, okay. Later in the uh later in the podcast. So that will be fun. And I'll tell you now, we might have a roving rant. A roving rant. It might come up a few times what I need to be angry about tonight. Is he coming on the show? Mr. McManus. Mr. McManus. No, he won't be here tonight. But we do have, we do have our opener. The most important thing that happened, which requires the first of the Stone and Wood hazy pale ale from the good old Byron Bates. Nice. Okay, here we go. Oh so it is a big old cheers. Cheers, Mark. Because this had to lead the podcast. Got him. Showdown number 59. Oh, Adelaide. Oh fucking shit. AFL, Adelaide versus Port Adelaide. The monster. The monster did it for us with 10 seconds to go. That's all right, didn't it? With a beautiful goal to put us one point up. Great game. Yeah. Your angriest and uh most aggressive rivalry in the AFL. I thought as it stands right there. I thought you were talking about yourself in front of the TV when you were losing. Yeah, there wasn't, there were some bad moments. There were some bad moments, that's for sure. But I want to highlight one thing. It's now been recognized that that is the strongest rivalry in the AFL. Yeah. And it was shown up at the end of the game when Braden, the monster cook, kicked the goal to put us in front with 10 seconds to go. And there's a camera that sits in the AFL on the on the dugouts, on the benches where everybody sits. And all the players jumped up and cheered. And then the doctor from the Crows jumped up and absolutely gave it to the Port Adelaide bench next to them. Swearing, doing the big U fist as hard as he could go. And it was recognized that it's a real angry rivalry when even your medical staff get involved with those aggressive celebrations. Sounds a bit thuggish to me. Oh, that's what that showdown is. But a one-point win, which is the best way to beat Port. Yeah. Because it means all their fans are still there. Right. So it was great. What a Friday night way to start the AFL weekend. That's alright, isn't it? How did your boys go on the on on Thursday night? Just out of curiosity.
SPEAKER_01But it was a fantastic match. Anyway, listen, the pies, we're we're right in there, don't you worry.
SPEAKER_00So, anyway, do any Japanese people follow um AFL? Yes. Well, that's good then. I don't know who, but I'm gonna assume yes. It's the greatest sport in the world. Because I used to think I had a Japanese friend.
SPEAKER_01It turned out it was in my imagination.
SPEAKER_00Well, we needed something after that, didn't we? Oh anyway, let's move on. Yeah, very quickly. Moving on to the quick bites. Well, actually, golf. Another little little thing for you, Martin. Golf. We haven't spoken about golf for a while. I've been watching women's golf lately. Have you really? I have, and it's just like real life. They're all thought you were gonna say it's like real golf. It's just like real life. They're shit at driving, but great with an iron. However, it does look like live golf is going down the gurgler. I did hear this. Yes. Well, we did say it on the on the pod a few weeks ago. Yeah, it is looking in trouble. Yeah. And uh, but if we go to the Mecca of all things sports, I did he this week down in the capital of sport. Yep. So Adelaide, that their redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course, ready for continued usage by the Live Golf Tour, is going to forge ahead, irrespective. That live golf may not forge ahead. Yeah. So it's gonna be a white elephant.
SPEAKER_01A few more quick bites in boxing uh this coming weekend.
SPEAKER_00Um world heavyweight title at stake. Fabio Wardley, two British guys, versus Daniel Triple D dynamite, whatever it is, Dubois, next week for the WBO heavyweight title. How many heavyweight titles are they? They're about five. It's stupid. Oh, okay. Because I thought we talked about um uh Joshua V. That's not for a heavyweight title. Well, what is it? I thought they were both heavyweight boxes. They are, but that's for the championship of each other. Oh, so they're not even ranked. Nah. Well, they're not sorry, they're ranked, but they're not ranked at the top where they're fighting for a championship. No. They're just fighting each other because they're more important than the actual boxes boxing for a championship. They would draw more, way more crowd. Way more crowd. Way you're looking at 100 million pounds each that they're gonna get for it. See, this is what's wrong with the international competitive world of skipping. Skipping prat. Anyway, Wardley is the champion. Wardley. That's not a boxer's name. And he has one enormous punch. He's not a good boxer. And he's the first to say it at that level. He he doesn't throw many punches, he just keeps walking forwards, he puts pressure to beat them. Yeah, imagine hitting somebody and they just don't take a back step. They just keep coming forwards, keep coming forwards, and then suddenly he could be 10 rounds down and then boom, one punch, all over. And I predict, I'm gonna on the pod now, yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I predict round eight, Du Bois will be stopped. Ah, you predicted round ten for the Joshua Fury. Fury fight for the end of that. So this one's quicker, round eight. And the reason is Is that just because people will get bored and leave the stadium? No, because Dubois will he can't, he he lands a huge punch. He hasn't been the world champion before. He knocked out Anthony Joshua. Right. Splattered him all over the ring. Yeah. Um, but he can't take it particularly well. So there's the difference there. So rugby league, a faux pas with a bulldog's coach. Did you hear about this one? Rugby league, faux pas with a bulldog's coach. Cameron, is it Suraldo? Seralto. Yes. Over in England? With his hooker is, quote, the hooker is carrying a few niggers.
SPEAKER_01When talking about Bailey Hayward.
SPEAKER_00I know. I know. Niggle. I'm thinking about niggles. That's a bit of a giggle. Indeed.
SPEAKER_01Gee whiz. I know.
SPEAKER_00And moving on to a couple of other real quick ones. Uh, surfing. I haven't done surfing yet in the podcast. No, what did we have? Stephanie Gilmore has won the Gold Coast Pro over the weekend. This is proven that she can still mix it up. This is ridiculous that she could do this. This was at Snapper Rocks. Do you know? Indeed, I was around Snapper Rocks during this tournament on the weekend. On the Sunday. Yep. And it was from Colin Gadda. I looked across Snapper Rocks and couldn't see a rock. Right. It was just people. Yeah, packed. Thousands of people. The rainbow it was absolutely packed. It's great that it was a little bit more than a little bit of a big thing. Yeah, it was incredible. But yeah, she's how old is she? She must be, oh god, 40. Oh, she's come out of retirement there. She hasn't surfed seriously for a few years. Yeah, I know. I know. Great champion and up there again. What honour? Go step. Okay. So she's got another step. Step. Another step. Another step. So when you win the pro snapper, the Rainbow Beach Surf Club gives you a step. You get your name on one of the steps that goes up to the surf club. I thought you were going to tell a joke. No, no, no. Legitimate. You get your name on a step. She's already got, I don't know how many, maybe six or seven. So it'd be Stephanie Gilmore. Could be. Anyway, cricket.
SPEAKER_01Very nice. On May the 22nd, England kick off their international summer.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I did see this. With a one-off Test match against Zimbabwe. Well, that's worthwhile. Well, it is because it's Zimbabwe's first match in England since 2003. And they'd really need to be re-announced back into the. Well, why couldn't they give them two matches? Who knows? It doesn't fit at this scheduling, you know. So it's more like a England don't want to play it. England are just throwing them a bone, doing their typical we're England. It's bringing them back into the international scene because they've been out for so long for political reasons. Um, so it's not a bad thing. But the weird thing about this one, it's actually a four-day test.
SPEAKER_01Oh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So to beat you to the punch, not only are they only going to give them one much, but they're only going to give them four days. So, well, with the way England play, they either win in three days or lose in two days. This is true. So the fourth day is a bit redundant, really, from an England point of view. From a crowd point of view. Or is that England's way of saying, yeah, we're going to smash it six runs and over review in a test match. It won't go beyond four days. Hey, look, who knows? What if they lose? England arrogance. What if they lose? Well, what a dreamy night that would be. So we've got a fantastic concept. The funny thing is with this, it's a great opportunity for England to blood some new players. I've just got a horrible feeling they're not going to. I think they may do two, whereas they should do four or something. I really hope they experiment with Jason Smith at number four. Who the hell's Jason Smith? Your keeper who can't Jason. What's his name? Bloody Jason. Well, what's his name? Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Let's move on. No, because you never play chess cricket again. He will. He's actually the leading leading scorer in county cricket. And he's the worst wicket keeper in test history. And he's been worse. So we've got another. Another batsman called Emilio, what a name, eh? Gay. And James Rue. Emilio Gay. Yeah, I know. It's fantastic, isn't it? And who's the other one? James Rue. James Rue. REW, yeah. So they made Rue that it says. I was thinking to R. No, REW. Right. But yeah, he's a brilliant batsman, and they've really got to. If they're not careful, they're going to shoehorn him into the team. They could try him as an opener, but he's shoehorn. Yeah, get him in there somehow. Why is he mean? Yeah, but because he's not really an opener, but he probably could be. Emilio is an opener and he's scoring loads of runs in the county circuit at the moment. Welcome to the Australian dilemma. Absolutely right. It's the same people we want to open that can't open as opposed to openers who can. We don't know if he can or not, that's the thing. But his technique is excellent. Very, very good. Okay, well, we look forward to Emilio showing us what he can do. Tennis, Yannick Sinner, the first player to win five ATPT ATP titles in a row. Masters titles. Yes. Gotta be favourite for the French. There's no one really there to challenge him because Alcatraz is out injured. Oh, you're kidding. I didn't realise. Yeah. So basically, it's just the Sinner show. Yeah. So it's just Amsterdam. It's gonna be rubbish. I know. Just gonna pull on Amsterdam and be the world's greatest sinner. Indeed. That's right. And be Rightio. Yeah, yeah. Last one of the quick bites before I hand over to you, Martin. Uh, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin, the Gold Coast is getting very, very close to having our own basketball team and fine, fine publication, the Bulletin. Yeah, I know. Of course. I thought that. But this links back to our interview with Lisa Williamson, who is president of the Celtics on the Gold Coast. Um, we sort of mentioned this actually to a degree, or at least touched on. We we did. When could that possibly happen again? Yeah, and there we are. So the next few months by all accounts. Well, coming round for the next season, possibly. Maybe. Okay. Well, Gold Coast has not had a great record of maintaining its national level sports teams. Uh, basketball in particular, I think they've had a couple of cracks at it. Yeah. Uh, however, I did hear it.
SPEAKER_01What was the beginning of the last basketball team?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I want to say rollers. I think it was. But it might there might have been one after that. Okay. Yeah. Gold Coast Blaze? Maybe. Not sure. But anyway, that does link nicely, John. There was some interesting banter on radio this morning about um perceived names. Right. Possibly for this Gold Coast team. Oh, that old chestnut again. Yes, and we've got to have that. So there was a couple of, you know, like the Gold Coast Dolphins. Yeah. Which that works. Yeah, it's a bit soft. It's a bit a little bit soft. And then in the light of it being a bit soft, somebody texted in to the radio station and they said if you think about the ocean and the and how the ocean works, and how a lot of our waves are quite aggressive and they dump on you, the suggestion was the Gold Coast dumpers. Now, before we go any further, the person on the radio said that's actually a really great idea because dump is so close to dunk. Yeah. And my thought process was it actually sounds like they're taking Of course, a dunk. A dump. And then I thought, well, with the history of the Gold Coast and its MBL teams, I don't know. Maybe that works.
SPEAKER_01It'd be easy to say that they're just shit.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it was yeah. I could really get on board with that though. They'd be endless with it. It would be beautiful, it would be a beautiful thing. Yes. So, Martin, what have you got for us tonight? Quick bites? Let's start with the A-League. So uh means A-League soccer, we're in the finals. What happened? Well, the the two Melbourne teams, Melbourne City, had to come up, and uh Melbourne Victory had to play in their elimination finals. So what did they do? They both lost. Oh so Sydney beat Melbourne City. Yeah. So they now play Newcastle. Um in a now it's home and away. Yeah. So there's two games. Uh-huh. Uh and uh Melbourne Victory, they lost to Auckland. And so Auckland now play, you guessed it, Adelaide United. Good old Adelaide United. Back to the centre of the world for sport, back to Heinmarsh Stadium, if it's still called that. So uh yeah, so the uh semi-finals, Adelaide v. Auckland, yeah, and Newcastle v Sydney. So on form out of those four teams, who's your pick? Uh I think Newcastle will be too strong for Sydney. Yeah. In probably both games. Okay. They've been the standout performers all year with Mark Milligan as coach. Uh well-known soccer root. Yeah. Uh geez. Auckland, Auckland, Adelaide is about as 50-50 as I can think. Yeah. So up until the last round, Auckland sat second. And then Adelaide managed to win in the last round that just jumped them up to second to not have to play the elimination finals. So it's pretty good that New Zealand are actually fielding a club team that's doing okay. They got two. Yeah, right. In the A-League. Okay. Um, Phoenix are mid-table and normally mid-table. Yeah. Auckland, since they've come into the comp, they've been top three. Yeah, I know, I know. They've never been worse. I know. And that's I think it's only two years ago. It's just good for the game. It's good for New Zealand sport. Well, it is, because it's such a tiny population. 99% of them live over here. So and it's not rugby union. And anything that takes sports people away from rugby union is good for the world because it makes the all blacks slightly more editing.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Gives us all a chance against the black. Maybe why South Africa are probably the best in the world at that at the moment. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now nice jump. The uh the young boys, the under 19s. Yeah. South Africa versus Wallabies. Okay. Now, this is where we get the future of rugby league. What's coming through that is going to enable the national teams to thrive. Apparently, not much from Australia. Oh. Oh dear. No, they got themselves absolutely royally I'm going to go dumped by uh South Africa. So they should go and play basketball. I think so. So I'll I'll go through the scores. It was a hell of a lot to nowhere near enough. Yep. It was not good. Right. That's all I want to say on that. Oh dear. What was it? You don't know what the score was. I think it was 54-17. Okay. Or somewhere around. Yeah, it was it was it was not even. The whole of South Africa rugby union is very at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. It was uh it was it was pretty brutal. Uh so let's let's go through um some basics. Uh AFL. Yeah. So it was around, we we touched on the showdown. Your boys, Collingwood on the Thursday night. It was a great match. They had no right to be competitive with Ball Thorn. Uh however, they drew. So let's put that out there. 93 all, which is very hard to do in the AFL. So great game. There is an interesting review of the last one minute and 40 seconds where it's been highlighted that Collingwood made seven strategic blunders in one minute and 40 seconds that led to the obviously not a Collingwood fan who made it. I reckon that was a harsh assessment. They were undermanned with injury, they're nowhere near as good as Hawthorne, and they've pulled out a draw. It's pretty good. Next great game: Bulldogs versus Fremantle. Bulldogs have got some injuries, they shouldn't have been competitive. So only a 12-point win to the Dockers, and Fremantle are a top three team. So great game. Followed up by a one-point showdown, which is just awesome. Then Brisbane just wiped the floor with Essendon, as you would expect. Yeah. Couple of little issues in that game. We're going to come to that. Potentially run beforehand. Then the game of the round. We've got a draw. We've got a one-point win. Yep. Supersed by West Coast v. Richmond. Go for it. West Coast, awful. Uh-huh. Richmond, actually worse. Oh. Because they hadn't won a game all year. Yeah. So they toddled themselves over to Perth. Bloody well beat them. Out of nowhere. So they grabbed an 11-point win against the West Coast. How can that happen? Oh, I honestly don't know. They're two of the most they're almost unwatchable. Yeah. Those two teams. Yeah, right. At the moment. Carlton, uh Sydney cleaned up Melbourne fairly comfortably. Geelong did a number on North Melbourne. Then we go to the Carlton St Kilda. We had the old challenge. Chestnut. Carlton up at halftime. Carlton forgot to come out after halftime. Carlton got swamped in the second half. And Michael Voss is now clinging to his role as head coach by his fingernails.
SPEAKER_01It's just the most weird thing. How many times this season has that happened?
SPEAKER_00Four at least? No. The uh six times Carlton have been in front at half time. Yeah. Five times they've lost. Yeah. And the one time they won was against Richmond, the worst team in the comp. Yeah. And that's because Richmond's full forward Tom Lynch for the night kicked one goal seven. Yeah, right. Off his own boot. So they really didn't win, and they only beat Richmond by four points that night. Yeah. Carlton didn't beat him. Yeah. They just fell over the line at a bloody stroll. Uh-huh. So that covers the AFL. Now there's a couple of things in the AFL that happened, and I'm going to save one of them. It has to do with Isaac Rankin from Adelaide and the umpiring. And at the end of this, I'm going to lose my brain about unbelievably poor umpiring. And I'm going to miss out four or five that went against. Just a quick question. When people when he plays, do the TV companies make sure that they have a guy who can definitely pronounce their R's? Because otherwise, it's just going to sound very, very bad indeed. Isaac Rankin. Yes. Think about it, Martin. No. Oh, I got there. I got there. I got there. Uh yeah. Anyway, just a thought. That's just a don't thought, isn't it? Dear idea. Okay. Uh, NRL. Next one. Very I honestly I was unsurprised in the NRL this year this week. So Cowboys beat Bulldogs. Bulldogs have been terrible this season. Okay. Uh Dolphins beat Melbourne Storm. They're just having a shocker, aren't they? Melbourne Storm have done something they have never done, which is they've now lost seven in a row. That's just mental. How is that possible? Imploded in the most spectacular way. It has to be backroom shit, guys. Craig Bellamy has just gone berserk. Well he would. Yeah. As you would expect. Our boys, the Titans, stood up hard against the Canberra Raiders who were riddled with injuries, uh, not playing well, nowhere near the team they were last year. And the Titans got belted again. So they've done it again, 28-12. Good work, boys. Yeah, yeah. Uh New Zealand Warriors playing great footy. So 36-14 over Parramatta. Okay. Broncos reigning premiers dropped another one. Roosters absolutely belted them 38-24. So Penrith must have won. Uh, we're getting there. We're getting there. Uh Rabido's just lost. Nights, 42, Rabido's 38. Yeah. Unbelievable. And that is going to be the second half of my anger. Oh, cool. Of the umpiring and reffing in that game. I'm going to get to this point later tonight.
SPEAKER_01Okay, an angry motherfucker.
SPEAKER_00But you've got Adelaide, Port Adelaide, a decision. Yeah. And you've got Newcastle, South Sydney, one of the dumbest umpiring things in the history of humanity. Right. Okay. Sharks made the West Tigers 52-10, did absolutely nothing. It was just, they basically just jollged. Yep. And then the game of the round, Panthers versus Manley Sea Eagles. 18-16. Okay. Very close. Yep. Penrith just found a way to win again. As they do. And my team, St. George. Illawarra. St. George Illawarra had the bye. Oh, God. But that is important. Okay. Because in the NRL, when you have the bye, you get two points as if you've got a win. That's our first two points for the season. Come on. Yeah. Oh no, the drums have failed for St. George. There you go. Go the mighty Saints. You plonker. No, it's hard work. Are we done with rugby league? Uh yes, we are done with rugby league. Can I roll on to some soccer? You can.
SPEAKER_01Super duper, because in the European Champions League, Arsenal reached their first major European final in 20 years last night, beating Atletico Madrid. 1-0 to go two on up an aggregate. So the cracks are beginning to seal up in the Arse null. They're back on top in the Premier League as well because Manchester City had a disaster. And they did they? Yeah, they they they they drew 3-0 with Everton, but it was weird. They were 1-0 up. They went 3-1 down in the space of like 10 minutes. Yep.
SPEAKER_00And then scored an incorrect two goals in like two minutes, balling stoppage time, to take it to 3-0. But now they're a couple of points behind.
SPEAKER_01So it's going to go right down to the last match of the season.
SPEAKER_00Leeds United 3-1 against Burley, taking the 43 points, almost assured of safety. Ah, well, it was said 40 points. Yeah, they're on assures you of safety. Pretty certain we're on 40, maybe 41. Chelsea 3-1. Holy moly, they didn't play great. They're playing really well at the moment. Yeah, Chelsea. They're playing like a top six. Well, Chelsea is sort of weird. Very hot and copies. Yeah, they are. Yeah. West R. Martin. Yes. West or Martin. I know. West Ham 31. They coped a Brenting. They did. 3-0 to Brentford, actually. 3-0 to Brentford. Mike. Do you know? I don't know if you know, I don't know if you saw any of it, but they hit the post four times, had a penalty decision which really should have gone their way, and it didn't. There were nothing went right for them at all. They played really well. The score did not reflect the match. And the score is what counts. That's right. A bugger. And Spurs won as well. The Spurs. And this lands the mighty hammers. Yeah, in the relegation zone. Right back in relegation. Yeah. And they've got Arsenal to come on. I was about to say their next game, I think, is a nightmare. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's a few tough matches to three matches to go, shit. You know, but at least when it counts in the final round, West Ham have got basically a bye. Who are we playing against?
SPEAKER_01You know who we're playing. You're playing in the mighty leads. Anyway, uh, in the championship to prop up the promotion race to go up to the Premier League, Derby County may go up.
SPEAKER_00My mate, my long-suffering best mate of your, David William Birch, a fanatical fan of Derby, will be going ballistic, especially if his other beloved team, Sperms, get relegated. Now, the joy of having two teams to go for, I ask you, really. Gosh, that would be one up, one down. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So, you know, I mean when we were kids playing on the street, him and I, he was like the Tottenham hotspur captain, Steve Perriman, or Ozzy Ardealez. I was nowhere near as good as him, but I tried to be Joe Jordan or Billy Bremner.
SPEAKER_00Failed miserably, just like the sperms are doing right. Now, I'd like to just point out for our listeners if any of you are wondering, as I am, who the bloody hell were those four names you just rolled out? And it's a rhetorical question because I'm pretty sure I don't care. All international players from what 1972? Yeah, because well, but maybe not 72, but oh that's the last time Leeds was successful. Yeah, 76, maybe. So I'll I'll quickly go on to Snooker. So we wanted this a couple of days ago. Uh well, I was right with my half right with the prediction, Sean Murphy. Yeah, yeah. He reached the final. Apparently, it was a well, I saw some of it. It's difficult to watch for the hours here. Um, pulsating final. And it was Do you know? You know. Go on. Thank you for interrupting me, but go on. No, I think this is important. You use the word pulsating to describe a game of snooking. Absolutely, and I'll tell you now, because I was hoping you walked right into the street. Yeah, that's a tough trap. The atmosphere at the crucible snooker me. The atmosphere.
SPEAKER_01No, but I might I might get you screwed, um, but not by me. The atmosphere at the crucible has been likened akin to Wembley Stadium for an international or Wimbledon.
SPEAKER_00It's good lord, how many people do they pack into the crucible?
SPEAKER_01It's electric. It really is. It's pin drop and the the tension, it's pressure. It's an electric crucible. Yeah. It's pressure. The pressure that those guys are under to because it's a millimeter game, you know, it's an unbelievably skillful game.
SPEAKER_00But as just as as a curiosity, how many people do they get to a level of snooker like this? In the oh, it's indoors, so everything's reverberating, there's more noise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know, I don't know how. I don't, I've never even really how big those places are. But the atmosphere is absolutely electric.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, so but Sean Murphy, at 17 frames all, over like two and a half days, um he he actually lost.
SPEAKER_00Hang on, two and a half days. Yeah. I might miss something here in Snooker. How does it go for two and a half days? Because it's the first 18 frames. Right. It's not done in a day. Holy crap. It's done over sessions. And how long's a session? Could be five frames. Depends on how they're. Good lord. Yeah, it's a it's a marathon, mate. It really is. I did not know this. The whole competition's done over three weeks. Okay. So it's uh it's a it's exhaust mentally exhausting for them that because they like I said, the concentration level and the pressure is unbelievable. Do they still get to smoke while they do it? No. Okay. In fact, probably that would be a stress release. Because the eventual winner, Wu Yi's. Oh no, we know him. He another guy from two years in a row. Chinese guy has won the world title. So he followed in the footsteps of his mate, Wu Zhao. From last year.
SPEAKER_01And uh yeah, he won at 1817. Unbelievable. One of the greatest matches of all time. So he's only 22, and his story is that he moved to England when he was 15 with his dad, left his mum behind because he was talented, wanted to pursue his dreams. They lived in a windowless single bed flat. They shared a single bed with his dad so he could go out and practice snooker. His dad worked in a factory in Sheffield so he could earn enough money to pay for his son's snooker.
SPEAKER_00And six years later, he's world champion. And what do you get for being world champion of snooker? A lot of money. And then all of the endorsements. Oh, and yeah, they go berserk. What's the uh prize money? I don't know at the moment. Yeah, what's the prize money? I've got to check it up for extra. I've never even thought of it. Well, you go on to your next subject. Well, I'm gonna touch on the NBA finals because boy have they exploded. Yeah. So we've rolled out of the first round and we've already hit the second round. Okay. So let's uh let's first of all we'll uh summarize all of the um and end results for each one. So Detroit versus Orlando, this is the Eastern Conference. Yeah, Pistons got up 4-3. That's one v8. You would have thought that uh Detroit would have won a little bit easier than that. The Motor City. The Motor City, yes. Uh, these are all seven seven-game series. Boston v. Philadelphia. Oh my god. Yeah. So Boston had a 3-1 lead. Right. All they had to do was win one more game. Yep. What'd they do? And they blew it and they lost 4-3 to Philadelphia. So Boston, who finished second in the uh Eastern Conference, are now gone. First round of finals, they're out. Yeah. Uh New York got up over Atlanta in six, four-two. Cleveland. Uh Cleveland got over 4-3 over Toronto. Yeah. So uh that was a good really good close series. Western Conference. Oklahoma City. We already know that. 4-0 against Phoenix, so that was easy. And they're the defending champions. Yes. Yes, San Antonio, 4-1. They did it in five games against Portland. Uh, Denver Nuggets finished third in the in the conference, dropped their bundle, 4-2 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Oh. Shouldn't have done that. The Nuggets are much better than that. And uh Los Angeles kind of fell over the line against the uh Houston, against the uh the Rockets. Right. So that brings us into the second round of finals. So what we've got so far, Detroit versus Cleveland. So far, Pistons have won the first one. So they've only had one game so far, so they're 1-0 up. New York versus Philadelphia, Knicks have got the first win. 137-98, mind you. That's not just a win, that's a mauling in basketball. Oklahoma City versus Los Angeles. So the Lakers. Geez, that's going to be tough for the Lakers, and they've already dropped the first one. Uh, and San Antonio Spurs versus Minnesota Timberwolves. Timberwolves have won the first one unexpectedly. Wow, there you go. I didn't think they would. Yeah. Following the Spurs a little bit. Yes, yep. So San Antonio, they should have won. But uh nope, Minnesota got over them. There you go. So that's where we sit. So Detroit, New York, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio. Yep. Uh so far are on the winners' list. There you go. In round two. So NBA finals. All right. Updated. Can I uh interject? Yes. Uh the World Snooker Champion won £500,000. So a million dollars. Million Australian dollars. For winning. Yeah. So it's pretty good. That's pretty good. But then, like I said, he'll just get so many more. Yeah, that'll be nothing compared to his endorsement. Absolutely. Especially back in China. He'll be a cult hero over there already. Absolutely. Can I go on the clip? Good on him. We're going on the clickeress. Are we? Yeah. And you know Martin. Have you found it? No, I know. Still. Still can't find it. I understand.
SPEAKER_01So, but this is a me and you thing, so we're going to look for it together. So what an interesting video.
SPEAKER_00Sharing is caring, my good man. And I'm a visual. Sharing is caring. Cheers, but I'm a visual person. What have we got? So you point. Whiteboard gate. The drama. Oh, yes, yes. Attention. I remember this. Like a like a novel that you can't put down. Like a TV series that you just cannot but just keep watching episode. Sounds like an episode. What's what's whiteboard? What happened on a whiteboard, John? Well, a bit of AFL problem. Whose problem? Essendon, first of all. I think it might have been their problem. And Brisbane. Don't think it was their problem. So the content was that uh there was a leak in in the Brisbane setup. Yeah. Yeah, kind of. Yes. This is what I'm quite to the best of my knowledge. And uh what you leaked. A parent of an Oz kicker, whatever that is, took a photo. Uh Judy and Fity that play at half time out on the ground. Oz kick. Yes. Uh uh took a photo and leaked it. Um, and well, look, the reaction wasn't very good. Interesting. What was the content, John, on this whiteboard? The content was not revealed to my knowledge to be particularly in depth. But maybe you could help me out there, Martin. It was as basic as it needed to be to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. And this is what I this is what I mean. It's so pathetic. But I understand. So who's angry? I think just the media. So I mean the individual players from Essendon who were labeled as they have no strengths. Yeah. Um, or as a statement of their players. Well, yes, but they're also, you've got to understand, it's coming from the team who's trying to beat them. And if they say this individual player is selfish, then it gives them an insight into what they're going to do with the ball. Well, of course. They're not going to give the first option to a teammate. It's not like cracking the bloody code, is it, and giving it to the secrets official official secrets act. It's not enigma. No, that's what I meant. Yes. I thought it was. It's I mean, Brisbane are hardly Alan Turing. Yeah, well, that's right, yeah. But um cheering them on. Anyway. Yes, yes, very nice. I like it. Uh it has ruffled some feathers. Yeah. We love the fierceness that a team plays with. Uh-huh. We love the idea of a team playing on the edge and getting control of their opponents and beating them into submission. Yeah. Until we learn maybe how they do it, and then we're all a little bit upset. Well, if you love the end result, you don't get to complain about the process to get there. Yeah, you couldn't agree with that. And maybe the parent of the Essendon-based Oz kick kid who was an Essendon supporter should not have taken a photo through the window and then published it's right about their own players publicly. That's not going to help their players. That is totally dumb. In defense. Don't write it on a damn whiteboard. Yeah. Just talk about it. Well, there's no need to. The whiteboard thing is very, very coachy. Yeah, there's all coachy, isn't it? It's all this, um, they write them up there and and players can add to it over a number of days. Yeah. So that on game day they look, yeah, I don't know. Oh, John. I'm gonna before you're gonna go into a rant after this little bit from me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm just building because I know I can tell. I just thought I'd break.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Uh record break, talk about break. We've got the record breakers of records that are unlikely to be beaten. Oh, we've got a okay, you've got another one then. But I don't think I can't see how this ever can be beaten because the sports being changed a little bit. Oh, okay. Well, that makes it harder. So, but even so, and I'll tell you why in a minute, it still comparisons won't work. Yeah. Boxing. I thought you were going to say javelin. 1938. 1938. Not really that long ago. My lord. Not that long ago when you think about it, you know. It's anyway, so it's like 88 years, man. Yeah, it's not that long. One lifetime and a bit on average. So Henry Armstrong. Yeah. Homicide Hank. His name is Henry Armstrong. Yes. His name is Homicide Hank. His nickname is Homicide Hank.
SPEAKER_01149 fights, 99 KOs. Um, just an amazing fighter.
SPEAKER_00Held three world titles at the same time. Now, no one's ever done that since. And that's but is that back in the time where there weren't five world titles for the same weight category? That's correct. There was one world title for the same weight category. And not only that, okay, but in the 80s, they started to introduce in between weights.
SPEAKER_01So he went from featherweight to lightweight and welterweight, which is quite a difference in in in weight. Can I hang on a second? Held the At the same time they have got um junior lightweight, lightweight, uh super lightweight.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay, that's breaking it all down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's just so they can have more. Can I ask, back in those days then, what is approximately what was the weight difference between these categories? Because I I wouldn't have a clue. Four kilos? That's a lot as a lean athlete to drop or gain to make another category. Unbelievable. And then fight successfully. Wow. Okay. I know. And to hold three at the same time, he would be in the the arguments to be the greatest fighter of any weight of all time. Homicidal Hank. Yeah, homicide hang. Did did they have saunas back then? Oh no. Oh, they did, but it wasn't used. He just had apparently his physiological advantage. Oh, so sorry, by the way, he also challenged for the world middleweight title in 1940 and controversially got a draw. So he would have had four.
SPEAKER_01Middleweight is pretty big compared to featherweight. They're mind you. Featherweights are tiny. Yeah. Hence the name feather. You know, there's only two weights below them officially, anyway, um, Bantamweight and Flyweight. Junior? Yeah, now there are. But then there was only like two.
SPEAKER_00No, I meant like kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're tiny. But middleweight is actually fairly big.
SPEAKER_01They're not heavyweights, but it's only two weights below heavyweight. Used to be light heavyweight, then heavyweight after middleweight. So yeah. But anyway, yeah, he was unbelievable. So, but apparently, physiologically, he had a normally large heart. Uh, a third bigger than the average.
SPEAKER_00His Farlap. Obviously. Farlap. His Farlap. But for the listeners who don't understand, Farlap was an Australian horse. Yes, and he made an unusually large heart. He had a heart bigger than Farlap. Where have you gone with that? Farlap's an absolute treasure. Yeah, we know. Over here. So Martin Ranty, come on. Oh my god, umpiring. Go on then. AFL and NRL. This might be two of the, and this is the problem when you have microphones on the umpires. Right. And they're turned on. Yeah, unlike certain scenarios in the AFL where every now and again they're not turned on when they need to be. Yeah. These were turned on. The showdown, Isaac Rankin. It's been measured that he ran with the ball for 22 meters. Yeah. Now you can only run 15 meters before you have to do something. Okay. Handball it, kick it, bounce it, bend over and touch the ball on the ground. Something. Yep. You can't just keep running forever. Uh-huh. He ran a total of 22 meters. 22. And the umpire blew his whistle and said, free kick pod Adelaide, you've run too far. Oh. And Isaac rank and said, clearly, I bounced it. Yeah. And the umpire said, I only saw you bounce it once. Now, once should have been enough. Yeah. Over 22 meters. But Isaac said, I bounced it twice. Yeah. And every commentator listening to this live conversation went. He bounced it twice. Yeah. Clear as day. So can I can I ask you something then? So why at that point do they not have a video review? Because you can't video review everything. The game would never- that's the main reason. The game would never. But that's the big thing, though. Well, I think it is too. Right. But something as simple as not seeing a player that you're looking at bounce the freaking ball. And it was just unbelievable. Shutting all the spec savers. And I thought terrible. Now that rolled in with a couple of other decisions on the night that went to get Adelaide, which even the commentators just went, holy crap, that is 100% wrong. Yeah. So I'm thinking that's as bad as the weekend can get. Yeah. And then the NRL popped up on Sunday. Yeah. What did we pop up with Martin? The NRL popped up and said, Hold my beer, we can do one worse. Come on. Newcastle versus South Sydney. Yeah. Kalen Ponger, the fullback for Newcastle. Kalen Ponger. Kaylin Ponger. Right. Comes flying off the line. Beautiful hard-hitting tackle. Yeah. Didn't shoulder charge. Didn't hit him high. No penalty. Yeah. Just a great tackle that flawed his opponent. And the umpire on the microphone said, You need to tackle with less force. What? Are you kidding me? They're the words. Oh my god. First of all, did he give him a 2-2? How do you tackle with slightly less force if you're a rugby league player running off the line and talking about it? The idea is that you just tackle with as much force as you can. Now he didn't do it, he didn't shoulder charge him, he didn't hit him high, he did nothing. Yes. And he was told, quote, tackle with less force. Quite possibly the single dumbest thing ever said by any referee in any rugby league match anywhere in the world. Did the ref give him some lipstick and a mirror? Anyway, I think it was in his back pocket for his own use. My lord. So, my rant, really simple. Umpires, ref. Step up. Step up with the game for God's sakes. I totally agree. Kind of watch what's right in front of you. Yes. Just get it right. Yeah, yeah. Well, talking about bouncing off things, we're going to the helmets.
SPEAKER_01We're going to bouncing off the helmet. Yes, I know. Helmet time. And in hockey in America, NHL, the number 69 hasn't been banned.
SPEAKER_00Oh. But it's effectively forbidden due to its quote, giggly, giggle worthy unquote, or sexual connotations. Is this official? Yes. From the NFL. NHL hockey. Oh, hockey. Sorry, NHL. This is the official stance on the number.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. No player has worn it since Andrew Dejadin in 2012. Only two players in the history of the NHL have worn it, and in 2003, Mel Engelsted also wore the number. Oh my god, I can only say it's a stain on the game.
SPEAKER_00Is that a quote or is that a John Briggs quote? I'll leave it to the imagination. It's a Johnny.
SPEAKER_01The second part of bouncing off that when we're recycling back to our interviewee a couple of weeks ago, the brilliant, amazing Nikki Hudson. Yes. 303 appearances for Australia.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Amazing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_0099 goals.
SPEAKER_01Yep. She wasn't, well, I've come into that. She wasn't the only one to have that certain number after her name. No, not that number, Martin, that we've just been talking about before. No, no. Well, what are the numbers? The Bradman number, the 99 goals in her international career. In the 2000 Olympics, Nikki was the tournament's top goalscorer with six goals. In the Beijing 2008 Olympics, she scored her 98th goal in her 299th appearance. And her 99th goal against South Africa in her 300th appearance. And then was inducted into the Queensland Hall of Fame in 2012 and had a hockey pitch named after her in 2018. Go to a womba. Yeah. Go to a womba. Yeah, I know. But I mean, really, absolute legend, and not just because we happen to interview her, but it should be pushed a little bit more of Australia's well, I think, uh, great athletes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, well, both the Cookaburras and the Hockey Roos have been exceptional performers on the international stage. Yep. I think at SportBiz here we we might need to uh give a little bit more love and attention to our hockey competition. I I think so too. You know, I think it's a great game, it just doesn't get much coverage. Absolutely. And they don't ban numbers. That's important too. Indeed. So just in the NHL, if you're if you're a forward and you're scoring goals and you happen to score 68 goals, what do you do with the 69th? When you get the next one, they go to 70, do they just say you're 70 minus one? Is that I'm like, is the whole number being? No, that is a mouthful. Is there a is there are there are there no seats? What if there's a stadium pretty big? Surely there's a seat with a 69. Yeah, yeah. The whole world has gone pathetic. These days, I'd be more upset if somebody talked about the the the number 6'7. Why 67? That's more unappealing these days. Is it? Explain it to me. Oh, it's an Instagram thing. Oh, okay. I'm an Instagram ball for that. Yeah, you've gone past your your 55th.
SPEAKER_01So you you're gonna round up on something, haven't you? But I'm just gonna go to a past hitting the crack.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Okay. We're going the past crack. Yes. The year is 1996. Wimbledon final. Seeing that that's coming around very shortly. Yes. A balmy, sunny June day. What did he what did Tim do? Richard that was way before Tim. Oh. Richard Crykack Crychek. Yeah. Oh. And Malavi Washington in the final. Malavi Washington. That's the most Mormon name I've ever heard in my life. Well, not mean racist, he was he's a black guy. And the only second ever black guy to reach the men's final, first being Arthur Ash. I was about to say that would be Arthur Ash. Yeah. With a fair old court and stadium named after him. Absolutely, that's right. Yes.
SPEAKER_01So, anyway, there was another player on the centre court that day before the match started. And as the players were doing the lineup for the uh the royalty in the present with the pre-match presentation and announcements, a certain Melissa Johnson. Wearing only an apron. And if you want to click onto the sportsbits page, Martin, you will see. And then I will sit back and listen to your response or reaction, I should say. You keep going. Well, Melissa was an awfully posh private public school girl.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01I know. And mummy was behind it all, and mummy was saying, Well, good on you. Uh poor old Malavi said, Well, when I saw what I saw, I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the match, then it was all over before I knew it. And if you see what I mean, come on, Marty.
SPEAKER_00I told you. That's a 1996 blonde bottom. 94. 96. Ah, he's got a fair grin on his face. Hijack or Malawi. Or both. I think that's Mellamine. Mellamine, Malachine, Malay Malavine. Oh no, it wasn't. Sorry. Oh, there you go. Oh, yes. Hello. They are very happy boys. That was before it started. So, as you may well gather, people listening. Uh Melissa Johnson was a streaker. She's got a lot. Hang on a minute. Let me just zoom in. I just need to get an understanding of what this is. She's got a lot. That's not a big apron. In fact, that's a very bad. That's what well they said that. It's like Richard Crychek.
SPEAKER_01Crychek said he did the crack in an interview. Just in case we were wondering, it bounced what was under the apron. She lifted the apron to show us, and that was interesting.
SPEAKER_00That was interesting. Now, even just that response makes you wonder what it was. Yeah, I know. Now I'm going to just quickly move on to the current headmaker. AFL Gold Coasts. Ben Long threw the WG Giants player, I don't know who it was, to the ground. Oh, I saw this. He jump-punched him, head grabbed him, then slapped him in the face like a fish. He jumper-punched him and got him in the chin, then threw him to the ground, and then absolutely gave him a slap. Yeah, I know. Well, what's the slap? Sounds like WWE, doesn't it? I expected Mr. McMahon to walk onto the pitch at any. I thought they were going to do a John Cena in a suit. You can't see me. Yeah. So what's the slap?
unknownI mean, it was.
SPEAKER_00It was pretty disrespectful. Obviously, but um that was one of the weirdest things I've seen for a while. That's why I mentioned it. Technically, the jumper punch on the chin should be a match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. The slap should probably be with a guy on the ground. Probably two. And the throwing him to the ground when the ball's nowhere near where you are, is probably one. I know. I can't see him being rubbed out for four matches. Right. But I don't know what. That was one of the weirdest things. Yeah, yeah. I watched that a couple of times and I thought somebody had edited the tape and made it into a meme or something. But but they hadn't. It was real. It's a slap, the slap gets me. So we'll find the footage of it and we'll show it because like you said, the slap across the head is just beautiful. We're rolling onto Formula One. Yeah, very quickly. What a weird season we've got. It's back. Yeah. Mr. Antonelli. Yeah. He's um he's forgotten how to lose. He's 18 years old. Yeah, he's unbelievable. Great car. Yeah, of course. And he's forgotten how to lose. So he's just keep winning. Yeah. He he just uh great racer. So it can't be just the car because Russell, George Russell, who has the same car, yes, can't do anything at all. Ah, well, that brings you into the same theory as how did Oscar Piastri's car fall apart last year. Yeah, yeah. Whilst the same car, Lando Norris's car, won everything in the second half of the season. Exactly. Because even though they're in the same team, they're not the same car. Yeah, okay. So one of the they have their own managers, they have their own setup for their own driving style. Okay. So you don't have like Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, their cars are not set up identically. Yeah. Because it will be based on the way they drive. Of course. One might break really late into tight corners and then accelerate hard out of them. Yeah. The other one might break really deep into a corner and therefore accelerate slower. Does that come down to mechanical things going on with the car? It's the setup. Yeah, of different angles on wings and fins and things that are adjustable. So they have their own setup team. Yes. Completely different from teammates setup. Teammates setup teams. Yeah, okay. Yeah, 100% different. Yeah. But what you've got is Antonelli first, Lando Norris second, Oscar Piastri third. So there's a couple of things I'd like to touch on there. Oscar started a race. Yes, he did well. Brilliant. Woo-hoo! Even better. Oscar finished the race. Even better. And he was on the podium. So really that's a that's an unofficial world champion right there. Yeah, yeah. Uh, on that effort. But what it begs the question of is where's Charles Leclerc from Ferrari? I know. Where's Ferrari in general? Where's Max Verstappen? Yeah. And where's Red Bull in general? Yeah. They have fallen off with the new technology and the new uh rules and conditions for the cars. They're nowhere near. They are nowhere near. Yeah. So it's it's not they're not even close to being competitive with these guys. Yeah, yeah. And they're just gonna run away with it, aren't they? They can't see. Well, it's very well, we know you can it can change. Verstaffin came from nowhere last year to only just lose the championship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they can come back, but wow, yeah. The cars. But then again, these circuits right now might suit these cars. That's right, yeah. Whereas they start going to some of the Nuremberg and Monzer and um uh some of the old style go over to England to Silverstone and Monaco, yeah, and they might suit the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, and suddenly they're back in the picture. We will see. So I will say though that Norris did win something. That's the sprint car race. Oh, the first little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh good on the. I know, I know. It's only a consolation. At least you got something. Yeah. Is that it for tonight? Are we done? I think that's it, mate. Mate, well, if that is the case. It's been a lot that we've got. I've been enjoying sports. That's been a lot. So unfortunately, it does great experience, great fun. Mate, as always. As always, great beer, great jokes, great beer from me. Um I had one. Ah, you did well. Did I have one or two? I can't remember. Anyway, it is good night for me. It is good night from him. Good, good night.