Letters to Jim Main #7

Perplexing Programming (22/7/09)

Dear Jim
A lot of people have written to you with valid gripes about the standard of AFL telecasting in NSW and Quensland and I cannot understand how putting on a dodgy movie works better for the network. Does a network really earn more in advertising that way? Or does it cost too much to relay the "live" feed to Sydney and Brisbane? I am not in the Tv business, so I have no idea of their motivation for such decisions. However I figure that if they spend so much to get the broadcasting rights they might as well show their product, especially as the price is expected to rise with the introduction of two new teams.

Jim Main says:
There is so much disquiet, even anger, over this that something must be done.

A Real Stimulus

I received my group certificate and immediately reflected on the post by Dr H titled “Government Stimulus Impossible”. Referring of course to the stimulus packages that aim to reverse the effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) in Australia.

Dr H uses economically sound logic to explain why these stimulus packages won’t work and why their effect on the GFC will be negligible at best.

I have felt that the stimulus packages are more of a vote grab. Our selfish materialistic culture falls for the bait and sees only dollar signs while failing to see the bigger picture or the long-term outlook.

Inspect your own group certificate. Mine said that I was paid $55,000 gross and was taxed $11,000. Yet Rudd gives me $900 and expects me to be happy and go on a spending spree. How about cutting the taxes altogether, stop stealing my hard earned for useless spending sprees. It might win votes but will most likely have no effect on the GFC whatsoever.

Make some tough decisions instead of popular ones: cut taxes, cut spending, cut regulation.

Subsidies Decline

I read with interest a story in the Daily Telegraph about government subsidies being reduced for call outs and transports from Ambulance services (‘Cheaper to catch a taxi to hospital’ – 7/7/09).

A supposed “price hike” even though patients will only pay just above 50% of the fees, up approximately $200 for transport. Most of our patients are the elderly who have pension cards that cover the costs anyway.

The state Liberal Party are getting caught in the trap of objecting for the sake of it, even though it would match their ideology of small government.

We should be grateful that the ambulance service has been that affordable. Perhaps a price hike, as the media calls it, would make people think twice before calling an ambulance for trivial reasons.

The public expect so much from the government and they take as much as they can. The ambulance service is being taken for granted like every other health service. Perhaps a bill sent in the mail will open people’s eyes to the “real” costs of good health and find out that it doesn’t come freely.

Tom Wills – Book Review

"Tom Wills: The Spectacular Rise and Tragic Fall" by Greg de Moore

Admittedly this book is very niche. It’s the story of the sporting hero in Melbourne during the 1800’s. Tom Wills was the superstar cricket player of the colony. Also a great story of early colonial living.

My interest in this story stemmed from the fact that Tom Wills, along with three others, formed a committee to write the first rules for the game now known as Australian Rules Football over 150 years ago.

Educated at the famous Rugby School in England, Wills returned home with high expectations from his father to join the law profession. However, all Wills wanted to do was play cricket. He was the best by far in cricket mad Melbourne. His services were in demand as he made a name for himself as a batter, bowler and a leader.

Greg de Moore has done a brilliant job in gathering the historical remains to put the pieces of Tom Will’s life together

Letters to Jim Main #6

I was so impressed with my blog post on Barry Hall that i sent it to Jim Main and it was published last week.

Hallmarks of Persecution (17/6/09)

Dear Jim
The Sydney Swans' Barry Hall is in a tough situation. He has a reputation for being a bad boy and it seems impossible for umpires to view him neutrally. This is unfair and opposition players take full advantage by coaxing him into random acts of frustration. He is the most picked player in the AFL. He is able to be wrestled like WWE Smackdown and gets very few free kicks. Yet the glamour forwards like Lance Franklin and Matthew Lloyd only need a finger nail to grace their shoulder to get a free kick. Hall now is giving away free kicks and 50m penalties on the suspicion that he has done somthing wrong. In the Jarryd Roughead incident when it appeared Roughead ran into Hall's outstretched arm, no less than six Hawthorn players got into Hall's face. Of course he is going to push and shove. I know Hall does himself no favours with his remonstrations, but I feel sorry for him even though he created his own problems and now has to live with them.

Jim Main says:
It sometimes reminds me of bear-baiting in Russia, with people poking sticks into the beast to get a reaction. Yes he is his own worst enemy, but I always thought umpires had to treat all players equally.

And then there was this one written on the same topic in the same edition of Inside Football

In a League of His Own (17/6/09)

Dear Jim,
After watching the Swans lose to Hawthorn, I firmly believe as I have for years that there is a different set of rules for Barry Hall. Yes, he plays close to the edge, but he still should be treated according to the rules. I cringe at the way he gets manhandled every week and the umpires seems to sweat on him. He gets a free kick every now and then but most of the time defenders can just grab him, hold him and nothing is done about it. I get confused when I see the way Nick Riewoldt is adjudicated. Is it Hall's lack of hair and tattoo? He is good enough and fit enough to play on next year but it seems the AFL and the umpires are pushing him into a boxing career. Has the AFL become that soft?

Tim Brett
Concord West, NSW

Jim Main says:
The umpires will deny it but Hall is treated differently. However I do not believe in conspiracy theories.