THE WEEK THAT WAS
The Age
Saturday March 27, 2010
SATURDAY: You can stack it anyway you like, but Melbourne Victory defender Adrian Leijer got to the nub of it. "A penalty shootout is a crap way to lose." Striker Archie Thompson might have chimed in with: "Try watching it with your knee in ice after doing your ACL inside 20." Kevin Muscat might have added: "Try being captain and missing in the penalty shootout." Such was the tale of the Victory's A-League grand final loss to Sydney FC at Etihad Stadium. Victory's solace? Boarding a plane to Japan three hours later for an Asian Champions League game. Flight attendant, make mine a double.SUNDAY: In the first Test in Wellington, New Zealand is forced to follow on after being dismissed 302 runs short of Australia's first innings, and is promptly 5-187 in the second dig. Doug Bollinger's 5-28 and 2-30 would have appeared to have done the damage, but €” as Kiwi Daniel Vettori was quick to point out €” the home side would have been right in the match had its No.9 batsman Tim Southee not been so horribly robbed by the video umpire. Underarm, Rainbow Warrior and now Southee. Oh, the injustice. No such bleatings from Queensland, which was beaten by 457 runs as Victoria stormed to its second successive Sheffield Shield triumph.MONDAY: Having been blown away by Bollinger the day before, the Kiwis €” through Brendon McCullum €” hit back, only for play to be blown away by 130kmh/h winds. Tiger Woods does a TV interview in the US and admits to "doing some pretty bad things" and "living a lie". Apparently he'll be playing a round again soon. And the AFL investigation into Brendan Fevola and that shower photo appears to be over after the league again interviewed the aforementioned Fev and was stuck with a "he said, she said" situation.TUESDAY: Phillip Hughes makes a rapid 83 as Australia reels in the 106 runs required to beat NZ by 10 wickets in the first Test. Geelong coach Mark Thompson tells the gathered media that he reckons Gary Ablett has made up his mind where he'll be playing next year, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou reckons Ablett will be a good chance to stay in Geelong, but Barack Obama was too busy getting his heath reforms through congress to speculate.WEDNESDAY: Andrew Demetriou indicates that the AFL will turn its attention to tackling climate change. Given the league has ended racism, sexism, homophobia and cured the common cold, expect the ice caps to return to normal sometime next Thursday. Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says he has fears that free agency "will drive a team to Tasmania or out of the competition completely". He is right to fear. Even in a Lexus, the drive to Tassie is a treacherous one.THURSDAY: Richmond's season begins poorly for a second year in row when, for the second year in a row, it is well beaten by arch-rival Carlton. The difference, perhaps, was that this year it wasn't also the end of the Tigers' season.FRIDAY: Mark Webber raises expectations of the first Australian win at an Australian Formula One Grand Prix since Cobb and Co. steered their wagon to victory in the autumn of 1885. Webber's Red Bull €” it's a car advertising a drink, it's not a real bull €” clocked the third-fastest time in practice at the Albert Park track.
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