The recent hospitalisation of Richmond star Ben Cousins has again brought the spotlight back on the use of legal stimulants by AFL players.  Apparently Cousins was admitted to Intensive Care due to a reaction to a sleeping tablet, prescribed to counter the effects of legal stimulants taken the day before in Richmonds (awesome!!!) game against the Sydney Swans.

Due to Cousin’s previous shady history with drugs, there are a few question marks surrounding this particular incident. 

However, the use of legal stimulants by elite AFL players is clearly an issue…. or issit?

Players have been reported to load up on Caffeine pills, No-Doze and/or Energy Drinks before they run out onto the ground.  These substances are totally legal and socially acceptable.  But should our players be putting their bodies through this?  Especially when they sometimes require the use of prescription sleeping medication to “come down” and get a nights rest? 

This doesn’t sound right to me. 

One fear is that the youngsters looking up at their footy idols will start following suit and start loading up for their local footy games. 

As far as health concerns go, too much caffeine is definitely not good for you…. evelvated heart rates and possible addiction.

With regards to energy drinks, substances like Taurine, although legal and “approved”, are relevantly new to the consumer market.  What are the long term effects of excessive consumptions?  well … we wait and see.

And this problem is not only in AFL camps.  It seems athletes and sportsmen/women from a range of different sports are doing similar.

I hope Benny Cousins recovers well and can take the field again for the Tiges.  Preferably without the use of stimulants.

what do you think?

I received my first Richmond membership in the mail yesterday.  It is only a 3 game membership … but its a start.

The plan is to catch a min of 3 home games once my uni exams finish and I get my (guilt-free) weekends back.

So far the Tigers are winless this season… and there is a good chance that they will be winless at the end of the season.

This has not influenced me against getting a membership OR wanting to attend some games!  …..

cue the abuse and taunts

gameplans:

 I had the great experience of watching the game on the weekend with two great Melbourne people, both of whom have had a profound influence on my life.

Has our game produced any greater stories than Ron Barassi and Jim Stynes?

I wrote the following in the weeks after I started back as CEO of Melbourne in late 2008. Whilst clearly progress has been made since I penned this, and Saturday’s game at the very least reinforced the direction we are taking to build our team, importantly we are also creating a seamlessness between past, present and future. Heritage as it relates to hope, a constant for 152 years.

This is what I wrote in October 2008…

A few weeks ago I had reason to entertain an overseas guest at the MCG. It was the Monday after the Grand Final, and our guest who had never been to the MCG nor seen a live game of AFL football, remarked how he was amazed that the streets of Melbourne had been so empty that previous Saturday afternoon. 

He watched the game on the television, and was smitten.

Our game does that, and has been doing so for a century and a half.

As we wandered around the cathedral of sport, we came across the Jamie Cooper painting depicting the Melbourne Team of the Century that hangs in the MCC members.

We explained to our guest that the man who stands in the front of the young players is Norm Smith. Not only was Norm coach of the Melbourne Team of the Century, he was also coach of the AFL team of the Century. He is the greatest coach our game as produced.

Norm Smith also sits amongst the players. So great were his coaching exploits, it often forgotten he was a champion player before he became a champion coach.

As a player, Norm formed a close friendship with Ron Barassi. I am sure they would have celebrated the birth of his son, Ronald Dale Barassi in 1936, the year that Ron Snr debuted for the Demons. Tragically Ron Barassi Senior was killed in Tobruk in 1941, the first VFL footballer to lose his life in WWII. Ron Junior was left fatherless as a young child. It is now part of football folklore that Norm Smith helped fill this breach and young Ron lived with the Smith family in his formative teenage years.

Ron Barassi Jnr sits near the young Norm Smith in the Team of Century painting, for he was to become arguably Melbourne’s greatest player in the Norm Smith coached teams. He was also the first man to wear the moniker ‘Super Coach’ so great were his exploits as a mentor of Premiership teams. Is there a more famous name in the game?

As a player, Ron toured Ireland with a team famously named the Galahs. He was taken by the talent of the Gaelic footballers, and in particular their ability to transition to our game. As is Ron’s want, he simply asked “Why couldn’t they?”.

He returned to Ireland fifteen years later and returned with a tall skinny youngster who could run like Forrest Gump. That youngster went on to win a Brownlow and play a remarkable 244 games in a row. Jim Stynes sits in the back row in the painting, respectful, in the same team as a young Norm Smith and Ron Barassi.

Today Jim Stynes stands before you as President of the Melbourne Football Club.

Our overseas guest was captured by this story, the same way as generations of Melbourne supporters have. Norm Smith first stepped nervously into the Melbourne changerooms in the mid 1930’s and Jim Stynes assumes the role of President over 70 years later, at a time of absolute need. Three great men who established three great legacies - and with more to come.

 

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None  from four to start the season….. am finding it hard to write anything about this… kind of expect it and am far from shocked. 

Get out of the tabloid headlines and onto the scoreboard lads!!!!

Carn the tiges!

Our Benny cousins has coped a, club imposed, 1 week suspension for his involvement with “something or other” on Sunday morning in Sydney. 

Two of his cronies also coped a week, while the actual drunken player (Daniel Connors) coped 8 weeks. 

I am unsure what these Richmond n00bs have been doing … but after another hiding, this time from the Swannies … they have no excuse for partying.

Carn the Tiges

St Kildas Nick Riewoldt has coped a hamstring injury during last nights game against the Pies.  Ross Lyon seemed to say that its not too serious (off the bone) … but of course he would say that.  One of my dream teams has Riewoldt as captain.

Must remember to log on a change this before next lock out.

The highest we will get this year i’d say :(

In the words of Princess Leah “….save us Ben Cousins your our only hope…”

Well it was something like that in Star Wars wasn’t it?

Benny Cousins is back in the media with his 2nd admittance to hospital in a few weeks.  Apparently he is suffering from stomach pains, which is allegedly due to binge drinking.  tsk tsk tsk …. Benny Cousins and substance abuse …. its like….errrr….. Richmond and 9th spot!

Come on Cuzza get it together brother!!!!!

CARN THE TIGES!!!

Unfortunately (or is that fortunatly) I was unable to sit down and watch last nights Richmond Vs Hawthorn NAB Cup pre-season match.  It would appear that the Tiges got absolutly pumped…. which, I’m sad to say, was kind of expected. *sigh* „„ no Richo, new coach, and no insentive for ‘tanking’ „„ what is this year going to hold for the Mighty Tigers.

The final score was„„

Haw 3 16 12 (135) d. Rich 0 9 8 (62)

I just signed up to participate in the online AFL Dream Team competition. I am hooked up with a comp with some of the PacNet crew, and Niko from my current work is setting one up as I type this.

I have gone through and selected my players….but I will be buggered if they are educated picks.

………… aaannnnddd I just realised that one of the comps is setup on the AFL site and the other on the Herald Sun site.  Looks like Tacos Terrors are going to field two teams.