Monday:
Preliminary final week, and since it all could end this weekend it’s time to put in that extra bit of effort. First up: let’s check whether my team would actually be expected to win this week’s match-up. Looking at the average scores of my line-up relative to those of my opponent’s, the answer is: yes I would, and quite easily too.
Me:
Ablett 136.88
Harvey 112.65
Cox 112.4
Riewoldt 111.95
Pavlich 110.53
Franklin 109.3
Judd 108.05
O'Keefe 104.25
Brown 101.42
Dal Santo 101.37
Waite 100.63
Deledio 100.35
Milburn 98.94
Mattner 96.75
Stevens 95.1
Bradshaw 91.5
Bock 91.35
Stanton 90.9
Johncock 88
McLeod 86.22
Gram 85.75
Simmonds 72.1
Total 2206.39
Them:
Ablett 136.88
Cox 112.4
Pavlich 110.53
Franklin 109.3
Judd 108.05
Black 104.58
Brown 101.42
Hayes 101.11
Milburn 98.94
Mattner 96.75
Murphy 95.85
Murphy 92.05
Bock 91.35
Ladson 89.55
Medhurst 88.4
McLeod 86.22
Johnson 83.15
Griffen 80.11
Lade 75
Ellis 72.7
Selwood 53.86
Tippett 51.35
Total 2039.55
Of course, because we live in a world of randomness, it’s always good to improve your chances where you can, particularly if you have two trades left in the bank. The obvious player to drop is Troy Simmonds - I could trade him for Aaron Sandilands, who is averaging about 25 points a game more. We’ll see what happens when the teams are named, but that’s the way I’m leaning.
Wednesday:
Thought I saw the girl again that I saw the morning I was muttering the words ‘Graham Johncock’ over and over to myself… it’s fortunate that I did not see her yesterday when I was repeating my potential ruck division: ‘Cox, Sandilands, Cox, Sandilands…,’
Thursday:
And now my ruck division is ‘Cox, Sandilands’. I was a bit worried about the fact that Simmonds and Sandilands had scored about the same over the past six weeks, but I’m still justifying the trade on the grounds that Sandilands has had a lower amount of ‘shockers’ this year. Consistency is my friend at this stage of the season.
(I did ponder that I could get rid of Brent Stanton for Adam Cooney, but it’s hard to justify dropping a player who has just scored 119 points. Besides, there’s always next week.
Er, assuming there is a next week…)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Finger Points Outwards - No.13
The effect of movie critics on box-office receipts.
How to win at Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Who is really winning the Olympics?
Price of gas rises to four expletives per gallon.
The best strategy for dealing with merging traffic.
A pretty clever installment of Indexed.
And another one.
And another.
And a pretty clever Anti-Caption Contest.
How to win at Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Who is really winning the Olympics?
Price of gas rises to four expletives per gallon.
The best strategy for dealing with merging traffic.
A pretty clever installment of Indexed.
And another one.
And another.
And a pretty clever Anti-Caption Contest.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Diary Of An AFL SuperCoach Obsessive - Week 20
Sunday:
I won, I'm into the preliminary final in two weeks time, so I'm shutting up shop for the week!
I won, I'm into the preliminary final in two weeks time, so I'm shutting up shop for the week!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Diary Of An AFL SuperCoach Obsessive - Week 19
Tuesday:
I, like many other SuperCoaches throughout Australia this week, want to hit Heath Shaw with a crowbar. For those who don’t know, Shaw was caught driving while over the legal alcohol limit last Sunday night. He copped a huge fine, but appeared to escape suspension from the Magpies, since they need all the help they can get to make the finals. All good, at least from a SuperCoach point of view, until it emerges that he lied about the other passenger in his car, who was teammate Alan Didak. Now the pressure to suspend both Shaw and Didak becomes even more intense (although since Didak is not on my team I wouldn’t mind if the Collingwood hierarchy take him out the back of Victoria Park and shoot him).
Damn Shaw and damn him for putting me in this morally compromising position! He broke the law, what he did was dangerous, and he should be dumped from the team. But goddamn it, I need him to play this week, particularly with Darren Milburn being suspended for four matches, and Graham Johncock last spotted somewhere in the oil fields of Alaska. Honestly, I hope they play him. Goddamn…
Wednesday:
Well, now we know… Heath Shaw out for the rest of the season. The good news though is Darren Milburn has had his suspension reduced to one week, although this also makes things decidedly tricky. Do I keep Milburn or go for broke and try and get the week’s rest in the finals? I think keep him, and here’s why: if I’m aiming to win my league then, because of the way the finals system works, I have to win the last two matches of the finals regardless of whether I win or lose this week. That being the case, it would be better to have Milburn for those last two weeks then not to have him. Not only is he one of the better defenders going around, I can use the trade elsewhere.
So how to use the trades? Well, one will have to be used to ditch Heath Shaw. Unfortunately, Shaw’s value has gone down recently so to get a top defender will probably eat up some cash. I’m also thinking if I want to take out some insurance against Milburn’s absence, I can upgrade Cyril Rioli for a star forward. I was going to do this at some point anyway, so why not this week? That will give me an all-star line-up when Milburn returns, and still leave me two trades to cover injuries.
I’m liking this plan, but we’ll have to see what the teams are tomorrow night.
Thursday:
All going to plan – Johncock’s back, Ablett’s back… I traded Heath Shaw for another underperforming star, Andrew McLeod, and dumped Cyril Rioli for the consistent Jarrad Waite. Once Milburn returns, my team should be unstoppable! The other finalists are not going to know what hit them! That is, assuming I win the first final this weekend…
I, like many other SuperCoaches throughout Australia this week, want to hit Heath Shaw with a crowbar. For those who don’t know, Shaw was caught driving while over the legal alcohol limit last Sunday night. He copped a huge fine, but appeared to escape suspension from the Magpies, since they need all the help they can get to make the finals. All good, at least from a SuperCoach point of view, until it emerges that he lied about the other passenger in his car, who was teammate Alan Didak. Now the pressure to suspend both Shaw and Didak becomes even more intense (although since Didak is not on my team I wouldn’t mind if the Collingwood hierarchy take him out the back of Victoria Park and shoot him).
Damn Shaw and damn him for putting me in this morally compromising position! He broke the law, what he did was dangerous, and he should be dumped from the team. But goddamn it, I need him to play this week, particularly with Darren Milburn being suspended for four matches, and Graham Johncock last spotted somewhere in the oil fields of Alaska. Honestly, I hope they play him. Goddamn…
Wednesday:
Well, now we know… Heath Shaw out for the rest of the season. The good news though is Darren Milburn has had his suspension reduced to one week, although this also makes things decidedly tricky. Do I keep Milburn or go for broke and try and get the week’s rest in the finals? I think keep him, and here’s why: if I’m aiming to win my league then, because of the way the finals system works, I have to win the last two matches of the finals regardless of whether I win or lose this week. That being the case, it would be better to have Milburn for those last two weeks then not to have him. Not only is he one of the better defenders going around, I can use the trade elsewhere.
So how to use the trades? Well, one will have to be used to ditch Heath Shaw. Unfortunately, Shaw’s value has gone down recently so to get a top defender will probably eat up some cash. I’m also thinking if I want to take out some insurance against Milburn’s absence, I can upgrade Cyril Rioli for a star forward. I was going to do this at some point anyway, so why not this week? That will give me an all-star line-up when Milburn returns, and still leave me two trades to cover injuries.
I’m liking this plan, but we’ll have to see what the teams are tomorrow night.
Thursday:
All going to plan – Johncock’s back, Ablett’s back… I traded Heath Shaw for another underperforming star, Andrew McLeod, and dumped Cyril Rioli for the consistent Jarrad Waite. Once Milburn returns, my team should be unstoppable! The other finalists are not going to know what hit them! That is, assuming I win the first final this weekend…
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Graphic Novels That You Would Like If You Weren't Too Chicken To Read Them - 'The Dark Knight Returns'
In 1986, when Frank Miller (of ‘Sin City’ and ‘300’ fame) was given the task of revamping comics’ most famous detective, Batman’s sales were as flat as a tack. The specter of the campy ‘60s TV show still hung overhead, and edgier, more modern heroes such as the X-Men had usurped the Caped Crusader’s place in terms of both relevance and popularity. It was up to Miller to take the Batman back to his chilling roots, and he did so, paradoxically, by taking the character forward in time, making the Batman even older than his readers and the enemies he faced. In the process, Miller created the most influential graphic novel of the past 30 years – one that, along with the similarly lauded ‘Watchmen’ (also appearing in ’86), inspired artists and filmmakers alike to tear away the baggage that surrounded their favourite heroes and rebuild them as they saw fit.
It has been ten years since the Batman retired, and Gotham has become overrun by vicious street gangs. They are, as Batman’s alter-ego Bruce Wayne notes, a ‘purer breed’ of criminal than the man who killed his parents – unrepentant of their crimes, and only looking out for the next big rush. The continual stream of violence eventually forces Batman out of retirement, and he returns a darker, more brutal crimefighter than the one we are used to seeing, sweeping through Gotham’s underworld like a man possessed. We see far more disturbing sides to old enemies Two-Face and the Joker, and discover that the Batman-Superman rivalry is not anywhere near as friendly at it seems. And a new, 13 year-old female Robin pops up, a new soldier in the Batman’s war.
In contrast to ‘Watchmen’ which was meticulously planned down to the last panel, ‘DKR’ reads like a jumble of ideas that Miller is just skillful enough to keep from collapsing into a mess. The pacing of the story is relentless, with Miller making continual use of television screens to move events forward as well as to explore the milieu surrounding Batman. But Miller is careful to intersperse the action with full-page shots of both Batman and Superman, giving these icons the space they need to prevent them being swallowed up by the dystopia that he has created. Readers that are used to having all of the details set out before them may find Miller’s storytelling techniques a bit vague, but there is enough there to satisfy you if you’re willing to follow the clues.
As with the recent ‘Dark Knight’ movie, ‘DKR’ explores both the need for a Batman and the dangers of him. On one hand, it seems that Batman is simply adding to the violence in Gotham City. He has lost almost all compunction when it comes to his war on crime – he blasts his way through enemies with his modified Batmobile (now essentially a Bat-tank), he breaks their arms and legs with the object of striking fear into their fraternity, and in his final showdown with the Joker, he is unhesitant about putting a Bat-a-rang straight through the villain’s eye. A vigilante group – the Sons of Batman – spring up in his wake, using much the same methods and little of the judgment. Other crimes, rightly or wrongly, become attributed to the Batman’s return, the most spectacular being the Joker’s awakening from a catatonic state to go on a mass murder spree. However, Batman manages to encourage heroism as well, inspiring the new Robin to take up the cape and boots and acting as her mentor. And when the Russians begin to rain down bombs, it is Batman, not Superman, who has the preparedness to deal with it, and restore a semblance of order to Gotham.
Those who have only seen ‘The Dark Knight’ movie may think they have seen the best and the worst that Batman and the Joker have to offer. While that movie was a fine effort, in the end, it tones down the madness that is heaped upon Gotham, in the process doing much of Batman’s work for him. ‘DKR’ is a more complex, more intense achievement, and one that fans of ‘The Dark Knight’ movie, if they have the stomach for it, would be well advised to seek out. After reading it, you’re guaranteed never to think of Adam West as Batman again.
It has been ten years since the Batman retired, and Gotham has become overrun by vicious street gangs. They are, as Batman’s alter-ego Bruce Wayne notes, a ‘purer breed’ of criminal than the man who killed his parents – unrepentant of their crimes, and only looking out for the next big rush. The continual stream of violence eventually forces Batman out of retirement, and he returns a darker, more brutal crimefighter than the one we are used to seeing, sweeping through Gotham’s underworld like a man possessed. We see far more disturbing sides to old enemies Two-Face and the Joker, and discover that the Batman-Superman rivalry is not anywhere near as friendly at it seems. And a new, 13 year-old female Robin pops up, a new soldier in the Batman’s war.
In contrast to ‘Watchmen’ which was meticulously planned down to the last panel, ‘DKR’ reads like a jumble of ideas that Miller is just skillful enough to keep from collapsing into a mess. The pacing of the story is relentless, with Miller making continual use of television screens to move events forward as well as to explore the milieu surrounding Batman. But Miller is careful to intersperse the action with full-page shots of both Batman and Superman, giving these icons the space they need to prevent them being swallowed up by the dystopia that he has created. Readers that are used to having all of the details set out before them may find Miller’s storytelling techniques a bit vague, but there is enough there to satisfy you if you’re willing to follow the clues.
As with the recent ‘Dark Knight’ movie, ‘DKR’ explores both the need for a Batman and the dangers of him. On one hand, it seems that Batman is simply adding to the violence in Gotham City. He has lost almost all compunction when it comes to his war on crime – he blasts his way through enemies with his modified Batmobile (now essentially a Bat-tank), he breaks their arms and legs with the object of striking fear into their fraternity, and in his final showdown with the Joker, he is unhesitant about putting a Bat-a-rang straight through the villain’s eye. A vigilante group – the Sons of Batman – spring up in his wake, using much the same methods and little of the judgment. Other crimes, rightly or wrongly, become attributed to the Batman’s return, the most spectacular being the Joker’s awakening from a catatonic state to go on a mass murder spree. However, Batman manages to encourage heroism as well, inspiring the new Robin to take up the cape and boots and acting as her mentor. And when the Russians begin to rain down bombs, it is Batman, not Superman, who has the preparedness to deal with it, and restore a semblance of order to Gotham.
Those who have only seen ‘The Dark Knight’ movie may think they have seen the best and the worst that Batman and the Joker have to offer. While that movie was a fine effort, in the end, it tones down the madness that is heaped upon Gotham, in the process doing much of Batman’s work for him. ‘DKR’ is a more complex, more intense achievement, and one that fans of ‘The Dark Knight’ movie, if they have the stomach for it, would be well advised to seek out. After reading it, you’re guaranteed never to think of Adam West as Batman again.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Diary Of An AFL SuperCoach Obsessive - Week 18
Friday:
Why, when I’m away for a while, does it seem like my SuperCoach team is spiralling out of control? In fact, things are not as bad as I feel. Had my lowest score for the season last week, but I still won by heaps and am now assured of a top four position in my league. The reasons for the low score were the absences of Johncock, Milburn and Pavlich, leaving me with 20 scoring players. But even then I only dropped to 106 in the overall championship, so it seems like I’m not the only team having problems. And I still have five trades left.
Ah, the trades… with every week they seem more and more like my key to glory. I am playing the top team in my league this week, so the temptation is to use up two of them, particularly with Gary Ablett still sidelined. But there’s no advantage to finishing first rather than fourth, at least in a league as close as this, so I think the better strategy is to plan for the finals. With that in mind, I traded for cash, swapping David Myers for Eric Mackenzie, giving me 4 trades and over $220,000 in the bank for the finals next week. Then if Ablett and Johncock return next week, I can use that extra cash to dump Cyril Rioli and go into the finals with an all-star line-up (yes, even with Brent Stanton). If one or neither return I still have enough trades to bring in other star replacements. That’s provided there are no more absences.
(Crap! What if there are more absences?)
P.S. If nothing else, will put my opponent, who barracks for the Kangaroos, into some sort of conflict this week by picking Brent Harvey as my captain. With the finals coming up, it’s time to psychologically unsettle my opponents however I can.
Why, when I’m away for a while, does it seem like my SuperCoach team is spiralling out of control? In fact, things are not as bad as I feel. Had my lowest score for the season last week, but I still won by heaps and am now assured of a top four position in my league. The reasons for the low score were the absences of Johncock, Milburn and Pavlich, leaving me with 20 scoring players. But even then I only dropped to 106 in the overall championship, so it seems like I’m not the only team having problems. And I still have five trades left.
Ah, the trades… with every week they seem more and more like my key to glory. I am playing the top team in my league this week, so the temptation is to use up two of them, particularly with Gary Ablett still sidelined. But there’s no advantage to finishing first rather than fourth, at least in a league as close as this, so I think the better strategy is to plan for the finals. With that in mind, I traded for cash, swapping David Myers for Eric Mackenzie, giving me 4 trades and over $220,000 in the bank for the finals next week. Then if Ablett and Johncock return next week, I can use that extra cash to dump Cyril Rioli and go into the finals with an all-star line-up (yes, even with Brent Stanton). If one or neither return I still have enough trades to bring in other star replacements. That’s provided there are no more absences.
(Crap! What if there are more absences?)
P.S. If nothing else, will put my opponent, who barracks for the Kangaroos, into some sort of conflict this week by picking Brent Harvey as my captain. With the finals coming up, it’s time to psychologically unsettle my opponents however I can.
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