Test from iPhone

Yes I have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon. After holding out for nokia
to relese it's iPhone killer it wasn't to be as the n97 didn't cut the
mustard. Still a great phone but not enough to knock the iPhone and
especially the new faster 3gs.

So my first apple product enters my world and whilst it's early days
yet first impressions are very good, easy to use the app store is jam
packed with stuff a lot of it useless but there are some gems out there.

Will follow up after some more time with my new toy.

McDonalds Grand & Mighty Angus Burgers

I'm not big on McDonalds, would much prefer a home made burger any day of the week, but sometimes you just can't be stuffed. After a big AFL grand final day it was one such day where preparing dinner was the last thing we wanted to do, now our takeaways would normally consist of Noodle Box, Chinese, Thai Slovakia, Fish & Chips or Pizza.

Tonight however we decided to grab a smallish dinner from McDonalds, and I decided to try the much publicised Grand Angus Burger - McDonalds new gourmet burger. Now we all know McDonalds patties are pretty much the closest thing to cardboard one can consume, and the salad that comes with it would barely pass as salad if you served it up at home.

The first noticeable difference with the Grand Angus Burger was that there was a little bit of juiciness about the pattie, a good addition to the consumption of the burger but no doubt it is the increased fat content that would be within the Angus mince.

After all Angus meat is all about the fat marbling running through it (nothing like Wagyu or Kobe Beef but still some marbling). Now this is normally a good thing in your primal cuts, your Rump Steaks, Scotch Fillets, Rib Eyes etc. But in mince?!

Sure the burger or more to the point the pattie has a more prominent beef flavour which can only be a good thing, the main difference and good thing about these burgers is the soft sourdough buns and in my particular burger it seemed was fresh lettuce.

McDonalds is pushing these new burgers pretty hard, adding all the fancy stuff - Certified Australian Angus Beef, to back their new 'gourmet' burger. For me it was a welcomed flavour compared to the usual Big Mac but still far from a satisfying and healthy option. With so many REAL gourmet burger shops out there (Grilled & Urban Burger to name a few) one wonders if these over-priced McDonalds gourmet burgers will last.

To anyone still wondering if they should give it a go you may as well, you will definetly like it over the normal crappy Big Mac, but you'd be better off taking the time to make a nice burger at home. After all who can really trust this goofy looking guy below?


Ronald McDonald with a Angus Cow at the launch of the Grand & Mighty Angus Burgers.

New NBL Season Tips Off Tonight...

The National Basketball League (NBL) gets underway this afternoon with the first game of the season tipping off at 5:00pm (AEST) with New Zealand playing hosts to the Cairns Taipans live on Fox Sports.

The NBL has gone through some tough times and is still far from getting it's head above water and finding its new identity, but there are many positive signs around the league that things are heading in the right direction. There isn't much point going on about the past and the problems but focus more on the season that is upon us and the changes to the great game we love.

One of the biggest changes is the move to 10 minute quarters (previously 12 minutes) thus giving us a 40 minute game, moving the NBL in line with FIBA and the way the majority of the rest of the world play by (Excluding the NBA who run their own show and rules to boot).

The reduced game time will affect the game but exactly how probably wont be known until we start seeing some games, one would expect most teams will settle on the 8 main man rotation with the 9th and 10th men getting very little to no court time, barring injuries & foul trouble. This is nothing new to the league as this was very much the norm right up until the mid-late 90's, since the late 90's teams have pushed a more up-tempo style of play which saw the full squads getting used more and more.

The 10 minute quarters will hopefully see the up-tempo style stick around, if the pre-season is anything to go by there is no worries there the game has been fast and the points getting put on the board havn't been that far off last seasons 12 minute quarters.

Fox Sports is backing the season after a some pretty poor coverage last season, offering up 51 games live and introducing some new and hopefully fresh commentary to the team. Gone is John Cassey & Steve Carfino replaced with Brian Taylor and Dwayne Russel who will join former players Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal.

For a good preview of the teams and some predictions check out Shayne Hope's article from The West - Shayne Hope's NBL season Preview


National Basketball League official website - www.nbl.com.au
Fox Sports - Basketball - www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/
Hoops Forum - www.hoops.com.au



The Adelaide 36ers where one team that struggle to survive the off-season, a very real chance to be put to rest before a consortium of local business men saved the day - aptly named SOS.
Since taking charge SOS have made a lot of changes and definitely feels to the fans they are passionate about basketball and making the 36ers a success. Of course a lot of this success from a business perspective will rely on how the team does out on the court and with only a top four making the finals this season I predict it will be a tough fight between six clubs (New Zealand Breakers, Melbourne Tigers, Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Townsville Crocodiles and Wollongong Hawks) to make the final four, the two clubs I see being off the mark are the Gold Coast Blaze and Cairns Taipans - n saying that they will still notch wins, I just can't see them seriously pushing for a top four spot, but the season is yet to begin and you never know.

The Sixers hopes will be riding a lot on their new import John Gilchrist who in pre season has shown some glimpses of brilliance, Gilchrist will be hard to stop going to the hoop, but it will be his distribution and his ability to play with those around him that will ultimately decide the Sixers fate. Hopefully not an issue will be the injury concern of the Sixers two important bigs in Adam Ballinger and Matt Burston. Both missed games last season due to injuries and both missed games in the pre-season which is a concern, hopefully they can hold up as they both play a important part in this Sixers squad.

The Sixers will look to honour the greatest player to have graced the Distinctive Homes Dome, so great in fact he has already had the court named after him - The Brett Maher Court in his final game. No doubt Mahers #5 will be retired (hopefully soon) and will take it's place alongside Mark Davis #33.

Check out the three youtube clips of Brett Maher Career Highlights.

Rehab Begins

So arthroscope has been and gone and a week passed, a return trip to the Surgeon for a further update to his scrounging around inside the knee.
Unfortuanetly the news wasn't as great as we had hoped pre-op and the first thought Meniscus tear was not present. Got some great happy snaps from inside the knee though and can at least tick off the list of things to do before I die - arthroscope done!

So where to now, Physiotherapy time. I may be a freak but my previous experience with Physio's from terrible ankles from Basketball and Indoor Soccer are nothing but good. Sure it's painful when they seem to be pushing and prodding in ways that the affected body part is telling you shouldn't be happening, but the relief and feeling afterwards is always one of reward, the road to recovery. Of course a few hours later and that quickly disappears and it's back to the injury pain.

So Physio we go and the knee/leg get's one hell of a workout, aggressive approach is thrown around a lot in the first session and whilst it all sounds great to getting back to normal as quickly as possible it is by no means an easy feat.

The improvement is good but it's going to be a long hard road ahead. Bring on plenty of leg lifts, curls, exercise bike and pool walking.

In between all this will be some relaxation time in the month of sport with the ongoing off-track drama of Formula 1, the AFL finals in full flight, the NRL finals just starting to heat up and the new NBL season less than two weeks away one can only wonder who needs to walk anyway, TV is the place to be.

Greatest To Play The Game - #23

Today three great players of the game we love (Basketball for those not in the know) were inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. The greatest player to have ever played MJ - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), The Admiral - David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) and Mr Short Shorts - John Stockton (Utah Jazz). Much of my childhood was watching these guys along with other such legends of the time battling it out on the hardwood, a time dominated by Jordan and his Bulls, a time that saw basketball booming in Australia, Upper Deck basketball card trading, Starter and Champion attire and late night replays on channel 10.

All three guys were legends of the game and all equally earned their spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.



These legends of the game are a dying bread in team sport games, playing their entire career with the one club and showing a true desire to win not just for themselves but for their team-mates, the team, the city and for the fans. These qualities are fast disappearing in the modern sports star as we see time and time again players playing for contracts.

Michael Jordan has rightly been labelled the greatest player to ever grace the pine and that title may well never be taken away from him, a dominance, an ability above and beyond the rest of his competitors that we may never see in any sport, a true determination to win every single time he competed.

I'll leave you with some Jordan ads from you tube.

The Healing Begins

An exciting day at the Epworth Hospital for the arthroscope on my right knee - finally!
Was alot of waiting around for each step of the stage and the same twenty questions getting asked over and over again, do you smoke are you a heavy drinker do you suffer from any allergic reactions are you diabetic etc etc. The ongoing barrage of the same questions over and over again was almost like I must look like I fall into one of the stereotypical categories, or is it just uncommon these days for someone not to be a smoker, heavy drinker or have an allergic reaction to something in some way shape or form, sorry to disappoint ;)

The staff were extremely friendly and seemed to enjoy doing their job, although a little strange having a 40 year old male nurse shaving my leg and enjoying it...

After all the pre-op stuff took place, robe'ing up, getting right knee shaved, texta markings it was time to settle in for the wait, seems I was last on the list for the day so kicked back relaxed in my sexy get-up and watched the ever exciting daytime tv. Do people seriously watch shows like Ellen, The View and Bold & the Beautiful?! Utter Crap! Managed to read the Herald Sun & The Age word for word, even studying every ad in the papers oh the joy.

Finally at 3pm get taken in and setup on a pre-warmed bed - god damn these things are comfy! And another 30 minute wait watching some more crappy TV until finally the doc comes in (Doctor Bruce R.T. Love - cool name that) and lets me know he's only a few minutes from being ready. Had a brief chat to the nurse and doctors assistant and they both commented on how particular Doctor Love is which is good news for me but makes their job always more difficult (sorry ladies, but I'm more interested in the Doc being particular about my knee than making your jobs easier).

Wheeled into the theatre and it has one of the best views you could get of the city (see picture to the right, from inside recovery not theatre but similar views just not floor to ceiling windows), overlooking to the left the MCG and straight ahead the city skyscrapers, this whole side of the theatre was three floor to ceiling windows just a complete glass wall, really hope they don't take in the sights whilst operating!




Within thirty seconds of getting wheeled into the theatre it was lights out time and awoke in recovery with an equally stunning view. After a few moment of hot and cold flushes some water and a bit more of the good stuff (mm morphine) it was time to settle in for a bit more a snooze (See pic to the left in recovery, great blur effect there too). Not entirely sure but think I was in recovery for about an hour and a half before waking up properly and downing a can of lemonade and two sandwiches whilst enjoying the sunset and the view of peak hour moving around in front of me.



Not before long Deb was there to pick me up and take me back home. It was a long and painful night with a deep throb in the leg all night and very little sleep but all is well and the recovery is in full swing. A visit to the Doc next Tuesday and one would imagine some more exercises than just straight leg lifts and we'll be back to normal in no time.