Baptism

Matt & Lillian were baptized today. Congratulations.

2 Holy Grails found

In the space of 24 hours, 2 teams found their Holy Grail. One, the Red Sox, were said to be cursed. However, they managed to crush the Cardinals in such a dominant manner, the Cardinals never had a lead in the series.

The other, the Australian cricket team, were considered to be world champions, but without a series win in India, where Australia have traditionally struggled, to the point where the last series win was 35 years ago. Time and again, Australia have come close, but have fallen short (see 1986, 2001).

What is similar about the 2 teams is the way they have tried something different and it has paid off. For Boston, it was the hiring of Theo Epstein, a twenty-something with no prior experience in management. He brought in people who understood sabermetrics, which uses mathematical techniques to pick players, and utilised their skills to pick players. Most GMs view sabermetrics as a novelty, not to be taken seriously, but some saw the potential, and have employed it. Boston was one of the teams, and the results are plain to see.

Australia, after their last tour, learnt that playing in overdrive doesn't work all the time, and that there are occasions where it is acceptable to play differently and still be effective. The applied that on this tour, and have conquered the final hurdle.

From these 2 examples, we can see the value of thinking differently, challenging the status quo and reaping the rewards for innovation.

In other news, I now have no classes left at uni. It's been a fun 5 years, with a lot of memories. This might sound strange, but I will miss uni. Maybe it's due to me being there for 5 years, or the people i've met at uni. However, life does have to go on, and I have to move on too.

What I found in the paper today

The State government is planning to bring forward the date of the selective schools exam. What I found interesting was the head of North Shore getting complaints that parents might have to cancel their Christmas holidays (probably their annual trip to HK, knowing their main clientele). How sad - not getting to see the same people as last year (& the year before, and the year before that...) :)

The other thing that caught my eye was that people in developed countries (like Australia) have a harder time using squat toilets. Must... resist... making... any... comments...

Must be something in the food

Nice to see that nothing changes in the Taiwanese parliament :)

President Homer Simpson?

Believe it or not, that's who UK TV viewers think should be the next (TV character) president. It probably would be apt, as the incumbent seems to have the same characterisics as the definitions found here.

Interesting way of seeking a partner

One person's solution.
That would be an interesting thing to see while driving. Anyway, I don't think there would be much interest from the ad.

A streak & a curse

After around 18 months, it's finally happened. Arsenal have lost in the Premiership. 49 games - who would have thought...
Anyway, I also note the the Boston Red Sox are potentially 2 games away from breaking the curse, but can they do it? The last time they were in the WS (in 1986, for those who don't know), they were also 2-0 up, but we all know what happened that year :)
What is also interesting to note is that out of everyone who played in that series, only 1 is still playing today - Roger Clemens. Jessie Orosco almost made it, but he retired last year (although people say that he probably could have gone another 50 years) :)
It seems that the common theme so far in the WS is that the Red Sox need to get 4 errors to win.
In non sports news, it poured yesterday, which made it fun when walking to the car after church yesterday. If you didn't walk like you were hopping, you would get wet shoes, which isn't nice :(In brighter news, the 3rd test starts tomorrow, and with Australia only needing to win 1 of the next 2 to finally win a series in India, and the pitch being a bit green, things look up, although the idea of Brett Lee bowling & the Aussies facing Tendulkar might make it a bit tougher. Expect Lee (if he plays) to go for a few.

Hotmail upgrade

Finally, after promising it for 18 months or so, Hotmail have upgraded my account by 125X (from 2 to 250 megs). Wonders will never cease :)

Onto other matters, last night was the beginning of the end of uni for me, with my first farewell from EUers, with a BBQ & supper. It'll be a sad occasion for me, as i've been a part of EU for the length of degrees, and the encouragement & fellowship i've received from everyone, as well as the teaching, and it'll be something i'll miss when I leave :(

Anticlimax

After all that buildup last night, what happens? It rains. And rains. And rains. As a result, the match is a draw. I think the draw favours Australia, as they now only need to win 1 from their last 2 to finally win a series in India. I ndia know this, so I expect them to prepare pitches that suit Kumble even more. The next test starts on Thursday week.

2nd test summary

Firstly, apologies, as i've been busy with assignments - only 2 to go + exams & that's it for uni (but that's for another day).

Going into the last day, India needs another 210 runs in 90 overs, with Australia needing 10 wickets to win.

From the first day, Hayden & Langer made a 100 partnership, only to have Kumble trigger a collapse to have the Australians all out for 236. India, then made 376, with Sehwag making the bulk of them in quick time, with a good partnership between Kaif & Patel frustrating the Australians.

Gilchrist decided to bat at 3, which was interesting, and he (mainly) succeeded, making 49, but was out just before stumps on the 3rd day, with Australia barely in the lead, and another wicket being (close to) disaster for Australia's chanced of winning the match. Gillespie then came out as a night watchman and survived to stumps. What followed on the 4th day was the best display of batting resistance that Australia has produced in years (at least since Langer & Gilchrist v Pak in Hobart in 99/2000). Martyn & Gillespie had a partnership of 139 in a bit less then 2 sessions, which was a partnership that gave Australia a chance at winning the match. By the time it was broken, Martyn made a hundred, which could prove to be his most important yet.
Australia managed to get to 369, which was a few more then expected, considering their weakness against offspin.

The key tomorrow (for Australia) is to get Sehwag out quickly, and to limit Kaif & Patel's occupation of the crease, as Australia have found them difficult to get out. The hopes will most likely rest on Warne, who has finally managed to take a bagful in India (& at a reasonable average too, unlike his career average of about 50 v India). It should be an exciting final day.

The Gonzales house (revisited)

It's nice to see that common sense has prevailed (might need to register)

Wheel of Fortune

While watching Wheel of Fortune (& attempting to solve the puzzles), I am struck by the number of people who buy vowels. I don't get the point of buying vowels, as it eats into your total, people should be smart enough to visualise where the vowels go, and it would be annoying if you lose by less than the amount you spent on vowels.

1st test wrap up

The good news: Australia won.

The bad noews: The way Australia bowled to 7-11.

It seemed that Warne was on for too long (most likely to ensure he got the record in this test), causing him to be tired and towards the end, bowl ragged. It is also worrying (from an Australian perspective) the ease the tail enders played the Australian bowling, and it took the 2nd new ball to get the final couple of wickets out. The Indian top 6 would have seen the ease they played, and next time will probably play better, thus making winning the series that much harder, especially with Harbijian bowling as effectively as last time & Kumble bowling well.

On to the next test, which starts on Thursday.

Day 4 review/Election comment

Day 4 & Australia strengthens their grip on the match.

After batting rather slowly for a session & a half, Australia were bundled out, but not before extending the lead to 456 runs, which was a very improbable target at the best of times, but especially impossible in Bangalore, where the highest score to win was less then half the target. More realistically, India had to bat out about 140 overs to draw.

That target wasn't helped by Sehwag's dismissal, which was an inside edged LBW, Chopra a more normal LBW, Ganguly a brain explosion, when the call was the usual "yes, no, sorry" call before Gilchrist demolished the stumps, thus running Ganguly out. Warne's first ball was a slider, which caught Laxman by surprise, trapping him plumb. By then, India were 4/19, and were definitely out of it.

Dravid & Yuvraj had a cameo partnership, but a couple of quick wickets had the Indians at 6/105 by stumps, and Australia should wrap it up by tea (at the very latest).

McGrath (so far) would be the pick of the bowlers, with figures (atm) of 12-8-9-2, after at one stage being something like 9-7-2-1.

Meanwhile, while the house election result wasn't suprising, the Senate one is worrying. The way things look now, the Colalition has 38 of the 76 seats, only needing another senator to pass leglislation. What's more worrying is that after July 1 next year, the Government can block any leglislation opposition senators might want to put up, so things like an prospective senate committee to expose any embarrassing Government activity would be blocked. Another government pet project, the sale of the rest of Telstra, is all but assured, which would be to the detriment of those who can only get Telstra, and for telecommunications competition in Australia.

Phone line back

Yay - my phone line's finally back (only after 5 days)...
*Grumble* to Telstra.

Day 3 review

Unfortunately, I missed part of the day, so I can't comment on the last hour or so.
India did well to bat for the (almost) 2 sessions they did, with the Indian tail hanging in there.

Australia decided not to enforce the follow on, which I agree with. The heat & humidity in India can be oppresive, and with the next test starting on Thursday, it wasn't worth having the bowlers bowling for 200-250 overs, then the possibility of another 100 overs on Thursday/Friday (I believe this is one of the reasons why we lost the 5th test v England a couple of years ago) - that's a sure fire way of having the bowlers burn out.
Langer copped a Chopra-esque decision, Hayden was just run out & I missed the rest of the dismissals.

Despite those wickets' I still think if Australia can get another 100-150 (with Clarke in & Gilchrist to come), either Australia will get the 10 wickets, or there will be sufficient time for the Indians to get the ~400-450 needed for them to win. It should be a good day's cricket.

Reminder

The federal election is on tomorrow - don't forget to vote

Day 2 review

Clarke did it - he made made 151 & Australia managed 464, with Gilchrist making a typical 104 in about as many balls. That century will probably be remembered as well as his 100 v England at Sydney in 2002-3 or his 100 in Perth v Zimbabwe (where he was overshadowed by Steve Waugh & Hayden respectively).
What I found annoying about Clarke was the way he reached his 100. From 0-~90, he played his normal game, but once he reached 90, it seemed that he hit the wall, and took what seemed to be an eternity to get the 10 runs needed for his century. While it is good to see that he recognised the importance of the milestone, the amount of time taken wasn't so good. After Clarke was dismissed, the rest of the tail fell pretty quickly.
Once India were batting, it didn't take long for their innings to fall apart, with McGrath getting 2 wickets in 2 overs. His first spell should have been enough to dispel the doubters & show that rumours of McGrath's demise were greatly exaggerated.
Ganguly & Sehwag then steadied the ship until Sehwag was brilliantly caught by Langer at mid wicket. What followed was a steady loss of wickets. The magnitude of India's performance could be summarized by the TV director changing the caption on the bottom of the screen from India trail by X to India need X to avoid the follow on.
Kasprowicz bowled well, as he usually does in subcontinental conditions, and Warne chipped in with Laxman's wicket.
One criticism I have of India's batting is the way they ran between the wickets. There was one particular incident where someone hit the ball relatively slowly wide of mid off, which resulted in no run, where there was an easy single. India, if they want to win, should be taking those singles.
After 2 days, Australia are in the driving seat, and should win easily, but i'm sure many people were thinking the same when Australia were in a more dominant position after day 3 of the 2nd test last time around, and if there is any team that could recover from a hopeless position (apart from Australia), it would be India.

Day 1 opinion/review

Firstly, apologies for the late posting - the net connection died last night (first the phone line, then the net - was it something I said about Telstra?)
Gilchrist won the toss & decided to bat. After a cautious start by Hayden & Langer (who was lucky not to be out first ball), Hayden's first sweep, which netted him a lot of runs last time around, found the fielder in the deep. That brought Katich out. Langer reached 50, then received a beauty from Patan, which knocked his leg(?) stump out. martyn didn't last much longer, being out caught bat-pad. Lehman was given not out when he should have been, and it seemed that the rest of his innings was seeing how many he could make while trying to atone for the decision. Lehmann's dismissal brought the debutante, Clarke out into the middle. Clarke & Katich then spent the best part of a session accumulating runs, with both getting 50's. For once, the Australians looked comfortable batting out there, unlike earlier in the morning. In a first, the Indian crowd was (mainly) silent and it looked like either the bowlers would have to come up with something special, or the batsmen to do something stupid for a wicket to fall. Katich's dismissal was more the latter then the former, with a short-ish ball from Kumble being pulled onto the stumps via bottom edge & thigh pad. That was Kumble's 400th wicket, and the Indian crowd came to life again. That brought Gilchrist out & he silenced the crowd as quickly as they came to life before, reaching a run a ball 35 by stumps, with Clarke on 76.
Clarke looked like he belonged out there, despite this being his debut test match. At times, he treated Kumble & Harbhajan Singh, the main wrecker of Australian batting lineups in India, with disdain, swiping them for boundaries & 6's, and will have a great future in the Australian team.
Gilchrist's contribution shouldn't be overlooked, as his 35 in quick time took any initiative away from the Indians. Incidentally, it's his 2nd highest score in India (beating 1, from the last tour).
It should be an interesting 2nd day, especially if the current partnership can go on for another 100 or so. It will also be interesting to see how the Australian bowlers go.

Cricket

It's the end of the footy season & that means it's cricket season :) Australia are playing India in India, with the first test starting tomorrow. It should be an interesting series, with Australia out to prove that they can play spin, while India would like to keep Australia from winning a series in India, something which Australia hasn't done since 1959, with a team led by everyone's favourite leggie/TV commentator/person from the 12th man they like to impersonate. With the exception of Ponting (and possibly MacGill), this is the strongest Australian lineup available, and it would be interesting to see how the Australian bowling lineup will go. Hopefully, Warne will improve on his average of 55 v India, McGrath will be back in form (proving that his mauling against England in the Champions Trophy was an aberration) and the batsmen (like Gilchrist: 122, 1, 1, 0, 0) can improve on previous efforts in India (although that would be hard for Hayden). Clarke, the "next big thing" will make his debut tomorrow, and I hope he goes well. For India, the loss of Tendulkar, in my opinion, is a greater blow for India then Ponting's loss for Australia. While Ponting is in red hot form right now, Tendulkar seems to be a rallying point for India, and it will be hard to replace him, although I think Dravid & (especially) Laxman pose a greater danger. While India have made some progress with their seam bowlers, it seems that they sense they are in trouble, hence preparing pitches that suit Kumble & Harbhajan Singh from the outset (rather than the more moderate pitches they have been producing in the past few years. For Australia, the backup bowling of Lehmann, Clarke & Katich (if he bowls) will be important, but it might get to the point where Hauritz might be in contention to play. Hopefully it won't be delayed until the 3rd test (if it comes down to that) like last time with Collin Miller. It might be found that Lee's additional pace might be needed as well, most likely at the expense of Kasprowicz, but that would be fraught with danger, as his recent form is similar to Mark Philippoussis (without Delta), and that's one sure fire way to ensure Australia loses. It will be a cracker of a series & (hopefully) one that sees Australia winning. One other thing that caught my eye today: A couple buys the Gonzalez's house, without being told the history behind the house. They have subsequently found out and want out. Without worrying about the contractual details, should the agent have disclosed the history before the sale? Legally, no, but ethically, should they have? The agent's role in this matter, as I see it, is analogous to the dilemma auditors have (that is, who do they owe their duties to), and the perceived gap between what's technically correct and the public's expectation of what's correct. However, that's for another day (& most people have probably skipped this section anyway, but it does show that stuff in lectures does sink in my head once in a while (or i've starting thinking about my assignment)) :)

Full time

Boy, that match reminded me of a Bledislode match (you could guess which team was which), without the final minute victory from the jaws of defeat stuff. In an unusual move, there was a scrum won against the feed.
Congratualtions to the Bulldogs, and hopefully we won't hear too much about 2002 & related matters. Hopefully, Steve Price will get some consolation from this, and good luck in retirement.
It seems that the Roosters are the Essendon of a few years ago. Maybe this will continue...

Grand final

26 rounds, 3 weeks of finals & it's come down to this: 80 minutes to see who will win the NRL grand final. Will it be the Bulldogs, who were runaway leaders in 2002 before an investigative report found salary cap breaches there and were punished by the deduction of all premiership points earnt to that point in that year. The winner that year? Sydney Roosters. After that match, Bulldogs supporters wanted a match between The Bulldogs & the winner of the grand final. Tonight, they get their wish.
Will it be the Bulldogs, or the Roosters tonight? Will the Roosters win for Fittler, who's won premierships for the Roosters & Panthers, and playing his last match tonight, or will the Doggies do it for Price, who was ruled out for the final. One is retiring, one was cruelly forced to retire a week early. We shall see. Let the game begin.

More catching up

Met up with some high school friends today at Cumberland Forest. We had a BBQ and played cricket. It was great to catch up with people like Dave, Commie, Janette, Yi-Nan & others. A highlight was Dave's homemade bread. He made 5 loaves, of which 2 were Pesto, 2 Cheese & bacon & 1 big Onion bread. Thanks go to the chefs: Peter & Janette & for their cooking & a good day was had by all. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my camera, otherwie I would have some photos up.
Tonight's game is hard to call, with legitamate arguements for why both teams would/should/could win. However, the loss of Price for the bulldogs has me leaning towards the Roosters, but I say that with little confidence. Whatever happens tonight, I hope it's a close match.
Another random link:
Cooking for Engineers.