From www.news.com.au (slightly modified by us…) 

Hockeyroo captain Nikki Hudson has apologised over a lewd message she posted about herself and the Spanish men’s hockey team on her Facebook site.

Hudson joked on the site about wanting to be “impaled” by members of the Spanish team.

Good stuff. 

The veteran star is the latest athlete – including Stephanie Rice – to be plagued by Facebook controversy.

Hockey Australia reissued warnings to players about the risk of public internet communication in the wake of the episode.

On August 22, four days after the Hockeyroos were bundled out of the Games without a medal, Hudson wrote on her site: “Nikki thinks the running of the bulls should be changed & we should be chased by the spainish (sic) mens hockey team.

“I would definately (sic) make sure I got caught and impaled!”

Hudson’s friends left comments in response to the posting including “your (sic) naughty” and “you dirty mole”.

The 32-year-old striker used her Facebook site to keep nearly 500 friends and family well-updated on her Olympics highs and lows, from her feelings on the food, to the pitfalls of wearing bodysuits and calibre of the male talent.

“Nikki has a black eye from all the girls pushing me out of the way to get prime position by the window seeing naked aussies in rooms across from us!!!,” she wrote on August 17.

But a repentant Hudson on Friday said she had no idea her site was open to the public and would make it private.

The veteran, a Sydney Olympic gold medallist who has also been honoured with an Order of Australia Medal, blamed the incident on her sense of humour.

She said she had apologised to the head of Hockey Australia and hoped no one was offended by the posting.

“Hopefully nobody is offended, I’d feel awful about that,” she said. “I’m quite light-hearted and don’t take myself seriously. I was having a bit of a laugh.

“I definitely wouldn’t have written those quotes if I knew everybody could read it.

“I’m always so careful to ensure the sport is portrayed in the best possible way . . . we don’t drink in public or silly things like that.”

Hockey Australia said players had previously been warned about privacy and the internet.

“The organisation is disappointed that private communications has entered the public domain and players will again be counselled on this matter,” its statement said.

AWESOME TO SEE HOCKEY GETTING SOME FRONT PAGE MARKETING!!

BOOOOOYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

It is with some regret that we announce that Australia’s Grant Schubert is out of the Olympic Games due to a knee injury………His mummy said: Team officials noted:

“He just took a brilliant dive and put the ball into the half-circle and I think it was Eddie Ockenden put it in the goal, and through taking the dive he must have landed on his knee and through the impact damaged the ligament behind the knee”.

Thanks Mrs Schubert Although this is terrible news for Grant and we can all only imagine how gut wrenching it must be for him, we also couldn’t be more stoked if we tried for our main man on the ground in Beijing…

as we like to call him…”The Hockey Show’s Own..”

SMITTY!

Schubert’s injury opens the door for the 17th man, the great Andrew “We love you ’cause you’re a Victorian” Smith to step into the squad for the remainder of the tournament. Not a bad Olympic debut v Spain in the Semi Final if you ask us!

Obviously our Voodoo-Doll antics have worked wonders and the injury gods have smiled upon this King amongst men and with the whole of Victoria behind him how can the big rig go wrong?

Best of luck Smitty, knock ‘em dead.

…now…can they get a decent keeper in the net?

Here at The Hockey Show we like to stay on-top of the big issues and with the Australian women’s hockey team The Hockeyroos tonight losing to the less-fancied Chinese team, the question has to be asked – what went wrong?

The Aussie girls looked totally out classed with China far more efficent in their ball movement and defending resolutely throughout the game. The endeavour was noticeably better from the hometeam and although the girls raked one back in with 20 mins to go in the game – and then a flukey little deflection…they just didn’t look like it at all tonight. It was a case of too little too late I think and appeared that the Hockeyroos were perhaps a little disrespectful to their Chinese opponents and as a result their intensity was seriously lacking.

All in all, the team was strong, their preperation immpecable and thorough – but throughout the tournament we’ve seen some strange play and decision making from our top female players. Furthermore as “Booges” commented on in the forumsthat “Australia were trying to play on off-side trap in their first game, which hasn’t been a tactic since Atlanta, where Frank Murray was last coaching Olympics”…

So: Is it time for the man with the floppy Greg Chappel hat to hang up the aforementioned hat on a well-worn hook and depart?

His record is somewhat impressive taking the girls to Commonwealth Games Gold and the final of the World Cup – but a result such as this in the Olympic games, especially after finishing a disapointing fifth in Athens raises some pretty big questions.

I guess more globally, what is a shelflife of a coach? When do you start asking the tough questions and where does accountablity lay?

Anyway – a massive disapointment.

So while the Orympix (yes…the Orympix as they say in Beijing) are on, it struck me that there are a lot of random sports out there. I’ve been watching in total bamboozlement thinking to myself…why do they even bother?

Simply – There are sports that just just should not be in the Orympix.

Moreover, (I feel i’m writing a year 12 VCE English essay) the Orympix is for the best of the best. So sports like Soccer and stuff…get rid of it, or get the best gun players playing. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me – If I wanted to watch crap soccer, i’d go watch the A-League.

I reckon we’re all going to have some interesting opinions here, and I look forward to the discussion but if a “sport” is taking place and the commentators have time to discuss the “athletes” hobbies…surely it is undeserving.

I present for your consideration the top 5 sports that shouldn’t be in the greatest show on earth.

Exhibit A:  Equestrian.

WTF? Horseracing is one thing, at least its got some activity, it’s over in a short time and you can understand it. Horse runs, reaches finish line. WINNER. Simple. 

But EQUESTRIAN? Any sport where you wear a top-hat and tails surely isn’t deserving of being an Olympic sport and one where the commentators get excited about a horse trotting in a particular way…”oooh, look at that trot..that was a super trot – side saddle jolly good old codger hoity-toity English breakfast”. Yeah, nah - not cool.

Let’s not forget that they jump over little model things…”The Hidden Dragon”, “The Forbidden Jump”, “The River of Death”, “Horse Flu” etc.

Exhibit B: Judo.

It’s a pillow fight. Without the pillows. How come it seems all they do is try to grab each others dressing gowns? Why wouldn’t you just wear a tight fitting lycra bodysuit or one of those new fangdangled Swimming cossies to throw your opponent off? Theres nothing to grab onto that way.

ADDITIONALLY – they play in this little area and escape to the outside section as if it is Barley in a game of Tiggey. “Oh…she’s outside the sqaure…PAUSE…COME BACK, COME BACK…ARE WE ALL SET? REALLY? OK……FIGHT”. What a bloody joke. Then, you can win an entire “fight” on a penalty for being too “defensive”. What the hell? So you don’t even have to fight, you just have to attempt to fight and you can find yourself with a medal around your neck. Bizarre.

Exhibit C: Sailing/Windsurfing

Slightly cheating here combing two events under one banner of “shit” but If there ever was a spectator sport….these sure as hell aren’t it. Honestly, whats the point?  You stand on shore while lots of little boats/people on surfboards with sails go out and “sail” before coming back and at the end of it, surely your whole experience has been worth diddly-squat. I’ve noticed the way Channel 7 has handled these events is with a nod to what i’m talking about. They do about a 2 minute montage everyday to bring you up to speed with the crazy goingings on of these ridiculous “sports” while also being embaressed they have to even go that far.

Exhibit D: Basketball.

Controversial I know, but surely this is a game that they can start with both teams on 60 points and play the last 5 mins. End to end – 2 points here, 2 points there, 3 points here, 3 points there. Foul here, foul there, slap and tickle after every free throw there, slap and tickle after every free throw there. What an immense waste of time this sport is – and the hooplah that comes with it! Don’t even get me started on the run-on, high 10’s “Way to go Lauren’s!”

Exhibit E: Fencing

I won’t bother pretending I even partly enjoy this wanky interprative dance. Get a bloody gun and get the thing over and done with.

Anyway, that’s just my thoughts. I love sport bashing as long as it’s not hockey.

GET ON BOARD OUR BEIJING BANDWAGON OF RUBBISH!!

In breaking news, Waverley and Victorian Viper superstar Renee Trost will fly to Beijing as a reserve player following Hockeyroo Fiona Johnson’s hamstring injury ruled her out of the games that start in 3 days.

The Hockeyroos open their Olympic campaign against South Korea on Sunday.

Best of luck to Ren from all the gang at The Hockey Show!

Alrighty, I’ve got a bone to pick.

The last couple of games I’ve played have been…how does one put it?

 ”…over-officiated. ”

Never have I seen so many cards flayed about for seemingly incongruous events in the game. I’m talking about games that are being played in good spirit, with a bit of friendly banter between opponents and the Umpires seem dead keen on stamping it out, as if they think the game is getting out of their control. For the record – I’m going to be talking about men’s competitions here, and ladies please fill us in on your experiences, and to explain, I’m speaking from personal experience and from watching a fair bit of hockey in the four years we’ve been doing The Hockey Show.

The problem is, these games are for more in control than I think umpires think. A bit of fire in the belly and a competetive edge is great, and should be encouraged I reckon. Stick to umpiring, getting the feet right, the bad tackles etc (don’t even get me started on the “I heard a stick clash…so therefore it’s a bad tackle” remark often heard from Umpires…) just stick to officiating the rules of the game. 

I of course understand when the chat can get OUT OF CONTROL, but a bit of understanding and leniancy would be appreciated. I dare say it tends to be the younger umpires, trying to stamp their authortiy over older blokes. Thinking that to be respected, you have to be officious. This is rubbish. Respect from players comes from an understanding of the game and the way that it should be played. Understand the game, then make decisions. The best umpires are the ones that are happy to hear players sides of the story, and explain their decisions. This whole, “talk to the hand” business is so bloody frustrating and i reckon umpires should be taught a lesson in being decent human beings.

…I’m probably going to get carded for this next week.

Right, that’s my rant.

Discuss.

Wow, this interweb thingy is awesome! Now you can watch last night’s episode here, without all the dodgy snow on C31!

Let us know what you think… remember, your feedback is CRUCIAL to the success of THS.

So slip those earphones in at work…kick back and enjoy the first episode of THS for Season 2008.

Keep Dribblin’

I went to the SNHC on Sunday to watch a bit of hockey and I was annoyed. Yep. Annoyed. And me annoyed is not a pretty sight.

Both the Men and Women’s games for the MCC v Camberwell clashes were SANS BALLKIDS.

What on earth is going on?

I’m pretty sure that in the SL1 competitions, the home team are supposed to supply Ballkids yeah? There were none in existance. Furthermore, MCC failed to run the scoreboard for either of the games – disappointing form.

So I got to thinking…what is the deal here? Is there some sort of penalty for clubs who don’t provide Ballkids on Match Days?

And what about the professionalism of Ballkids?

Back in my day…(geeeee I sound old), but i used to ABSOLUTELY LOVE being a Ballboy. There was a sense of pride that came with rocking up in my ill-fitting white cricket pants and a strange smelling white jumper provided by the club. We got a red frog for our trouble and terribly weak cordial – the food and drink of champions. Plus – we had the opportunity to climb the ranks of the Ballboy fraternity and I was pretty sure that at one point the Camberwell Ballboys were the pick of the litter of the Ballkid world and as such were rewarded with the job of Ballboying at the NHL in 1996 (or thereabouts). I remember beccause Rosie Henderson gave me his shorts to wear after the game to say thanks…it’s not nearly as suss as that just sounded in your head.

AND THAT BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER POINT! – SL1 players of the olden days used to thank the Ballkids. Yep. You heard right. Common courtesy is dead with the current crop. Get a thanking…the kids need it.

When HV whack in Ballkids for the finals, and teams are not used to having them week in week out…what does this do to the players?

So, the question needs to be asked – would SL1  players prefer to have Ballkids or none at all?

Aaah, the glory days of the Victorian Redbacks.

Below is the 1997 squad – see how many you can remember? Bonus points if you get their nicknames according to the media pack at the time!!

Great to see that some of these players are still kicking around…and in SL1 no less!