AFL 2 - RodneyOlsen.net

Talking to a Demon

May 12, 2009

This morning during my radio programme I spoke to a man who is both an Assemblies of God minister … and a demon.

Chaplain of the Melbourne ‘Demons’ Football Club and head of Sports Chaplaincy Australia, Cameron Butler, joined me on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning to talk about his role with the club and the wider influnce of chaplains in sport around Australia.

Far from being religious zealots out to force their faith on others, chaplains prefer to simply be a trusted friend to those who are comfortable with developing a relationship. Their duties can cover a range of areas that go well beyond those of a traditional pastor or minister.

A lot of high performance sports in Australia have chaplains supporting their teams. There are over 180 chaplains now serving teams of men and women involved in sports such as test and shield cricket, motor racing, tennis, rugby league, AFL, basketball, baseball, soccer, golf, yachting, skiing, netball, rodeo and horse racing, the Australian Institute of Sport and state Institutes of Sport.

Sports chaplaincy is a Christian cross-denominational service providing support for sports organisations. This includes sports men and women, administrators, supporters and family networks.

Why Chaplaincy?

Sports organisations and welfare officers recognise that sports people are whole human beings. The condition of other areas of an athlete’s life including unplanned circumstances can and do affect their performance, both on the field and in the public arena. Sporting demands can also have an impact on vocational responsibilities and relationships.

If you’d like to hear what Cameron had to say when we spoke this morning you can click the play button on the audio player in this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR051209_1148.mp3]

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Never lose your footy again

April 1, 2009

by Rodney Olsen

2 Comments

What a brilliant idea.

Are you going to rush out to buy a gBall?

This weekend around the country, the gBall(BETA) will change Australian rules football as we know it.

Building on our core strength in search, Google was approached by a number of Australian rules football leagues to apply our technology in their search for new talent. In response, Google, in partnership with the official supplier of matchballs to the AFL, Sherrin, has developed the gBall. Incorporating specially developed Google technology, it will be used in all school and amateur competitions – and will go on sale to the public – this weekend.

Users can plug in and register their gBall online, using a simple interface. The gBall contains inbuilt GPS and motion sensor systems to monitor the location, force and torque of each kick. The data is interpreted by a new curvilenear parabolic approximation algorithm developed in Google’s Sydney office, known as DENNIS (“Dimensional, Elastic, Non-Linear, Network-Neutral, Inertial Sequencing”), which plots the ball’s trajectory, accuracy and distance.

If you want one, you’d better move quickly. I don’t think they’ll be available tomorrow.

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Sam Kekovich coming to Perth

March 19, 2009

by Rodney Olsen

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This year’s Activ Dragonfly Corporate Leaders Luncheon will be held on Thursday of next week at the Perth Exhibition Convention Centre and will feature social commentator and futurist, Richard Neville as well as my guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning, Sam Kekovich.

Sam is a former VFL footballer playing mainly with North Melbourne. These days he’s perhaps more well known for his love of lamb, especially around Australia Day.

I asked him if he thinks the footy of today is the same as the game he played back in the 70s as well as discussing what ‘being un-Australian’ really means.

Sam has an amazing ability to use the English language and it was a real treat to be able to talk with him.

If you’d like to hear our conversation, simply click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

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It's almost footy time again

March 18, 2009

by Rodney Olsen

3 Comments

As each year passes I prove more and more that I’m hopeless at footy tipping. This year I’m at it again and I’m inviting you to give me a kicking with your tipping prowess.

If you follow AFL can I encourage you to try to beat me at tipping for the coming season?

I’ve signed up again at footytips.com.au and so I’ll be able to pit my skills against thousands of other footy fans. The best part is that you can try your skills against mine by signing up to The RodneyOlsen.net Footy Tipping Competition. Just follow the link and join up. It’s free.

Some people spend ages checking the form of each side and thinking through the match ups, the ground, the ladder and a whole range of variables before tipping. I tend to just go ahead and choose then hope for the best.

Go on. Join up. It’ll be fun.

The great thing with footytips.com.au is that you can be part of more than one competition at a time so if you’re already part of a competition with them you can still add your name to mine.

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Eagles Fly Again

July 27, 2008

by Rodney Olsen

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I can’t remember the last time I was able to go to an AFL game, so when I was invited to head to Subiaco yesterday I jumped at the chance.

With the way the West Coast Eagles have been playing this year I didn’t really expect a win but was happy to support my team during the tough times. I figured that they’d at least put up a fight.

As the first quarter started it looked like we were in for a miserable day with St Kilda kicking several goals and building quite a lead. The Eagles were putting in the work but it sure wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.

Thankfully, as the game progressed there were signs of better things to come and the match turned into a real arm wrestle with the lead swapping and both teams putting everything into trying to grab the win.

The Saints had a one point lead at half time which had turned into a two point lead for the Eagles at three quarter time. The tight game continued before the Eagles started to kick away to build a handy lead. The St Kilda cheer fans who had been singing loudly earlier in the day, seemed strangely quiet. They had been belting out a rousing chorus of “When the Saint Go Marching In” after each of their teams goals earlier in the day, now their rare goals were met with silence.

The West Coast Eagles finished the game with a comfortable 17 point lead, 15.13 (103) to 12.14 (86).

We’ll still finish the year towards the bottom of the ladder but it was great to see a little pride restored in the team and even better to be at the game to witness it first hand.

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Tag - AFL