Code Breaker

NRL star Karlmichael Hunt (pictured right) with former AFL great Mal Michael.

So I arrived at uni to the news Brisbane Bronco Karmichael Hunt is switching codes from Rugby league to the AFL playing for the new Gold Coast team in 2011.

That got me thinking, sure theirs been Rugby players changing from League to Union or vice versa in the past, but their isn’t that much of a difference in terms of skill base between the two.

How about other sportsmen that have made a switch

Who has done it right … and who, well not so right.

Right;
Anthony Mundine: Rugby League to Boxing
In 2000 after playing 127 league games Mundine made the switch to boxing, in the foot steps of his father Tony he has since become a two time WBA Super Middleweight champion and an IBO Middleweight Champion.

Not so right;
Michael Jordan: Basketball to Baseball
In 1993 the then 3 time NBA champ, chased the dream of his late father and signed up with the Minor leagues for the Chicago White Sox, he was then sent to there affiliate team the Birmingham Barons. He never made the Major league and returned to the NBA in 1995 later winning a further 3 more championships.

Karmichael may look at it with a ‘why not?’ attitude.  He’s still only 22 years old and If you’ve got the skill and talent then go for it. After all if things go pear shaped theirs no reason why he can’t go back to league.

One things for certain, the 2011 season is already shaping as a big one.

Thoughts on Masterchef

Julie becoming Australia's first Masterchef

So Masterchef Australia has been run and won, but not without its controversy.
More than 3.7 Million viewers tuned into the final between Julie and Poh on Sunday night, making it the most watched non-sporting event in Australia since Ratings began.

Based on the shows finales 3 stage challenge point scoring system Julie was the clear winner. But was she?
In the past Network TV and sponsors have the habit of tapping into middle Australia, to get us behind the ‘battler’, everyone loves an underdog, right?

Perhaps it was not necessarily cooking ability alone that took out the Masterchef title, it was marketability. What would sell more a cookbook aimed at everyday people, cooking everyday food? or a cookbook with its emphasis on Asian cuisine?

In future series, dishes should be served to the Judges without the knowledge of who in fact cooked it, removing its emotional context and judging the food on its merits, but that wouldn’t make for entertaining TV, would it?

In the end Masterchef was a huge success for Ten and it was one of the a few shows that i could watch every night and not lose interest. In my opinion anything that promotes and inspires others to cook or to try foods they are not familiar with is great  With a ‘Celebrity Masterchef’ install for October and auditions for the second series about to begin. It’ll be here for a while yet.

Favourite Michael Jackson Songs

I thought today was a good a time as any to post my top 10 favourite Michael Jackson songs. Note these arn’t necessarily his 10 best songs .. these are just my favourites.

Leave me Alone Maybe its the clip spawned from his 1988 movie ‘Moonwalker’, but growing up and consuming the idea of Michael Jackson to be a theme park always stuck with me, this was always my favourite.

Human Nature In my opinion one of Jackson’s under-rated tracks, although its easy to see why with the track list from Thriller. This song was also heavily sampled by Nas – It Ain’t Hard to Tell from 1994s Illmatic.

Smooth Criminal This song had everything The story telling, the video clip, the dancing … but growing up it was the ‘lean’ which had me mesmerized till this day. Arguably his most complete song. Notable Cover by Alien Ant Farm

Get On The Floor You cant help but get caught in that bass guitar hook .. something that i put on before a night out. This is Michael at his disco best and how ill always remember him, My favourite from Off The Wall and amazed it wasn’t released as a single.

Billie Jean Arguable his most iconic track, the simplicity is what i love most about it. The kick, snare intro leading into a bass line which almost physically lifts you up to the dance floor needs no introduction. Covered by Chris Cornell

They Don’t Care About Us The most controversial of Michael’s songs, it raised issues of cultural segregation in society and demanded equality. All this with a marching band like snare roll encapsulating the military imagery perfectly.

Dirty Diana Personally this song captured everything about ‘Bad’, it was anthemic , grimy, crowd samples were used and the dirty guitar sound fit perfectly. Quite simply it sounded like something that Michael had never done before.

Beat It It wouldn’t feel out of place on ‘Bad’ such is its sound. Beat It showed Michael’s range, featuring Van Halen’s Eddie Van Halen. Its killer riff and solo had massive cross over appeal and inspired myself still to this day to nail that Guitar solo. Covered by Fall Out Boy

Wanna Be Startin Somethin The track which kick started Thriller, growing up there was all ways an argument on what the lyrics were. Was it “mamma say mamma sa ma ma coo sa?” or “I was saved by the sound of Michael’s song?” amongst other attempts at desiffering the hypnotic chant. The percussion in this song alone has it as a firm favourite in mine.  Heavily Sampled by Rhianna – Please Don’t Stop The Music

Say Say Say Technically a Paul McCartney song given it features on 1983s ‘Pipes of Piece’ the favour was repaid after McCartney appeared on ‘Thriller” with ‘The Girl is Mine’. Highly under-rated and almost forgotten about by many. Michael’s chorus is one of his most soulful of vocal recordings.

Thank You and Rest In Peace.

Fergies Owen Punt

Former Newcastle United star Michael Owen is set to complete a sensational move to English Premier League Champions Manchester United in whats expected to be a one year “pay as you play” contract.

Its an interesting move considering that United were understood to be in hot pursuit of Bayern Munich star Frank Ribery and Euro 2008 Golden Boot winner David Villa, although both would of attract a transfer fee that wouldn’t leave too much spare change out of the estimated £80 million received from the Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid deal.

As Owen is a free agent its understandable why Manchester United could see an opportunity to fill the void of the departed Carlos Tevez, whilst saving money to fill the even bigger void of the 2008 World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ferguson could see Owen’s, 29 positives as.

* Proven goal scorer (7th in the all time premier league)
* A partnership already established with Wayne Rooney
* Spurred on by World Cup Ambitions

June 26th marked 15 months since the 2001 European Footballer of the Year award winner last represented England in a friendly against France in March 2008.
With the South Africa 2010 world cup fast approaching, many feel that Owen’s time in an England shirt has passed him.
Could the move to United help or hinder his world cup ambitions? only time will tell.

*Constant injury restricted the ex-Newcastle United captain to 28 out of a possible 38 appearances in the premier league scoring 7 goals. A ratio of 1:4.