Paper plane competition glides into Canberra

March 29, 2015 – 11:30PM

Christopher Knaus

Reporter for The Canberra Times.

Jordie Wilson (left), and Georgia Ring get in some practice before the Red Bull Paper Wings competition, being held at the Australian Defence Force Academy on Monday. Photo: Jamila Toderas

Budding paper pilots will fold and let fly in Canberra on Monday, as the Red Bull Paper Wings competition comes to the Australian Defence Force Academy for the first time.

Planes will compete for titles in three categories: longest flight duration, furthestdistance, and most acrobatic.

The stakes are high. The three overall winners from national qualifying get to travel to Salzburg, Austria, in May for the international final.

That competition sees representatives from 70 different countries compete for the world title.

Interest in paper planes has enjoyed a recent resurgence, buoyed by the release of Aussie film Paper Planes.

That film was loosely based on a 2009 ABC Australian Story feature on Dylan Parker and friend James Norton, who met at a paper plane competition at the University of Canberra.

The pair, who themselves competed in the world championships in Austria, have since established Paper Pilots – an organisation that sees them share their passion at schools, events, and other venues.

Mr Norton is not involved in the current Red Bull competition, but said paper planes provided a simple joy that brought families together in a way becoming increasingly rare.

“Simple things like a paper plane, I suppose they attract that activity in the family, and I think that’s really needed these days,” he said.

The current Australian records are 43 metres for distance and 8.99 seconds for airtime.

Mr Norton said a good throw required a combination of good technique and the right design.

“That’s what’s great about planes, you’re designing something to perform that magical function of flight, and whether it’s distance or time aloft, it’s an art form,” he said.

“You can get a lot of satisfaction by getting good at something, that’s why I think kids can get a lot of confidence through building paper planes.

“They’re mastering something and they’re getting better and better, they’re problem solving.”

The Red Bull competition kicks off at 11am in the ADFA indoor sports centre annex. Registration is at 10.30am.

 

The Canberra Times

Auction Watch: Campbell home fetches more than $2 million at auction

March 27, 2015

Kimberley Granger

Chronicle reporter

The Terry Ring-designed home at Jacka Crescent, Campbell. Photo: Jamila Toderas

In preparation for a quiet Easter, plenty of homes were up for auction in Canberra and the region over the weekend.

More than 100 homes went to sale with at least eight reaching the $1 million mark. The highest grossing weekend sale was 73 Jacka Crescent, which went under the hammer on Saturday. Hailed as one of Campbell’s finest homes, it has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a four-car garage.

The award-winning home fetched $2,125,000 at auction. It was designed by renowned architect Terry Ring, who has a record-breaking history in Campbell. One of his designs broke the sales record for the suburb at auction last year. The home at Garsia Street topped sales at $2.33 million, with 73 Jacka Crescent not falling too short of the record.

The features of the home at Jacka Crescent include a vast butler’s kitchen with plenty of storage space, climate-controlled wine cellar with cedar timber racks, gas fireplace, coffered ceilings, spotted gum timber floors and al fresco features overlooking the swimming pool and spa.

Independent Property Group agent Andrew Potts said Saturday’s good weather meant plenty of people came out to watch the action.

He said more than 200 people had inspected the property. While about 100 people looked on at the auction, less than 10 registered bidders took to the game.

“Of the people who had seen this home, quite a few came back several times,” he said.

“A home like this does generate a lot of interest because of the features, and it is a standout property in this area.”

Mr Potts said Campbell was a suburb that had seen a transformation over the past few years.

“There are strong results for this suburb in total … There has been a lot of investment in the suburb which is drawing attention to is as well.”

LJ Hooker Manuka principal Stephen Thompson said buyer interest was particularly strong at the moment.

“A lot of people wanted to secure a home before the school holidays,” Mr Thompson said.

“Not just that, it’s more the fact we’re in a stronger market, and the Mr Fluffy factor, there has been a bit of a spike in the market with that.”

AUCTION RESULTS

LUTON PROPERTIES

31 Mannheim Street, Kambah – passed in

30 Gellibrand Street, Campbell – passed in

48 Kinloch Circuit, Bruce – passed in

26 Apperly Close, Gleneagles – passed in

11 Lawrence Crescent, Kambah – $490,000

4/38 Kinleyside Crescent, Weetangera – passed in

94 Jervois Street, Deakin – $1,002,000

74 Sternberg Crescent, Wanniassa – $440,000

29A Hawdon Street, Ainslie – $820,000

2/32 Goreen Street, Braddon – passed in

32 Bimberi Crescent, Palmerston – $659,000

105 Cossington Smith Crescent, Lyneham – passed in

46 Scholtens Street, Casey – $650,000

LJ HOOKER

11/55 Crisp Circuit, Bruce – passed in

22 Pearl Gibbs Circuit, Bonner – passed in

3/11 Joy Cummings Place, Belconnen – $770,000

16 Hazleton Street, Macgregor – passed in

50 Harrington Circuit, Kambah – passed in

122 Wheeler Crescent, Wanniassa – passed in

36 Bromwell Circuit, Wanniassa – $497,000

11 Kneeshaw Street, Monash – $500,000

14 Pennington Crescent, Calwell – $440,000

25/12 Burdett Crescent, Theodore – passed in

27 Kathleen Street, Queanbeyan – passed in

185 Ridgeway Road, Queanbeyan – $680,000

19 Brockway Circuit, Banks – passed in

48/12 Albermale Street, Phillip – $255,000

20 Callabonna Street, Kaleen – $607,000

14 Stillwell Place, Mawson – $845,000

84 Walker Crescent, Narrabundah – $629,000

47 Frome Street, Griffith – auction deferred

14 McLaren Crescent, Pearce – $881,000

1 Yalga Place, Palmerston – $395,000

7 Tubman Street, Nicholls – $701,000

7 Wirria Circuit, Ngunnawal – $360,000

2/11 Biddell Close, Nicholls – $395,500

5 Domain Street, Palmerston – $451,000

34 Sturdee Crescent, Monash – passed in

13 Embling Street, Wanniassa – $620,000

LJ HOOKER MIDWEEK RESULTS

11 Rumsey Street, Banks – sold for $372,500

47 Stonehaven Crescent, Deakin – sold for $950,000

10/36 Gosse Street, Kingston – sold for $750,000

39/38 Canberra Avenue, Forrest – in negotiation

23 Tasmania Circle, Forrest – passed in

6 Mallee Crescent, Queanbeyan – passed in

24/3 Waddel Place, Curtin – passed in

74 Duffy Street, Ainslie – sold for $1.05 million

PETER BLACKSHAW

55 Temperley Street, Nicholls – passed in

4 Blakely Row, Yarralumla – $1,131,000

20 Ryan Street, Curtin – passed in at $810,000

25 Bamford Street, Hughes – sold after auction for $875,000

36 Rossarden Street, Fisher – $590,000

30 Dexter Street, Cook – passed in

40 Branson Street, Dunlop – passed in at $600,000

51 Zox Circuit, Calwell – passed in, in negotiation

2 Lyle Place, Chifley – $680,000

23 May Vale Lane Conder – passed in at $657,000

PETER BLACKSHAW MIDWEEK RESULTS

57/1 Kogarah Lane, Reid – $695,000

59 Jemalong Street, Duffy – passed in

MCGRATH

5 Correa Street, O’Connor – $841,000

33 Archibald Street, Lyneham – $620,000

38 Nimmitabel Street, Queanbeyan – passed in at $700,000

42B Munro Road, Queanbeyan – passed in

1 Stonehaven Circuit, Queanbeyan – passed in

PRD NATIONWIDE

41 Freda Gibson Circuit, Theodore – passed in

ELDERS REAL ESTATE

83 Macrossan Crescent, Latham – sold prior to auction for $425,000

HODGKINSON REAL ESTATE

18 Ardlethan Street, Fisher – passed in, sold post auction

MALONEY’S THE ESTATE AGENT

35 Millen Street, Hughes – $1,017,500

INDEPENDENT PROPERTY GROUP

35 Baskerville Street, Chisholm – $600,000

6 Godfrey Street, Campbell – $960,000

2 Arrietta Close, Charnwood – $450,000

73 Jacka Crescent, Campbell – $2,125,000

ONE AGENCY

93 Copland Drive, Melba – passed in

11 Rankine Place, Kambah – passed in

RAY WHITE

9 Bernacchi Street, Mawson – passed in

66 Carter Crescent, Calwell – $572,000

IAN MCNAMEE AND PARTNERS

2/8 Killard Street, Queanbeyan – sold prior for $150,000

PHILIP KOUVELIS REAL ESTATE

2/3 Port Jackson Cct, Phillip – $490,000

37 Nullagine Street, Fisher – $670,000

RECENT SALES

PETER BLACKSHAW

27 Avalon Ct/12 Albermarle Place, Phillip – $268,000

46/181 McBryde Crescent, Wanniassa – $300,000

2/105 Dooring Street, Dickson – $352,500

Yowani Heights 31/11 McClintock Street, North Lyneham – $398,000

38 Magenta Square, Amaroo – $417,500

12 Rose Scott Circuit, Chisholm – $442,000

18 Catalano Street, Wright – $452,000

26 Connibere Crescent, Oxley – $457,500

63 Verbrugghen Street, Melba – $492,500

31 Bottrill Street, Bonython – $500,000

20 Fremantle Drive, Stirling – $500,000

11 Wambaya Crescent, Waramanga – $532,500

6 Conway Place, Gowrie – $545,000

2 Dyer Place, Wanniassa – $550,000

11/22 Namatjira Drive, Weston – $550,000

5 Gray Place, Weston – $645,000

7 Harrow Street, Crace – $690,000

Argyle Square 57/1 Kogarah Lane, Reid – $695,000

9 Matcham Place, Kambah – $716,000

4 Hyde Place, Hughes – $907,000

3 Plunkett Street, Chifley – $951,000

51 Cunningham Street, Kingston – $1.48 million

MCGRATH

Unit 18, Watermark, Greenway – $579,000

42 Adventure Street, Harrison – $671,000

58 Artego, Mapleton Avenue, Harrison – $329,000

51 Victoria Owen Circuit, Springbank Rise – $797,500

17/174 Clive Steele Avenue, Monash – $408,000

77 Munro Road, Queanbeyan – $510,000

27 Morning Street, Gundaroo – $590,000

21 Myall Street, O’Connor – $680,000

13 Hemmant Street, O’Connor – $1.1 million

104 Miller Street, O’Connor – $895,000

INDEPENDENT PROPERTY GROUP

40/20 Moore Street, Turner $465,000

91 Hawkesbury Crescent $1,300,000

79/14 Boolee Street $331,000

1/21 Francis Forde Boulevard $552,000

25 Narryer Close, Palmerston $505,000

50 Boswell Crescent, Florey $442,000

45 Hedland Circuit, Flynn $436,000

 

The Canberra Times

Annastacia Palaszczuk sacks MP Billy Gordon from the ALP

March 29, 2015 – 11:21PM

Amy Remeikis

Labor MP Billy Gordon has been sacked from the Labor party. Photo: Facebook

Appalled, shocked and sick to her stomach, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced she had made the decision which may cost her government, just two months after coming to power.

Ms Palaszczuk wasted no time on Sunday announcing she had asked Labor state secretary Evan Moorhead to expel Cook MP Billy Gordon over his failure to disclose elements of his past, including criminal convictions.

She said she made the only decision she could and had advised him to resign, which could spark a byelection in the north Queensland seat.

Given Labor holds power only through the support of independent MP Peter Wellington, the decision could cost Ms Palaszczuk government.

Mr Gordon said he was was considering his future and would consult with lawyers, family and supporters before making a decision.

“I am presently weighing up my options after the advice I have received from the Premier that she has asked for my expulsion from the Labor Party,” he said in a statement.

“I am very concerned that I should be afforded natural justice in any determination that my tenure as the Member for Cook should be terminated because of her move to see me expelled from the Labor Party and her wish for me to resign as a Member of Parliament.

“The Premier has previously requested that the Police Commissioner investigate whether I have transgressed any law and that process should be allowed to continue its natural course.

“Any other attempt to remove me from the Parliament and force me to resign is a denial of natural justice.”

Mr Gordon said he would have eye surgery on Monday and that he was concerned about the impact the situation was having on his children.

“The member for Cook has let me down. He has let the Deputy Premier down, he has let the party down, he has let my government down, he has let the people of Queensland down,” Ms Palaszczuk told media in Townsville just after noon, speaking without notes.
“I have always maintained integrity is fundamental to any government I lead. Today I am prepared to put my premiership on the line.

“This is a very serious issue. Just half an hour ago, I spoke to the member for Cook. I told him, very clearly that, today I would be writing to the state secretary to expel him from the state Labor Party.

“Secondly, I told the member for Cook he would not be sitting with the state Labor parliamentary team.

“I also told the member for Cook, in the best interests of the party, in the best interests of the Parliament and in the best interests of Queensland, he should resign as a member of Parliament.

“As you can appreciate, it is one of the toughest calls I have had to make.

“I did not enjoy making that call, and I think everybody would appreciate that the member for Cook is extremely upset at the moment and I have asked the State Secretary, Evan Moorhead, to provide the necessary supports around the member for Cook during this very difficult time.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she believed in the principles of integrity former Labor leader Wayne Goss had advocated and could do nothing less.

“Let me come back to the central issue,” she said.

“The member for Cook was dishonest with me.

“He has let me down, he has let my deputy down, he has let my team down and he has let the people of Queensland down.

“The non-disclosure, to look me in the face and be dishonest – there is no second chance.

“And I believe the most honourable thing for the member for Cook to do now is to resign.”

Mr Gordon came to prominence on Friday when it was revealed he had not paid child support to his former partner and mother of his two children, having actively failed to lodge tax returns to avoid doing so.

Ms Palaszczuk said then she had ordered Mr Gordon to “get your house in order”, but believed after a discussion with him that there were no other issues.

But a letter sent to Ms Palaszczuk and several other MPs from Mr Gordon’s ex-partner asking for help with recouping her child support also contained allegations of domestic violence. On Friday evening, after a website linked to former LNP MP Gavin King published the allegations, Ms Palaszczuk referred the matter to police.

A crisis meeting was called by Labor heavyweights on Saturday, where Mr Gordon was asked to disclose any further issues.

On Sunday, Mr Gordon’s criminal record was made public, which he had not disclosed to the party during the preselection or when he first spoke to Ms Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad following the child support claims.

Leaving the press conference to applause, Ms Palaszczuk said she would “get on with the job” of governing Queensland and would let the chips land where they fall.

“We will continue to work hard each and every day,” she said.

“But when it comes to integrity and accountability, I will always stand up for my principles and the prinicples my government adheres to, even if it means putting my premiership on the line. Because I have campaigned on integrity and accountability, I have modelled myself in the tradition of Wayne Goss and his stance on integrity and accountability and I will not put that to one side for one single moment.

“For one single moment, I will not put that aside.”

Ms Palaszczuk’s decision to sack Mr Gordon from the ALP came 30 minutes after Deputy Opposition Leader John Paul Langbroek challenged the Premier to release all correspondence discussing the allegations.

Mr Langbroek said Ms Palaszczuk had credibility issues she must deal with.

“It is important that, while Billy Gordon may have character issues to deal with, Annastacia Palaszczuk has credibility issues,” Mr Langbroek said.

He said the Premier did not on Friday ” ‘fess up” to the people of Queensland in Parliament when Mr Gordon’s issue were raised.

“It is important for the people of Queensland to know when did the Premier first know about these allegations, what did she do about them,” he said.

“And importantly, why didn’t she do something earlier.”

Ms Palaszczuk on Friday referred allegations to police of Mr Gordon abusing a former partner from a relationship a decade ago.

Mr Langbroek said the newer allegations, revealed by Mr Gordon after a meeting with senior ALP figures, raised questions about Ms Palaszczuk’s leadership.

“We would like to know the whole email trail; when did the Premier and other ministers know about these allegations, what did they do about them, and importantly, why didn’t they do something earlier.”

In 2013,Mr Gordon also stood as Labor’s federal candidate for the seat of Leichhardt in the federal election, polling 44.3 per cent of the vote, behind the LNP’s Warren Entsch.

Mr Langbroek said Labor’s candidate recruitment issues were a matter for the ALP.

 

The Canberra Times

Canberrans largely in favour of Yarralumla Brickworks proposal

March 30, 2015 – 5:00AM

Meredith Clisby

Canberra Domain Editor

The ACT government’s revised plans for the Yarralumla Brickworks have been largely supported by the Canberra community, a survey shows.

A phone survey conducted for the Land Development Agency has found four in five people across Canberra and two out of three people in the adjoining brickworks area are in favour of the proposal.

The  agency announced drastic changes to the Yarralumla Brickworks plan in late February.

While the government has slashed the building heights it increased the total number of planned dwellings for the infill site.

Under the revised master plan buildings of up to eight stories in height would be limited to West Deakin along Adelaide Avenue and heights reduced around Yarralumla’s established areas.

The Mint Interchange was put back on the agenda and an increase in investment for repair and adaptive re-use of the brickworks was incorporated into the revised plan.

A telephone survey of 1400 Canberrans, conducted by Winton Sustainable Research Strategies, found residents were more favourable to the revised plan than the previous plan.

Interviews were conducted with 500 residents of Yarralumla, Curtin and Deakin and 900 across the rest of the territory using random sampling methodology.

In the local brickworks area the proportion of residents in favour increased from 48.6 per cent to 65.3 per cent while those not in favour fell from 48.9 per cent to 32.1 per cent.

Across the territory the proportion in favour increased from 66 per cent to 78.8 per cent while the proportion not in favour fell from 32.6 per cent to 19.5 per cent.

Agency deputy chief executive Dan Stewart said the agency was encouraged by the results, given it had taken measures to respond to complaints about the 2014 plan.

“I think broadly speaking the survey highlights that the LDA has a mandate to move ahead with this particular development,” he said.

Mr Stewart said the survey also highlighted there was a smaller number of people who didn’t like the project at all or were still concerned about certain elements of it.

This included the additional dwellings which had “certainly raised some eyebrows” and created some negativity around the development.

The agency identified about 500 additional dwelling sites adjacent to Cotter Road in land marked for “future development” under the 2014 plan.

This means that while the number of dwelling sites under last year’s plan was reduced to 1300 the additional land development will bring the total to 1800.

That is 200 more dwellings than under the 2014 plan, but in an expanded area.

The survey found the top two most negatively perceived characteristics about the proposal were that there were too many dwellings (27.7 per cent) and too much medium to high density (24.7 per cent).

The 19.5 per cent of people across Canberra who were not in favour of the new proposal were asked how it could be improved.

More than 55 per cent of responses were centred on housing – reducing density/height, including provision for ageing in place, reduce quantity of dwellings and call for housing more suited to the area to retain its character.

The agency will accept public comments on the proposal until next Saturday, April 4, and will then move to the detailed planning processes, including territory plan variations.

 

The Canberra Times

Anzac Cove visitors begin their 2015 Gallipoli pilgrimage

March 30, 2015 – 8:05AM

Tony Moore

brisbanetimes.com.au senior reporter

Jan Roberts of Petrie will follow in her father’s footsteps. Photo: Tony Moore

Petrie’s Jan Roberts was only four or five when her father William Byrne Slawson, a Gallipoli veteran, died.

However it was not until 60 years later – in the last four years or so – that she learned much more about her dad’s real tribulations at Gallipoli.

Then, as her eyes began to water, she told how it just wasn’t something that the family spoke about.

50 Facebook friends are off to Gallipoli. Photo: Tony Moore

“I really don’t know very much about him,” Jan Roberts said, as a group of 50 lucky Australians heading to Gallipoli met for the very first time at Chermside’s Kedron Wavell Services Club.

“I’ve learned more from the internet,” she said.

What she has learned was that her father served with the 11^th Light Horse Brigade and that he enlisted in Brisbane.

“It did affect him very badly as a young man,” she said.

“I was a late child in the family and they did not talk about it very much in those days.”

William Byrne Slawson suffered badly at Gallipoli and he returned a haunted man, she explained.

“He went in May 1915 on a ship called the Cheng Dong,” she said.

“They went to Eygpt and that is where they trained.”

Listening to the conversation of the others at the Kedron Wavell Services Club, who met as a Facebook group of friends, she told of how Gallipoli affected her father.

“I know that he had a lot of problems adjusting to life in Brisbane,” she said.

Jan Roberts remembers her mother Isabelle Jane Slawson kept a feather and a chest of memorabilia that were Mr Slawson’s.

“I only found out four years ago that he was over there. The family did not talk about it, so I did not know,” she said.

“But mum had this big chest that she had and I can always remember a feather,” she said.

“We used to go through it all the time, but I just can’t remember very much about it now.”

Jan Roberts will take this feather with her when she travels to Gallipoli in Turkey for the ANZAC Centenary Celebrations with thousands of Australians.

“I am going to take the feather over and a poppy and a photo of him and place it over there somewhere,” she said.

Tears start to form in her eyes and she remembers her father.

She said her father was given a block of land to farm when he returned from Gallipoli.

“Because he was sick when he came back, with a few mental problems, they actually presented the soldiers who couldn’t go back to work acreage out at Camp Mountain,” she said.

Jan Roberts was born years later when the family had shifted into Mitchelton.

“They sold out there,” he said.

Jan said that was the driving force for her to return to Gallipoli to walk in her father’s footsteps.

“I don’t have strong memories of him so that is why I am going over there,” she said.

“He died when I was about four or five – when he was 52 or 53 – so I was a late baby.

“So I am really doing this just for him.

“I need to know. I just need to know.”

The 50 Australians who met at Chermside’s Kedron Wavell Services Club have all won a public ballot to the 100^th Anzac Day celebrations at Gallipoli in 2015.

The person who organised them to meet for the first time, before travelling overseas, is Jane Bravery from Alstonville in New South Wales.

“I just thought it would be a really good idea to meet people from other tour groups,” she said.

“So I just put it out there on Facebook and created this Gallipoli 2015 Brisbane group, which all these people are part of,” she said.

Jane Bravery said she did not know any of the people except her partner Tony White who has served in Afghanistan, before arranging the meeting.

She said she applied for a ballot ticket herself because her father served in the British RAF as a flight sergeant and to recognise the military service family links with her partner Tony.

“It is a bucket list dream,” she concedes, looking around a group of former strangers now exchanging war service stories about their families.

“I just want to get a sense of the sacrifice that those young men made I think,” she said.

“I think it is a real privilege to get the ballot ticket and I will really like to be there to represent the country and to thank those young men for their lives.”

There are 4000 double ballot tickets issued for the 2015 Anzac Cove celebrations for a range of Anzac day tours.

 

The Brisbane Times

TV Record recebe menção honrosa em prêmio por divulgação de “Breaking Bad”

Único veículo brasileiro a ficar entre os finalistas da sétima edição deste ano do “Shorty Awards”, a Record conseguiu menção honrosa Nível Ouro na premiação, cujos resultados foram divulgados nesta última semana.

Segundo anunciado pela própria emissora, o canal competia na categoria “Best Use of a Meme” – Melhor uso de meme, em português – pela campanha realizada no Twitter para divulgar o seriado “Breaking Bad“, exibido no ano passado.

A categoria reuniu ações de diversas partes do mundo e a Record acabou conseguindo a menção honrosa, destacando-se entre os demais projetos. O grande vencedor da categoria, no entanto, foi uma ação da canadense EA Sports para o lançamento do jogo “FIFA 15”.

A Record ainda concorria em outra categoria do prêmio, pelo seu site oficial. A emissora foi finalista no quesito “Melhor Projeto Transmídia” pela cobertura do reality “A Fazenda 7”, mas não recebeu prêmio e nem menção. O destaque foi dado para uma empresa americana de serviços.

No ano passado, a Record fez vários memes e tuítes engraçados, com o intuito de divulgar “Breaking Bad”, exibido diariamente. Não deu muito certo, já que a audiência ficou abaixo do esperado pelo canal.

Renato Mauricio Prado comenta que nem tudo está tudo bem com a seleção brasileira

A bela vitória da seleção sobre a França, em Paris, e a impressionante sequência de sete triunfos em sete jogos alcançada por Dunga em seu surpreendente retorno não devem mascarar os inúmeros problemas que enfrentamos em nosso futebol e foram escancarados na Copa com a vexatória goleada 7 a 1 sofrida diante da Alemanha.

Houve um tempo longínquo em que a seleção era um reflexo do futebol jogado aqui. Há algumas décadas, já não é mais. Com nossas principais promessas migrando cedo para os clubes europeus e até jogadores apenas bons sendo levados, aos borbotões, para o mundo árabe, a China, o Japão e até a Índia, o que resta aqui é praticamente a xepa da feira.

Ainda conseguimos, sim, formar alguns times fortes, como esse Corinthians atual, mas basta um pouco de visibilidade e lá se vão os melhores valores — vide o que aconteceu com o Cruzeiro e o Atlético Mineiro. Reflexo direto disso, a qualidade dos jogos brasileiros, com raras exceções, é paupérrima e a comparação com o que se vê pela TV, principalmente, no futebol inglês, no espanhol e no italiano (este último, um pouco menos), chega a ser cruel. Parece outro esporte.

É compreensível que o Brasil de Neymar, Oscar, William e Roberto Firmino esteja nos dando esperanças, agora sob a direção de Dunga — e ainda em jogos AMISTOSOS. Mas não custa lembrar que exceção feita ao último, todos os outros estavam na Copa daqui, sob a batuta de Felipão.

Fora de série pra valer, continuamos a ter apenas o moicano.

 

Renato Mauricio Prado – O GLOBO – 29/03/2015

Renato Mauricio Prado repudia a postura totalitária da Federação Carioca de Futebol em 2015

Falência

A maior prova de que os campeonatos estaduais precisam ser repensados com urgência e remodelados drasticamente é a pífia média de público em praticamente todos eles. O Carioquinha, então, é de dar dó. Clubes demais, qualidade de menos e uma Federação que é uma piada de mau gosto.

Pândega entidade que se sente no direito de (tentar) estipular os preços dos ingressos, os locais das partidas e das torcidas e até de proibir os jogadores, membros da comissão técnica e dirigentes de fazer qualquer crítica à competição.

Que moral tem um presidente de Federação que diz as barbaridades que Rubens Lopes disse ao presidente do Flamengo Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, numa reunião do arbitral? Por que ele não foi julgado e punido pelo Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva, que agora quer suspender Vanderlei Luxemburgo?

 

Renato Mauricio Prado – O GLOBO – 29/03/2015

Renato Mauricio Prado comenta a postura de não vender entradas para determinados setores do Maracanã

Anti-marketing

Que determinados setores do Maracanã não sejam abertos, para diminuir os custos em jogos que tenham a previsão de pouco público, vá lá. Mas precisam fechar exatamente o que fica no meio do campo, bem em frente ao das emissoras de TV? Desta forma, mesmo que os setores atrás do gol e o do outro lado estejam cheios (o que é raro, diga-se de passagem), a impressão de quem vê a transmissão da partida é a de que o estádio está completamente vazio…

 

Renato Mauricio Prado – O GLOBO – 29/03/2015

Renato Mauricio Prado comenta o potencial de Gérson, jovem meio-campo do Fluminense

Projeto de craque

Gérson, jovem meio-campo do Fluminense, é uma das principais promessas de craque da atualidade, no futebol brasileiro. Dá gosto vê-lo jogar. Tomara que o tricolor consiga mantê-lo por um bom tempo nas Laranjeiras – já há clubes europeus de olho nele. Não vejo em nenhum dos outros grandes do Rio um jogador com tanto potencial e numa posição tão carente. Xerém continua a ser a principal fábrica de bons jogadores do estado.

 

Renato Mauricio Prado – O GLOBO – 29/03/2015