By AFP
November 1st 2008 @ 12:09am
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Redskins Rule could predict Obama-McCain win
A handful of critical National Football League games loom this weekend but none figure to have the impact of Monday’s Pittsburgh at Washington matchup thanks to the “Redskins Rule” of US politics.
For 17 consecutive US presidential ballots, the outcome of the Redskins’ last home game before Election Day has been an accurate predictor, some even [...]
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© 2008 AFP


![A week or so ago India won their Test against England with the biggest second innings run chase ever on the sub-continent. Now, on Sunday, South Africa have scored 414 to win the first Test against Australia at Perth, the highest winning second innings run chase ever recorded in Australia.
Where have all the bowlers gone?
In [...] Spiro Zavos: World cricket: where have all the bowlers gone?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pakistan-cricket-th.jpg)
![Earlier this week, the AFL opened up the discussion on staging for free-kicks. ‘Staging’ is a growing scourge on the sport, so the AFL’s course of action was correct. But as the round ball code shows, it’s a difficult problem to police and the issue may go unresolved.
AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson brought the [...] Ben Somerford: AFL moves quickly to find a solution to staging](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/AFL-moves-quickly-to-find-a-solution-to-staging-alan-didak-th.jpg)
![On Saturday, La Gazzetta dello Sport declared it the greatest derby in the world and the game hadn’t even happened yet. The pink sport daily had “analysed” all of Europe’s other derbies and decided none had as many titles between them, as big attendances or successful teams as the Derby Della Madonnina.
La Gazzetta’s liberal criteria [...] Davidde Corran: Is this the greatest derby in world sports?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/serie-a-th.jpg)
![February has proved to be a fabulous month for cricket in all forms. We had a spine-tingling Test in Kolkata, followed by a nail-biting One-day International at Jaipur, and a landmark double century by the evergreen Sachin Tendulkar in the second ODI in Gwalior on Wednesday.
On 21 February, New Zealand defeated Australia by 2 runs [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: Tendulkar stakes his claim as best batsman in all forms](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ipl-dog-sachin-tendulkar-th.jpg)
![The old saying goes that when NSW is strong, Australia is strong. There is some truth in it even today, with both NSW and Australia struggling.
However, in the current Ashes squad, NSW has the best representation: seven out of 16 (44 per cent) are from NSW. That includes both the openers, Simon Katich and [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: A Blues side from the past decade would blitz them all](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/blues-side-blitz-michael-clarke-th.jpg)
![Kevin Sheedy will coach West Sydney on a three-year appointment that will include the club’s first season in the AFL in 2012. That was the bombshell news delivered by the News Limited press late last night which will have the football world buzzing. The western Sydney AFL project suddenly has wings.
In fact, for [...] Adrian Musolino: Sheedy signing exactly what West Sydney needs](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/sheedy-signing-sydney-th.jpg)
![Yesterday’s news that the Western Bulldogs will be seeking two home games at Basin Reserve in the New Zealand city of Wellington, possibly as early as next year, is a positive for the game.
I touched on the topic of teams expanding beyond their existing support bases earlier in the week, and this is a great [...] Michael DiFabrizio: The Western Bulldogs in Wellington is a great idea](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/western-bulldogs-th.jpg)
![The AFL’s umpiring department claim they made just 6 mistakes from 10,000 scoring shots last year, yet in the sport’s showcase event, the Grand Final, there was a glaring error for Tom Hawkins’ 2nd quarter ‘goal’. It begs the question does the AFL need video replays?
You often hear people say, “this or that could one [...] Ben Somerford: Grand Final gaffe shows AFL needs to improve umpire accuracy](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/grand-final-afl-umpire-accuracy-th.jpg)
![The 1st of May is better known as May Day or International Workers Day. But for motorsport fans, it will be forever remembered as the day the sport lost one of its greats. The death of Ayrton Senna fifteen years ago was a seismic moment in the history of motorsport, a moment not forgotten by [...] Adrian Musolino: The day motorsport changed forever](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/theday-motorsport-senna-th.jpg)
![The irony wasn’t lost on me. Less than a week after writing about some immediate points for resolution in the world of Test Cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) made an announcement that will undoubtedly have a major impact on the future of … one-day cricket.
Did I say Test cricket last week? Surely [...] Brett McKay: ECB forces One-Day cricket rethink](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ecb-forces-one-day-cricket-james-hopes-th.jpg)
![Last year was an annus horribilis for rugby, particularly in Australia. The 2010 season is shaping up to be a cracker, in my opinion.
Many of the factors that soured the rugby world for players and supporters last season have been resolved. And, in addition, there have been some interesting initiatives put in place for the [...] Spiro Zavos: The 2010 rugby season is shaping up to be a cracker](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/great-super-14-round-david-pocock-th.jpg)
![Bugger this. Time to deal with the big issues. Is it just me or has there been an explosion of photos of sportsmen in cafes over the last few years?
It seems weird that every Saturday I find myself in a café staring at a photo of an athlete in café. It’s like one of those [...] Steve Kaless: Why are sportsmen always photographed in cafes?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/willie-mason-th.jpg)



