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November 28th 2009 @ 12:11am
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‘What’s going on?’ Maths mayhem at world finals
“Anyone know what’s going on?” asked Andy Murray. He didn’t know, Roger Federer didn’t know, and Juan Martin del Potro thought he did know — but he was wrong.
That was the nailbiting situation at London’s O2 Arena as three of the planet’s top tennis players were left clueless as to whether they had made it [...]
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![The long wait ends this Friday night when AFL footy returns with the NAB Cup kicking off in Perth. But after a dramatic off-season the new campaign will offer plenty of subplots to keep everybody interested and the pre-season competition presents us with our first insights into it all.
Indeed, this season’s Trade Week was one [...] Ben Somerford: Five things to look out for this AFL pre-season](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/grant-birchall-hawthorn-th.jpg)
![Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has been campaigning for the introduction of some form of increase to the number of players on the bench for some time. He got his wish in the NAB Cup, if only in the form of a trial.
The pre-season rule allowed for an additional two players, known as substitutes, on the [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Bench the current system, bring in the substitutes](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bench-current-system-th.jpg)
![There have been some exceptionally good pieces written over the last few days from members of the football media. Even more exciting is that they’ve all come from the next generation of local football journalists.
Vitor Sobral and Tony Tannous have both written great analysis of the Socceroos friendly with the Netherlands.
Here at The [...] Davidde Corran: Crowds aren’t just FFA’s responsibility](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/forget-second-division-create-ffa-cup-th.jpg)
![The doomsayers are preparing the obituary. Tennis in this country is dying – as evidenced by the mammoth drop in television ratings for the Australian Open that shows a 40 per cent decrease in viewers from last year.
The magnitude of such a drop cannot be ignored. And there must be an underlying fault somewhere to [...] Adrian Musolino: Channel 7 has stifled this year’s Australian Open](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/federer-courier-seven-th.jpg)
![This Saturday, two of our region’s greatest football rivals will come face to face. Not at Hindmarsh Stadium – where Adelaide United host Queensland Roar in the A-League preliminary final – but rather in cooler climes further north.
The Shizuoka derby is set to grind into gear, and as usual it’ll be handbags at six [...] Mike Tuckerman: Which is the best derby in world football?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kenta-hasegawa-th.jpg)
![The AFL needs to quickly take greater control of third party payments otherwise the league is in danger of becoming a clone of world soccer. The result is a two tier system that will have clear divisions between the rich and poor, allowing powerhouse clubs to dominate while the weaker clubs simply make up the [...] Justin Rodski: Third party payments must be controlled](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bombers-magpies-anzac-chris-bryan-th.jpg)
![Just imagine the following happened: Sydney FC played an A-League home game against the Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Football Stadium as a curtain raiser to the Socceroos-Holland friendly on Saturday night. Yep, I’m dreaming right?
Absolutely.
There are numerous and obvious reasons which would preclude an A-League-Socceroos double billing on the same night.
However, I can’t help [...] Adrian Musolino: FFA needs to look beyond the rules of Marketing 101](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/central-coast-mariners-player-drain-th.jpg)
![Late last week, the South Dragons pulled out of the 2009/10 basketball season. A few days later, the Melbourne Tigers joined them. By that point, it seemed like finally someone in the sport had the foresight to say enough is enough. Pity it didn’t last.
Now Basketball Australia is forging ahead with the teams that didn’t [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Forget the bandaids, the NBL needs genuine reform](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/forget-bandaids-nbl-dragons-th.jpg)
![Question marks over stadiums, aside from the politics of the bidding process, were for many the biggest impediment to Australia potentially hosting the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Well it certainly is for Adelaide with the city given the blunt declaration from the FFA: build a new stadium or forget being part of the World [...] Adrian Musolino: Our World Cup bid lacking a united vision](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/our-world-cup-bid-frank-lowry-th.jpg)
![It’s been an obsession of amateur selectors to pick World XIs: an all-time great Earth XI to take on Mars; a pre-World War II Eleven Vs a Post WW II Eleven; Right-handers Vs Left-handers; Living Vs Dead.
Here’s a new idea: wow about a World XI from the northern hemisphere taking on a World XI from [...] Kersi Meher-Homji: A hypothetical clash of the cricketing hemispheres](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/a-hypothetical-clash-tendulkar-laxman-th.jpg)
![No doubt Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta were the stars of this wonderful Barcelona performance, but I want to pay a tribute to the unsung heroes and tactics that helped them claim their second European title in four seasons.
Leading in, I felt Manchester United held the aces. Not because they have the [...] Tony Tannous: Bow to Barcelona’s superb work off the ball](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/bow-to-barcelona-yaya-toure-th.jpg)
![In Sydney yesterday, it was a balmy summer day with a slight sea breeze sweeping in over the sand on the ivory beaches. I took myself for a walk up the street and saw cars full of happy teenagers heading off to the seaside and mothers pushing small babies in prams enjoying the sunshine.
It was [...] Andrew Logan: Vale Bill McLaren, we’ll never see your like again](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/bill-mclaren-th.jpg)



