Melbourne moments

Great grand final - the better team won but how different is this to grand finals ten years ago when one team would crack and the other would win by 70 points? Those days are over and it looks like we'll almost always see the two best teams playing and both with be mentally strong. It's almost like chess now - name another game (and don't even mention rugby league) where everything which characterises sport can be contained in two teams on one ground in such an environment.
Closer to home, Nick won the Harlequins' "Best Senior Team Member" award last night for his overall contribution to the club which was well deserved. Hopefully there'll be a picture of the award with this blog. Jules, Dom Bonnie (who Stuart unkindly described recently as a "keg on legs") and I had a few days down the Great Ocean Road this week which was nice although the water is still a bit chilly. Annika was out last night for a rest and is crawling towards the end of semester with too many assignments to finish. She'll still get distinctions, of course. Dom's broken hand is getting better but he's considering tennis this summer instead of cricket which will make Lismore at Christmas even harder when trying to pick a partner for the doubles. Summer is arriving here with long, hot days and the pool is looking increasingly inviting.

Rowan's Premiership Quest 2006: Part 4

Well what a fantastic couple of weeks in Unley Tuesday Night Social Division C Basketball it has been folks. In case you have been living under a rock, I am a key playmaker/gamebreakerer for the 'Timberwolves!' (We have uniforms and everything). For the past 6 months I have endured early mornings, broken pride, blood, sweet and tears. Why? For glory in September!

The semi-finals were heart stoppers with the mighty 'Timberwolves' barely holding off the red-eyed 'Chillaz', in a battle of the wits. Thankfully, I masterminded the pincer formation, which clawed the opposition the way a giant crustacean would, and we got a ticket to the Grand finals. On the other side of the draw, team 'Apathy' allowed the 'Doives' to beat them (they felt like the Doives deserved it more than them).

The Grand Final was not just a clash of two teams, but a clash of two year levels - the 'Doives' are year 11's from my school. Due to this there was a hugely successful media campaign that drew an enourmous crowd to witness events unfold. The Doives dominated most of the first half. The turning point came when I emerged as an unlikely hero, getting a rebound off my own shot before closing my eyes and scoring a sizzling basket, proving once again why they call me the 'R-Train'. The body language completely reversed for both teams in the 2nd, where we were able to catch their score by running into their players with the ball (I still don't understand the rules) and getting free throws. The game was soon thrust into extra time where were able to stay cool at the buisness end of the game and throw it to the big man (around 7ft3 and weighs three Rowans), Pedro, who delivered a plethora of baskets similar to the way a mail man delivers letters.

We won and the glory was ours forever. We were even given celebratory mugs, which were promptly filled. It was the greatest day of our lives. Furthermore it is my 4th premiership this year which makes me one of the greatest people of all time. I suspect the amount of premierships I win is somehow related to the way I am able to fill my shirts...?

Rowan

P.S: Completely overshadowed is the news that the Adelaide Roff boys ran in the City to Bay funrun which was carried out in blistering heat and extreme humidity. There is not much to say about the race (we ran), but there were some sore bodies and a lot of whinging on the drive home. Cramps were as abundant as hairs on my chest, the sort of cramps that you cant do anything about except ride them out and suppress tears.

Incoming!

Sorry I missed your call Ash. I just talked to Cathy. We arrive late on Thursday night so I thought we should get Andrew to come and grab us. We'll most likely go and stay on the property where the wedding is (40km out of town) for the weekend and be back for dinner at your place on Monday night. Sound ok? Then we'll work out a plan for the rest of the week.

Flight details are:
Flight number Jetstar (The Greyhound of the Sky) JQ610 Arriving
Thu 28 Sep 2006
ADELAIDE
2210 hr / 10:10 pm
Adelaide Domestic Terminal

Can you confirm Thursday night with me Andrew?

News from Adelaide (finally)

Well, what a poor week in footy it’s been. All is lost: the Crows went down, Manly and Newcastle off the scene in the ugly code and the bitter taste of the woeful Wallabies and the traitor Matt Rogers still galling at the back of the palate. I truly wonder what sort of world Lachie is growing up in? My only comforting thought is that Joe has finally eschewed the limelight and started producing Jewish records in California. I am just a bit worried he hasn’t shared his secret life with Sar. Who knows what goes on in that attic in England.?

This is slightly old but important news: we (Rowan and I) have finally won the equivalent of the Davis Cup: the Division 7 Winter Adelaide pennant competition. We have been trying to win this for the last 4 years) it has become like the holy grail. This year the team was stacked to the hilt (even taking the hard-hearted decision to drop their most faithful servant, me) and Rowan will move on to Division 1 this summer after fulfilling his paduan-ship. Still, the final was a cat-fight and, after 1-all in the doubles, with the singles to come, as the non-playing manager, I felt the need to bring in the team mascot, Phanny Roff, wonder dog and Guardian of the Eastern Dark, to assure victory (see picture). It was a master-stroke and the team won 5-1 in the end. A week of celebrations followed. Note in the picture Damian Fitzgerald in the far right, who is the brother of John Fitzgerald.

Andrew, Rowan and I went up to Mt Hotham in the first weekend of September with a group of people from ABB. It was our first close encounter with snow and Rowan (snowboard) and Andrew (skis) sid a fantastic job picking it up from new. Their father was a bit of an embarrassment failing ski school but eventually managed to feel the “wind in the hair” (or beanie) later on. The snow wasn’t great bur good enough for us. The worst part was having to pay $50 for a carton of VB but is was better than$120 for a carton of Corona. Can’t we a get up a consortium and buy a snow resort?

We hope everyone is well. Adam, if you are coming to Adelaide, please ring me to discuss accommodation and national parks.

Love
Ash

TOP SECRET INFORMATION

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to track the movements of one Katherine Louise Roff.
Miss Roff has recently be seen moving through the central american region posing as a "backpacker looking for work". Her cover has been exposed in her inability to blend in with the locals and complete lack of spanish speaking skills. We suspect drug trafficking.

Our sources have confirmed her most recent movements has she has been seen traveling the coast of Costa Rica, spending copious amounts of time sunbaking, hiking around an active volcano, white water rafting and visiting natural hot-springs all as part of her "tourist" cover. She recently claims that the injury to her knee, a sprain we believe, was caused by an attempt to dance latin style at a local bar. a likely story, no one can be that uncoordinated.

Background checks have confirmed that Miss Roff is indeed a member of the notorious Roff cartel of Australia and we suspect she is acting as an ambassador to break into the international drug market. This particular clan is a tight-knit group with family strategically placed in almost all major capitals in Australia. Several members have criminal records that were brought to our attention by authorities there.
She has also been in regular contact with a north American "Joe Powers", obviously a fake name, who we shall further investigate.

Your assignment is to try and track her movements and monitor her contact with the Roff cartel.This message will self destruct.

Nick's on the loose

Here's Nick and his fiesty, carrot-top mate (Hi, Daniel!) Kerin along with Henry on their way to the Phys Ed Ball for 2006. I don't think we'll ever get the smell of Rexona Original for Men out of the carpet and drapes. There's a pre-party, the actual ball and then an after-party. Feel free to ring him at 7.00am tomorrow morning to ask how it all went...

Happy birthday Joe

According to Fox Sport tonight, it's Joe's birthday. If that's the case, happy birthday from all the Melbourne Roffs. If it's not the case, please save this message until it's your real birthday. How's academic life in your attic?

Mo' photos

I've got a new camera and so I'm gonna go crazy putting up photos. Here's the first cool one which was a bit of a fluke.

Costa Rica so far.....

And thats all i have to say about it........

Love Kate

Adventures down south

Adam turned up on Thurday night and we stayed up until 3.00am assembling his bike for the trip to Phillip Island. We were joined for the ride by his mate, Thunder Hades King (better known as "TK") and pitched camp at the Trackside campground by around 5.00pm. Meanwhile, Stuart and Marianne were packing to leave Newcastle, arriving at ten-ish on Saturday morning. Stuart, Marianne and Julia went to Nicholas' final with Harlequins which the team won. Stuart then rode to the GP by himself on a borrowed bike, hooking up with us at about 4.00pm on the Saturday. We all endured a night of extreme violence and near-death experiences. Julia and Marianne did, too, going to see a movie called "The Book of Revelations". I don't think they recommend it. Adam rode back after the excellent feature GP race on the Sunday but Stuart and I enjoyed some hospitality and a clean bed provided by one of James Packer's servants. We got home early enough on Monday to exhaust most of Melbourne's supply of Asian food and the Stu Roffs flew back to Newcastle this morning. Don't know how we all survived, really, but I must be getting older as I'm going to go to bed as soon as I post this and it's only 7.23pm. I'm just guessing but I reckon Adam is probably already asleep...

RAMS Go Down

Damo,
sorry mate but the mighty team that is the St Loius Rams lost to the San Fran 49ers. They got the first down though, so i spose there is still hope for them!
hope alls well

Good morning

Lachie posing at the park last night.

In typical Grant 'I invented the Roff Report, so I will influence the content of the blog in a catholic church re-writing history to maintain power sort of way' Roff fashion, he has asked me to elaborate on the big move to Lismore.

The following questions require my attention.

What are the details, Jake? When? Where are you going to live? Work prospects for Kel? How can you extracate yourself from Canberra?

Question 1; Details - There are many reasons why we contemplated the move to Lismore. The school has a house attached for extremely cheap rent - There-fore Kelly won't have to work for a few years. She can stay at home, look after Lachie, and breed. Grandma is up the hill - So, it will give her a chance to hang out with the grandkids, an give Kelly the occasional break (possibly driving the MX6 into Byron for the day..). The school will act as my private country club after the students go home. I will be able to beat Glenn and Lachie at my pick of sports. We haven't lived in a warm spot for a while. I get to teach music... looking forward to that. I will probably miss my P.E., but I like teaching Maths. The trip to Roff christmas every 2 years will be cut by 16 hours.

Question 2; When? 2007.

Question 3;On Campus. Question 4; Breeding Question 5; Easily

Grant I hope I meet the requirments of the blog. I remain, as always, a faithful servant and fervent supporter of the blog

Gossip and predictions

Dom had his plaster off a few days ago and the finger is straight, but it's in a slightly smaller cast now and "no sport for six weeks". No guitar, either, which is driving him crazy. No washing-up as well, which, strangely, he seems to be coping with.
Harlequin seconds will win the premiership but the firsts will go down.
Stuart, Adam and Grant will be in the papers apologising for their behaviour at the GP.
Annika, despite her current misgivings about her academic performance, will get distinctions and high distinctions for her courses this semester.
Joe's sporting and social life is under control but he's yet to put pen to paper in any kind of academically meaningful way.
FANTASY LAND: Dogs win grand final in tightly fought battle with Dockers.
How's Mat Rogers' form - hope ARU lets him out of his contract. Labor to win the next Federal election etc etc...

Hey From Chicago

Just a quick update to let you guys know that my mate Aiden and i are now in chicago, after working our summer camp in Maine (northweest USA) and then travelling to Montreal, Toronto, NY and Washington DC. Next stop is san fransisco on wednesday, we are going to try to take in an NFL match when we get there.

the trip has been great so far, we have seen lots of cool stuff like niagara falls and all the normal tourist things in new york, and we also got a day at the US open which was great, got to see Philipousis get thrashed by Nadal, Federer, hewitt, henman, nicole pratt, Hantichova and heaps of others.

well unfortunatly i dont get to this blog too often, but between aiden and i we normally update
http://jimmyandroffysworldtour.blogpost.com
pretty regularly, so if anyone is wondering what we are up to, that is the place!

hope everyone is great at home!

Glory awaits

The Dogs' mighty victory over Collingwood today sets them up for a clash with John's team, the Eagles, next weekend. We're quietly confident in the Doggies camp, having beaten WC in Perth earlier in the season. Should be a cracker of a game. Nick's Harlequin team scraped into the grand finals next week with a 30 - nil win over Melbourne with Nick contributing one tackle, a fight and one excellent clearing kick. They're playing Southern Districts who beat them by one point, I think, the last time the two teams met. Julia and Marianne may get to see it but Stuart, Adam and myself will be sleeping in the mud at Phillip Island for the motorcycle GP. Stuart will be riding down on the Saturday to meet us (Yamaha SRV250 - beautiful transport). The campground has a 24-hour bar and six bands playing - wonder what we'll do to kill the time between races? I think Adam's plans may make dinner next weekend difficult, Alaine, but I'm sure he'll be in touch. Dom has his plaster removed tomorrow so I'll be able to post an update on the condition of his finger. He played for just the last ten minutes of his final soccer game, sent on by the coach despite his hand in the unsuccessful bid for a goal to tie the encounter. Annika and I had lunch with Amanda last Thursday and both girls are well although Annika has lots of uni work on. A gang of us did the 30km loop to the boathouse on our bikes this morning for the boatman's breakfast - well worth the trip.

a call to adam

gday, this is lainey. i have no news but i wanted to invite adam and monica for dinner on sunday night (17th) and thought the blogging would be the best way of contacting you. if anyone else happens to be in or around sydney on this day (or any other) come around. thanks.
lainey xx

Blue Steel

I'm pretty sure life is about to change. Lacho has worked out how to pull himself up and stand of his own volition. At the same time he is practising his poses from 'Zoolander'. Sexy and mobile - a dangerous combination...

As an aside, I just got a job (independant of Glenn''s input or influence) at my old man's school. I will be teaching 3 lines of maths and 3 lines of music.

Crucial to the decision is the fact that Neil's bar, and in fact 'Roff Christmas' is within arms reach.

P.S. Sue tells us that knee pads are 'in' this season.

Vale Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin died yesterday and our faculty is in a bit of shock. He was well liked by the environmental science community despite being a bit of a crackpot.

He annoyed scientists by saying “Australia is ... the greatest grazing nation on the face of the Earth! The whole joint is grazing land ... and by crikey we're good at it! We should be ... [eating] beef and lamb, not kangaroos and crocodiles. They're why [tourists] come to Australia. They are tourism icons!" In response to questions of Australia's problems with overgrazing, salinity, erosion, Irwin responded: "Cows have been on our land for so long that Australia has evolved to handle those big animals.

All of which is complete rubbish from a conservation perspective. But he was still a champ.

Together with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Birds Australia, Bush Heritage, WWF Steve Irwin bought 1,310,000 hectares (and growing) in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the United States and has locked it off for conservation. Habitat conservation is a fantastic way to preserve biodiversity. He was one of the leading environmental philanthropists in Australia. Crikey.

Heroic dads

Happy Father's Day to all the heroic Roff dads. Despite the excellent example we've set, some members of the family are dragging the chain. You know who you are...
Read a good definition of a bachelor yesterday: someone who refuses to make the same mistake once. I got some presents: a one-cup espresso pot, a bag of licorice and a cd/dvd - Bruce Springsteen's "Seeger Sessions" where he teams up with about 30 musicians in his loungeroom and sings Pete Seeger songs. It's Neil's Bar without the swearing. I'm going to spend the rest of the day listening to it and sitting by the 'phone, waiting for Amanda, Adam and Annika to call...

Busted!

I was searching "myspace" the other day, curious to see if any friends or family members had their own site, when I stumbled across something rather surprising. I typed "Roff" into the search engine and discovered that Joe has been hiding a personal web page from us all...and fact that he's making it big in the Jewish music industry! Way to go Joe!!! Check it out: http://myspace.com/joeroff