Making their mark

THE Herald Sun's decision to give up 14 pages to analysis of Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy's dismissal raised non-sporting eyebrows.

IN Victoria, where the world is Sherrin-shaped and the irrational love of footy is part of the citizenship test, nothing surprises, but the Herald Sun's decision to give up 14 pages of its newspaper to analysis of The Dismissal of Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy (including the first five pages of news and a spectacular "where were you when it happened" piece) raised the odd non-sporting eyebrow. Never let it be said, however, that the southerners have their priorities wrong as the same paper dedicated 15 pages to the resignation of Premier Steve Bracks on Saturday and he's never played senior footy. We wonder how much debate there was in the newsroom about the relative merits of a premier and a football coach, especially when the paper's editor-in-chief, Bruce Guthrie, is an Essendon tragic.

She did the Sheeds deed

SPEAKING of Sheeds, Strewth notes a mea culpa from the club chairman Ray Horsburgh. The Essendon boss admitted in his pre-game address yesterday that he had lied. "I would also like to set the record straight on what occurred post last Monday night's board meeting," Horsburgh said. "I was confronted by the media and told them no decision had been made in that board meeting. That was not the truth and I apologise for that." Horsburgh said he was "protecting an icon of the club". The chairman thought it would be insensitive to let the news escape via the jackals. Ironically, it was a call from his wife Pam Horsburgh to a radio station earlier in the week that tipped off the media to the truth about The Dismissal. Mrs H rang in to defend her husband and accidentally spilled the beans.

Sick note for singers

ONE may well want to, in the words of the famous song, rock and roll all night. Indeed, one may also want to party every day, but eventually one will discover that while the spirit is willing the flesh is weak. Strewth received disturbing news from San Jacinto, California, about Kiss lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley. The frontman of the outfit responsible for penning the above lyrics (Rock & Roll All Nite) had to cancel a show on Friday at the Soboba Casino because of heart problems. The 55-year-old has been with the band since its inception in the early 1970s and even survived the ill-fated decision to stop wearing make up during the '90s. Fortunately for fans the band members' haggard visages are covered once more. Christina Aguilera is younger and arguably prettier than Stanley, but she too has had to cancel two shows in Melbourne this weekend because of a dreaded lurgy. At this stage it is tradition for the Strewth columnist to make a joke based on the title of one of the artist in question's famous songs, but we don't know any. We can tell you that in 2004 she was part of a campaign to encourage Americans to vote and featured on billboards with her lips sewn together next to the slogan "only you can silence yourself".

Man behaving badly

THE mean-spirited among us might question Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews's suggestion that Mohamed Haneef's decision to go home at the first opportunity was suspicious. After all, what would possess a visitor to shun Australian hospitality and choose his homeland over home detention? Surely there is something sinister about a man rushing to visit his newborn child when he could stay here while the Minister examines his famous unpublished evidence. Good riddance Haneef, you are a quitter and your behaviour is bordering on the un-Australian. Dare we say he should take the whole incident on the chin?

Chasing trouble

SPEAKING of mean-spirited, did you catch the story about the two American helicopters that crashed and burned while chasing footage for news networks of a car chase? Last word on the matter was that the authorities were thinking of charging the driver for the deaths.

League of gentlemen

BOOKSELLERS can expect a conga line of Range Rovers illegally parked outside their stores this week as the elbow-patch set drop in to purchase copies of John O'Neill's contentious book about his first marriage to union and brief fling with soccer. It's Only a Game gives O'Neill's view of what went wrong in the experiment with league players Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri (bad breeding and bad coaching undermined what was a good idea). We also enjoyed the man's recollections of his first impressions of Dell. "My abiding memory is of Dell walking in wearing what, I thought, was a ridiculous outfit with an abundance of jewellery around his neck, on his fingers and in his earlobes. He walked up to me and said, 'G'day Johnny'," O'Neill writes. A little set back by the greeting, O'Neill noted that his new signing looked a little like '70s soul star Isaac Hayes. "Who the hell is Isaac Hayes?" Dell asked.

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