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For Sale Soon: Chris Ilitch Looks to a Future Without the Detroit Tigers
Justin Spiro, spiroavenue@gmail.com
When Mike Ilitch died on February 10, the billionaire Detroit staple left behind a detailed estate plan. For years, his privately stated desire was for the Ilitch properties to remain family owned. This desire was publicly expressed on May 5, 2016, in a statement declaring the family's succession plan.
In that statement, Mike Ilitch said the entirety of his empire would "remain 100% Ilitch-family owned" after his death. Within months, his heir apparent appears to have made that future negotiable.
Chris Ilitch Begins to Take the Reins
The precise timeline is not entirely clear. It appears that Mike Ilitch's son and successor, Chris Ilitch, began envisioning a plan to sell the Detroit Tigers sometime in the summer of 2016. His father's health remained in relative peril throughout this period, and the heir apparent to the Ilitch Empire was at that point already in full control of all Ilitch properties.
Although he was appointed president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings in 2004, Chris Ilitch had yielded to his father on all major decisions regarding the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings until early 2016. The one notable (partial) exception occurred when Brad Ausmus was retained as Tigers manager after a disappointing 2015 campaign. An infirmed Mike Ilitch wanted to replace Ausmus with Jim Leyland or Ron Gardenhire. Chris Ilitch and Team President Al Avila advocated for retaining Ausmus. The owner's son was permitted to make the decision.
With Mike Ilitch's health worsening in early 2016, the owner had decided to fully withdraw from the management of his empire. In the last year of his life, Ilitch spent most of his time under the care of Beaumont doctors. On the better days, he would quietly attend Tigers games from the comfort of his private suite.
On June 22, 2016, a meeting took place in that suite that might have changed the future of the sports landscape in Michigan.
"It All Started Very Casually"
Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores had wrapped up a downtown meeting with Chris Ilitch earlier in the day. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a potential move downtown for Gores' pro basketball team. Ilitch was hoping to woo Gores with renderings of the still-under construction Little Caesars Arena. After a long discussion regarding the new venue and the surrounding District Detroit project, Ilitch informed Gores that his parents Mike and Marian were attending the Tigers game next door at Comerica Park. Although it had not been on the itinerary, Gores expressed his desire to greet the elder Ilitches in their suite. Moments later, the owners of the Pistons and Tigers were shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. This meeting was first reported by Vince Ellis in the Detroit Free Press.
Those June 22 meetings appear to have planted a seed in Chris Ilitch's mind.
"It all started very casually," said a source with knowledge of the exchange. "(Chris) went into the day just hoping to find a co-tenant for the new building."
The day ended with Chris Ilitch desirous of partnering with Gores on a grander scale.
"Bottom line: Chris wants to sell the Tigers," the source said. "But there are reasons for pause."
The source said the new controlling owner of the Detroit Tigers has expressed reticence about selling the beloved franchise. There are legacy concerns and the fear of public backlash should the town's baseball team end up in the wrong hands.
"If Chris Ilitch had his way, Tom Gores would make a fair offer for the Tigers tomorrow," the source said. "It is a natural fit."
Gores, a Flint-native and graduate of Michigan State, does not have a "man of the people" reputation like the late Mike Ilitch. But he grew up merely 70 miles away from his glitzy new home in the District Detroit. Gores also shares the Ilitch family's fondness for local philanthropic efforts, as evidenced by his $10 million pledge to aid Flint relief efforts during the ongoing water crisis.
But does Gores have any interest in buying the Tigers?
"That topic was discussed (between Gores and Ilitch) at least twice last summer," the source said. "And Chris seemed encouraged by the dialogue."
According to another source connected with Chris Ilitch, the hope that Gores will make a bid extends beyond wishful thinking.
"Gores is a self-made billionaire who knows better than to show his cards," the source said. "But there are signs of his interest."
According to the source, Gores has made multiple references to the Tigers being a "treasured asset" in his discussions with Ilitch. Gores has also expressed to Ilitch his commitment to "continued expansion of his interests in the city" of Detroit. This desire is said to extend beyond the soccer franchise Gores is attempting to launch in a partnership with yet another billionaire Michigan local, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans.
People on the Ilitch side believe Gores is a viable bidder, despite the Tigers' high price tag –the less desirable Miami Marlins recently rejected a $1.1 billion bid – and Gores' affinity for acquiring downtrodden assets available at a discount.
Chris Ilitch believes that Gores would be a welcomed new steward of the town's baseball franchise, given his local ties and already established Detroit profile. Selling the franchise to an outsider, or to a multi-pronged investment group, would likely yield scorn from a fan base known for skepticism and provinciality.
What About the Red Wings?
Although it is possible the Ilitch family will fully divest their interest in Olympia Entertainment and all of its subsidiaries, it is believed the family wishes to retain Little Caesars, Fox Theatre, and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. Chris Ilitch has told family members that he does not want to extricate from the Detroit scene entirely.
"I think (Ilitch) likes being an important person in town," the source said. "You never say never, but I don't think he wants to be an invisible billionaire."
According to the source connected with Chris Ilitch, the billionaire favors the Red Wings both sentimentally and as an asset to retain.
Although Forbes seldom posits valuations that reflect a team's ultimate sale price, it is worth noting the Wings were assessed a value of $625 million by the publication in November 2016. Conversely, the Detroit Tigers were assessed a value of $1.2 billion in April of this year.
According to Forbes, the Tigers lost money for the 6th time in 9 years during the 2016 campaign. Their operating income yielded losses of $34.6 million, worst in all of Major League Baseball. The Red Wings, on the other hand, had a positive operating income of $6.1 million.
In short, the Tigers are a more valuable asset on the market, but have been a relative money pit for the Ilitch family since 2008. Unlike the salary-cap restricted NHL, the MLB is a relative free-for-all with a high luxury tax threshold. There is significantly more cost certainty for an owner in a salary cap league. And far less outside pressure to spend money to remain competitive.
Would Chris Ilitch be content operating the Tigers at a loss?
"No chance," said a Tigers employee working in the business offices of Comerica Park. "Chris is constantly asking our staff how we can tighten (the budget)."
The documents containing the estate and succession plan of the Ilitch family remain confidential. It is known, however, that Mike Ilitch placed the Detroit Tigers in a trust and named Chris Ilitch sole trustee. The family has spent years in their estate planning to mitigate the tax implications upon succession, but it is not known to what extent their exposure was limited.
The current federal tax on estates at the top bracket is 40%. Given the Tigers' $1.2 billion estimated valuation, the tax bill would come in at roughly $480 million. That is a significant sum to pay simply to retain any asset, let alone one that has been operating at a loss for nearly a decade.
According to both of the sources connected to Chris Ilitch and his family, there has been significant family pressure on the new owner to sell the family's various holdings to the highest bidder. There are dozens of family members across 4 generations dependent on the empire for their livelihood, and they each stand to benefit financially from a total dissolution of the empire.
"There are family members that get a nice check every month," one source said. "But they'd rather get one big one with a few more zeroes."
Any valuation of the entire Ilitch Holdings empire is a complicated equation. The two sports franchises alone have a combined estimated value of nearly $2 billion, and that is before Little Caesars, Fox Theatre, Motor City Casino, and several other properties are accounted for. While the sale of the Tigers alone would enrich the family, a rarefied air of wealth would be achieved by a total sale of all properties and interests.
An estate attorney in Michigan sees the perspective of the Ilitch family members.
"If you are in that family, of course you want Chris Ilitch to sell," the attorney said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid a conflict of interest with Ilitch Holdings.
All of the family pressure in the world cannot force Ilitch's hand.
"If the trust establishes Chris as both the trustee and the primary beneficiary, as it appears, nobody can make him do anything," the attorney said. "He is operating both components of the equation."
Luckily for those family members seeking a financial windfall, Chris Ilitch appears eager to sell at least one of the family's golden properties.
Impact on the Tigers
The Detroit Tigers have been significantly hampered by the transition of leadership in the Ilitch family. According to one source, the organization is on a budgetary lockdown.
"Morale has not been this low since 2008," the source said, referring to the last place Tigers team that had been favored in Las Vegas to win the World Series during Spring Training.
In May, Chris Ilitch told the front office that they could add additional payroll via trade, but only to acquire low-salaried personnel. When Joaquin Benoit was suggested as a potential target to fix an ailing bullpen, his $7.5 million contract was deemed too expensive to absorb.
"The good old days are over," the source said. "We would be back in the 90s already if this team didn't have so many players with unmovable contracts."
The entire operation of the Tigers has been based in a newly adopted, cost-conscious mentality. This stands in stark contrast to the free wheeling days of Mike Ilitch, whom often pestered former Team President David Dombrowski with ways he could spend his money.
"Mr. I called Dave Dombrowski and told him to go sign Pudge (Rodriguez) and trade for Miguel Cabrera," the source said. "Chris would never make those calls."
The team's unwillingness to move on from lame duck manager Brad Ausmus is another sign of the organization's holding pattern. The team is stuck in neutral, unwilling to add talent and reticent to make any staff changes. The Tigers are in an effective freeze, owned by an heir lacking the passion of his predecessor.
The future of the Detroit Tigers remains murky. There will be no hometown discount for Tom Gores or anybody else. Our investigation focused largely on Dan Gilbert as a potential alternative to Gores, but none of our sources have once heard his name mentioned by Chris Ilitch or anyone associated with him regarding the future ownership of the Tigers. Gilbert checks many of the same boxes as Gores, a philanthropic native of Metro Detroit, Michigan State graduate, and the requisite wealth to make an enticing bid. He also has an established relationship with Gores, given their efforts to bring professional soccer to the area. It is theoretically possible for the two billionaires to partner up again and make a shared bid on the Tigers, softening the financial blow for each.
Sports teams are rarely sold to individual bidders anymore, as demonstrated by the top 3 bids for the Marlins all coming from groups of investors. Gores ($3.3 billion) and Gilbert ($5.9 billion) appear to have the capital necessary to make individual bids.
What we have concluded is that Chris Ilitch intends to sell the Detroit Tigers, has effectively frozen the organization's movements, and is particularly desirous of a Tom Gores bid. Like any other billion dollar transaction, it will take the right partner to make Ilitch's desire come to fruition.
Until that day arrives, the Detroit Tigers remain in limbo, the custody of a guardian who does not really want them.
Editor's Note: Spiro Avenue contacted Tom Gores' Platinum Equity and Ilitch Holdings seeking comment on this report. At the time of publication, neither party had responded to these inquiries.
Tigers Top Prospect Joe Jimenez Growing Frustrated With Team
CONTACT SPIRO


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The Circuit was an African-American newspaper published in Catlett, Virginia from 1937 until 1954.  It was described as "Virginia's only colored paper north of Richmond."  The Circuit was important to the African American communities in northern Virginia during the Jim Crow era.

, only ten issues are known to still exist in archives, five at the Library of Virginia and six at the archives of the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County (AAHAFC) in The Plains, Virginia.  Information published in those available copies was important in documenting the historic nature of some African-American communities such as the Ashville Historic District.

References

Defunct African-American newspapers
Newspapers established in 1937
Publications disestablished in 1954
Defunct newspapers published in Virginia
Fauquier County, Virginia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Manchester Millrats and the Halifax Rainmen had their first regular-season meeting Sunday evening at the Fieldhouse on Southern New Hampshire University campus. The Millrats looked to avenge a four-point pre-season loss to the Rainmen back in December, but came up short as they dropped a 107-99 decision this time.
Both teams proved to be evenly matched with the score knotted at 24 after one. The Millrats relied mostly on their half court game to generate their offense in the first. In the half court, Manchester crashed the boards and took advantage of their second-chance opportunities. They were led by Alexus Foyle, who cleaned the glass with a couple of put-backs on his way to registering eight first-quarter points.
The Millrats opened the second with a 12-4 run that was capped off by a steal from Al Stewart, who passed the ball ahead to a wide-open Foyle for a two-handed slam. The Rainmen then came back with a run of their own to take a seven-point lead, 51-44. The Millrats closed the gap, though, as a put-back dunk by Foyle ignited the team's run to close out the half with Halifax leading, 53-50. Foyle gathered 18 points and 11 rebounds before the intermission.
The teams went back and forth in the third quarter, but Manchester managed to take a slim 82-81 advantage by the end of the frame. Anthony Anderson erupted for 12 points to spark the offense in the quarter. The Millrats also continued to attack the offensive glass as Dwight Brewington hustled for a couple of put-backs in the period.
The teams played even with each other until about halfway through the fourth when Halifax opened up a lead on Manchester. The Rainmen pressed on and extended their lead to take an eight-point victory.
Anderson led all scorers with 27 points. Brewington grabbed 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Foyle added 20 points and 19 rebounds. Meanwhile, Tony Bennett scored 25 to lead Halifax.
Tickets are available online at www.millrats.com or at the door. Doors open 1 hour prior to tip off. For more information please feel free to email Millrats GM Ian McCarthy at millrats@gmail.com.


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L'Évangéliaire irlandais de Saint-Gall appelé aussi Livre de Saint-Gall est un manuscrit enluminé de type insulaire contenant les évangiles datant du  ou au début du . Il est actuellement conservé à la Bibliothèque de l'abbaye de Saint-Gall (Cod. Sang. 51).

Historique
En 612 Gall de Suisse, un moine irlandais sur la route de l'Italie fonde un ermitage, qui devient l'abbaye de Saint-Gall un siècle plus tard. L'abbaye continue pendant longtemps par la suite à entretenir des rapports avec le monachisme irlandais, de nombreux moines s'arrêtant à l'abbaye sur leur route vers Rome ou l'abbaye de Bobbio fondée elle par saint Colomban. Le plus ancien catalogue de la bibliothèque, qui date de la deuxième moitié du , répertorie ainsi plus de 30 manuscrits insulaires. 15 manuscrits ou fragments de manuscrits insulaires sont toujours conservés par l'abbaye.

Le manuscrit 51 est le plus complet de ces 15 manuscrits. Sa date de réalisation est encore débattue entre le milieu du  ou au début du . Il est sans doute arrivé à Saint-Gall au cours de ce dernier siècle. Il provient d'un scriptorium irlandais ou d'une colonie irlandaise du continent.

Description
Le manuscrit est écrit en majuscule de type insulaire. Il contient 7 miniatures en pleine page avec 4 portraits d'évangéliste chacun en face d'une page de lettrines, une page tapis avec une croix face du Chi-rho de l'Évangile selon Matthieu, une crucifixion du type Christ triomphant et une représentation de l'Ascension ou de l'Avènement du Christ. Il contient par ailleurs de nombreuses lettrines ornées tout au long du texte.

Voir aussi

Bibliographie

Article connexe
 Enluminure insulaire

Liens externes

 Facsimilé du manuscrit sur e-codice

Notes et références

Manuscrit biblique du VIIIe siècle
Manuscrit enluminé du VIIIe siècle
Saint-Gall
Manuscrit enluminé de style insulaire
Document conservé à la bibliothèque de l'abbaye de Saint-Gall


This is a list of quest series which includes all quests that are recognised to share a common and continuing plotline. Quests in a series have a clear sequence and usually share the main protagonist(s) and/or antagonist(s) as well as the general storyline.
See the quest series section of the quests article for further information. Some quests are in several series, such as Desert Treasure being both a Mahjarrat quest and a Return of Zaros quest. Likewise, many series are subseries of a larger one, such as the Sea Slug quests being a subseries of the Temple Knight series.
This page was last modified on 11 February 2019, at 04:28.


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Looking back at the Spurs Under 17 side that won the 2001/02 FA Premier Academy League Group A:
Posted on July 26, 2021 July 26, 2021 by superhotspur
" We had a brilliant group of lads with a lot of talent and ability, who all got on really well. To win any competition is an achievement and we were delighted to be able to win the league. Jimmy Neighbour was an excellent coach and as the season went on he really got the best out of us. A lot of that side are still in contact and have remained friends which is great in itself, and myself and Danny Foster still speak regularly most days. " (Mark Yeates)
A talented Spurs Under 17 side who played good football, and of which included the likes of Philip Ifil, Mark Yeates, Jamie Slabber and Owen Price, would go on to win the 2001/02 FA Premier Academy League Group A (there were two Southern groups, with each team playing a total of 24 league games over the course of the season). In doing so Spurs qualified for the national play-offs to see who would be crowned national champions at that level, but Spurs were unfortunately knocked out by Sheffield United at the quarter-finals stage of the competition. Under the tutelage of head coach and former Spurs player Jimmy Neighbour, a man who the Spurs lads greatly respected, the Under 17 side started the 2001/02 season by recording three consecutive 2-2 draws against Wrexham, Newcastle United and West Ham United respectively. However, they soon started to turn draws into wins, starting with a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in game week four, courtesy of a goal from Jamie Slabber. Notable victories over the course of the normal league season included a 2-1 home win over Arsenal, a 4-0 win over Fulham and a 3-2 win against Millwall. Winning 13 of their 24 league games, drawing seven and losing just four, the late Jimmy Neighbour's side had a very strong defence that season thanks to the solidity of the likes of Danny Foster, Philip Ifil and Ricky Dobson, Spurs conceded just 20 goals in group A, and scored 38. Very difficult to beat over the course of the normal league season, it was in fact Spurs' north London rivals Arsenal who were their closest challengers for top spot in group A. And it was actually very close between Spurs and Arsenal in the end, with Arsenal finishing in second place and just three points behind group/league winners Spurs' 46 points.
Taking four points from our two games with Arsenal proved to be Invaluable come the end of the regular season, but so was Spurs' defence and difficultly to win against. The Spurs lads who played in Group A during the course of the season were given medals for winning the group/league, and they then had the national play-offs to look forward to (some of the players from that Spurs under 17 side were also part of the Spurs under 18 side that managed to reach the semi-finals of that seasons FA Youth Cup). Spurs played both Barnsley and Coventry City on one occasion in a three team mini league, and after drawing 1-1 away to Barnsley, Spurs crucially beat Coventry City 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Daniel Perry and Jonathan Black, which booked Spurs' place in the quarter-final stage of the competition, where they would meet Sheffield United at home. However, Spurs lost 2-1 to Sheffield United in the April of 2002 and as a result of that they went out of the play-offs (Newcastle United ended up becoming national champions that season). However, to still have won Group A which had some really fine sides in it, was a great achievement for the Spurs players and coaching staff, and something that every player in that side was very proud of achieving. Six of the players from the 2001/02 season went on to play for the Spurs first team (includes first team friendlies), which is a really good achievement in itself. With the great help of a former Spurs player who played for the Under 19 side and reserves during the 2001/02 season in Paul O'Donoghue, I have been able to get a much better understanding of what the players in that Spurs Under 17 side were like (for example – style of play) from somebody who knew them very well.
In this piece I will be looking back at every player that played for Spurs' Under 17 side in the league during the 2001/02 season, talking about what kind of player they are/were, providing some statistics and also looking at where they went after leaving Spurs.
The squad:
Paul Rutherford: A good, solid and very consistent goalkeeper, Paul Rutherford is from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and he had previously played for Colchester United and Norwich City prior to joining Spurs as a youth player. Rutherford was an important player for the Spurs under 17 side during the 2001/02 season, and he made 24 competitive appearances for us in the FA Premier Academy League. The goalkeeper would go on to play for the Spurs Under 19 side during the following 2002/03 season, but at the end of that particular season he was released by the club. He joined Braintree Town in the summer of 2003, the first of a number of non-League clubs that he played for. Since leaving Braintree Town, Rutherford went on to play for the likes of Maldon Town, Wivenhoe Town, AFC Sudbury Town and FC Clacton.
Nicky Eyre: A former England youth international (he played for England in the Victory Shield) from Braintree who had played for Ipswich Town as a youngster, goalkeeper Nicky Eyre only made five league appearances for our under 17 side in the 2001/02 season, as he was deputy to first choice goalkeeper Paul Rutherford during that particular season. Eyre was great at communicating to his defence and he was also a very good shot stopper who had great reactions, and he did go on to play for Spurs' reserve side on occasions, but didn't feature for the first team. After leaving Spurs the goalkeeper went on to play for the likes of Grays Athletic, Rushden & Diamonds and Chelmsford City before retiring from playing the game in 2014.
Michael Eade: A then schoolboy goalkeeper who actually didn't feature for the Spurs Under 17 side during the 2001/02 season, but who did make the bench in the league for them on one occasion. Michael Eade joined Spurs as a schoolboy after going on trial at the club, but he wasn't offered YTS by Spurs. However, Michael joined Luton Town on YTS terms and he would play a good number of games for their various youth sides. However, Michael Eade was released by Luton at the end of the 2005/06 season after not being offered a professional contract by the club. The goalkeeper then decided to go to America to pursue a soccer scholarship, and he spent three years playing for Park University, and at the same time he obtained a bachelor's degree in business administration. Michael still lives in America.
Daniel Perry: An unassuming full-back who did his job efficiently and had good technical ability on the ball, Daniel Perry was born in Welwyn Garden City and he joined Spurs as a schoolboy youth player. Perry made 24 (he started 22 of those games) FA Premier Academy League appearances for Spurs' Under 17 side during the 2001/02 season, and the defender scored one goal for the team, with that coming in the 2-1 play-off victory against Coventry City, in the April of 2002. Towards the end of the following 2002/03 season and a season after he had been a consistent and important player for the Spurs Under 17 side, Daniel Perry joined Cambridge United on trial. And Perry signed scholarship forms with the Cambridgeshire based club at the end of the 2002/03 season. However, I am unsure about where he went after leaving Cambridge United.
David Tyrie: A robust and determined defender who liked a challenge on the pitch and also the physical side of the game, Norwich born ex-footballer David Tyrie had previously been with local side Norwich City prior to joining Spurs. During the 2001/02 season the player who often played as a centre-half for Spurs would make 25 league appearances for Jimmy Neighbour's side, scoring one goal. Capable of playing as a central defender on either side, David Tyrie would later play for the Spurs Under 19 side during the following season, before later moving to Norwich City, where he mainly played for their Under 19 side. The defender would later move into non-League football where he played for Wroxham and Heybridge Swifts. David later moved to America, and one of the teams that he played for there was the Western Massachusetts Pioneers. He still lives in America.
Philip Ifil: A very highly rated full-back, Londoner Philip Ifil was an assured defender who had great confidence in his ability during his Spurs days. Ifil was also strong defensively but could also support the attack well. The defender made a single Group A appearance for Spurs during the 2001/02 season, when he played at right-back in a 0-0 draw with Charlton Athletic. Ifil would later go on to progress up the youth and reserve ranks at Spurs, to make five competitive appearances for the Spurs first team. Ifil would also become a regular starter for the Spurs reserve side during the 2000s. After going on some loans he departed Spurs in 2008 to join Colchester United. Ifil then later played for Dagenham & Redbridge and Kettering Town, before joining and playing for Watford Sunday League side Evergreen.
Marcel McKie: Former England youth international Marcel McKie was a first year scholar at Spurs during the 2001/02 season (he was an important player for the Spurs Under 17 side that season). The talented Edmonton born former player who made 17 league appearances for the Spurs Under 17 side during the season that we won Group A, was a good and technical left-back who was also a solid defender. McKie would works his way up the various ranks at Spurs to make a number of friendly appearances for Spurs' first team, before later leaving Spurs in the mid 2000s. After going on trial with a number of clubs Marcel signed for Kettering Town in 2006. Other clubs that he later played for include St Albans City, Enfield Town and Butlins Bognor Regis, the club which he last played for.
Ricky Dobson: A centre-half with great pace, Ricky Dobson was a determined player who made 18 league appearances for the Spurs Under 17 side in 2001/02, and he was an important member of Jimmy Neighbour's side. The left-sided defender would later play for the Spurs Under 19 side and the reserves now and again, before leaving Spurs permanently in 2004. To name some of the clubs that Ricky played for after leaving Spurs, he played for Grays Athletic, Billericay Town and Cheshunt.
Gareth Jenkins: A technically good defender with a fine left foot, Australian former footballer Gareth Jenkins made just one league appearance for the Spurs Under 17 side in the 2001/02 season. The Newcastle born former Spurs youth team player made more appearances for the Spurs Under 17 side during the following 2002/03 season, but Gareth was later released by Spurs before returning to Australia.
Liam Francis: A full-back with great stamina and who was also a solid defender, Liam Francis (he made four appearances for Spurs' Under 17 side in the league in 2001/02) joined Spurs as a youngster after being scouted by Micky Hazard. The left-back later progressed up to the Spurs Under 19 side, before leaving the club not long afterwards.
Lee Barnett: A technical central midfielder who was reliable and rarely gave the ball away, Lee Barnett had good composure on the ball and he was a good passer of the ball also. Barnett made an impressive 27 league appearances for Spurs' Under 17 side in 2001/02, scoring two goals. I was unfortunately unable to find out where Lee Barnett went after leaving the club, after he had stepped up to play for the Under 19 side.
Danny Foster: A commanding player who was a focused and sure footed defender, Danny Foster was a former England youth international. At Spurs for many years as a youth player prior to becoming a scholar at the club, the Enfield born former footballer was a really important defensive member of the Spurs side which won Group A in 2001/02. Foster made 22 league appearances and scored four goals, but it was not only his defensive qualities and organisation skill which made him such a valuable squad member, but he was also a great leader within the side. Later on playing for the Spurs Under 19 side and reserves in his Spurs career, the defender later had a good career in the game, playing for Dagenham & Redbridge, Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers. After retiring from playing Danny was assistant manager at Wingate & Finchley for a short time.
Mario Noto: A local lad who was a highly skilful and energetic midfield player, Mario Noto was rated quite highly by Spurs but was unfortunate to have had a number of talented midfielders ahead of him in the Under 19 side. However, as an Under 17 player at Spurs in 2001/02 Mario scored four goals from 27 league appearances. He would often play on the right flank during that season, and he was a good team player who was intelligent on the ball. Mario's career post Spurs took him to Reading, where he played as an Academy player, and later on he went into the non-League to play for teams such as Harlow Town, Boreham Wood and Enfield Town. Mario is currently the assistant manager of Enfield Town.
Joe Watson: A solid defensive midfielder who was able to break up the game well and win possession. Joe Watson made 15 appearances for the Under 17 side in 2001/02. Unfortunately I was unable to find out where Watson went after leaving Spurs, and whether or not he continued playing football.
Owen Price: Tooting born former footballer Owen Price was one of the youngest players to play for the Spurs Under 17 side during the 2001/02 season (he made 14 appearances for them that season). A good technical midfield player who arrived at Spurs with quite a bit of hype from Charlton Athletic, Owen Price was a popular player at Spurs and he particularly impressed with his distribution over a long distance. The former Spurs player who would later play one game for the first team during his time at the club (it was a friendly game against Falkenbergs), was also a regular for the Under 19 side and also the reserves. Price left Spurs in 2006 and went to play for GIF Sundsvall in Sweden for a time. Enjoying a long playing career which saw him play for a great variety of clubs such as Ljungskile SK, Lewes and Chatham Town. Owen is currently the assistant manager of non-League side Erith & Belvedere.
Nicky Wettner: An aggressive and physical midfielder who was a very committed and tough player. Nicky Wettner made 17 league appearances during 2001/02, and he would patrol the midfield well whenever he played that season. Wettner also played at left-midfield towards the end of that seasons FA Youth Cup run, and he did well. After progressing up to the Spurs Under 19 side and later leaving the club the midfielder played in the non-League, where he played for Aveley.
Jeffrey Seitz: A triallist from Spandau in Germany, Jeffrey Seitz made two substitute appearances for the Spurs Under 17 side in 2001/02. After not being signed by Spurs and going on to continue his playing career, Jeffrey went in to football coaching in Germany. He is currently the manager of SC Staaken.
Jonathan Black: A Northern Irishman from Larne in County Antrim, midfielder Jonathan Black was a highly rated Northern Ireland youth international who joined Spurs as a youngster. A good free-kick taker who wasn't afraid of the physical side of the game, but who was also good on the ball, the midfield player made 20 appearances in 2001/02, scoring one goal. Jonathan Black later suffered a career ending injury at the age of 19, which very sadly ended his career in professional football. However, he has since began a promising coaching coaching career. He coached back in Northern Ireland, at Greater Osceola United and at Tottenham Hotspur. Jonathan currently resides in America, where he continues his coaching career.
David Hicks: A combative midfielder who had good potential, David Hicks made five league appearances for the Spurs Under 17 side over the course of the 2001/02 season. Hicks later stepped up to play for the Spurs Under 19 side in the following seasons, before moving to Northampton Town on a free transfer in the January of 2004. The midfield player later played for clubs such as Stevenage, Wealdstone FC and Enfield FC.
Mark Yeates: Dubliner and former Republic of Ireland youth international Mark Yeates was in former Spurs player Paul O'Donoghue's eyes the best player in the
Spurs Under 17 side during the 2001/02 season. A popular member of the Spurs Under 17 side, Mark Yeates made 26 league appearances (he often played as a CAM) in the 2001/02 season, scoring six goals. Yeates was and still is a very creative player with an outstanding skill level, Yeates is also very skilful on the ball and he has an eye for a forward pass. Going on to quickly progress up to the Under 19 side and reserves, Yeates made his first team debut for Spurs against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2004, and he got an assist on his debut. He made a decent number more appearances for Spurs' first team, before leaving the club permanently in 2007 to join Colchester United. A long and successful career followed for the man who was unlucky not to win a senior cap for his country. Yeates played for clubs such as Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Watford and Notts County. Now at 36 years of age and still going strong, the forward thinking player currently plays for non-Legaue side Bamber Bridge.
Tim Ford: Tim Ford was a slightly built winger who made 13 appearances for Spurs' Under 17 side in the league in 2001/02. Ford would often take corner kicks for the Under 17 side when he played for them. I am unsure where Ford went after leaving Spurs, unfortunately.
Jamie Slabber: A centre-forward who only needed half a chance to score inside the box. Enfield born former footballer Jamie Slabber had a real eye for goal and he more often than not caused problems for defenders. Jamie Slabber scored an impressive 12 league goals from 11 appearances for the Under 17 side that season, and the player who would often play up for the Under 19 side and later the reserves, would make one competitive first team appearance during his time at the club (it came as a substitute against Liverpool in a Premier League game in 2003. He got an assist). Slabber went on a couple of loan moves during his time at Spurs, before being released by the club towards the end of the 2004/05 season. The striker later played for a lot of clubs in England, such as Grays Athletic, Chelmsford City and Eastleigh. Slabber was also an England C international.
Michael Malcolm: A highly rated centre-forward who joined Spurs from Wycombe Wanderers as a schoolboy. Michael Malcolm scored 11 goals from 26 appearances for the Under 17 side in the league in 2001/02. A striker who liked the ball played in-behind, the Harrow born former footballer later played for the Under 19 side and the reserves. Michael Malcolm was released by Spurs in 2005, and he later played for a number of clubs in England, such as Stockport County, Weymouth and most recently Cray Wanderers. Malcolm made four appearances for Spurs' team in friendlies during his time at the club.
Posted in Memory lane
← Spurs Under 23's versus Hastings United FC: (match preview)
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Beginning today, we are unveiling a new series of posts we are calling "Figureo Friday".
Every Friday of every week, we will be featuring a different Latino/a in Social Media to highlight the amazing strides he/she is making in the world of social media.
For our first figureo, we have chosen our two Latina bloggers who won the LATISM BlissDom scholarship. These two amazing chicas exemplify LATISM's tenets of service, research and leadership in their respective communities.
This inspiring Latina is the creator and founder of Blogs by Latinas, the first international online directory of Latina bloggers, with over 1000 blogs written by Latinas from around the world.
She's also the creator and founder of www.ClickLatina.com and www.CurvesandChaos.com. And the co-founder of www.LALatinaBloggers.com & LAFatshionBloggers.blogspot.com. She's everywhere!
With energy to spare and a heart of gold, Monique is set to conquer the world, one bloguera at a time!
Yoli is a Latina Blogger/Vlogger with a passion: sharing with others how to save money via tips and coupon matches.
Through both her Cuponeando blog and her weekly show on MomTV, aims to fill the void in the frugal blogging community serving the Spanish speaking Latino community.
A leading blogger, New Media enthusiast and by her own admission, a foodie wannabe, this Bloguera sure knows how to bring on the flavor!
Check back here every Friday for our latest installment of our #FigureoFriday!
Let us know who you'd like to see profiled! Or better yet, if you're as awesome as these chicas [and we know you ARE!] tell us what you're up to. Who knows? Our next shoutout might just be YOU!
Very cool. These are two very accomplished and very successful #latism bloggers.
Thank you so much! I'm very grateful for the opportunity given by LATISM.
Congratulations Monique and Yoly! Very well deserved! These ladies area fabulous!
I had the honor to spend two days with these amazing mujeres and yes they are extraordinarias! Great business women but even better, they truly care about their community. They are leaders.


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North by North Carolinian
A Curious Southerner Does Life on Both Sides of The Line.
The LibraRYAN
VOICE IT!
The Great Without: Reclaiming a Life & Legacy amidst Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
by rv mcgonigle
October 15th is International Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. You might've also heard it called the Global Wave of Light.
On this date each calendar year, we honor lives lost too soon, and their surviving family members, by lighting a candle for an hour, starting at 7PM local time.
Want to help raise awareness? Post your shining candle with a statement of support and #WaveOfLight.
Not sure how to help after today? Keep reading. You being here is a great place to start.
Ryan Vale McGonigle | North by North Carolinian
Recurrent, unexplained loss. Though I could not name them until recently, these three words have come to define my life. This losing — of people, places, things — is completely devastating. It's delivered more as a pummeling than a clean, repeated removal. It's a bad dream, a cruel joke, a punch instead of a punchline. And it's not something I'd wish on anyone, ever.
The worst part is that when you go through this type of loss, you learn to anticipate its return in a co-opted brand of disaster preparedness, one where it feels like all you can do is wait to be pummeled again. Who wants to live that way? Not me, but here I am and here we are. May as well do something useful!
I'm not here to discuss the broad reaches of my life. That's work best suited to forms longer than personal essay. What I am here to do, in a month where it really matters, is discuss unexplained, recurrent pregnancy loss, and provide some tips on how to go about living with or supporting other "waiting" parents through it. I'm by no means an expert, but I do know a thing or two about what it feels like to miscarry repeatedly and without medical explanation, and that counts for something, right?
Our journey begins in 2017. For a year, my husband and I tried and failed to get pregnant, mostly because I was lightyears off about when I was ovulating. It's no wonder we didn't conceive. Fueled by frustration, we decided to take some "time off" … and then it happened. We were expecting!
That joy didn't last long. In week eight, we found out that we would eventually miscarry, and by the tenth week, it was over. It took me months to recover physically, and in all honesty, people in these shoes can spend the rest of their lives healing emotionally and spiritually from that kind of loss.
Our struggles didn't end there, though I wish they had. For the better part of the next two years, my husband and I had an unbelievable mix of highs and lows. Unlike hoping-to-expect couples, another "waiting" community, our challenge has never been expecting. Achieving pregnancy, thankfully, does not seem to be our burden. But then again, maybe it is.
For whatever reason — and perhaps there isn't one at all — my body will not hold pregnancies through the first trimester. We've been close a few times, even allowed ourselves the indulgence of picked names, Pinterest-decorated nurseries, and imagined registries from our favorite stores. But in the end, our story always ends the same way: blood, tears, and calls back to the doctor.
[P]eople in these shoes can spend the rest of their lives healing emotionally and spiritually from that kind of loss.
In the beginning of this journey — that no one asks for, by the way — we believed our struggle would be short-lived. We honestly believed that with the right set of answers, a happier, biological-child-including future would materialize. So, we did a lot of the things that couples in our shoes tend to do. We prayed, we went to appointments, we took supplements, we tried new diet and lifestyle routines, we tried to get pregnant, we tried not trying to get pregnant, we tracked cycles and symptoms, and in the end, all we did was go mad. Mad with frustration, mad with envy over other friends' and families' happy announcements, mad with each other, mad with our God, mad at anything and everything that was — and sometimes wasn't — related to our "ongoing situation."
And that's another thing. We need to talk about labels. We wouldn't dare speak for anyone except ourselves, but for us, "unexplained, recurrent loss" is a label of what we've physically experienced, full stop. It says nothing about who we are, what we desire, or even what we have been through, after you remove the clinical list of happenings that get reported to OB/GYNs in appointments we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies. No, to get an accurate read on our "ongoing situation," you'd have to know that this experience, our experience, is more aptly named The Great Without.
By this, we mean not just our losses, past tense, but our grief, present and future, as well. We grieve the reality and idea of parenthood just as much as the children we never got to take home. This is an acute point, bordering on belabored for those in-the-know, but largely missing from the consciousness of some parenting and childless-by-choice people around us, so it bears repeating: this is an entire way of life that we grieve. Saying anything less fails to portray anything close to an accurate picture. We are devastated, short and simple.
To be very clear, being not-quite-parents in a sea of responses ranging from "We're pregnant!," and "I can't wait to have another!," to "Someone please take this child," or "I can't wait to get rid of this pregnancy," and "Thank God I'm childless," is emotional labor Every. Single. Time. It's exhausting, hidden work, and we both struggle with the knowledge that's it's a job from which we cannot simply resign every time we're mad that another "coworker" gets "promoted" to (or within) the parenthood club. That really stinks to admit, but it's the truth, and more people need to speak on it so it's less stigmatized.
Don't get me wrong. We support the people and families in our lives to whom these statements pertain. Truly and deeply, we do. But to write this essay pretending that it's easy to be strong would be a gross disservice to us, others like us, and everyone else who supports us. We aren't going to do that.
Instead, we're starting with intimate, piercing awareness, because that's the tool that inspires some of the most lasting change. Awareness of what? The Great Without, of course! The period of our lives that we hope is the last major "stop" before we become parents, though perhaps through creative means. But first, you'll have to understand.
The Great Without, as we've come to call it, is like living in a hole way below ground. We watch everyone else above us live relatively freely in whatever child-related lifestyles they've chosen, but often feel forgotten amidst their celebrations, lamentations, and rightful sources of stress. The problem here is that the investment of time and interest in each other's lives isn't balanced, and that's something we have been working on for the better part of a year.
Some individuals and families have already been heroic in their efforts to truly listen and appropriately respond, but there are (and always will be!) others who can't be bothered to change. From them, there is no "how are you faring?," nary a rope or ladder offered unless it benefits them. I know, that's not okay. We're also learning not to accept this selfish behavior anymore. It's been a learning experience, whether or not we've wanted it.
Don't mistake me. It hasn't all been bad. One of our best discoveries, for example, has been that we are never truly alone, whether or not we've got strong in-person support. That's because, for better and for worse, the infertility community has no choice but to be very vocal. Otherwise, we'd rarely be heard — or at least heard fully and well.
Some community members are vocal quite regularly. Others go a step further and encourage additional voices to share their experiences, rather than relying on their own, or on oft-repeated statistics and opinions of whatever expert the internet says we should believe on any given day.
And no matter their approach, these brave individuals are all to be commended. Their efforts to raise awareness and improve outcomes for not-quite-parents like us is Big Work, especially when you consider that many are already emotionally drained before they get working at all.
Make no mistake, there is a large, giving community available to those who seek it. But somehow, lots of their stories still reference the feeling of walking alone. That reality makes painfully, publicly clear what many privately already know: we need more courageous voices to join this conversation.
For those of you saying, "We've come so far!," you're right, we have. But we still have so far left to go. Until the statistics of one-in-eight (U.S.-based couples facing infertility) and one-in-four (known pregnancies ending in miscarriage) come way down, and until more unaffected people understand them in the meantime, Big Work needs doing. Not just scientifically, or academically, or for large public awareness campaigns, but because at the end of the day, those statistics are people, and those people are hurting, and that should matter to you now if it didn't already.
There will also be those of you saying, "Exactly, and that's why I've been doing X, Y, and Z for these affected communities." And to that I've got to interject with a firm but loving, "No." We don't work for other people, we do work alongside them, as partners who are committed to the resolutions that those communities seek, not short-sighted answers that make your hearts feel better, if only for a minute.
As exhausting as it is to live with and through infertility and loss, whether once or routinely (as both can be), please let me assure you that it's also exhausting to tell well-meaning individuals who believe they're working "for us" what we really need … only to be ignored, our needs replaced with someone else's desires, fears, or preferences.
Meaning well and doing good are very, very different things — and that's a lesson for working with people impacted by infertility or loss, as well as many other social issues of the day, so please read that again. Meaning well and doing good are very, very different things, my loves.
I don't know about you, but I'd like to be part of a world where difficult topics like pregnancy loss and infertility are easier to talk about and support others through, so I'm here to help. Not in a limitless, all-access kind of way, but in a "Hey, here's someone who's been through this thing you say you want to help with, so please listen for how to do that," kind of way.
Part of knowing how to best support someone like me is being welcomed into a space where it's safe to learn and make mistakes though, right? Somewhere you might eventually get it right, but where chances are, you'll first get it very, very wrong. And where, in partnership, we can make a stronger, more supportive way forward.
Finally, to those asking "Why now?" I offer, "Why not?" It is always the right time to do the right thing. But this month that's especially true. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
With the immense disclaimer that each person or couple in the "waiting" community is best supported in the specific ways that they request, my husband and I have found our brand of peace by encouraging others to follow five concrete recommendations, listed below. We hope these "please don't's" and "please do's" empower other bereaved or hopeful parents to set loving boundaries, and encourage supportive people in their orbit to truly listen to how to best support them:
(1) Please don't privilege your personal discomfort over our lived experiences. If you are feeling uncomfortable discussing pregnancy, infant, or child loss with someone who has experienced that struggle, please tactfully say so, rather than sitting in unannounced silence or deflecting to another issue or conversation. Doing otherwise can sometimes read as a lack of understanding or concern, even if that is not your intention.
(2) Please don't offer your hopes, vibes, or prayers for our future pregnancy success. Instead, take your cues from our stated comfort levels, needs, and desires. Responses that affirm the current situation, and feelings that surround it, along with statements of your genuine support, are a great place to start. Un-promised futures don't need to be introduced into the mix when someone is having difficulty in the present moment. That's not fair to either of you.
(3) Please do check in with us. Making sure we are "okay" after receiving emotionally complicated news (other pregnancy and birth announcements, for example) is laudable. Most people get that part right. What's easier to forget is that we are people outside these struggles, and we don't want to be reduced to our parenthood status any more than others do. So, check in with us in other moments, using your best judgement for social distancing and emotional availability.
(4) Please do educate yourselves on the issues surrounding childless lifestyles. There is a large difference between individuals and couples who have chosen to be childless, and those who have not. At the same time, these communities share an important commonality: we are both able to find happiness, joy, and fulfillment outside of parenthood. Spend time developing or further nuancing your understandings of these lifestyles, lest you unwittingly believe or falsely profess that we are first and foremost victims.
(5) Please do be patient with yourselves as you grow in your abilities to support us. We understand that occasionally you will make honest mistakes (so do we!). Making them is far better than the alternative, and as long as you've tried your best to listen, incorporate information, and grow, lots of us in the "waiting" or childless communities will be able to honor your efforts with grace and love.
That love brings me back to today, to my home with a loving spouse and the dog in charge of us both. Over the past three years, our family has been on a harrowing journey. None of us would've chosen it, but even in The Great Without — our purgatorial waiting place of not-quite-parenthood — we've managed to make peace with these boundaries and a future that may or may not include biological children.
We consider this a miraculous transformation in its in own right. Perhaps one day we'll write more about it. But then again, maybe another courageous soul will rise to that occasion or another of their choosing. This story is one that both includes and transcends us, and we are keenly aware of that reality.
As our family continues to move through this very personal struggle, and as our nation and the world face gargantuan struggles of their own, we are here to offer a message of hope, a moment of radical humanity, and some sentience above all the unfeeling noise.
You are not alone. Your Great Without, whatever it is — childless or not, coupled or not, employed or not, housed or not, fed or not, adequately represented or not (VOTE!!!), everything you've ever wanted or not — is valid. You are cared for. You are seen. You are loved.
How do we know this?
There are at least two humans and a dog somewhere other than where you currently are, who without even knowing you, are rooting for you to succeed, find happiness, retain safety, and know true and lasting peace. That'd be us and we don't plan on stopping anytime soon, because there's too much positive upswing at stake.
We hope these "please don't's" and "please do's" empower other bereaved or hopeful parents to set loving boundaries, and encourage supportive people in their orbit to truly listen to how to best support them.
You see, these moments of unexpected, radical connection are what create the most profound changes in people and societies. We firmly believe that there should be more of them, available to more people, in all times — but especially in times like these.
In our collective hour of need, it is our deepest desire that this knowledge will carry you forward. For us that means stepping forward in love to serve this village, even though we have no child. That's what reclaiming our story looks like. It looks like hope. Pass it on.
That's what reclaiming our story looks like. It looks like hope. Pass it on. — Ryan Vale McGonigle
Re-posted (and addended) from the end of a previous blog post, Finding My New Thankful:
Is someone you know struggling with pregnancy loss or the passing of a child? Are you struggling with how to best support someone in this position? Here's a starter kit, but please, please, please, #dothework and do some research on your own. I promise, while many women feel better talking about their losses, not all of them do, and either way, the last thing they want to be is your encyclopedia.
Three Links of Interest:
How to Support Someone Going through Pregnancy Loss (HuffPo)
Dealing with Grief after the Death of Your Baby (March of Dimes)
*NEW* RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association *NEW*
Full concept and content by Ryan Vale McGonigle
Posted in Considering IdeasTagged Bereavement, Expectant Parents, Infant Loss, Miscarriage, October, Pregnancy, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Pregnancy Loss, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Supporting Loved Ones, What to Expect
rv mcgonigle
A Curious Southerner Does Life on Both Sides of the Line.	View all posts by rv mcgonigle
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Lubrication and General Automotive
Racing Oils/Engines/Cars/Teams/Drivers
Tony Stewart in NHRA 2022
Thread starter SubLGT
SubLGT
Tony Stewart to join NHRA as team owner in 2022
NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart is branching out into yet another form of motorsports, fielding two entries in the NHRA next season.
www.motorsport.com
Tony Stewart Racing will field two fulltime entries in 2022 – one in Top Fuel for nine-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for 39-time event winner Matt Hagan.
"When I retired from fulltime driving I said it wasn't the end, but the beginning of a new chapter. This is proof of that," said Stewart, who also co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series with Gene Haas.
"I appreciate all forms of racing and I've always been intrigued about drag racing and NHRA, in particular. Back in 2009 when Tony Schumacher and I were both representing the U.S. Army, I got to hang out with him and Don Schumacher at the U.S. Nationals. Tony ended up winning and after taking it all in, I was hooked.
"But it wasn't until I met Leah and started going to races regularly, where I saw the strategy and the preparation firsthand, that I truly understood it."
Reactions: tnt_motorsports
tnt_motorsports
SubLGT said:
I think he's going to need to add onto the shop in Indiana. Running 2 sprint cars and 3 TF cars out of that shop, it's going to be tight...
Glad he is still active in motor sports. I do miss watching him wheel a sprint car though.
Just my $0.02
morepwr
I think this is good news. NHRA could use a boost and hopefully this will help and draw some more fans
Reactions: 426 hemi and tnt_motorsports
billt460
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
He's engaged to Leah Pritchett, (Pruett). I think that has a lot to do with it. She has a house here, and I've seen both of them in town a few times. As far as I know, they're not yet married.
VWRand
billt460 said:
I think the wedding is coming up in a month or two.
VWRand said:
I'm hearing that, and I hope it all works out. But Stewart has been down this track before, and never made it to the finish line. I hope the third time is the charm.
Reactions: BLND1
bdcardinal
It was today.
Well, I wasn't invited........
Reactions: 426 hemi
I wasn't invited either, good for him !!!!
I'm just disappointed he didn't wear a tuxedo t-shirt. I'm happy that he seems happy.
Tony was not satisfied being just a team owner, and will be behind the wheel in another team's Top Alcohol car.
NASCAR champion Tony Stewart to make NHRA drag racing debut in Las Vegas
Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart will make his NHRA drag racing debut this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
...NASCAR Hall of Famer Stewart, 51 – who runs his own NHRA team as well as co-owning a championship-winning NASCAR outfit with Gene Haas – is married to Top Fuel drag racing star Leah Pruett.
Stewart took part in two multi-day sessions at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, as well as a handful of dragster tests over the last two years. He will make his debut behind the wheel in the Top Alcohol class during the NHRA Nevada Nationals from October 28-30 at 'The Strip' in Vegas.
"I'm excited and nervous at the same time," Stewart said. "It's definitely going to be a big learning curve, and to do it at a national event right out of the gate adds to the challenge...
"But it's something I've really been wanting to do and I've been working toward this moment. I'm not taking it lightly. It's a serious business and I'm going to be as prepared as possible when I get to Las Vegas."
Stewart won't drive for his own team this weekend, but will instead make his debut for McPhillips Racing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
"The team I'm driving for, McPhillips Racing, has been awesome to work with," Stewart said. "They felt like I was ready to compete. With their confidence, that's given me the confidence and courage to try something new and take the leap."
Reactions: bbhero
NISMO_JUNKY
At least he can now witness insane power/intensity, unlike the weak/boring NASCRAP.
Reactions: SubieRubyRoo
NISMO_JUNKY said:
Fair but he's been wheeling sprint cars for many years so probably not new to him. I understand drag racing is the ultimate horse power play.
racer12306
Impressive first outing. He had Grade A equipment and he did his job on the tree.
Can't be having these roundy rounders coming in and winning on their first try
Reactions: RoadDukie and SubieRubyRoo


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FFG Discussion Special 2019
I hope you have had a good time over the festive season. Around this time of year, we've been known to publish a so-called 'Review of the Year', taking a look at what we've been up to over the last 12 months.
As a bit of a change of gear, though, this time we thought we'd try something a bit different. Both Stoo and I had been considering looking back across the whole history of the site and looking at some stats to see if they told us anything interesting about patterns and trends over the years.
So we figured we may as well do a discussion piece on the topic. It didn't end up being as stats-focused as we (or certainly I) had imagined, but the stats were still a good starting point for a lengthy back and forth on all things FFG, an edited version of which appears below.
The Elder Days of Objective Games Criticism
Rik: Ok, well I guess the setup is that we normally have a bit of a look back at the year, but this time we thought it might be fun to have a look back at the whole history, in terms of games covered.
Stoo: Starting with the Elder Days of 2001…because we really have been doing this for nearly 2 decades.
Rik: Argh! I think we've sort of been ok at marking milestones, but bizarrely have never really looked at the overall picture, which I think could be interesting (readers may of course disagree).
Stoo: Fortunately I'm a massive nerd and keep a summary of reviews so I can handily look up stats on how much we wrote each year, what sort of scores we hand out and so on.
Rik: It's work I admire, and am grateful for.
Stoo: I just like graphs.
Rik: So is there anything that struck you looking at everything overall?
Stoo: Well, it does remind me that I was a lot more prolific in the sites early years. I guess because I was churning through all the games I played in my childhood.
Rik: You did it the proper way, I reckon: reviews driven by passion for beloved classic games. My sketchiness and short attention span is evident in my early work. Blade Runner and Wing Commander 3 and 4 were probably the only games I finished back then.
Stoo: The Wing Commander reviews were some of the sites early highlights! I covered favourites like UFO, System Shock, Azrael's Tear right away. Probably rather embarrassingly fanboyish writing, although most of those articles have been edited over the years.
Rik: Apart from the ones already mentioned, my early stuff was the likes of TOCA Touring Cars, Stunts, Puma World Football '98 and Interstate '76 – many of which I said weren't all that good by modern standards, which was apparently an obsession of mine for some reason.
Stoo: Well early on we were fixated on setting aside nostalgia and being objective.
Blade Runner: one of the few games Rik managed to finish in the early days.
Rik: Yes. Possibly fired by abandonware sites giving everything brief and overwhelmingly positive reviews? But how embarrassing to recall we were early proponents of so-called 'objective games criticism'…
Stoo: As if we could review these classics the same way you do a modern game…
Rik: But we obviously did think we would stay forever in touch with modern gaming. And that our standards would remain rigorous, and unaffected by nostalgia.
Stoo: We would be the stern paragons of rigorous criticism…it was a position that became increasingly untenable. As we moved into the 2010s I became increasingly out of touch with modern gaming, apart from buying 5-year old games in Steam sales.
Rik: It was probably earlier for me…until 2008 or so, my PC was still only able to run the kind of stuff we could have covered on FFG. So I sort of missed out on the 00s in terms of cutting-edge PC gaming (although I did sort of stay in touch more generally through my PS2) and kind of have been wanting to catch up ever since. Until about five years ago, though, I was still vaguely aware of what was happening, even if I wasn't playing any of those games. Now, I genuinely have no idea.
Stoo: Same here. For a while I was at least vaguely keeping up with genres of interest to me, even if I was a few years behind with stuff like Bioshock and Fallout. Now I'm entirely lost. MOBAS, map-moppers, battle royales – it's a baffling blur. I stopped reading modern gaming sites, even RPS, because none of it meant much to me. So I guess our point is, we had to let go of holding games to any sort of modern standard.
Rik: I think we did, relatively early on.
Stoo: And it seemed a pointless endeavour anyway. It's ok to be nostalgic, and it's ok to enjoy an old game on its own merits instead of trying to compare it to the latest Call of Duty or whatever. I mean, we can still assess how well a game's mechanics work, if the artwork is appealing, it doesn't have to be totally fawning and misty-eyed. We're just accepting this is a separate category of entertainment to modern games, I guess.
Evading the Retro Police
Rik: So in terms of the raw numbers, I was reassured that most of our games were from the 90s [194 games out of a total 337 reviewed], and received a mark of 6 or over [225].
Stoo: Yes, both those facts make sense.
Rik: So we're still looking at old games, and good games, in the main. I was worried my sketchy tastes and endless football game reviews had diluted the initially honourable intentions of the site.
Stoo: We've shown solid commitment to the 90s, which were great times in PC gaming. It went from a boring beige box for spreadsheets and flight sims, to a serious gaming machine, aided by the rise of first person shooters, real-time strategy, and a golden age for space sims.
Rik: Yes. As I've said before elsewhere I think, I kind of consider X-Wing (shamefully absent from FFG) and TIE Fighter as the first games that were 'must have' PC titles. And Doom of course.
Stoo: For sure, those were the PC flexing its muscles, doing things the SNES and Amiga couldn't (well Doom had a SNES port, but it doesn't look particularly good).
Rik: Yes, not just platform games, at the risk of sounding like dreadful snob.
Stoo: Well, we're not tedious 'PC Master Race' types…
Rik: I do hope not!
Stoo: I was around for PC gaming in the 80s, it sucked. And nowadays consoles are very capable…I just like to look upon the 90s as exciting times for the PC.
Rik: Yes, we've only covered a handful of 80s games here [7 in total] and they haven't fared too well in terms of our ratings. Kind of before our time really.
Stoo: Yeah, we won't venture into that decade often. As time goes by, more 2000s games feature. We're fairly flexible on what we consider 'old'.
Rik: I think we were actually even more flexible in the old days. In some cases, 3 years or so was considered old enough.
Stoo: Actually, true.
Rik: I'm thinking stuff like Voyager: Elite Force (released in 2000, reviewed in 2003) or Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (released late 1999, reviewed in 2002).
Stoo remains a big fan of both System Shock games.
Stoo: System Shock 2 (1999, 2002) and Wizardry 8 (2001, 2003) also (lol fanboy).
Rik: Nowadays we're much more cautious.
Stoo: We are more cautious but also the 2000s are, gulp, a decade ago (a fact I still have trouble fully accepting).
Rik: I think we only have 10 from the current decade. And in the main, there's a through line from older games. Like Need for Speed, for example.
Stoo: Right, long-runners of particular interest…
Rik: Or the indie point-and-click revival, which made me enjoy adventure games again. I don't think we just launch into something new for the sake of it. Or been waiting for the clock to tick down on a set amount of time, just so we can cover game X.
Stoo: No, we just have a somewhat vague and fluid boundary as to what we call old enough (with some more recent exceptions, as mentioned). Some folks would probably object to calling, say, Morrowind a retro game but I'm quite happy to include that period.
Rik: The retro police.
Stoo: (Car siren sounds like an Amstrad CPC bleeping)
Rik: So I know we don't obsess too much about scores any more, but I found it an interesting thing to track. Overall, your scores are generally higher than mine, over 7, whereas mine are just under an average of 6. I blame sports games.
Stoo: Haha yes, you have churned through a lot of old football games. Admirably thorough coverage.
Rik: I should say that I enjoy the process, regardless of the game's merits, and I wouldn't keep plugging away otherwise!
Stoo: I think the retro police may come after you for not loving Sensible Soccer.
Rik: I've tried, I really have. But it's a lost cause.
Stoo: (It's mandatory for 40 year old men, I believe)
Rik: In general, though, as I keep repeating in various write-ups, it was a more interesting time when it was possible for virtually anyone to release a football game and have a chance of success.
Stoo: I can imagine, more different visions and ideas thrown into the mix, even if they didn't all work out.
Rik: Also, a footy game can be dissected relatively easily. A lot of your reviews of strategy or RPG games, there's a time investment there, which means if it isn't good, you aren't likely to get to a write-up.
Stoo: Yeah, if I'm not enjoying a lengthy game to at least give it a 6/10, I will probably park it and look elsewhere.
Rik: Well, I think there are very few below 6 in those categories [the average rating across RPG/Strategy sections is over 7.5, with only Nox and Titan Quest getting below 6]. In fact, you have reviewed very little crap. All the games at the bottom are mine.
Stoo: MegaRace!
Rik: Zone Raiders, UEFA Champions League…and MegaRace, yes. Although I think I was perhaps a bit harsh on it.
Stoo: Maybe. I find it does carry some sort of weird attraction, a reminder of those CD-ROM FMV days.
Rik: I was actually impressed with it in the mid-90s, but there's really very little to it. And ultimately I think I was disappointed that there's no proper ending, just the same clips looping over and over.
Stoo: My worst game is CSI: Miami, which I bought purely because I was going through a CSI phase. That was fairly dull.
Rik: Yes, those early CSI games aren't great. The later ones weren't much better either (my CSI phase lasted longer than yours!)
Stoo: Then Golden Axe and LHX which both got 4, and I don't know why I was so harsh on either.
Rik: I think in old currency that's 2 blobs [earlier incarnations of the site showed the rating in terms of silver 'blobs' out of 5, although half marks were permitted, so they were out of 10 really], which somehow seemed a bit better.
Stoo: Probably I was in my 'be objective' phase.
Rik: I think of 4 as not bad as such, but not something I'd be queueing up to play again.
Stoo: Hmm, maybe. I don't mind giving a game 5 or 6 if I think it has some merit but a few hours will be enough for most people. I shy away from 4 or below…
Rik: But, let's be honest, the scoring is a bit all over the place. As it was – and is – always likely to be.
Stoo: Yeah, I've never had a solid handle on numerical scoring. I've occasionally wanted to dump it. But I guess some sort of summarising factor is required.
Rik: I've tended to dish out a lot of 5s and 6s. And probably some 5s could have been 6s, and some 6s could have been 7s. I think at various points we've both considered going through old reviews and correcting the scores somehow.
Stoo: Oh huh, I gave Wolfenstein 3D a 4…
But what if you could talk to the aliens? [You're fired – Ed.]
Rik: Well, I only gave Doom a 7. Which…makes it not as good as XIII.
Stoo: (Sirens going again)
Rik: Heresy from a retro fraud!
Stoo: I do find myself rethinking a lot of old scores, but not sure if I want to devote time to picking over old ground, when I'm not writing enough new content!
Rik: I guess, why tinker with the score without tinkering with the writing. And the latter is a dangerous thread to pull. I mean, I did rewrite a couple of mine [Toonstruck and Speedball 2, in 2016], when I felt I actually wanted to play the games again, I guess that's my barometer.
Stoo: I rewrote one or two, when I felt their historical context needed updating. Since I first wrote about Diablo a whole load of action-RPGs followed in the footsteps of its sequels, but even that relies on keeping aware of developments in the genre which, as we mentioned before, is becoming harder to do.
Rik: I feel like you have also deleted reviews altogether. I-War 2? Total Annihilation?
Stoo: A few. Some because I hated them, I get too fussy over my writing. Some because I felt they were a bit under-informed.
Rik: On that basis, I probably should delete some of my old ones.
Sims and RPGs
Stoo: I had one or two more flight sims, which was a genre I enjoyed as a kid but totally lost track of in the 2000s.
Rik: Simulation is our shortest section.
Stoo: Heh. I always wanted to write about the ancient LucasArts flight sims, but they had extensive campaign modes I never even tried and would find daunting today.
Rik: Tempted to go back to any?
Stoo: I could revisit some of the ones from Dynamix – Aces of the Pacific, A10 Tank Killer etc.
Rik: I was generous with King of the Road. I feel sure Euro Truck Simulator (guest reviewed by The J Man) is better, but truck sims were more of a niche market when I wrote my review, and I must have given points for originality.
Stoo: "Elite, but with trucks" did sound appealing, I should try one of them sometime.
Rik: ETS 2 is fun, based on what little I've played.
Stoo: You're quite right in that Simulation is the most meagre section on FFG. We really need more RPGs also.
Rik: I did manage to play Oblivion.
Stoo: Yes, that was an excellent read.
Rik: Aw, thanks!
Stoo: Without all the baggage of a Morrowind fanatic that I would have brought to it.
Rik: I think that would have been interesting too…I only gave it a go because you said you wouldn't.
Stoo: And you gave it 9!
Rik: I liked it!
Stoo: Well, there you go everyone: Oblivion is actually pretty damn good.
Rik: RPG games are more accessible now, some would probably call them action games with extra bits.
Stoo: Yep, not like the bad old days of complex mechanics, brutally unfair fights and swift death for walking into the wrong forest too early.
Rik: The proper old school ones are a bit hardcore.
Stoo: Yeah, and as much as I want to play more, the time commitment is colossal. And I'm a dad now.
Might and Magic…coming to FFG, one day.
Rik: Yes, congratulations!
Stoo: Heh, thanks, she is a wonderful little girl. But does not leave me a lot of time for fighting goblins. God knows when I will ever finish Might and Magic 6.
Rik: I keep toying with the idea of doing Dungeon Master, but it's big and tough. I also find what I plan to do and what I actually do differ greatly, and I don't just mean flaking out, but starting a year thinking, 'you should do this', then getting distracted by another thought and following that instead. But I feel like having a set plan and sticking to it would make it feel like work.
Stoo: It can be good to have a plan, but ultimately this can't become too much of an obligation. Myself, I probably should have planned more. And that plan should have been 'play less World of Warcraft'.
Rik: Heh, well I was mainly playing Pro Evolution Soccer on PS2 in the 00s.
Rik: So I had a look at the stats, and we've mentioned the bottom games in terms of ratings, all of which are mine. You also have 9 of the 11 top marked games: Homeworld and HW: Cataclysm, System Shock 2…
Stoo: I guess I can get passionate about my favourites…
Rik: Deus Ex, Thief 1 and 2, Anachronox, Outcast and Planescape Torment. Half-Life and Monkey Island are my two.
Stoo: I figure I shouldn't be afraid to hand out some 10s, it doesn't imply perfection, not on my scale anyway, rather an excellent game that leaves a profound impression.
Rik: I wish I had a few more. I think my favourites just have big and obvious flaws that you just can't ignore and prevent them from being in the very top bracket.
Stoo: Heh well I wish I reviewed as many games as you!
Rik: I do try and put time into decent ones these days, even if the old football games and Need for Speed do still come calling. I did notice that things seem to have dried up a little in the Action section, particularly FPS games, we don't really go past 2004 much. I was wondering if that had anything to do with the lack of Half-Life 2…
Stoo: We really should add that sometime. I can think of other 2000s action games worth a mention. The Sands of Time trilogy for example. I was also considering the first Assassin's Creed but have held off because I'm not familiar enough with the rest of the series.
Rik: Yes, I've had similar thoughts about Assassin's Creed. What about FPS games?
Stoo: I feel like in the 2000s all the war shooters took off, like Call of Duty, and I never really got into those.
Rik: I did Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, but I'd sort of had enough for a while after that. I'd also like to try Crysis, Far Cry 2, Bioshock…
Stoo: Ah yes, I have played Bioshock, at the time it felt a bit too recent.
Rik: Well they have remastered it too, which I find weird.
Stoo: Slightly sharper textures, I guess?
Rik: Yeah, I mean that must be a sign of age that the original still seems fairly shiny to us, while clearly the majority of modern gamers are more bothered by such things. However, have any of them played Knight Rider: The Game? Clearly my priorities are in order.
All the crappest games on here have been reviewed by Rik. But now you all know the unvarnished truth about Knight Rider: The Game!
Stoo: It's cool to have some more obscure games on the site, like, we are probably the top resource for info on Puma World Football.
Rik: Annoyingly, there are a few more YouTube videos now. The Laa-Laa goal has peaked in terms of views.
Stoo: I think we've got good Adventure game coverage. Most LucasArts stuff is there, just about.
Rik: Sierra, well we have tried…but it's no surprise that Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail is among the lowest rated in that section. I was reassured though, recently, flicking through some old PC Format mags my brother-in-law gave me, and seeing Larry getting a kicking from UK mags back in the 90s.
Stoo: I do plan on doing more Sierra games, I found Space Quest 3 more fun than expected.
Rik: Yes, good work on Space Quest. I think I'm done with that series. I do think about…Phantasmagoria, maybe? That's the kind of thing, as previously discussed, I intend to do then never get around to.
Stoo: I'd like to add a few more Quests to the line-up. But am not in a hurry to play more Leisure Suit Larry. Also maybe not the really early Quest games in general.
Rik: We've done Police Quest at least.
Stoo: With all the sudden death for walking up a staircase the wrong way.
Rik: Yes, walking around your car, before getting in. I find myself doing that sometimes in real life, and I always think of the first PQ game.
Stoo: Sonny Bonds is our top gaming cop!
Rik: I think I'm unlikely to do any more strategy games. Every time I try, it goes wrong very early.
Stoo: I will never be as good at them as I wish I was.
Rik: And I probably should have got further in the ones I have covered.
Stoo: I keep meaning to review an early Civilization game.
Rik: I tried Alpha Centauri…
Stoo: I beat that, once, on easy mode.
Rik: Genuinely, I had no clue. Even booting up Master of Orion 2 to grab some screenshots for a Vault of Regret article, I thought, 'could I actually…play for a bit?' But no, I couldn't.
Stoo: I get the principles of these games but lack the patience to really formulate winning strategies.
Rik: I think you're one – at least – ahead of me.
Stoo: Heh, it's ok, I suck at everything that involves driving.
Rik: I guess I'd be ok if there was a strategy equivalent of Championship Manager. Like, you don't have to win, you can just stay in mid-table. But that's not really consistent with a setup based around taking over the galaxy.
Stoo: I would like to review Shogun: Total War, or maybe Medieval: Total War, those were pretty important.
Rik: I think in the old days I would buy Shogun, just because it got good reviews, and they would say 'a must, regardless of your interest in the genre!' But that's not true. Did you ever play Total War, at the time?
Strategy games: Stoo can play them, Rik can't.
Stoo: I wanted to, they are totally my kind of thing – [Ridley Scott films] Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven in game form – but I somehow never got anywhere. I tried Shogun, Medieval, Rome, they all fizzled out.
Rik: These days, I make the mistake of putting failure down to youthful impatience, when it's actually something more fundamental. Like, I genuinely am bad at Command and Conquer, even when I'm trying really hard.
Stoo: Those RTS games can involve spinning a lot of plates: rapid actions and decision making. I enjoy them but later missions can be rough, and god knows i'd get crucified at multiplayer.
Rik: Would Homeworld count, as that kind of experience?
Stoo: Homeworld dials back the base building stuff to focus on the actual battles. There's not so much fussing over whether to build a helicopter factory or another storage shed. Also it's so masterfully done, I was motivated to try harder. Also, I massively abused the ship-stealing mechanics, haha!
Rik: Heh!
Stoo: Are you interested in reviewing the Red Alert sequels? Since you did the original?
Rik: Well I tried Red Alert 2. And got stuck pathetically early. It made me wonder how far through Tiberian Sun I got. Further than Red Alert 2 probably, but maybe not far enough. I think maybe Command and Conquer isn't for me.
Summing up, and wildly unlikely future plans
Rik: Ok I'm aware it's getting fairly late. I think we covered most of what I had notes on – anything you want to add or talk about?
Stoo: I think we've covered a lot of ground. But, with all this in mind, any particular plans for future coverage?
Rik: I have some ideas. Maybe the Quarantine sequel, maybe one of the Terminator FPS games from Bethesda. I've also been playing Jazz Jackrabbit a bit recently, on the older end. At the more recent end, I did intend to do Vice City this year, after GTA III, so I might go back to that. And possibly Alpha Protocol? We'd also talked about a Monkey Island discussion, too. But I guess with all of this, we'll see how it goes, bearing in mind what we've already said about plans going awry.
Stoo: I am hoping my new Surface will make it easier to game in front of the TV. Time is now limited, of course, and I can't hide away on my desktop for hours any more. But I will definitely aim to cover some more Sierra games.
Rik: Cool. Well, I think it's good we're still going with some evident enthusiasm, within what's possible for us both.
Stoo: Yep. We've never been the most prolific site, but we endure somehow. So we could easily still be here in another 10 years. And I still won't have finished Might and Magic 6.
Filed in General
Tags: discussion, site history
Review: Need for Speed: ProStreet »
« Vault of Regret: Half-Life 2
Comment by JManJGR
Just want to congratulate you two on almost 20 years of quality reviews. I know from my own experience that reviewing doesn't always feel special, but you should be proud of the work you both do. Don't think I've ever read an FFG review and felt like I wasted my time. Even if it's not a genre I'm into, or a game I think I'd ever play, I still feel like I've got a good sense of it after reading.
I know it's easy to feel like putting the time in doesn't matter and won't be missed, but I assure you there's at least one person who enjoys every review and appreciates the time you take on them. They're probably over there, somewhere [gestures].
Congratulations again and best of luck on your continued run. Perhaps another 20? Reviews beamed directly into your mind on the Supernet, talking about how dodgy early 2010s VR was?
I never remember which email I used for WordPress.
Comment by Former Gamer
JManJGR is not alone to think that way. Count me in ! 😉
Comment by Rik
Thanks JMan. Life gets busier, of course, but we're still here somehow. And enjoying it, to be honest!
Glad you're still reading – the same goes the other way, I always keep an eye out for new JGR stuff, or go back and read some of the old reviews from time to time (I think you have saved me from trying Terminator: Future Shock again).
Hope you're well!
Thanks! Slowly working on one that's a little different that might be ready soon. Like you say, still enjoying it when I get to it, so that's good.
I'd try SkyNET if you're still curious. It's not really a sequel in terms of plot, it's shorter, and gets rid of that damn time travel. Maybe go back to Future Shock if you're still interested after that, and you can use the engine from SkyNET for modest visual upgrades to boot.
If you want to go the other way in terms of quality, there's Terminator: Rampage…
Comment by Stoo
Thanks guys! If we have just a few happy readers, that's good enough for me.
I'm also glad to see that the Lizard Wizard (and his worrying lack of trousers) made it into this article.
I can assure you the inclusion of Lizard Wizard was entirely deliberate (I may even have searched for 'Lizard Wizard' instead of 'Might and Magic' to find the piece…)
@Stoo : When I was much younger, I've been a senior editor in the French computer press — at a time when people actually wrote real letters to editors and not emails. About readers, quality does matter much, much more than quantity… except for advertisers and marketing people.
I may sometimes have made fun of too many sports reviews at FFG (a few of them rather esoteric when one has no knowledge of, nor any interes in the topic), but I've never found them boring. I sometimes disagree with your [both of FFG's stars] comments and ratings, but I value them as I value old friends' opinions (I often felt the same with the original Games Domain reviews). Should I run a gamers magazine, I would hire the both of you, while I would not even consider any people from RPS –a site I no longer have a look at, considering their new PC mania (and I don't mean the computer here).
Go on writing, gentlemen !
(and at some time, try and see if there's a reason explaining why winhttrack won't archive your site for us offline readers)
We were both regular readers of gaming magazine in our teens, in fact they were still going fairly strong when we started FFG. So they were definitely a major source of inspiration for us.


text:
Q And A With Author Of "The Tribe": Michael Mohammed Ahmad
Written by Alix Bromley | 21st Jan 2015 | Adaptation, Australia, Interview
Hazem Shammas performs in the stage-adaptation of "The Tribe" in Sydney Festival. Urban Theatre Projects
This week, as part of Sydney Festival's Bankstown: Live program, Michael Mohammed Ahmad will present a stage adaptation of his debut novel. The Tribe, published in 2014, tells the story of three generations of an extended family and members of a small Muslim sect who fled to Australia just before the civil war in Lebanon.
Here, Ahmad, who is completing a PhD in creative writing at the University of Western Sydney and is director of Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement, discusses why he wrote The Tribe, the identity politics of Arab-Muslim Australians and empowering marginalized communities through literacy.
What prompted you to write your novel, The Tribe, and who do you want to read it?
Book cover of The Tribe (2014).
For the last two decades, the representation of Arab-Australian Muslims has been colored by media reports of terrorist conspiracy, sexual assault, drug-dealing, and drive-by shootings. I wrote The Tribe in an attempt to step beyond these limited and simplistic images. I wanted to offer a complex and humanizing portrayal of my community and culture, which as we have all learned in recent months, is playing an increasingly important role in contemporary Australian society.
I wrote The Tribe for Australians.
Can you tell us a bit about what "the tribe" means in the book and the new play?
The Tribe is an autobiographical fiction that focuses on the relationships between three generations of my extended family, who fled to Australia before the Lebanese Civil War [1975-1990]. My family comes from a small sect in Islam that branches off from Shi'ism. I refer to this sect as "The Tribe" because so much of our customs and behaviors were distinctively tribal to me, in all our strengths and weaknesses.
These are traits I want audiences to experience as unique forms of Arab and Muslim identities, but more specifically and importantly, as one of the many intricate Australian identities.
Can you describe some of the work that Sweatshop does with young people in Western Sydney? Has this shaped your thinking with The Tribe?
Sweatshop is a literacy movement based in the University of Western Sydney Writing and Society Research Centre. Our work is devoted to empowering marginalized communities, particularly youth, in the region through literary programs that involve critical thinking and public outcomes such as publications and performances.
At the heart of Sweatshop is the call for self-determination – it is never about telling a person's story, only about offering the tools for that person to tell their own story. African American cultural theorist bell hooks calls this "coming to voice – the act of moving from silence to speech as a revolutionary gesture".
The Tribe is my coming to voice.
Michael Mohammed Ahmad. Author
We hear a lot about Western Sydney in the media – but not always from people who live in Western Sydney. What role is there for authors, playwrights and cultural organizations such as Sweatshop?
Western Sydney is home to Australia's largest populations of Indigenous, migrant, and refugee communities, and how often do you hear the voices and see the faces of these people in mainstream literature, television, film, radio or theatre? We may spot them on the news, but always as the subject, never as the investigator.
There is a role, and indeed a right, for arts practitioners and arts organizations from Western Sydney to offer an alternative and self-determined representation of their home.
Why did you adapt The Tribe for the stage – and were there any big challenges in wrestling a novel onto stage?
As a novel, The Tribe draws literary influence from the ancient tradition of Arab oral storytelling – in style, structure, form, and rhythm. It was naturally suited for the stage, but never as a traditional Australian play with multiple actors portraying various characters. The Tribe belongs to a single storyteller, who to pull this off I believe must channel the spirit of the Bedouin poet.
The challenge was finding the visionary team of artists who could approach the text with cultural sensitivity and who were willing to take a chance on Arab traditions of storytelling not familiar to Australian audiences. Janice Muller co-adapted the script with me and is directing, and Hazem Shammas is the sole performer who will bring the words to life. There is also Oonagh Sherrard doing sound. On opening night the critics can decide on our future and my ancestors can decide on our destiny.
The play will be performed in Bankstown, Western Sydney, where you grew up. Was this important to you?
In fact, it will be performed from a backyard in Bankstown. When you're sitting in that yard, and the words are flowing, while you breathe in the air, and feel the sun set over you, you'll know…
In the aftermath of the Martin Place siege in December and the Charlie Hebdo attack earlier this month in Paris, have you noticed a shift in the Australian media's representation of the Muslim community?
In Islam, we have a saying, "If you take one step toward Allah, Allah will take two steps toward you". In Australia, it seems as though our media and politicians take one step toward us and two steps back. After the Sydney siege, we saw a genuine attempt to include and even protect Muslims as part of our national mourning, an effort to distance the actions of a sick individual from the rest of the Muslim community.
Then, when the Paris attacks took place, it seemed as though our news commentators and leaders became completely indifferent toward, and even supported, the desecration of our most sacred Islamic belief [the visual depiction of the prophet].
Freedom of speech is a freedom worth fighting for, but there are equally important freedoms – the freedom to love. We may be granted the right to offend, but out of respect, we can always choose not to exercise that right. I call this freedom, "Taking a step toward each other".
This post originally appeared on The Conversation on January 21, 2015, and has been reposted with permission.
This post was written by Alix Bromley.
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