Still sneaking into the "Friday evening" timeslot by the skin of my teeth... :sarcasm:
First of all, thanks for the honour of marking such a star-studded F7s match. Ten great reads by ten great writers, drawn from across the spectrum of F7s teams
. A hard match to split...
All-Stars
Unmasked (Titanic) – 89
Nice choice of starting theme which served as a launching pad for an informative examination of the changes in PNG rugby league and society over the last 50 or so years. Nicely crafted and intertwined.
Same old sh*t, different day (Azkatro) – 89
Engaging examination of the internal dialogue of a somewhat tired fan. The descriptions effectively built the feeling of nothing changing in some aspects of life. Ditto for the build to the pay-off leading to the protagonist’s small victory in a world where neither Todd Carney, the morning routine, the traffic - nor the reactions of the protagonist’s colleagues - ever change.
Premature Declarations (Bubbles) – 86
Great title and opening sentence, and some well-chosen turns of phrase used throughout relating to the metaphor. A few stray apostrophes and some long comma-filled sentences stilted the flow for the reader a bit, but otherwise an engaging opinionated piece.
Sir Humphrey Appleby (Willow) – 90
A clever comparison, and very well written and constructed read. Criticism of David Gallop is fairly common on an issue-by-issue basis, but without being as precise about exactly how his overall style grates, or how a role like his doesn’t always seemed focused on the fundamentals.
T Is For Tonga (Drew-Sta) – 88
A good way to present a simple moral to the story about what made rugby league remain a game open to everyone, and how things can be forgotten in the changing times. A nice read.
Total score: 442
Marauders
National Rugby… Lesbians? (Madunit) – 88
Interesting premise, nicely followed through. Some humorous turns of phrase with just the one sentence with a spelling and punctuation blip. (By way of an aside I saw two good looking young lesbians kissing in the middle of a city intersection today, and a bunch of rugged looking young blokes nearly “prematurely declaring” themselves in shock as they walked past, so you might be onto a trending phenomenon here…
Too much is sometimes too much (LeagueNut) – 89
Great idea, nicely executed. The growth in jersey designs is getting pretty ridiculous! Starts with reality and builds well to the logically connected but ridiculous conclusion. (Just two missing apostrophes away from a higher score.)
Umm... Well... Dear Old Friend, This Is A Bit Awkward (Non-Terminator) – 87
F7s articles written about F7s can be an acquired taste for the reader, kind of like movies or TV shows that “break the fourth wall”, or pro wrestlers knowingly breaking kayfabe… In this case the writing captures the flow of internal thoughts and emotions well. The suspense of the early part might have benefited from shorter paragraphs to build up to the reveal of the source of the writer’s feelings of pressure.
Wan Wan Wan (tits & tans) – 89
A well written, engaging tale of the fun of discovery within a prevailing climate where there exists pressure to win. Revealing the ball would have been a great moment, good luck with the adult game.
Driven To… (Jesbass) – 90
Raw emotion can sometimes result in a natural literary eloquence that captures a reader’s attention through every word. Far from disjointed, these words draw a vivid map of the writer’s internal feelings and reflections with a comparison point and various links to the world of rugby league.
Total score: 443
Match result: Marauders 443 d All-Stars 442
POTMs: Willow (All-Stars) & Jesbass (Marauders)
A great way to kick of the season, well done to all! And best of luck to everyone with their F7 writing during 2011 :thumn.
:thumn
