The Queensland Firebirds are hopeful of entering netballs new era with the core of players who etched their names into trans-Tasman history in thrilling fashion on Sunday.The Firebirds became the only team to claim back-to-back titles by beating the NSW Swifts 69-67 in a double-overtime grand final nailbiter in the last - and surely greatest - match in the competitions nine-year history.It is Queenslands third crown, making them the most successful side in the trans-Tasman era ahead of next years launch of an eight-team all-Australian league.Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke believed the Firebirds could withstand an expected recruitment frenzy from cashed-up new franchises backed by AFL and NRL clubs and keep their dominance rolling.(The players) know how theyve built a really strong, tight-knit group. I think they do want to be able to keep pursuing success and excellence, Jencke said.There might be a few changes but we just need to see what happens in the off-season. We wont have long, it all starts pretty quickly.For now, the Firebirds are celebrating a second successive grand final thriller over the Swifts in what is emerging as one of Australian sports most compelling rivalries.They did it despite a bad case of the yips from their star shooter Romelda Aiken, who made just 63 of her 89 attempts on goal at an uncharacteristically low 70 per cent.Despite becoming the first player in the history of the trans-Tasman competition to surpass 5000 goals, Aiken was well below her season average accuracy of 87.5 per cent and was seemingly rattled by NSW enforcer Sharni Layton, who kept her in check.But the Jamaican finished brilliantly, draining the winning shot under the ring to elicit a huge roar from the sold-out crowd of 10,312 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre - the biggest attendance for a match in Queensland, and the third-biggest in trans-Tasman netball.Jencke said the magnitude of the occasion got to Aiken.Shes our spearhead and with that comes pressure, she said.We just needed to keep the positivity there. To finish off that way when she probably had the yips for the majority of the game, Im just really rapt.NSWs Caitlyn Thwaites (34 of 41) and Susan Pettitt (30 of 39) were, in comparison, nailing shots from all angles - but after a strong opening quarter, the Swifts never led by more than one goal.It hurts just as much (as last year), veteran Swift Kim Green said.We had our opportunities to win today and we just didnt take them.We build a season for eight months and it comes down to this one day to really perform and I think we did ... but just werent able to get over the line. Custom Minnesota Twins Jerseys . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Custom Houston Astros Jerseys . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. http://www.customjerseysbaseball.com/custom-san-diego-padres-jerseys-724x.html .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Custom Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Custom Milwaukee Brewers Jerseys .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Lets get one thing out of the way before we start: that cockpit head protection thingamajig thats been delayed till 2018 is no Halo. Its a flip-flop (or thong, if youre Australian), and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise.Following the publication of (some of) the results of the F1 Strategy Group meeting that took place in Geneva on Thursday, there has been some muttering about Formula Ones tendency to change its mind, flip-flopping here, and U-turning there.But is it such a bad thing for an individual or an organisation to change their minds as situations change?As a private individual, if I stuck dogmatically to my opinions come hell or high water, ignoring new information or editing it to suit my preconceptions, people would think I was an idiot. As soon as one enters the public sphere, however -- as a celebrity or politician, for example -- changing your mind is no longer a sign of personal growth, changing circumstances, or new information, but instead is seen as a sign of moral or personal weakness.True, Formula One has introduced and then eliminated things that werent popular: the double-points season finale; that qualifying shake-up; restrictions on radio communication... But is it better to try new things and ditch what doesnt work, or to sit happily in a rut persisting in doing things that either dont work or never have, just because you dont want to admit that trial and error involves endless trials and quite a lot of error?Speaking to the media in an open Q&A session held between Friday practice sessions in Hockenheim, FIA race director Charlie Whiting reflected on F1s recent mistakes.If you look at the qualifying procedure, I think everyone -- I say everyone; Im talking about the Strategy Group and the members of the F1 Commission, which comprises all of the great and the good of Formula One -- felt that this was a good idea, Whiting said.It didnt work, I think we can all accept that, and we felt that the most grown-up thing to do would be to go back. I think that was that, really, with qualifying. It dragged on a little longer than it could have -- sorry, than it need have -- but there you go. I think someone asked me yesterday: Do you remember that qualifying? I couldnt actually remember what we did in Australia straight away. These things disappear.I dont feel that the radio thing is a U-turn as such. The original things were reequested of us for a good reason, and it kind of worked at the beginning but it was beginning to mean that the spectators and the fans are not getting quite what they could.dddddddddddd. I think that that is why they thought it was a good idea to try and go back to something that gave them more. I think we have to respond to those sorts of things; I dont think its a bad thing at all.Several of F1s recent reassessments of new regulations or regulatory adjustments have taken place with a view to improving the fan experience, Whiting explained with reference to the radio traffic rules.We have to look back to when the Strategy Group decided that there was too much radio traffic and it was detrimental to the sport, he said. We were getting quite a few complaints, if I remember, from fans saying Why are they being told all these things? They should be driving them for themselves.In the August of 2014 the Strategy Group decided that we should cut out nearly all radio conversations. We issued a note reflecting those views and everyone said Oh, its too much, its too much. So we scaled it right back and we introduced bits and pieces and then we went to single clutch paddles and those sorts of things.Now the feedback is that weve gone too far and this actually has not been the best thing and the Commercial Rights Holder feels he can improve the content for the fans with the radio conversations. This is contingent upon the teams providing all the content from their discussions with the drivers, because before they had privacy buttons and they were chopping out great big chunks of it. So now theyve got to provide everything to the broadcasters and this is seen as a way to improve the experience for the fans and spectators.Both Formula One in general and the FIA in particular have, in recent years, been subjected to widespread criticism for their readiness to try new things and abandon that which does not work. Instead of seeing that flexibility as a personal affront, perhaps the time has come for fans and spectators to acknowledge that several recent rule adjustments have come about in response to fan feedback, and that every attempt to spice things up -- successful or not -- has been done with a view to improving fans experience of the show. ' ' '