Los Angeles real estate royalty Josh Altman just sold one of the most amazing homes in the Hollywood Hills for a touch over $25m US ($35m Australian). The piece of architectural beauty consists of 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a resort style spa, a wall made up of Himalayan salts, a $90,000 stove, a vanishing edge pool and views of Beverly Hills sold earlier this year and it’s called ‘Collingwood’. Altman stars in the reality series hit Million Dollar Listing LA and he describes the ‘Collingwood’ house as one of the best ever.Altman spoke to us last week via zoom from his convertible Rolls Royce driving through Los Angeles. “Oh yeah, best view I have ever seen. The coolest aspect of that house, one of the best aspects was instead of sliding doors, it was a garage like door, which went up and down that was facing the view. You put a key in and turn the key and the entire wall goes up and so the indoor outdoor flow of the house was really incredible,” Altman told us this week. “My favourite aspect of this house was, if you saw the episode, you would have seen the spa with the Himalayan salt with the wall all salt. I kept on licking it.” The house is a 90 second drive from Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard and is located in the ‘bird streets’ area with Altman telling Sheahan Ink, Magpies’ champion Scott Pendlebury should have purchased the pad. “Who is the highest paid player on that team, he should’ve bought that house,” the reality realtor said. We told Altman Magpie Scott Pendlebury was the club’s best paid player and he was on about a million a year. “That’s a perfect place for one of their players to rejuvenate their legs.” When the borders open up internationally we should see if we can get a photo of the boys in front of the house, I said. “I’ll tell you what, for you, I’ll get you in the house, how about that?” During the ten minute chat on the ‘Collingwood’ house we spoke of the polarities between the two brands. The house is worth just over $35 million dollars Australian, whereas the Collingwood football club is one of the roughest sides in the AFL. “I like that, both of them. It was a tough sale and a tough team. That was one of those houses where you say ‘damn, if I had the money, and then the other time it would be if I was single.’” “Your real estate in Australia is the very equivalent to ours, pushing the envelope for design and architecture. Your finishes are always top notch and every time I’m in Australia I get to take a tour of the different cities because of the real estate and I love doing that.”The 42-year-old married father of two says a show similar to that of Million Dollar Listing LA would work well down under. “From what I’ve heard, something like that is happening. There is a show of a few hot-shot brokers coming up in the business,” Altman said of Luxe Listings. “Somebody dm’d (direct message) me a trailer. It looked pretty entertaining, so I’m pretty excited to see it. “I’m sure many people around the world would love to see many of the beautiful residential architecture. “You never know, If I get the call I’ll do a special guest on my next speaking tour when I’m out there,” he said. TRADE PERIOD ANXIETYSome of the game’s biggest names will be considered up for grabs from Monday as the AFL’s highly anticipated trade period begins. For the next 9 days, players from the 18 teams will be spoken about behind closed doors and on computer screens via zoom meetings and many wont even know how close they came to a new jumper and a new club. Former player agent pioneer Ricky Nixon detailed to Sheahan Ink this week how a player might be feeling or his club be thinking or whether his player has to come to grips with finding a new job after being delisted. “It’s a very stressful period, not only for players but for partners, kids and families. “Often the one’s who suffer the most is not the player, it’s more the families because they hit back at the haters. “Particularly now with social media, when you can see your son’s being mooted as trade bait and yet has a contract with a club just seems disloyal to most players and their families,” Nixon said this week. “I’ve had a lot of players where I’ve had to go to their house and console them over the years. “It’s not just to do with being traded against their will, sometimes it’s the players who want to get out and can’t. “The player wants to be traded but the club refuses to trade them and they are contracted. It works both ways,” the creator of Flying Start Management group said. Big name players on the trade table is not common place in the AFL world. Over the years we have seen stars change clubs, move behind enemy lines, cross borders but it wasn’t common place. Nowadays, the AFL is becoming more and more like America’s NBA or NFL where almost any player is considered up for grabs. And this, says Nixon, is why the trade period causes great angst for the players of today. “Back in the 90s and 2000s, nobody had a real idea what anxiety was. Depression was known but nobody really knew how it affected the players. “It’s very common in today’s football for players to suffer from anxiety because of the amount of pressure on them, the social media, the expectation that you have to perform every week or you’re no good. “The same sort of anxiety is present when it comes to trade week. “It’s not uncommon for a player to be ringing every ten minutes; ‘has anything happened, has anything happened, what did he say about me, what did the other clubs say about me?’ It’s a real juggling act,” he said. Counselling players was as much a part of the job for Nixon as it was negotiating contracts. He played 62 VFL games for St Kilda, Carlton and Hawthorn and has intimate knowledge of what an agent, and administrator and a player feels. He would study his list of players as early as June of the respective season and get an understanding of the player’s mindset and his ability to fit in and play good football at his club. “I think it’s important for the agent that they counsel the player well in advance. I would look at my list and decide if my player was a risk, get them into the office and talk to them one-on-one. “I would counsel my players 4 months out and tell them honestly what the situation looked like whether that is to change clubs or face time in the reserves. “I would tell them ‘you’ve got to go somewhere else and get an opportunity and get a new coach and you want to play in a different position’ …. encourage them and be positive. It’s not necessarily about staying at the same club you were originally drafted to. “If a player’s name came up as a surprise during trade period, I’d tell them to ignore it. These are the facts and you are staying where you are,” Nixon told Sheahan Ink. The coronavirus will also play a part in this year’s trade period which runs for 9 days until the 13th October, with every player forced to spend time in Australia with our international borders shut to travel. In years gone by, players would be spending tens of thousands of dollars enjoying themselves overseas with many escaping the AFL bubble and telecommunications. Nixon says this could wreak havoc with an AFL’s player’s mindset. “Some players have coped fairly well with Covid but the majority have suffered to some degree. “The good thing about the 8 week break (players off season) is so the players can get away. “I used to say my players ‘turn your phone off and just relax and enjoy yourself. “The players are in the period where they are on holidays, they’re drinking they’re partying and they could be traded in the space of 1 minute on the last day of trading. “The last hour on trade day is very stressful,” he said. He forecasts the Melbourne bubble as playing a pivotal role in the Gold Coast Suns ability to entice players north and Victoria’s Covid restrictions show no signs of abating. “I reckon a portion of the trades during this period will involve the Gold Coast Suns “Some players will leave or players going there to get opportunities. One; they’ve got money. Two; they’ve got a young up and coming team that will be successful In the coming years and its an opportunity to get away from Melbourne, which can be full on.” MCG MAIN MAN HOSPITALISEDWell respected Melbourne administrator Stephen Gough was hospitalised recently knocked from his bike by a motorist.The former boss of the esteemed Melbourne Cricket Club was rushed to hospital in Geelong suffering broken ribs as a result of the collision.Gough was also chief executive of the Carlton Football Club between 1994-2000 before he became the top dog at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.It remains unknown whether police attended the scene or if charges are to be laid.
Source: Sun Herald
