The night is darkest before the dawn

[praha 11,240]

I have not been a Melbourne fan for as long as many of you. While I was born into the fold, I never really started going to games until 1994. And what a year it was to start going to the footy. I remember our round 1 demolition of heavily fancied Geelong, and watching The Ox kick 9 goals against Sydney at the SCG on father's day in Round 22 to book us a finals birth. I remember being teased and heckled at school for being a Melbourne supporter, of which was pretty much unheard of in a northern suburbs school infested with Carlton and Collingwood fans. I was only in grade 3, but my knowledge of the game increased tenfold within a few months.

Suddenly, I could say my 6x tables for as long as I wanted. No one else in my year level could do that. I knew almost every player on every team and I used to pretend I was Tony Modra, taking species on the corner of my couch. I wasn't just a Melbourne supporter - I was a football fanatic.

Heading into the first clash against Carlton, I wasn't confident, but yet I didn't really understand the notion of losing, or "underdog". Melbourne was heavily tipped as the underdog, and given little to no chance of beating the near-invinicble 2nd placed Carlton.

All week I got it from my mates, and when everyone in the school had to dress up in their favourite team colours, I was the only one in a school of 500 students to be dressed as a Melbourne fan. That, for me, was my darkest moment as a Melbourne fan.

I was teased and heckled. I was made to think that being a Melbourne fan was a curse. The seemingly infinite number of Carlton supporters would lay in to me, making me feel like an outcast. I remember it as one of the worst weeks of my schooling days.

Then we beat Carlton by 27 points.

I remember the back page of the Herald Sun. Chopper Lovell had taken a screamer in front of the MCC in the last quarter. With the sun beaming in on him and his muscles flexed as he soared over a much larger Carlton player, the image perfectly represented Melbourne's day. It was like the kid being beat up and teased at school had finally worked up the courage to walk up to the bully and punch him right in the nose. Melbourne had no fear that day.

For many of you, that day might seem like any other win. I'm sure some of you have seen more memorable wins, like the day at Whitten Oval against the Doggies to put us in the finals, which my dad still says to this day was the greatest day of his life (while overlooking the birth of his own three children...lol). But I understand him. For going on 20 years he had endured pain and suffering. And then finally, at the last hurdle, when everyone thought Melbourne would die like always, they stepped up and said "NO!" and steamrolled their way through their opponent.

Another memorable moment for me was in 1998. We had been destroyed by Geelong and St. Kilda in consecutive weeks. The media had started to think that maybe the revival of the MFC - a team that had finished last the year before - was finally over, and that the same old poor MFC we all knew would come back up to light.

Heading over to Perth to playing a super hot West Coast. No one, anywhere on the planet, expected Melbourne to win. A team that had lost by 150+ points over two weeks was playing a super hot team on their home soil. We had no chance.

Then we won.

The MFC has definitely endured pain over the past few years. And we've all experienced it. From going from premiership favourite at the start of 07, to bottoming out in 08. In 07 the sun that we all bathed in from 04-06 was finally starting to set, and in 08, the clock was at 4:30am - the darkest time.

In 09 we still went through the night, knowing where we had to go, but not quite sure of how to get there. We were blinded by the darkness.

And just like I've experienced in the past, the sun has started to rise on the MFC, just when everyone looks down at us from above.

Right now, the clock reads 5:55am. The sun is rising, and soon it will be 6:00am - the dawn of a new day.

Edited September 12, 2009 by calabreseboy

[Demon Disciple 12,274]

Thanks Harvey

[Guest delicious jurrah coffee]

i remember laughing at the blues fans when they were leaving in the last qtr, great day, but even better week, as for feeling like an outcast, thats up to the individual.

[praha 11,240]

Thanks Harvey

[rpfc 28,781]

Chairman Mao used to say "It always darkest...

...before it's completely black"

Effing commie.

Well said CB.

Looking forward to a future worth the pain of the recent past.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I usually avoid these sentimental threads... but I like this one. Nice work CB.

We're basing this positivity on past teams that have bottomed out. Saints, Hawks etc etc. I thnk it's always worth remembering, firstly, that bottoming out doesn't awlays yield good results. It CAN go horribly wrong. Look at the Toigs.

Now I'm not for a minute saying we'll end up like that, but we're also a long way from being supremely confident. Our happiest moments this year were quarters and halves we played against sides like the Saints who weren't really ever out of second gear.

Add to that the fact that we have executed what is, pretty much, as close as you can possibly get to a COMPLETE rebuild. Look there at the Blues, who have been rebuilding since they were revealed as cheaters, and have seen a couple of false dawns. They traded for the best player in the comp and have a few dyed in the wool superstars who have 3-4 years of footy in them. And they STILL haven't proven that they've gotten there.

I don't mean to stamp on everyone's fun, and I DO believe we're a sure thing to get off the bottom of the ladder, but we're still a long way o go just yet.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

...

I think that sums things up pretty well.

[biggestred 5,140]

shivers down my spine.

[censored] YEAH BRING IT ON

[praha 11,240]

I guess the sun rose and set without anyone even noticing?

[Striker475 696]

There was a rise? Because arguably we were darkest 2 years ago when Stynes said 'if we don't raise a coupla million the club will fold'. Yet I'd say this is darker...

[btdemon 482]

We've had many dark days, and then we have even darker ones. Please make it stop!

[Sir Why You Little 37,151]

We've had many dark days, and then we have even darker ones. Please make it stop!

Gotta get it right this time....

[old dee 23,872]

We've had many dark days, and then we have even darker ones. Please make it stop!

That makes 2 of us.

How much is one group of supporters supposed to endure.

Edited July 31, 2011 by old dee

[The Time is Now 4]

Right now, the clock reads 5:55am. The sun is rising, and soon it will be 6:00am - the dawn of a new day.

Great line, I'm going to steal that one! Thanks great post