Confessions Thread

[daisycutter 29,909]

I don't know why. Surely there were all impressed with this size of his desk.

and the promise of a blazer

[Macca 17,120]

Wow, amazing.

Is there any way to find out who the 23 voters were? They deserve a prize.

I felt like voting no for the life of that thread and in the end ... I voted yes! What was I thinking? I was a harsh critic of Neeld and still am to a certain extent but I still wanted him to continue into 2013. Faith, hope and belief often gets in the way of good sense. We had a poor list though, all the same. Hindsight tells us that.

Some of the comments about Roos in that thread are very funny ... let's face it, we really don't know all that much do we?

[Hiram Cowfreak 78]

I threw my MFC scarf in the bin on the way out of the ground after Essendon ran over us in the last quarter at the G...ages ago. Peter Somerville killed us in the last quarter and Derek Kickett kicked a goal from the middle. We were miles up at 3 quarter time. Still gutted.

[Its Time for Another 4,303]

Only 55 years?

Same as me. (confession thread, right?)

We're not that old OD. More like Spring Chicken Dee.

Dear Oh Dear! Same as me. Like the We're not that old OD sentiment.

[old dee 24,028]

Dear Oh Dear! Same as me. Like the We're not that old OD sentiment

It is a relevant thing I T

After the Bombers Game I felt very old after the Collingwood win I felt 18.

[Chris 2,892]

Well, we'll never know for sure with Simpson & Hinkley but it's fun to speculate ... I firmly believe that most people are motivated by money and it's a big factor. Being appointed to a senior position can set someone up for life ... the same can't necessarily be said for those who only remain as assistants.

The average wage is what 70k a year? ... most people earn less than that.

I'll stand by my view that a person getting paid squillions for telling a group of men to chase a footy around is not a real job. Nice work if you can get it and good luck to them I say.

So we're going to have to agree to disagree CBF

Speaking of confessions - how about this thread? Up until the early part of the 2013 season the vote was still running at 398 votes in favour to 23 votes in the negative. The thread is locked which is probably a good thing haha

POLL: Do you want Mark Neeld to remain coach in 2013?

My folks lived next door to an ex senior AFL coach and even though the job may seem to be telling blokes how to kick a ball there is certainly a hell of a lot of work that goes into it, 7 day weeks, always late nights, review after review. Not to mention the man management skills required that would exceed most managers in various businesses around town.

While the person in question was disapointed not be a senior coach anymore they certainly enjoyed seeing the family again.

[Sir Why You Little 37,341]

I threw my MFC scarf in the bin on the way out of the ground after Essendon ran over us in the last quarter at the G...ages ago. Peter Somerville killed us in the last quarter and Derek Kickett kicked a goal from the middle. We were miles up at 3 quarter time. Still gutted.

Oh god i remember that game so well. My neighbour in my apartment block was mad Essendrug. He tried to stir me up afterwards, then stopped when i glared fire in his eyes. I could have killed him because of a pathetic MFC quarter

The power of footy!!!!

[Macca 17,120]

My folks lived next door to an ex senior AFL coach and even though the job may seem to be telling blokes how to kick a ball there is certainly a hell of a lot of work that goes into it, 7 day weeks, always late nights, review after review. Not to mention the man management skills required that would exceed most managers in various businesses around town.

While the person in question was disapointed not be a senior coach anymore they certainly enjoyed seeing the family again.

Just imagine for just a minute getting paid millions of dollars to play golf ... or other such pastimes. It never ceases to amaze me how much we put these people up on pedestals. They're incredibly lucky and the last thing they should ever do is moan about their good fortune.

These professional sportspeople will never tell us that they're incredibly privileged either - why jeopardise the huge cash flow?

And since when did being a senior coach stop that person from seeing their family? More spin.

.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Macca

[Sir Why You Little 37,341]

I don't know why. Surely there were all impressed with this size of his desk.

oh yes on the surface all looked very impressive.

Dig a little deeper...

[Chris 2,892]

Next you'll be telling us that "actors" work.

Just imagine for just a minute getting paid millions of dollars to play golf ... or other such pastimes. It never ceases to amaze me how much we put these people up on pedestals. They're incredibly lucky and the last thing they should ever do is moan about their good fortune.

These professional sportspeople will never tell us that they're incredibly privileged either - why jeopardise the huge cash flow?

And since when did being a senior coach stop that person from seeing their family? More spin.

The hours involved are far greater than you think, my eyes were certainly opened, that is how it stops you seeing your family, the same way many professions work massive hours and sacrifice family time. They also never complained about it, it was just the reality of the job, much like other peoples jobs.

As for actors, I am told making coffee and waiting tables can be quite exhausting.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Chris

[Macca 17,120]

The hours involved are far greater than you think, my eyes were certainly opened, that is how it stops you seeing your family, the same way many professions work massive hours and sacrifice family time. They also never complained about it, it was just the reality of the job, much like other peoples jobs.

As for actors, I am told making coffee and waiting tables can be quite exhausting.

You're now making the job of a head coach sound like an absolute chore.

Just make sure you have the same levels of sympathy for the majority of Australians who earn less than the average wage.

Most of them would swap their real job for 500k+ a year in a nanosecond.

.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Macca

[Its Time for Another 4,303]

I have got to a stage over the past few years for the sake of my mental health and my relationship with my son and the safety of anything throwable around the tv that I record games and watch them once I know the outcome. At least that way I am mentally prepared to cope with another soul destroying performance.

I live interstate so don't have the pleasure of going to many games live. For instance the last couple of games in Sydney against either Sydney or even worse GWS.

Edited November 9, 2015 by It's Time

[beelzebub 23,390]

My real confession is that like nearly all here I'm a Melbourne tragic.

Im not without capacity for lucid thought and yet I like the many come to this time of year full of hesitant but excited anticipation that we might yet get our act together and become the Mighty Demons that we once were.

Every year...i start in hope .......and then........

Not all will get the following .......some will

[Biffen 12,949]

i must confess i once spent a considerable effort to convince a lesbian of the benefits of converting to bisexuality, all to no avail

unfortunately i didn't know bbo then in order to lean-on his wisdom in manipulating the fairer sex

it was probably fortuitous as i later learned she was a richmond supporter

You were really up against the odds there DC.

Like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the D...

In fact.I wont go on.

[Guest]

You're now making the job of a head coach sound like an absolute chore.

Just make sure you have the same levels of sympathy for the majority of Australians who earn less than the average wage.

Most would swap their real job for a 500k+ a year in a nanosecond. Especially when it's not even a real job they'd be moving to.

Can't agree with this Macca.

I agree in the sense that sports people in general get put on a pedestal that their achievements don't necessarily deserve. We live in a country where we are concerned about 44 kids chasing a ball around on the weekend while a large proportion of the world is thinking about where their next meal is coming from or where they can hide from the next group of fanatics looking to kill them. People who do real work in this world of consequence (doctors, social workers, teachers) get stuff all recognition while some bloke who can barely string two words together gets all the plaudits for being born with certain athletic gifts.

That being said, coaching, for good or for worse, is not merely 'teaching blokes how to kick a football'. I would like to see how you would go saying to John Worsfold now that all he has to do is go into Essendon and teach them how to play footy. That statement clearly would be a furphy as Woosha has a job of trying to mend a broken club; one whose main concerns are not just merely that their blokes can't kick. I would suggest that a lot of players, despite their best efforts to keep things in house, are genuinely bitter about the way they have been treated as human guinea pigs. Others, despite protestations to the contrary, might be pizzed off that St. James was protected to the detriment of all other concerns at the club. Some are also annoyed that despite merely doing in good faith what the club told them to do, their names have been dragged through the mud for a good 2 years plus with the implication now being that they, the players were actively gaming the system. That's the work Woosha has to do on the human relations side within the club exclusively.

That would be a fair task in itself. But keep in mind, the PR work that he and the non football admin will now have to do to begin repairing the club's name. This will include media interviews, public appearances and liaising with sponsors and coteries.

Then we move onto the football side of things. He has a list of 44 blokes (some who may very be well rubbed out for an unspecified amount of time) who he will have to teach an entirely new game plan over the summer. While he will not teach them individually, he will have to make sure that the line coaches he has are on message. While he will delegate and is merely a cog in the machine, ultimately he will be the one driving the overall message.

Then there is the stuff we don't hear about. With the spread of recreational drugs in the game (ironic that I bring this up when discussing John Worsfold) and the AFL's propensity to hush things up when things turn pear shaped off the field, who knows what other after hours crap that a coach has to put up with?

Then there is list management, trades, rehabilitation etc. While a coach doesn't personally handle each of these all in a hands on way (Bomber Thompson tried to do this pre 2006 which lead to the famed review of the club), they do need to be on top of these.

It very much sounds like a 24/7 job to me. The best way I can describe a coach in the modern era is like a manager of a large company but with a much higher profile. Grant Thomas was right in that sense.

I agree that as a society we do have some of our priorities wrong but the situation is what it is. And the current situation with AFL football is that coaches have tremendous demands put on them.

P.S. Robert Walls could probably sum this up more eloquently than me

[Macca 17,120]

And my argument centres on those priorities CBF

Many see sport as something that is detached from their "normal" lives but I like to see sport as part of life.

Thus, I don't believe in misplaced sympathy ... by keeping it real, perspective is easily seen.

For instance, I quite often find it very difficult to have any real sympathy for a sacked head coach. The payout they often receive is of tattslotto proportions and they've nearly always got another very well paid position to walk into.

I do, however, have real sympathy for those who truly deserve it ... mostly real life situations that has nothing to do with sport.

.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Macca

[Guest]

And my argument centres on those priorities CBF

Many see sport as something that is detached from their "normal" lives but I like to see sport as part of life.

Thus, I don't believe in misplaced sympathy ... by keeping it real, perspective is easily seen.

For instance, I find it impossible to have any sympathy for a sacked head coach. The payout they often receive is of tattslotto proportions and they've nearly always got another very well paid position to walk into.

I would also say that when a head coach is often sacked, they also have their guts ripped out in public in a way that Joe Bloggs doesn't.

For example, if I got sacked from my job (I'm currently working freelance but am looking for something full time over here) while I wouldn't get the pay out that a sacked coach gets, I probably wouldn't have a set of photographers camped out the front of my house either like Terry Wallace did when he resigned from Richmond or a calvacade of journalists waiting out the front of my performance review like Mark Neeld did.

I said when Neeld was sacked that while I understood the decision, what happened would have been humiliating in the extreme. The scrutiny given to his decisions is not the same as that given to a lot of other punters.

I agree with your appraisal of society's priorities but I disagree with your assessment of AFL head coaching as not being a 'real job' in regards to the demands it puts on people. But as you said, agree to disagree.

[Chris 2,892]

You're now making the job of a head coach sound like an absolute chore.

Just make sure you have the same levels of sympathy for the majority of Australians who earn less than the average wage.

Most would swap their real job for a 500k+ a year in a nanosecond. Especially when it's not even a real job they'd be moving to.

I am one of those Australians but I also know people who work long long hours in all sorts of jobs and sacrifices are made. That doesn't make it a chore, that makes it what it is, that is reality. To denigrate it as not a real job when it involves real sacrifices, but also huge rewards, is nonsense. Makes you look like you have a huge chip on your shoulder.

[biggestred 5,266]

I confess i had a dream last night in which i was surprised at work one morning by frosty, one of the female players and some club employee who worked in membership, saying id won a competition to have my membership upgraded to top of the range and hand delivered.

I was pretty happy.

Then glen ridge showed up in a jeep wearing a fluro orange female pantsuit and jacket and told me that i had to drive 2 hours to southbank. I told him to jog on and thats all i remember.

[Macca 17,120]

I am one of those Australians but I also know people who work long long hours in all sorts of jobs and sacrifices are made. That doesn't make it a chore, that makes it what it is, that is reality. To denigrate it as not a real job when it involves real sacrifices, but also huge rewards, is nonsense. Makes you look like you have a huge chip on your shoulder.

And you come across as naïve in my eyes ... for some people a person just being an authoritative figure is enough for a total buy-in.

I'm willing to bet that you would thank your lucky stars if you were a head coach of a footy club - irregardless of what might happen later on.

What is it now? ... a minimum of 2 million (guaranteed) over 3 years with lots of well paid opportunities even if it turns pear shaped. As I said earlier ...nice work if you can get it and good luck to them.

I just get annoyed with the comments that go with being a head coach such as ...

"Who'd be a head coach?" or "He's got the worst job in football" or even ... "Why would he coach that club?" ... those sort of comments make things sound like a person is actually putting themselves out to take up or continue in the position of head coach.

.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Macca

[Chris 2,892]

And you come across as naïve in my eyes ... for some people a person just being an authoritative figure is enough for a total buy-in.

I'm willing to bet that you would thank your lucky stars if you were a head coach of a footy club - irregardless of what might happen later on.

What is it now? ... a minimum of 2 million (guaranteed) over 3 years with lots of well paid opportunities even if it turns pear shaped. As I said earlier ...nice work if you can get it and good luck to them.

I just get annoyed with the comments that go with being a head coach such as ...

"Who'd be a head coach?" or "He's got the worst job in football" or even ... "Why would he coach that club?" ... those sort of comments make things sound like a person is actually putting themselves out to take up or continue in the position of head coach.

What are you talking about with buy in. You make it sound like I idolise the coaches due to it being hard work and the sacrifices they make, far from it. I have seen the cost of those sacrifices and no amount of money can pay for what you lose, that is a major driver in the career choices I have made. You seem to think I am some sort of sycophant idolising these blokes, all I am doing is simply pointing out that they work hard and it is a real job with real responsibilities and consequences, that is reality. I may be wrong but you seem to think that lots of money makes up for it, nothing could be further from the truth, money can not buy what is important.

Yes they get paid well, so do lots of people, that doesn't make them any better or worse than anyone else, only a persons actions can do that.

.

[Chris 2,892]

And you come across as naïve in my eyes ... for some people a person just being an authoritative figure is enough for a total buy-in.

I'm willing to bet that you would thank your lucky stars if you were a head coach of a footy club - irregardless of what might happen later on.

What is it now? ... a minimum of 2 million (guaranteed) over 3 years with lots of well paid opportunities even if it turns pear shaped. As I said earlier ...nice work if you can get it and good luck to them.

I just get annoyed with the comments that go with being a head coach such as ...

"Who'd be a head coach?" or "He's got the worst job in football" or even ... "Why would he coach that club?" ... those sort of comments make things sound like a person is actually putting themselves out to take up or continue in the position of head coach.

What are you talking about with buy in. You make it sound like I idolise the coaches due to it being hard work and the sacrifices they make, far from it. I have seen the cost of those sacrifices and no amount of money can pay for what you lose, that is a major driver in the career choices I have made. You seem to think I am some sort of sycophant idolising these blokes, all I am doing is simply pointing out that they work hard and it is a real job with real responsibilities and consequences, that is reality. I may be wrong but you seem to think that lots of money makes up for it, nothing could be further from the truth, money can not buy what is important.

Yes they get paid well, so do lots of people, that doesn't make them any better or worse than anyone else, only a persons actions can do that.

.

My post seems to have been added to yours. I can't fix it as I am on a phone.

[Macca 17,120]

I would also say that when a head coach is often sacked, they also have their guts ripped out in public in a way that Joe Bloggs doesn't.

For example, if I got sacked from my job (I'm currently working freelance but am looking for something full time over here) while I wouldn't get the pay out that a sacked coach gets, I probably wouldn't have a set of photographers camped out the front of my house either like Terry Wallace did when he resigned from Richmond or a calvacade of journalists waiting out the front of my performance review like Mark Neeld did.

I said when Neeld was sacked that while I understood the decision, what happened would have been humiliating in the extreme. The scrutiny given to his decisions is not the same as that given to a lot of other punters.

I agree with your appraisal of society's priorities but I disagree with your assessment of AFL head coaching as not being a 'real job' in regards to the demands it puts on people. But as you said, agree to disagree.

Neeld did get paid out for his full contract though and lets face it, things just weren't working. The bit I didn't like was the club hanging him out to dry for 2 weeks instead of making a quicker decision on his future.

I get the scrutiny bit but it does come with the territory.

The "not a real job bit" is in direct reference to how the large majority of people go about making a living ... in my opinion, there's a stark difference.

Again, nice work if you can get it and good luck to them I suppose... I genuinely believe that they get to do what they love doing for very good coin and it wouldn't be a "real job" to them at all (if they were being honest)

Also, I originally meant my comment of "and it's not even a real job" as a somewhat flippant one. It quickly turned into a serious discussion and probably wouldn't have done so if I'd added a to the end of the remark - that won't happen again.

I still stand by what I said though whilst acknowledging your points.

A large part of my indifference is that I'm entirely sick of all the corruption, drugs and the obscene amounts of money that ruins sport for me. I can no longer take any sport seriously and am slowly but surely weening myself off many or most sports.

As an example ... the latest Russian drug saga absolutely disgusts me and if the Bomber players get off lightly (if found guilty) then that may well be another reason to turn away from sport.

.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Macca

[Middymalt 244]

and the promise of a blazer

Appareny the guys a motivational

Speaker these days hardly surprising .

[old dee 24,028]

Appareny the guys a motivational

Speaker these days hardly surprising .

Surely no one is paying?