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This time of year

Uncle Fester
in Melbourne Demons

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A bit of a random topic, but as I get older I really like this time of year. You see these kids, just out of school, and all elbows and knee caps, suddenly thrust into the limelight, cameras thrust in their faces, and they ummm and uhhh as they are asked a million and one questions (and you can see them thinking 'Can't I just say "I like footy?').

Fast forward ten years from now and those teenagers are now hardened warriors. They are used to playing in front of thousands of people. They are big and strong, and have mixed it with the toughest the game has to offer. And interviews... they take it in their stride as if having a news crew following you into work is what happens to everyone.

It's fun to sometimes remind myself that the tough guy just won a big game off his own boot was, not that long ago, a nervous teenager that had no idea what life had in store for him.

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    What becomes more evident as you get older is just how young 18 is. It gets harder and harder to reconcile how 18 can count as “adult”. The interview with Jackson was one of a kid in a man’s body bouncing off the walls with excitement (which I loved by the way). Unsure at what point I officially became an old fart but it appears to have happened.

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    6 minutes ago, Nasher said:

    What becomes more evident as you get older is just how young 18 is. It gets harder and harder to reconcile how 18 can count as “adult”. The interview with Jackson was one of a kid in a man’s body bouncing off the walls with excitement (which I loved by the way). Unsure at what point I officially became an old fart but it appears to have happened.

    For me it was when I realised that if I was good enough to play footy at the highest level I would be retired by now.

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    Got a kid at my work that is going of to join the police force. He is a baby. In 3 years time he will probably be tasering me when I tell the barman when I've had enough.

    But I guess I brought it up just to remind us that they are babies, and we do put a hell of a lot on their shoulders (although maybe the elastic nature of youth helps here), and also to enjoy the journey. They are, in a sense, our kids as well. And it is nice to watch them grow up.

    Edited by Uncle Fester

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    2 hours ago, Uncle Fester said:

    A bit of a random topic, but as I get older I really like this time of year. You see these kids, just out of school, and all elbows and knee caps, suddenly thrust into the limelight, cameras thrust in their faces, and they ummm and uhhh as they are asked a million and one questions (and you can see them thinking 'Can't I just say "I like footy?').

    Fast forward ten years from now and those teenagers are now hardened warriors. They are used to playing in front of thousands of people. They are big and strong, and have mixed it with the toughest the game has to offer. And interviews... they take it in their stride as if having a news crew following you into work is what happens to everyone.

    It's fun to sometimes remind myself that the tough guy just won a big game off his own boot was, not that long ago, a nervous teenager that had no idea what life had in store for him.

    Great post. We should also remember that across the competition not all the 18 year olds who have just been drafted will make it to become hardened warriors in 10 years time. Many will find the dream extinguished in a very short time. Let's hope that our boys make it, but if they don't, that they can be happy that they gave it a red hot go. 

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    26 minutes ago, Demonland said:

    For me it was when I realised that if I was good enough to play footy at the highest level I would be retired by now.

    Yep. Although I’m still young clearly- I’d be the second oldest player in the AFL after Shaun Burgoyne. The prospect of people being able to maintain elite fitness at my ages seems absurd to me, I can’t scrub the toilet without my knees hurting, and I only have to look at a carb to stack on 5kg.

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    36 minutes ago, Demonland said:

    For me it was when I realised that if I was good enough to play footy at the highest level I would be retired by now.

    I decided that I was old once I realised that, even if I sudddenly became Haydn Bunton, I still wasn’t going to get drafted.

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    1 hour ago, Demonland said:

    For me it was when I realised that if I was good enough to play footy at the highest level I would be retired by now.

    For me it was a bit of a "woah" moment when suddenly my favourite player was younger than me.

    Still find it strange watching players play when I've seen their dad kick a ball etc (AFL & Soccer)

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    1 hour ago, Demonland said:

    For me it was when I realised that if I was good enough to play footy at the highest level I would be retired by now.

    I've always liked Tom Lehrer's line (in a somewhat different context):   

    It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.

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    15 minutes ago, sue said:

    I've always liked Tom Lehrer's line (in a somewhat different context):   

    It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.

    De-composing ?

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    It was a bit of a shock last year when all the draftees DoB were in the 2000s

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    Im never getting old

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    For me it's when the Prime ministers are younger than myself.

    Life is a roll of toilet paper.

    Runs out quicker towards the end.

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    13 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

    It was a bit of a shock last year when all the draftees DoB were in the 2000s

    An even greater shock to me (born in the first half of last century)! ?

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    19 hours ago, roy11 said:

    For me it was a bit of a "woah" moment when suddenly my favourite player was younger than me.

    I was the same, and it's happened quite recently; once people were saying Jonesy should give it away, that he was too old (he's about 2 months older than I am).

    That was it for me.

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    10 minutes ago, Good Lord George said:

    I was the same, and it's happened quite recently; once people were saying Jonesy should give it away, that he was too old (he's about 2 months older than I am).

    That was it for me.

    dont worry georgey, there's stil a spot for you on the half forward flank of life.

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    21 hours ago, Nasher said:

    Yep. Although I’m still young clearly- I’d be the second oldest player in the AFL after Shaun Burgoyne.

    It's a rite of passage to first note that you can't be THAT old because there's still one active AFL player older than you ... and then see that player retire ... it's your official decent into old fogeyism. You are then allowed to use words like "whippersnapper" and "when I was young(er)" and "these kids today".

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    12 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

    It's a rite of passage to first note that you can't be THAT old because there's still one active AFL player older than you ... and then see that player retire ... it's your official decent into old fogeyism. You are then allowed to use words like "whippersnapper" and "when I was young(er)" and "these kids today".

    I can’t wait! I’ll definitely notice when Burgoyne retires. Anyway I’m definitely happy to already declare myself an old fogey - knowing the rate of deterioration of the moving parts of my body gives me a serious appreciation for these blokes that kick on in to their mid-late 30s, and mine hasn’t been subject to 20 years of punishment of contact sport at elite level. I don’t reckon the young men and women in their early 20s would truly be able to understand that; I certainly didn’t. 

    The Shaun Burgoynes and Kade Simpsons of this world definitely have a gift.

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    37 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

    It's a rite of passage to first note that you can't be THAT old because there's still one active AFL player older than you ... and then see that player retire ... it's your official decent into old fogeyism. You are then allowed to use words like "whippersnapper" and "when I was young(er)" and "these kids today".

    I think the next milestone after that (unless you were a very active teen) is having a kid that is Draft Age. *

    * IF YOU HAVE GRANDKIDS WHO ARE DRAFT AGE YOU PROBABLY CAN'T READ THIS LINE

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    19 minutes ago, Demonland said:

    I think the next milestone after that (unless you were a very active teen) is having a kid that is Draft Age. *

    * IF YOU HAVE GRANDKIDS WHO ARE DRAFT AGE YOU PROBABLY CAN'T READ THIS LINE

    WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GRANDKIDS OF DRAFT AGE? YOU YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER

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    I realised I wasn’t young anymore when I worked out that if I had a kid at the same age my parents were when they had me my kid could be playing AFL next year. 

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    life is way too short .you need to stop and enjoy it once and while , as before you know it your time will be up 

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    I’m 50 in March and still believe I could pull on the jumper and have a crack.

    Unfortunately they don’t make the jumpers big enough to fit.

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